Sometimes it shows up in the relationships we choose, the people we trust, the situations we tolerate, or the way our bodies react before we even understand why. What happened years ago can continue influencing decisions we are making today.

In this episode of Under the Surface, I talk about what it means to understand the past without allowing it to become the permanent explanation for everything that comes next.

I look back at my own experiences with panic attacks, medication, relationships, healthcare, and the years when I gave other people far more authority over my life than I gave myself. I also talk about what I learned while watching Bonnie confront her own history and begin separating what she had survived from what she wanted her future to become.

Moving forward does not require pretending something never happened. It does not mean excusing people who caused harm or turning painful experiences into inspirational stories. Sometimes it simply means recognizing that the past can explain why we respond the way we do without requiring us to keep responding that way forever.

The rearview mirror has a purpose. It shows us where we've been.

It just wasn't meant to be where we keep our eyes while trying to move forward.

🔗 More from me:

🎙️Podcast & episodes: ⁠https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast⁠

📖 Book: ⁠https://a.co/d/06CoAtVF⁠

🎧 Audiobook: ⁠https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ⁠

🛍️ Merch: ⁠https://www.bradhhill.com/merch⁠

More than 70 surgeries.

Paralyzed from the shoulders down at 31.

And somehow, Jay Setchell is still asking what he can do next.

In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Marine veteran, entrepreneur, author, and speaker Jay Setchell for a conversation about pain, faith, grit, responsibility, and what it means to keep moving when life gives you plenty of reasons to stop.

Jay grew up on a working farm where responsibility was not optional. Animals had to be fed, crops followed the seasons, equipment broke, and the work still had to get done. He carried that mentality into the Marine Corps and eventually into a life filled with physical challenges most of us would struggle to imagine.

Jay takes us through the accidents that nearly ended his life. He describes being declared dead during his time in the Marines, surviving a devastating collision with a drunk driver, and later breaking his neck and drowning in a swimming pool. He was told he would never move below his shoulders again. Eventually, he walked out using braces and crutches.

Today, Jay lives with paralysis, uses a power wheelchair, and deals with chronic pain every day. But this conversation is not about pretending those things do not hurt.

It is about what Jay decided to do despite them.

We talk about faith, patience, discipline, the value of helping other people, and why Jay believes grit and perseverance matter more than raw talent. We also talk about something most of us could probably use a reminder of: we can check the balance in our bank account, but none of us knows the balance remaining in our life account.

Jay's philosophy is simple:

Dream big. Take small steps. Keep moving.

Because no matter how difficult today becomes, it may still be too soon to quit.

🔗Connect with Jay Setchell:

🌐 Website:⁠Never Quit Trying⁠

📧 Email: ⁠jay@neverquittrying.com⁠

📘 Book: The Strength Within You: It's Always Too Soon to Quit!⁠Jay's book and Amazon information⁠

📘 Facebook:⁠Jay Setchell on Facebook⁠

📸 Instagram:⁠@author.jaysetchell on Instagram⁠

🎵 TikTok:⁠@author.jaysetchell on TikTok⁠

💼 LinkedIn:⁠Jay Setchell on LinkedIn⁠

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes: ⁠https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast⁠

📖 Book: ⁠https://a.co/d/06CoAtVF⁠

🎧 Audiobook: ⁠https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ⁠

🛍️ Merch: ⁠https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

For me, one of those places was a farm.

In this episode of Under the Surface, I look back at what farm life taught me about responsibility, consistency, mistakes, and showing up when the work still needs to be done. Animals need to be fed. Water needs to be checked. Gates need to be secured. The work does not care whether you're tired, distracted, frustrated, or simply not in the mood.

There was something valuable in that honesty.

I learned that rushing usually created more work later. Mistakes did not have to become proof that I was incapable. They could teach me something, as long as I was willing to correct them. And the things that eventually made me more dependable were rarely dramatic. They were built through repetition, attention, and returning the next day.

The farm also taught me something I would carry into work, relationships, sobriety, and the rest of my adult life: what we repeatedly do matters far more than what we intended to do.

You don't have to grow up on a farm to understand that lesson. We all have places in our lives that show us the truth about how we're showing up.

Sometimes growth happens there, quietly, while nobody is watching.

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes: ⁠https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast⁠

📖 Book: ⁠https://a.co/d/06CoAtVF⁠

🎧 Audiobook: ⁠https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ⁠

🛍️ Merch: ⁠https://www.bradhhill.com/merch⁠

We say it so automatically that sometimes we don't even stop to ask ourselves whether it's true.

In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Heather Stewart to talk about what happens when the life that looks right from the outside no longer feels right on the inside.

Heather spent 15 years as a CPA and climbed the corporate ladder into senior leadership. She had the career, the money, the house, and many of the things we're told we're supposed to want. Eventually, she realized the next promotion wasn't going to give her more of the life she wanted. It was going to require her to give even more of her life away.

But her story goes much deeper than a career change.

Heather opens up about spending 12 years in a narcissistic relationship that slowly changed the way she saw herself. She talks about isolation, control, gaslighting, losing confidence in her own judgment, and the moment someone else's simple comment finally made her recognize what had been happening.

Leaving meant learning to trust herself again.

We also talk about why people stay in careers, relationships, and lives that no longer fit simply because change feels more frightening than what they already know. Heather shares what she learned about boundaries, asking for help, happiness, and the enormous cost of constantly trying to hold everything together.

Then, in 2021, Heather suffered two strokes.

Lying alone in an emergency room during COVID forced her to confront another reality. She had spent years rebuilding a life that actually supported her, and when everything suddenly stopped, that life was still there. Her relationships, community, finances, and the choices she had made gave her room to recover. That experience changed the direction of the work she wanted to do with others.

This conversation isn't about blowing up your life because you're having a bad day.

It's about being willing to ask whether the life you're protecting is actually the life you want.

Because sometimes "I'm fine" is true.

And sometimes we've just gotten really good at saying it.

🌐 Connect with Heather Stewart:

Website: ⁠https://heatherstewart.coach/⁠

Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/heatherstewartcoaches⁠

Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/heatherstewartcoaching/⁠

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/heatherstewartcoaching/⁠

YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@HeatherStewartCoaching⁠

TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@heatherstewartcoaching⁠

🔗 More from me:🎙️ Podcast & episodes:

⁠https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast⁠

📖 Book: ⁠https://a.co/d/06CoAtVF⁠🎧

Audiobook: ⁠https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ⁠

🛍️ Merch: ⁠https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

For a lot of us, saying yes became automatic. We took on more at work, more at home, more for friends, and more for everyone else until we couldn't remember what we actually wanted anymore. Somewhere along the way, being dependable quietly turned into feeling responsible for everything.

In this episode of Under the Surface, I talk about why saying no became one of the hardest and most important lessons I have ever learned. We explore where that fear comes from, why so many of us struggle to set boundaries, and how constantly trying to keep everyone else happy can slowly wear us down.

This isn't about becoming selfish or pushing people away. It's about recognizing that every yes costs something. Sometimes protecting your peace, your time, and your health starts with one simple word.

Because the people who care about you should never require you to disappear.

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes: ⁠https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast⁠

📖 Book: ⁠https://a.co/d/06CoAtVF⁠

🎧 Audiobook: ⁠https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ⁠

🛍️ Merch: ⁠https://www.bradhhill.com/merch⁠

Bart Merrell knows that better than most.

