Notes from the Edge

Why do so many intelligent, capable people stay trapped in relationships that continue to hurt them? In this episode of  Notes From the Edge , Lisa Lacy sits down with Steve Barton to explore trauma bonds through the often-overlooked male perspective. Together, they unpack how childhood conditioning, identity, fear, shame, and the need to earn love can keep people locked in unhealthy relationship...

Some of the most important conversations happen in the gray areas. In this episode of  Notes From the Edge , Lisa Lacy sits down with author and former military officer  Richard Spegal  for an honest conversation about leadership, identity, creativity, mental health, and the stories we build around ourselves to survive. Richard shares his journey from serving in the military to becoming an award-w...

What do you do when life gives you a second chance? In this powerful episode of  Notes From the Edge , I sit down with Gaylen Wilson, heart transplant survivor, relationship coach, author, and founder of The Monument Method Institute. Gaylen’s story is one of extraordinary reinvention. From farm failure and alcoholism to career collapse, heart failure, and ultimately receiving a life-saving heart...

What if the biggest obstacle to your success isn’t a lack of skill, knowledge, or opportunity but the invisible fears running beneath the surface? In this thought-provoking conversation, Lisa sits down with executive coach, author, and creator of The Game of Ten®, Steve Barton. Drawing from nearly five decades of business and leadership experience, Steve shares a powerful framework for helping hig...

What happens when performance follows us into the most intimate parts of our lives? In this powerful conversation, Lisa Lacy sits down with relationship and embodiment coach Tracy Allyn to explore performative sex, disconnection from the body, and the hidden ways survival strategies shape our relationships, leadership, creativity, and sense of self. Together, they discuss the difference between pe...

Why is saying no so hard? For many women, it isn’t a communication problem. It’s a survival strategy. In this episode of  Notes From the Edge , Lisa explores the psychology of people pleasing, the conditioning that teaches women to prioritize everyone else’s comfort over their own, and the hidden costs of a life built around approval, usefulness, and performance. Together, we’ll unpack why boundar...

She has the career. The responsibilities. The accomplishments. The smile. Everyone thinks she’s doing fine. But what if competence has become camouflage? In this episode of  Notes From the Edge , Lisa explores the hidden world of high-functioning survival, the adaptations, identities, and performances that help people survive difficult circumstances while quietly disconnecting them from themselves...

Were you taught to be kind… or taught to disappear? In this episode of  Notes From the Edge , Lisa explores Good Girl Conditioning through the lens of survival, adaptation, and identity. What happens when being agreeable, helpful, accommodating, and responsible stops being a choice and becomes a performance? From people-pleasing and perfectionism to high-functioning survival, this episode examines...

What happens when a diagnosis, label, role, or identity becomes the lens through which you see your entire life? In this episode, Lisa explores the hidden cost of attaching ourselves to labels and why many of the things we call personality may have begun as survival adaptations. The question isn’t whether a label is accurate. The question is whether it still serves you. www.lisalacy.com

Welcome to the first episode of  Notes From the Edge . I’m Lisa Lacy, writer, trauma educator, executive advisor, author of the upcoming memoir  Notes From a Certified Madwoman , and its field guide companion,  The Psychology of Performing™ . In this opening episode, I share why this podcast exists, the question that changed my life, and the conversations we’ll be having here. Together, we’ll expl...