Not every turning point in life arrives as a breakthrough. Sometimes it arrives as a breakdown, the kind that doesn’t look like a new beginning at all.

In this episode of The Reinvention By Design Podcast, I spoke with Melanie Stevens, a former HR Manager who had followed the expected path. She had all the right qualifications, career stability, doing everything “right.” Until the moment that path fractured.

At 28, Melanie experienced what she describes as a nervous and emotional breakdown. It was the kind of inner collapse that forces a question few people are willing to ask out loud:

“If I built this life by following all the rules… then why does it feel like it’s suffocating me?”

That breakdown led her to a spiritual life teacher, and she describes it as the moment she began waking up — not in a loud, dramatic way, but in a steady return to herself.

Following the Nudges Instead of the Rules

Years later, in 2019, Melanie began learning Reiki. From there, she followed a series of intuitive nudges…small yeses that didn’t make logical sense but led her quietly toward a new path.

She eventually walked away from her HR career completely and stepped into her spiritual work full-time. Today, she teaches spiritual healing, shadow work, past life integration, energy healing, and awakening through a series of online courses and her teachings now reach students in over 90 countries through Udemy.

“I found my freedom in following what made no sense to anyone but me.”

Awakening Not as an Aesthetic but as a Lifeline

What I loved most about Melanie’s story is that her awakening wasn’t curated or aesthetic. It wasn’t about branding or creating a persona. It was about finding a way back to life after things had quietly fallen apart.

She speaks about spiritual awakening as a return, a realignment after years of living in responsibility but not in resonance.

Now, she continues to expand her work through new studies in herbalism and ancient plant medicine, following what she calls an “old remembering”, a sense that some wisdom travels with us through lifetimes, waiting for the moment we’re finally quiet enough to hear it.

🎙 The full conversation with Melanie Stevens is now live on The Reinvention By Design Podcast.

Connect with Melanie Stevens — Spiritual Teacher & Guide

To explore Melanie’s work or her spiritual courses and offerings, you can connect with her here:

* Website: www.melanie-stevens.com

* Spiritual Courses (Udemy): via her website

* Facebook: Melanie Stevens Spiritual Guidance & Healing

Melanie’s work reminds us that sometimes the path to purpose begins the moment we stop trying to control everything.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jennycotten.substack.com