In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Bart, known as The Side Hustle Samurai, to talk about resilience, entrepreneurship, financial security, and what happens when the future you expected suddenly disappears.

Bart once planned to join the FBI and chase serial killers. One unexpected decision ended that dream before it started. Years later, several business deals collapsed after 9/11, costing him hundreds of thousands of dollars and bringing him dangerously close to bankruptcy. Then came another major turn when he learned his lower left leg would need to be amputated.

Each time, Bart had a decision to make about what came next.

We talk about the fear he experienced walking into the hospital on the morning of his amputation, the humor and mindset that helped him adjust, and how he eventually turned that experience into an opportunity to help other amputees facing the same uncertainty.

But Bart's story is also about preparation.

He believes relying on a single paycheck can leave people far more vulnerable than they realize. We explore how skills, hobbies, experiences, and even some of life's hardest chapters can reveal opportunities that are easy to overlook. Bart explains why a side hustle does not have to mean chasing somebody else's business idea. Sometimes the opportunity is already sitting inside something you know how to do.

This isn't a conversation about getting rich quickly.

It's about being prepared when life changes the plan, recognizing what you already bring to the table, and having the willingness to act when an opportunity appears.

As Bart puts it:

What happens when what happens, happens?

🌐 Connect with Bart Merrell, The Side Hustle Samurai:

Website: ⁠https://thesidehustlesamurai.com/⁠

Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/bartmerrell⁠

Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/bartmerrell/⁠

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/bart-merrell-2440148/⁠

YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BartMerrell-SideHustleSamurai⁠

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes: ⁠https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast⁠

📖 Book: ⁠https://a.co/d/06CoAtVF⁠

🎧 Audiobook: ⁠https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ⁠

🛍️ Merch: ⁠https://www.bradhhill.com/merch⁠

It usually happens one small decision at a time.

We put things off. We tell ourselves we'll deal with it later. We hope life somehow organizes itself while we stay busy reacting to whatever shows up next. Before long, months or even years have passed, and we're still wondering why nothing seems to change.

In this episode of Under the Surface, I talk about why planning has nothing to do with controlling the future and everything to do with being honest about where you want your life to go. We look at the small choices that shape our finances, careers, relationships, and goals, and why direction is more important than perfection.

Life will always throw surprises your way. A plan won't eliminate them. But it can keep you moving forward instead of constantly starting over.

Because hope is important.

Direction is what turns hope into progress.

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes: https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book: https://a.co/d/06CoAtVF

🎧 Audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

🛍️ Merch: https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

You can check all the boxes. Build the career. Earn the degree. Get married. Have children. Accomplish everything you thought was supposed to make you happy.

And still feel disconnected from yourself.

In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Brandi (Bee) Doyle, Army combat veteran, former nurse practitioner, coach, and founder of Double Libra Astrology, to talk about trauma, purpose, addiction, healing, self-awareness, and what happens when the life you built no longer feels like your own.

After serving as a combat medic in Afghanistan, Bee returned home carrying experiences that most people will never fully understand. While life continued moving forward on the outside, she struggled internally with post-traumatic stress, emotional pain, unhealthy coping mechanisms, and a persistent feeling that something was missing.

We discuss combat trauma, survival mode, motherhood, addiction, accountability, resilience, and the difficult process of rebuilding an authentic life. Bee shares how becoming a mother forced her to confront what she had spent years avoiding and why curiosity became one of the most important tools in her healing journey.

This conversation is not about having all the answers.

It is about having the courage to stop pretending everything is okay and finally asking:

Who am I underneath the roles, expectations, achievements, and survival strategies I have carried for years?

Because sometimes healing begins with a simple realization:

The life that looks successful is not always the life that feels authentic.

🌐 Learn more about Bee Doyle:

https://doublelibraastrology.com/

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes: https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle): https://a.co/d/06CoAtVF

🎧 Audiobook on Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

🛍️ Merch & Support the Mission: https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

You become dependable. You build a career. You handle responsibility. People trust you. From the outside, it can look like growth, maturity, and self-awareness all rolled into one.

The problem is that functioning well is not the same thing as seeing yourself clearly.

In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I explore the uncomfortable but necessary process of honest self-assessment. Not the version that turns into self-criticism or shame, but the kind that helps us understand the gap between who we think we are and how we actually show up in the world.

We talk about personality, blind spots, defensiveness, control, vulnerability, and the ways strengths can quietly become limitations when left unchecked. I share my own experiences with personality assessments, leadership, relationships, and the realization that being capable is not the same thing as being self-aware.

This episode is about learning to look at yourself without tearing yourself apart. Understanding where your patterns came from without letting them become excuses. And recognizing that growth often begins when we stop defending the image and start paying attention to the person underneath it.

Because the question is not:

"What is wrong with me?"

The better question is:

"What is true about me?"

And sometimes that answer changes everything.

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes: https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book: https://a.co/d/06CoAtVF

🎧 Audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

🛍️ Merch: https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

They walk into buildings without wondering if everyone can get through the door. They make plans without thinking about whether the space was designed for everyone. They assume the world works because, for them, most of the time it does.

In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Jenna Udenberg, educator, author, advocate, and founder of Above and Beyond With U, to talk about disability, resilience, inclusion, and what it means to build a life in a world that was not always designed with you in mind.

Diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at age seven, Jenna has endured chronic pain, multiple joint replacements, more than a dozen surgeries, and countless accessibility challenges throughout her life. Yet what stands out most is not what she has endured. It is what she has built. From a 19-year teaching career to founding a nonprofit focused on accessibility and inclusion, Jenna has turned personal challenges into opportunities to help others.

We talk about disability, leadership, confidence, depression, advocacy, accessibility, and why asking better questions often matters more than having the right answers. Jenna shares practical ways people can create more inclusive communities and challenges the assumptions many of us make without even realizing it.

This conversation is not about sympathy.

It is about understanding.

Because disability is not rare. At some point, it touches all of our lives.

🌐 Learn more about Jenna and Above and Beyond With U:

https://www.aboveandbeyondwithu.org/

📚 Jenna's Memoir – Within My SpokesA powerful story of resilience, disability, identity, and finding purpose while navigating a lifetime of challenges.

https://a.co/d/020VH6ss

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes: https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle): https://a.co/d/06CoAtVF

🎧 Audiobook on Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

🛍️ Merch & Support the Mission: https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

But most of us were handed that definition long before we were old enough to question it.

In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I talk about the difference between what is familiar, what is healthy, and what people judge simply because they do not understand it.

We explore how family, school, work, culture, trauma, disability, grief, addiction, anxiety, and recovery all shape the way people move through the world. Sometimes what gets called “not normal” is actually just unfamiliar. Sometimes what gets called “normal” is something unhealthy that people have repeated for so long they stopped questioning it.

This episode is about separating difference from damage. It is about dignity, honesty, accessibility, self-understanding, and learning that the goal was never to become normal. The goal is to become honest enough to know what needs to change, what helped you survive, and what was never wrong with you in the first place.

Because maybe the better question is not:

Am I normal?

Maybe the better question is:

Am I being honest?

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes: https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book: https://a.co/d/06CoAtVF

🎧 Audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

🛍️ Merch: https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

Sometimes they unfold slowly. Over years. Through caregiving, exhaustion, changing roles, and the quiet grief of watching someone you love slowly fade in front of you while life keeps moving around you.

