The Real Testimony

In the premiere episode of Just ONE Person, host Lisa Bloom introduces us to a remarkable woman Stephanie Michelle-hairstylist, musician, and survivor. What began as a simple haircut appointment turned int a deep friendship and the start of a powerful journey.

Stephanie shares vivid memories of her early childhood in rural Texas-complete with homemade Halloween costumes, switch-picking discipline, and the unconditional love of her grandparents, Mimi and PopPop. But at age 7, her life changed drastically when her father became a pastor and moved the family to Louisiana. The shift brought new pressures, religious expectations, and the beginnings of trauma that would shape the rest of her life.

This episode sets the state for a season of courage, healing, and hope as Stephanie begins to unravel her past-with raw honesty and strength.

Stephanie shares the harrowing realities of her early childhood as the daughter of Pentecostal pastors whose faith demanded an impossible standard of perfection. Under the guise of godliness, her parents subjected her to relentless physical and emotional abuse, using their religious beliefs to justify their actions. Stephanie recounts how her curiosity, creativity, and individuality were deemed rebellious sins, leading to punishments that left her bruised, bloodied, and broken.

This episode delves into the psychological weight of religious manipulation, the isolation of a child silenced by fear, and the resilience it takes to survive in a world where love and violence coexisted.

Amidst the pain, Stephanie reflects on the hope she found in fleeting moments of kindness and connection—small lifelines that kept her holding on. Through her story, we examine the blurred lines between faith and fanaticism, and the unyielding strength of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable suffering.

Stephanie continues to unravel her past, sharing moments of profound resilience amidst unimaginable pain. From the early struggles of surviving in a restrictive and abusive household to moments of fleeting joy and escape, Stephanie reflects on how disassociation and the love of her grandparents became lifelines during her darkest days.

This episode explores her experiences with isolation, the burden of misplaced guilt, and the complicated relationship between survival and healing. Stephanie’s courage to revisit these moments sheds light on the long road to reclaiming her story and offers hope for others who feel silenced by their trauma.

Through her journey, we witness the power of one person’s love to inspire resilience—and the strength it takes to share these stories with the world.

At just 14, Stephanie was sent away to Gateway Farm for Girls—her ninth home and sixth school. Promising healing and hope, the reform school delivered abusive religious extremism. In this episode, Stephanie recounts being dropped off without explanation and surviving deliverance ceremonies to “cast out demons."Her story reveals how survival sometimes means playing the system, and how the deepest wounds are often those left by silence, misunderstanding, and the absence of care.

After a year and a half at a troubled teen facility steeped in extreme religious beliefs led by uneducated leadership, Stephanie returns home without therapy or support—only expectations. Labeled "healed," she’s thrust into a performative role as a redeemed preacher’s daughter. In this episode, she shares the deep confusion and damage caused by false testimonies her parents wrote about her, family pressure, and emotional manipulation. From being coached to tell a story that wasn't hers to an unprepared mission trip abroad, Stephanie unpacks what it meant to be a teenager navigating trauma with no roadmap.

Stephanie shares her heartbreaking experience of being married at just 16 to her 25-year-old former Bible camp counselor—a marriage her parents allowed out of fear she'd rebel otherwise. Isolated and trapped in an abusive home, Stephanie endured escalating violence until she bravely fled for her life. Through her powerful story, this episode highlights the disturbing realities of child marriage and advocates for legal protections like the Child Marriage Prevention Act of 2024.

In this powerful chapter of Stephanie’s journey, she confronts the weight of survival and what it means to break free from control. From the pulpit to a courtroom, from a knife in her hand to losing custody of her daughter, Stephanie’s fight for autonomy is raw, messy, and painfully real. As her past continues to cast long shadows, she begins to find the strength to say no—for the first time. This episode explores the cost of escaping abuse, reclaiming power, and learning to stand on your own terms.