There was a time when my reactions kept me alive — but they were also keeping me stuck.

In this episode of EQ Unlocked, I explore how survival responses can quietly turn into identity, shaping how we think, relate, parent, lead, and love. I share personal moments where hypervigilance, emotional reactivity, and control felt necessary — and how emotional intelligence helped me recognize when protection had turned into self-sabotage.

This episode isn’t about blame. It’s about awareness. And about learning who you are without survival running the show.

Listeners are invited to reflect, take a free assessment at NALS.online, and consider simple steps toward living with more presence and choice.

This episode is a moment of clarity. I know who I am now and this is where we're going.

For years, I’ve shared my voice publicly—through social media, books, and past podcasts—often speaking honestly, but from a place shaped by hurt, pain, and unresolved trauma. That content was real, and it mattered. But it wasn’t the full picture.

What changed wasn’t time. It was intention.

I came to realize that I was still living in survival mode—and that if I truly wanted to help others develop emotional intelligence, I had to invest deeply in my own growth first. That meant stepping back, doing the work, and spending significant time, energy, and resources on understanding myself, regulating my nervous system, and finding peace.

In this episode, I reflect on the difference between speaking from pain and speaking from clarity. I talk openly about past content that was rooted in trauma, not with shame or embarrassment, but with honesty and responsibility. Growth doesn’t erase the past—it reframes it.

If you’ve ever looked back at an older version of yourself and felt discomfort, this conversation is for you. Past mistakes don’t equal failure. They’re often proof that growth is happening.

This episode isn’t about taking anything back. It’s about showing what growth actually looks like.

This episode is for anyone who has experienced sexual abuse and still carries its impact in their body, relationships, or sense of self. You don’t need to relive anything to listen, and you don’t need to be “healed” to belong here.

I talk honestly about why survivors’ reactions make sense, how trauma shapes the nervous system, and how healing isn’t about forcing strength or forgiveness—it’s about restoring safety and choice at your own pace.

If this conversation brings something up for you, that doesn’t mean anything is wrong with you. It means your body remembers. You’re allowed to pause, take breaks, and move through this in the way that feels safest for you.

You were never weak. And you don’t have to carry this alone.