In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Debbie Weiss to talk about caregiving, grief, burnout, identity, and what happens after survival mode finally begins to quiet down.

Debbie spent decades taking care of others. Beginning at 17 after her father suffered a massive stroke, she eventually became a caregiver for her son with special needs and later for her husband as he battled physical illness, severe depression, and terminal cancer.

But this conversation is about more than caregiving.

It is about what happens after loss.

We talk about grief that begins long before someone dies. The quiet exhaustion of always showing up for everyone else. The guilt of choosing yourself. The resentment caregivers are often too ashamed to admit. And the difficult reality of learning how to rebuild when so much of your identity was tied to taking care of someone else.

Debbie shares the mindset shifts that helped her move forward, how she learned to stop living as a victim of circumstance, and why healing does not mean forgetting the people we loved.

Because moving forward is not the same thing as moving on.

Sometimes life after loss is not about becoming someone new.

Sometimes it is about finally finding the person you forgot to take care of along the way.

🌐 Learn more about Debbie Weiss:

https://www.debbierweiss.com/

📚 Debbie’s books:

https://www.debbierweiss.com/books

🎙️ Maybe I Can with Debbie Weiss: https://maybeicanwithdebbieweiss.buzzsprout.co

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes: https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle): https://a.co/d/06CoAtVF

🎧 Audiobook on Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

🛍️ Merch & Support the Mission: https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I talk about grief, funerals, family dynamics, and the things death exposes once there is no more pretending that time is unlimited.

This is not a philosophical conversation about death from a distance. It is about the version people actually live through. The hospital rooms. The funeral home air. The calls nobody wants to get. The tension that surfaces inside families. The regrets. The awkward moments. The greed that sometimes shows up before someone is even laid to rest. And the love that suddenly feels bigger once somebody is gone.

We talk about grief in a real way. Not the polished version people post online, but the messy version. The version that hits months later when you hear a voice, smell something familiar, or realize there will not be another phone call, another visit, or another chance to say what you meant to say.

This episode also explores what funerals reveal about people. Who softens. Who hardens. Who reaches for connection. Who reaches for control. And what death has a way of exposing in families once emotions are running high.

Because death is undefeated.

The real question is:

Who do we become in full view of it?

🔗 More from me:🎙️ Podcast & episodes: https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast📖 Book (Print + Kindle): https://a.co/d/06CoAtVF🎧 Audiobook on Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ🛍️ Merch & Support the Mission: https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Jennifer Chase, recovery coach, speaker, and founder of Rise Addiction Life Coaching, to talk about addiction from three perspectives: daughter of an alcoholic, addict, and mother of a child struggling with addiction.

Jennifer shares how trauma, childhood instability, and years of emotional pain shaped the path that eventually led her into addiction after a brain tumor surgery left her living in chronic pain and prescribed opioids.

She opens up about the guilt of realizing she had unintentionally become part of her son’s addiction story, the shame that followed, and what finally shifted when the consequences of addiction outweighed the relief addiction once provided.

We talk about trauma, people-pleasing, masking, and how many addictions are lessabout weakness and more about trying to survive emotional pain. Jennifer sharesone of the most powerful mindset shifts of the episode:

Not “What’s wrong with you?” but “What happened to you?”

We also discuss the stigma surrounding addiction, why society judges some copingmechanisms while praising others, and why empathy and accountability can existat the same time.

This conversation is about healing, responsibility, recovery, and the possibility ofrebuilding — even after life feels completely broken.

🌐 Learn more about Jennifer Chase: https://www.riseaddictionlc.com

💜 Need help or support?Jennifer welcomes outreach through her website if you or someone you love isstruggling with addiction or recovery.

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes: https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle): https://a.co/d/06CoAtVF

🎧 Audiobook on Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

🛍️ Merch & Support the Mission: https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I talk about family life, instability, and the quiet ways childhood shapes who we become long before we have language for any of it.

This is not about blaming family or putting private moments on trial. It is about understanding what happens when unpredictability becomes normal, when you learn to read tension before words are spoken, and when connection feels rare enough that you hold onto it harder than most people understand.

I share how growing up in emotional instability shaped the way I watched people, attached to relationships, stayed alert, and struggled to fully relax even when life became calmer. We talk about how many things we call “personality” are actually adaptation, and how survival skills built early in life can quietly follow us into adulthood.

This episode explores nervous system patterns, emotional caution, loneliness, connection, and why some people feel “too much” when relationships finally feel safe.

Because sometimes the better question is not:

“What is wrong with me?”

Sometimes the better question is:

“What did I learn too early that I still carry today?”

This conversation is about context, self-understanding, and learning that being shaped by something is not the same thing as being sentenced to it forever.

🔗 More from me:🎙️ Podcast & episodes: https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast📖 Book (Print + Kindle): https://a.co/d/06CoAtVF🎧 Audiobook on Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ🛍️ Merch & Support the Mission: https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

but internally, something feels completely off.

In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Randy Bishop to talk about identity, authenticity, and what it really means to start over later in life.

Randy opens up about approaching 60 and realizing that despite a lifetime of experience, success, and roles he had played, he no longer knew who he actually was. What followed was a complete unraveling of identity. From leaving a 30-year marriage and walking away from 16 years in ministry, to questioning beliefs he once stood firmly on, this conversation dives deep into what happens when the life you built no longer feels like yours.

We talk about why so many people stay stuck in identities that no longer serve them, how social media distorts reality, and why being authentic is one of the hardest things a person can do. Randy also breaks down his “RE Method” — reflect, reframe, restore — and why most people struggle with actually repeating the process.

This episode is about more than change.

It’s about becoming who you actually are.

Because at some point, the question shows up whether you’re ready or not:

Who am I… really?

🌐 Learn more about Randy and the ER Method:

https://www.amazon.com/author/randyebishop

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:⁠https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast⁠

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):⁠https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB⁠

🎧 Audiobook:⁠https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ⁠

👕 Wear the message:⁠https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

Now what?

In this episode of No One Is Normal, I talk about what happens after the realization hits that normal was never really the goal in the first place. Because so many people spend years trying to force themselves into expectations, identities, careers, relationships, or lifestyles that were never actually built for them.

And eventually that pressure breaks something.

This episode is about what comes next after the mask slips. After the burnout. After the identity crisis. After realizing I can’t keep performing a version of myself that only exists to make other people comfortable.

I talk about rebuilding from that place. Not perfectly. Not instantly. But honestly.

Because maybe the goal was never to become normal. Maybe the goal was to become real.

🎙️ Podcast & episodes: https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle): https://www.amazon.com/No-One-Normal-Adversity-Self-Discovery/dp/B0G2TN62YV/

🎧 Audiobook: https://www.amazon.com/No-One-Normal-Adversity-Self-Discovery/dp/B0GJFZ142N/

🛒 Merch: https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

After a six-part series sharing the reality of living through domestic abuse, Bonnie Hill joins me for a raw and honest conversation about what happens after survival.

Because leaving is not the end of the story.

In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, Bonnie opens up about the healing process after years of abuse. The emotional aftermath. The triggers that still show up. The guilt, fear, self-doubt, and the challenge of rebuilding trust in yourself after spending years walking on eggshells.

We talk about the realities people do not always see from the outside. Why healing can feel lonely. How trauma rewires the way you think, react, and protect yourself. And what it looks like to slowly begin rebuilding confidence, boundaries, and identity.

Bonnie also shares what helped her move forward, what support actually looked like, and why healing does not mean forgetting. It means learning how to live again without the past controlling every part of your future.

If you or someone you love has experienced abuse, this conversation is a reminder that survival is only the beginning — healing is possible.

💜 Want to Connect with Bonnie?

Due to the sensitive nature of Bonnie’s story, direct contact information is not publicly shared. If you would like to reach Bonnie, please email: info@bradhhill.com and your message will be forwarded.

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes: https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D9H8Z3GQ

🎧 Audiobook on Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

🛍️ Merch & Support the Mission: https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

Healing does not begin the moment someone leaves. In many ways, that is where the real work starts.

In the final chapter of Bonnie’s story, survival finally begins making room for something unfamiliar: peace. But healing is rarely simple. After years of fear, control, emotional exhaustion, and learning how to survive, rebuilding a life means learning how to trust again. Learning who you are outside of fear. Learning that safety, love, and peace do not have to come with conditions.

Part six is not about pretending the pain never happened. It is about what comes after survival. The grief. The rebuilding. The rediscovery of identity. And the quiet strength it takes to choose yourself after spending so many years simply trying to make it through.

If you have ever wondered whether healing is possible after trauma, questioned whether peace could ever feel real again, or needed a reminder that your story is not over, this chapter is for you.

You are not alone.

Next week, Bonnie joins me for a raw and honest conversation reflecting on the full journey, what healing actually looks like, and what life feels like now on the other side of survival.

🎙️ Podcast & Episodes:

No One Is Normal Podcast

📘 Book (Print + Kindle):

No One Is Normal: From Adversity and Trauma to Self-Discovery & Healing

🎧 Audiobook:

No One Is Normal Audiobook

🛍️ Merch:

No One Is Normal Merch

Sometimes the moments that change our lives are not loud or dramatic. Sometimes they build quietly until one final sequence of events makes it impossible to ignore what has been true for far too long.

In part five of Bonnie’s story, everything begins moving toward a breaking point. The emotional weight of survival reaches a place where difficult truths can no longer be pushed aside. Fear, exhaustion, and years of emotional damage collide with the painful reality that something has to change.

This chapter explores the complicated emotions that come before major life decisions. The fear of the unknown. The grief of what was lost. The confusion of loving someone while also recognizing the damage being done. And the quiet moments where survival slowly begins turning into courage.

If you have ever stood at a crossroads, wrestled with impossible decisions, or questioned whether life could ever feel different than the pain you had learned to live inside, this story may resonate deeply.

You are not alone.

🎙️ Podcast & Episodes:

No One Is Normal Podcast

📘 Book (Print + Kindle):

No One Is Normal: From Adversity and Trauma to Self-Discovery & Healing

🎧 Audiobook:

No One Is Normal Audiobook

🛍️ Merch:

No One Is Normal Merch

There comes a point in survival where exhaustion replaces hope. When surviving no longer feels temporary, and the weight of carrying everything alone begins changing who you are.

In part four of Bonnie’s story, the downward spiral deepens. Fear becomes routine. Emotional exhaustion settles in. The distance between who Bonnie once was and who survival forced her to become grows wider. And when chaos becomes normal, even recognizing how much has been lost can feel impossible.

This chapter explores the emotional reality of living inside prolonged trauma. The loneliness. The confusion. The invisible ways people adapt to survive situations they never imagined would become their life.

If you have ever felt emotionally worn down, trapped inside circumstances that slowly changed you, or wondered how people lose themselves while simply trying to make it through another day, this story may resonate more deeply than expected.

You are not alone.

🎙️ Podcast & Episodes:

No One Is Normal Podcast

📘 Book (Print + Kindle):

No One Is Normal: From Adversity and Trauma to Self-Discovery & Healing

🎧 Audiobook:

No One Is Normal Audiobook

🛍️ Merch:

No One Is Normal Merch

Some decisions leave marks that never fully disappear. Not because they were easy, but because survival sometimes forces choices no one should ever have to make.

In part three of Bonnie’s story, the emotional toll deepens as fear, control, and instability begin shaping impossible decisions. The weight of survival grows heavier. The lines between hope, guilt, love, fear, and self-preservation become harder to separate. And the emotional cost of trying to survive inside chaos becomes impossible to ignore.

This chapter explores one of the most painful realities many people quietly carry: how trauma, manipulation, and fear can leave lasting emotional wounds that continue long after the moment itself has passed.

If you have ever had to make an impossible choice, carried guilt for surviving, or struggled with decisions made during painful seasons of life, this story may resonate more deeply than expected.

You are not alone.

🎙️ Podcast & Episodes:

No One Is Normal Podcast

📘 Book (Print + Kindle):

No One Is Normal: From Adversity and Trauma to Self-Discovery & Healing

🎧 Audiobook:

No One Is Normal Audiobook

🛍️ Merch:

No One Is Normal Merch

Sometimes the hardest part about emotional abuse is that it rarely arrives all at once. It builds quietly. Slowly. Through confusion, manipulation, guilt, fear, and the constant feeling that maybe somehow everything is your fault.

In part two of Bonnie’s story, the emotional weight deepens. What once felt manageable begins shifting into something harder to explain and even harder to escape. Isolation grows. Fear becomes familiar. Reality becomes harder to trust. And the version of yourself you once recognized slowly begins slipping away.

This chapter explores something many survivors understand all too well: abuse does not always leave bruises people can see. Sometimes it changes the way you think, the way you feel, and the way you begin questioning your own worth.

If you have ever felt emotionally trapped, questioned your own reality, or struggled to explain why leaving felt impossible, this conversation may resonate deeply.

You are not alone.

🎙️ Podcast & Episodes:

No One Is Normal Podcast

📘 Book (Print + Kindle):

No One Is Normal: From Adversity and Trauma to Self-Discovery & Healing

🎧 Audiobook:

No One Is Normal Audiobook

🛍️ Merch:

No One Is Normal Merch

Some wounds do not begin with violence. They begin quietly. Slowly. In the moments we dismiss, excuse, or explain away because we want to believe things will get better.

In this deeply personal and emotional six-part series, Bonnie shares the beginning of a story that many people never fully understand from the outside. A story of survival that did not look dangerous at first. A story about how fear, control, and emotional manipulation can slowly become normal until you no longer recognize how much of yourself has disappeared.

Part one begins at the beginning. The early years. The dreams, the hope, the warning signs that are often invisible when you are living inside them, and the slow normalization of a life built around survival.

If you have ever questioned your own reality, stayed longer than you thought you would, or wondered how people slowly lose themselves inside difficult relationships, this story may resonate more deeply than expected.

You are not alone.

🎙️ Podcast & Episodes:

No One Is Normal Podcast

📘 Book (Print + Kindle):

No One Is Normal: From Adversity and Trauma to Self-Discovery & Healing

🎧 Audiobook:

No One Is Normal Audiobook

🛍️ Merch:

No One Is Normal Merch

In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Kirk McCarley just days after he was hit by a truck while cycling. With broken ribs, a concussion, and 16 stitches in his head, Kirk shares what it feels like to face life from a completely different perspective — again.

This isn’t the first time.

Kirk also opens up about surviving a major heart event that led to triple bypass surgery, and how that moment forced him to rethink everything. From walking away from a stable career in human resources to becoming an executive coach later in life, his story is a powerful example of what it means to take control of your direction… even when it feels too late.

We talk about depression, anxiety, and the weight of trying to hold everything together. We also get into why men struggle to open up, how small actions create momentum, and what it really takes to move forward when you feel stuck.

One of the most powerful moments in this episode is when Kirk shares how he reached out to the man who hit him — not with anger, but with forgiveness.

This conversation is about perspective, resilience, and understanding that it’s never too early… or too late… to change your life.

🌐 Learn more about Kirk McCarley:⁠

https://theseedsowercoach.com/

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:⁠https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast⁠

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):⁠https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB⁠

🎧 Audiobook:⁠https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ⁠

👕 Wear the message:⁠https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

In this episode of No One Is Normal, I talk about the difference between fake positivity and real gratitude. Not the social media version. Not pretending everything is perfect. Real gratitude is harder than that. It’s learning how to recognize what still matters while life is uncomfortable, uncertain, frustrating, or painful.

I share how easy it is to become consumed by stress, comparison, resentment, and survival mode without even realizing it. Because when the mind is constantly focused on what’s missing, broken, unfair, or out of reach, eventually nothing feels like enough anymore.

This episode is about perspective, awareness, and learning how to stop overlooking the things I once prayed for just because they became familiar. Gratitude doesn’t erase struggle, but it changes how I carry it.

Because sometimes the problem isn’t that life gave me nothing. Sometimes it’s that pain made me blind to what was already there.

🎙️ Podcast & episodes: https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle): https://www.amazon.com/No-One-Normal-Adversity-Self-Discovery/dp/B0G2TN62YV/

🎧 Audiobook: https://www.amazon.com/No-One-Normal-Adversity-Self-Discovery/dp/B0GJFZ142N/

🛒 Merch: https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Olaolu Ogunyemi, United States Marine, author, and founder of Parent Child Connect, to talk about the role mentorship, failure, and environment play in shaping who we become.

Olaolu shares how growing up in Louisiana, the right mentors helped guide him away from paths that could have led somewhere very different. From family and coaches to leaders who gave him second chances, those influences shaped his journey into the Marine Corps, leadership, and fatherhood.

We talk about failure, especially his early struggles during Officer Candidate School, and how those moments taught him the importance of preparation and breaking challenges into smaller, manageable steps. He explains how confidence alone is not enough. Growth comes from discipline, consistency, and learning how to respond when things do not go as planned.

This conversation also explores parenting in today’s world. How constant information, outside influence, and social pressure impact children. And why creating a safe environment for kids to fail, process emotions, and learn is one of the most important roles a parent can play.

Olaolu shares his philosophy of “Lead Last,” emphasizing the importance of understanding yourself, the people around you, and the environment before trying to lead effectively.

This episode is about mentorship, resilience, and the responsibility we all carry to influence the people around us in a positive way.

🌐 Learn more about Olaolu & Parent Child Connect:

https://parent-child-connect.com/

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:

https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):

https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB

🎧 Audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

👕 Wear the message:

https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I talk about what happens when we spend our lives trying to control everything except the one thing that is actually ours. Ourselves.

I share personal stories about guilt, loss, relationships, and decisions that forced me to confront how little control we truly have over outcomes, and how much we still have over our choices.

From a fatal accident that stayed with me for years, to staying too long in relationships that were never going to become what I wanted, to walking away from security and taking a massive pay cut to build something different. These moments all carried the same question underneath them.

What is actually mine to own here.

We talk about the illusion of control, how people take responsibility for things they were never meant to carry, and how that mindset keeps them stuck. We also break down the difference between reacting to life and actively choosing how to show up in it.

This episode is about shifting your focus away from outcomes you cannot control and putting that energy into your effort, your boundaries, your decisions, and your next step.

Because life will always be unpredictable. But your response to it does not have to be.

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:

https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):

https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB

🎧 Audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

👕 Wear the message:

https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

Some struggles hide in plain sight. They can last for years, sometimes decades, while the outside world sees something completely different.

In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Robin Clare, bestselling author and creator of the Harmony Method, to talk about her journey through more than forty years of battling obsessive eating and bulimia.

Robin shares how trauma, shame, and humiliation shaped much of her early life and how the long path of healing eventually led her to develop a framework for personal alignment. Her Six Elements of Harmony include awareness, commitment, mastery, service, leadership, and freedom. Together they form a path toward bringing the inner world and outer life into alignment.

We talk about the role trauma plays in shaping behavior, how social media and outside pressures can disrupt inner peace, and why silence, reflection, and strong personal boundaries can help people stay grounded in a chaotic world.

This conversation explores the idea that harmony is not about eliminating life’s challenges. It is about learning how to stay centered within them.

🌐 Learn more about Robin Clare:

https://www.robinhclare.com/

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:

https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):

https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB

🎧 Audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

👕 Wear the message:

https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I talk about what it really means to stop living in the rearview mirror and start taking control of what comes next.

For a long time, my past was not just something that happened. It became my explanation for everything. The panic attacks, the relationships, the decisions I made, and the ones I avoided. It felt honest. It also kept me stuck.

I share personal experiences with anxiety, misdiagnosis, medication, and the way trauma can quietly shape how we see ourselves, our relationships, and even what we believe we deserve. I also talk about watching those same patterns play out in people I love, and how easily we can accept systems that are supposed to help us without ever questioning them.

This conversation is not about pretending the past did not happen. It is about recognizing how deeply it influences us, and deciding that it does not get to define us.

We explore how trauma lives in the body, how identity can become tied to old pain, and what it looks like to slowly shift from “this is what happened to me” to “this is what I am going to do with it.”

Because the past will always be there. The question is whether it gets to drive.

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:

https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):

https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB

🎧 Audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

👕 Wear the message:

https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Shelly Ketelhut, licensed professional counselor and clinical substance abuse counselor, to talk about how constant information, social media, and digital overload are impacting the way we think, feel, and respond.

Shelly explains how the brain is wired to react quickly to perceived threats, and how today’s nonstop flow of notifications, headlines, and partial stories can trigger that same fight-or-flight response. When that happens, emotion takes over while critical thinking struggles to keep up.

We talk about confirmation bias, incomplete narratives, and how people often fill in the gaps of a story with their own experiences, creating beliefs that feel real but are not always accurate.

This conversation also focuses on solutions. Shelly shares practical ways to create healthier boundaries with technology, including limiting screen time, setting intentional windows for news consumption, and building space between reaction and response.

We explore the impact of FOMO, comparison, and constant connectivity, and why more access to information is not always leading to more clarity. Instead, it often creates noise, stress, and disconnection.

This episode is about slowing down, thinking clearly, and learning how to stay grounded in a world that never stops moving.

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:

https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):

https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB

🎧 Audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

👕 Wear the message:

https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

It can build relationships that change my life, and it can tear down my confidence in a single comment. And the longer I stayed plugged into the noise, the easier it became to forget who I was outside of a screen.

In this episode of No One Is Normal, I talk about the reality of living in a world where everything is public, performative, and open to judgment. I share what it felt like to be attacked by strangers, the temptation to fight back, and the quiet damage that comes from tying my self-worth to likes, comments, and validation from people who don’t actually know me.

I also get honest about the paradox of social media. It’s where I met my wife. It’s where real connection exists. But it’s also where comparison, outrage, and loneliness quietly grow if I’m not paying attention. This is about learning to set boundaries, protecting my peace, and remembering that my real life exists off the screen.

Because the hard truth and the freeing truth are the same:

Social media only has as much power as I give it.

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:

https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):

https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB

🎧 Audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

👕 Wear the message:

https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Philip Briscoe, creator of the Midlife Men podcast, to talk about what happens when work, identity, and purpose collide in the middle of life.

Philip shares how burnout from a startup job forced him to rethink who he was outside of his career. That period of reflection eventually led him to start a podcast focused on something many men struggle to talk about openly. Mental health, identity, vulnerability, and the difficult questions that often appear in midlife.

We talk about why so many men keep struggles hidden, how humor can open the door to conversations about heavy topics, and why midlife can be less about crisis and more about awareness. It is a moment where people can step back, question old definitions of success, and decide what actually matters moving forward.

This conversation is about honesty, reflection, and the courage to start asking better questions about the life you are building.

🎧 Philip Briscoe’s podcast:

https://mid-lifemen.com

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:

https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):

https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB

🎧 Audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

👕 Wear the message:

https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

No one is coming to fix my habits. Not my debt. Not my health. Not my career. Not the quiet routines that were slowly either building me or breaking me. And the longer I stayed on autopilot, the further I moved from the life I actually wanted.

In this episode of No One Is Normal, I talk about what changed when I stopped waiting for clarity and started taking ownership of my direction. I share how habits quietly shape everything, how therapy became a tool instead of something to hide from, and what it looked like to face my finances, my health, and my patterns honestly instead of avoiding them.

I also get real about the weight of realizing this is my road to walk. The fear of making the wrong choices. The discomfort of letting go of routines that were familiar but destructive. And the quiet power that comes from deciding that even small steps still count.

Because the hard truth and the freeing truth are the same:

No one is coming to live my life for me… which means I still get to decide where it goes.

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:

https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):

https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB

🎧 Audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

👕 Wear the message:

https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Ronald Reich, a leadership coach and corporate trainer with more than three decades of experience helping organizations develop stronger leaders and healthier workplace cultures.

Ron shares the night that forced him to confront his drinking. A drunk driving arrest and assault on a police officer became the moment he could no longer ignore what alcohol had done to his life. What followed was not a quick fix. It was the beginning of a long recovery process that required humility, honesty, and the willingness to ask for help.

We talk about how those lessons carried into leadership. The difference between confidence and arrogance. The importance of emotional intelligence, feedback, and psychological safety. And why the willingness to admit mistakes can build stronger teams and better leaders.

This conversation is about responsibility, recovery, and how the hardest moments in life can become the foundation for growth.

👤 Connect with Ron Reich:⁠

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-reich-7809829/⁠

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:

https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):

https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB

🎧 Audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

👕 Wear the message:

https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

No big speech. No defining moment. No one pulling me aside and saying I was capable of more. And after a while, I stopped looking for it. I settled. I played my role. I told myself this was just how life worked.

In this episode of No One Is Normal, I talk about what changed when I realized belief was never going to arrive from the outside. I share how I went from drifting without direction to setting real goals, why being publicly doubted could have defined me if I let it, and how self-belief is not something I felt first. It was something I built through action.

I also get honest about the internal damage of staying small, the risk of climbing ladders that were never mine to begin with, and what happens when I finally decide to trust my own voice more than everyone else’s opinion. This is about backing myself before the results show up. This is about choosing a direction even when confidence feels shaky.

Because the hard truth and the freeing truth are the same:

No one was coming to believe in me… so I had to start believing in myself.

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:

https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):

https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB

🎧 Audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

👕 Wear the message:

https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

In this episode of No One Is Normal, Brad sits down with Laura Bratton to discuss her journey of losing her sight as a teenager and how that gradual change reshaped not only her world, but her understanding of herself.

Laura shares what it was like to move through denial and grief while the world around her continued operating as usual. She speaks openly about learning Braille and Spanish Braille, navigating anxiety, and adapting to a world built for sight. Rather than framing her story as one of “overcoming blindness,” Laura redefines resilience as a daily choice — one rooted in self-compassion, validation of emotions, and small acts of courage.

She reflects on becoming the first blind student to complete the Master of Divinity program at Princeton, not as a moment of achievement alone, but as an exercise in self-trust and redefining what was possible.

This conversation explores gratitude not as forced positivity, but as perspective. Courage not as a one-time decision, but as something practiced repeatedly. And change not as something to conquer, but something to navigate with honesty.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Gradual vision loss and the grieving process
• Adapting to a sighted world
• Learning Braille and Spanish Braille
• Anxiety and non-linear healing
• The difference between acceptance and peace
• Self-compassion as a resilience tool
• Becoming the first blind MDiv graduate at Princeton
• Daily courage versus one-time bravery
• The role of community and spirituality in growth
• Trusting your inherent worth during rapid change

If this episode resonates, it may be because change rarely asks for permission. It asks for presence. And sometimes the most powerful shift is remembering that worth was never dependent on circumstances in the first place.

🌐 Learn more about Laura’s work:

👉 https://laurabratton.com

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:

https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):

https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB

🎧 Audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

👕 Wear the message:

https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

No one is coming to live my life for me.

Not a boss. Not a mentor. Not a partner. Not the “right opportunity.” Not the perfect timing. And the longer I waited for someone else to step in and make things easier, the longer I stayed stuck.

In this episode of No One Is Normal, I talk about the moment everything shifted. The moment I stopped hoping someone would rescue me and realized I had to take ownership of my habits, my health, my career, my choices, and my future.

I also get real about what happens when loyalty doesn’t come back, when people sabotage behind closed doors, and when waiting quietly turns into learned helplessness. This is about taking the wheel back, even when motivation is gone, even when life feels unfair, and even when the road ahead still sucks.

Because the hard truth and the hopeful truth are the same:

No one will do it for me… but that means I don’t have to wait anymore.

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:

https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):

https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB

🎧 Audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

👕 Wear the message:

https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

In this episode, Brad sits down with Zulma Williams, a licensed clinical social worker known as The Swearing Therapist, to talk about reinvention, discipline, and what real mental health work looks like when life doesn’t follow a traditional timeline. Zulma shares her journey from Argentina to the United States, returning to school later in life, navigating breast cancer, and ultimately redesigning her life to live by the ocean in Panama.

This conversation explores anxiety, depression, grief, and self-talk through a grounded, human lens. Zulma explains how discipline can matter more than motivation, why mindset shapes healing, and how staying present can change theway people relate to pain, fear, and uncertainty. The discussion also touches on creativity, therapy, and the courage it takes to keep moving forward without pretending things are easy.

This episode is for anyone who feels behind, overwhelmed, or unsure how to move forward and needs a reminder that growth doesn’t require perfection, just honesty and persistence.

Zulma Beatriz Williams is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker,breast cancer survivor, podcaster, and founder of Dragonfly Therapy Services. She specializes in trauma, anxiety, and depression, and is known for her direct, real-world approach to mental health.

🔗 Learn more about Zulma’s work:

Email: info@dragonflytherapyservices.netWebsite: https://www.dragonflytherapyservices.netIG: https://www.instagram.com/theswearingtherapist/Podcast: https://feed.pod.co/get-real-with-zulmaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/DragonflyTSLV/You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/@theswearingtherapistLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zulma-williams-ab7609214/

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:

https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):

https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB

🎧 Audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

👕 Wear the message:

https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

In this episode of No One Is Normal, I’m talking about what change actually feels like when the honeymoon wears off. The kind of change that’s supposed to be a step up. More money. Better balance. A smarter move. And then the reality hits: burnout, anxiety, regret, and that sinking feeling of “what the hell did I just do?”

I share the behind-the-scenes truth of a career move that looked perfect from the outside, but almost broke me once I got inside. Not just the financial fallout, but the emotional side. The shame. The sleepless nights. The identity shake-up. The moment I realized I had to admit I got it wrong and adapt fast.

This episode is for anyone in the messy middle of change right now, where nothing feels stable and you’re rebuilding in real time. Because sometimes change isn’t growth at first. Sometimes it’s grief. And sometimes adapting isn’t inspirational. It’s survival.

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:
https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):
https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB

🎧 Audiobook:
https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

👕 Wear the message:
https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

We talk about how people pleasing becomes survival, howoverachieving can become a form of pain management, and why addiction is oftenthe symptom of something deeper that has been avoided for too long. Hilaryshares what it truly means to hit rock bottom, why surrender can become thefoundation for a new life, and how healing requires more than motivation. Itrequires honesty, support, and a willingness to face what has been buried.

One of the most powerful moments in this conversation is Hilary’smetaphor of cleaning out the emotional refrigerator. That place whereold pain sits and rots in the dark until it affects everything else. Thisepisode is about opening that door, doing the work, and finally letting thepast release its grip.

We also talk about the power of service, the necessity of community,and why real recovery is not about chasing recognition. It is about findingfreedom.

If you’ve ever felt trapped in old patterns, stuck in self-doubt, orexhausted from trying to hold it together, this episode will hit home.

🔥 In this episode, we cover:

- Childhood fame and the cost of being a “meal ticket”

- Why fear creates a false version of who we are

- “Moving targets don’t get hit” and the overachiever trap

- Addiction, rock bottom, and what surrender really means

- Cleaning out the emotional refrigerator instead of buying a new one

- Service, gratitude, and recovery that actually lasts

- Why healing requires community and support

🔗 Connect with Hilary:

Hilary’s work, coaching, and resources:

Website: www.hilarymombergerpowers.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hilarymombergerpowers/

Email: info@hilarymombergerpowers.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hilary.momberger

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hilary-momberger-powers-078a604/

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:

https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):

https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB

🎧 Audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

👕 Wear the message:

https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

Vote for “Relapsed: How Easy It Creeps Back In” in the Signal Awards Listener’s Choice:

https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2026/individual-episodes/craft/best-writing

Relapse is one of those words people whisper, like it is a confession. It gets treated like proof you failed, like it cancels every ounce of progress you made. But the truth is, relapse is often not the end of the story. It is information. It is a warning light. It is a moment where something got heavier than the tools you had in your hands.

In this episode, I tell the truth about my own relapse while writing No One Is Normal. Not as a dramatic breakdown, but as the quiet kind that sneaks in through stress, fear, and isolation. One small decision that looked manageable, until it wasn’t. Because for me, alcohol is not something I can “control.” I don’t have a dimmer switch. I have an on and off switch.

We talk about how relapse really starts long before the bottle. It starts in the silence. It starts when I stop talking, stop admitting I’m scared, and start carrying everything alone like that is strength. This episode is about what it feels like to fall back into it, how fast the body remembers, how shame tries to take the wheel, and what it took to fight my way back out.

If relapse is part of your story, I want you to hear this clearly. You are not worthless. You are not hopeless. You are not alone. The story depends on what you do next.

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:

https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):

https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB

🎧 Audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

👕 Wear the message:

https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

Stanley Bronstein’s story didn’t hinge on one dramatic moment. It unfolded through years of learning what works, what fades, and what it actually takes to build a life that stays healthy long after motivation disappears.

In this conversation, Stanley opens up about the cycle so many people know too well. You lock in for a while, you lose weight, you feel better, and then life hits. Old habits come back. The structure disappears. The progress slips away. Not because you are weak, but because temporary effort can’t compete with permanent systems.

We talk about what it means to stop chasing short bursts of discipline and start building routines that can actually be lived inside of. How walking became a foundation. How simplifying food choices created stability. How the mindset shift from “trying to get results” to “beating yesterday” makes real transformation possible.

This is not a story about perfection. It is about consistency. It is about progress without punishment. And it is about learning how to keep going even when the excitement wears off.

If you’ve ever felt stuck in the repeat cycle of starting over, this episode is for you.

How to find more about Stanley Bronstein:

Website is TheWayOfExcellence.com

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@thewayofexcellence

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/stanleybronstein/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/wayofexcellence/?sorting_setting=CHRONOLOGICAL

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:

https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):

https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB

🎧 Audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

👕 Wear the message:

https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

For a long time, I did not just make excuses. I collected them. I polished them. I built whole stories around them. They were armor when I felt insecure, and a shield when I was afraid to try. The problem was not that I owed the world an explanation. The problem was that I had a built-in excuse for every failure before I even started.

I used excuses in the big arenas that shape an actual life. Alcohol. Health. Career. Any time change felt hard or vulnerable, I reached for lines that sounded reasonable, but kept me circling the same drain for years.

Then I walk through the shift that finally started changing things. Quitting smoking was a turning point because I stopped treating change like a vague wish and started treating it like a project. A real quit date. Triggers. Environment. The unglamorous structure that makes follow-through possible when motivation dies.

We also zoom out into the psychology of excuses. Self-handicapping. Perfectionism. Procrastination. The way the brain tries to drag you back into what is familiar because “safe” matters more to it than “fulfilled.” And the truth that real change is usually boring up close. Small actions. Reps. Consistency. Not a dramatic overnight reinvention.

By the end, this is the bottom line. Excuses will always be an option, always within reach, ready to soften discomfort and give you a fast exit. The choice is who gets the final say.

Content note: addiction and habit change themes.

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:

https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):

https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB

🎧 Audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

👕 Wear the message:

https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

Peter shares his life story through many roles he has lived over time, including military service, bodybuilding, fatherhood, poetry, and music. He reflects on a near-death experience at a young age that profoundly shaped how he views life, creativity, and meaning, and how that experience continues to influence his work today.

The conversation explores the realities of the creative industry and the challenges artists face when trying to stay authentic in a space that often rewards conformity over depth. Peter discusses The Amazons series and his approach to blending fact with fiction to create engaging, mythic stories for young readers, particularly young girls, inspired by his daughter and a desire to expand how heroism is represented in storytelling.

In many ways, Peter’s journey reflects what it truly means to find your tribe — not by chasing approval or fitting neatly into a category, but by staying grounded in who you are long enough for the right people to recognize you.

Brad and Peter also dive into poetry, music, and modern culture, including the evolution of songwriting, lyrical depth, and Peter’s concept of “Linked Lyrical Poetry,” which blends elements of poetry and music. They discuss the importance of discipline, meditation, and structure in creative work, as well as the role of spirituality, discernment, and personal drive in living with intention.

Throughout the episode, Peter shares insights into his current and upcoming projects, including books, music, and future plans for promoting his work, while emphasizing the value of perspective, perseverance, and creating with integrity.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Living across multiple identities and roles
• A near-death experience and its lasting impact
• Military discipline and personal structure
• Bodybuilding, fitness, and pushing past limits
• The realities of the creative industry
• Writing The Amazons and creating strong heroines
• Blending fact, fiction, and mythology
• Poetry, music, and the evolution of lyrics
• Creativity, spirituality, and discernment
• Finding alignment before belonging

Peter Gunn's Website:

https://www.petergunn.net/

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:

https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):

https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB

🎧 Audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

👕 Wear the message:

https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

In “Finding Your Tribe,” I talk about how easy it is to confuse a crowd for community, especially when addiction or numbing out is part of the culture. I had bar buddies, party crowds, and familiar faces everywhere, but being surrounded is not the same as being seen. Some of those connections were not friendships; they were shared escape routes. Any time I tried to pull back, the pressure came fast, and it became clear they did not want to see me climb out.

I also get into the harder side of this topic: the one-way friendships, the guilt, and the family dynamics where setting boundaries feels like betrayal. I had to pay attention to what my body was telling me. When certain people were close, my stress spiked and my sleep got worse. When I stepped back, my nervous system calmed down. That was not drama. That was information.

Then I zoom out into the psychology of belonging and why the people around us shape what feels normal. A circle can normalize heavy drinking, constant complaining, or staying stuck. A healthier circle can normalize therapy, recovery, creativity, growth, and taking action. It is not about being above anyone. It is about awareness and direction.

If you feel “in between” right now, the old crowd does not fit but the new people have not fully shown up yet, you are not broken. You might be in a rebuild phase. This episode is for that gap.

If you have been settling for noise because it feels better than being alone, I get it. But I also know this: peace is not loneliness, and a real tribe will never require you to destroy yourself just to belong.

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:

https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):

https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB

🎧 Audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

👕 Wear the message:

https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

In this episode, Brad sits down with Ryan Reichert, a former U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, coach, and speaker, to talk about sobriety, faith, discipline, and rebuilding a life after long-held systems fall away. Ryan shares his experience navigating addiction, family strain, and identity shifts following military retirement, and what it took to create sustainable routines rooted in honesty and intention.

This conversation explores the difference between appearance and alignment, the unglamorous middle of recovery, and how growth often comes not from dramatic moments, but from small, consistent choices made when no one is watching.

This episode is for anyone navigating transition, questioning habits that no longer serve them, or learning how to build structure that supports who they are becoming, not just who they were.

No One Is Normal is a podcast about the human experience beneath the surface. Real stories. Real transitions. No performance required.

Reach Ryan on the following Socials:

Website: www.OurProtectorDevelopment.com and www.RyanTReichert.com

Podcast: Our Healer Our Protector (located on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music, Deezer, and Spotify)

Social Media:

Instagram: @ryan.t.reichert,

Facebook: @armyrt1978,

LinkedIn: @RyanReichert78,

X: @RyanTReichert,

TikTok: @armyrt1978,

YouTube Channel: @OurHealerOurProtector

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:

https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):

https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB

🎧 Audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

👕 Wear the message:

https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

In this episode, I go underneath my chapter Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes. I grew up in survival mode, watching my mom grind to keep us afloat. That shaped how I saw myself and left that quiet question on loop: Am I ever going to measure up.

That gap did not stay empty. I tried to fill it with curiosity, bravado, and bad decisions. I share two psychedelic nights that drove the lesson home: acid as a teenager, then years later a “hero dose” of mushrooms stacked on top of way too much alcohol. Panic. Shame. The scary beauty of losing control and realizing I was not invincible.

Then I zoom out, because the point is bigger than substances. When you grow up without much emotional safety, your nervous system learns to stay on high alert. You start scanning for danger, judgment, and proof that you do not belong. Eventually, you look for a button that gives instant relief. For some people, that button is drugs. For others it is alcohol, food, sex, shopping, gambling, or work. The buttons change, but the pattern does not.

If you have ever felt yourself chasing a feeling while the cost keeps going up, this will land.

Content note: substance use stories, panic, and mental health themes.

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:

https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):

https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB

🎧 Audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

👕 Wear the message:

https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

Karen shares her experience navigating a public scandal involving her ex-husband’s SA accusations, an event that shattered her family’s sense of safety and identity overnight. She talks openly about the shock, numbness, and isolation that followed as her community turned, her children faced harassment, and she was forced to confront a future she never planned for as a single mom with one income.

We explore the emotional toll of living through a criminal case, the long-term impact it had on her children’s mental health and social lives, and the reality of trying to hold everything together while quietly unraveling inside. Karen reflects on the years she spent maintaining a facade of strength and perfection, staying busy to avoid her own healing, and the cost that came with delaying grief.

Karen also speaks candidly about surviving emotional abuse, navigating divorce, and the complicated decisions she made in the name of stability and survival, especially during COVID when tensions intensified. Through it all, she describes the slow, uneven process of unlearning survival mode and learning how to actually heal.

This conversation moves beyond crisis into rebuilding. Karen shares how prioritizing self-care, setting boundaries, finding community, and reclaiming her identity allowed her to rediscover authentic happiness after years of simply getting through the day. She reflects on what it means to start over later in life, to stop performing for others, and to choose a life rooted in honesty rather than appearances.

This episode is about grief, resilience, parenting through trauma, and the courage it takes to stop pretending you’re okay and start asking what you actually need.

If you’ve ever felt defined by something that wasn’t your fault, or stuck carrying a version of yourself that no longer fits, this conversation will resonate.

No One Is Normal is a space for real stories, honest reflection, and the reminder that healing doesn’t happen all at once — but it does happen when you finally give yourself permission to begin.

Karen Peters Socials:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@karensimperfectperfectlife/shorts

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karensimperfectperfectlife/

Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@myimperfectperfectlife

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:

https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):

https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB

🎧 Audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

👕 Wear the message:

https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:

https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):

https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB

🎧 Audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

👕 Wear the message:

https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

In this episode, I’m introducing the mission behind the show and why this whole project exists in the first place. I talk about the core message that shaped the book and now the podcast:
You weren’t meant to be normal. You were meant to be you.
That’s more than a tagline. It’s a truth I had to learn the hard way, and one I want this community to learn with me.

You’ll hear how this podcast came to be, where the idea started, and why I believe storytelling is one of the most powerful tools we have for breaking shame, connecting with each other, and rebuilding our lives. I share some of my own background, the real turning points that pushed me to launch this, and why I think your story matters just as much as mine or anyone else’s.

Each week, you’ll get episodes that blend personal stories, honest conversations, and reflections that challenge the idea of “normal.” Some episodes will come from chapters in my book, some from moments in life that taught me something, and some will come straight from the stories you share with me. Every five episodes, you’ll also hear pieces of Bonnie’s story — because her voice deserves to be part of this too.

This show is for people who’ve lived through it, fought through it, and are still trying to make sense of their own second life. You’ll hear vulnerability, humor, grit, and the kind of truth most people don’t say out loud.

If this episode resonates, tap follow so you don’t miss the next one.
You can learn more at bradhhill.com or nooneisnormal.co

Join the community on Facebook, and share your story for a future episode.

Thanks for being here. This is just the beginning.

— Brad H. Hill

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:
https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):
https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB

🎧 Audiobook:
https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ

👕 Wear the message:
https://www.bradhhill.com/merch