Redeeming Stories

In this episode of The Redeeming Stories Podcast, I sit down with Dr. Calynn Lawrence for an honest conversation about mental health, complex trauma, substance use, suicide, identity, and what it can mean to approach recovery as a whole person. Calynn brings both her professional work and her lived experience as a Black queer woman who grew up in a low income environment and has navigated major de...

For decades, I knew how to respond to what everyone else needed. Learning to ask myself what I want has been a very different journey. In this episode, I reflect on purpose, creativity, and the importance of including ourselves in our own lives. Learn more at JulieMLane.com . #RedeemingHope #SelfDiscovery #Purpose #HealingJourney #RedeemThyself

In this episode of The Redeeming Stories Podcast , I sit down with Tiffany Wilkson, a wife, mother, grandmother, and advocate whose story has moved through domestic violence, shelter, serious illness, loss, healing, and eventually service to others. Years ago, Tiffany escaped an abusive relationship and entered a domestic violence shelter while working, attending college full time, and trying to r...

In this episode of The Redeeming Stories Podcast, I sit down with Izzi Simonsen, Programs Manager at the Women’s Resource Center in Dillon, Montana, for a conversation about survivor centered advocacy, empowerment, and the unique challenges of supporting survivors in rural communities. Izzi’s connection to this work began long before it became her profession. She grew up seeing the impact of the W...

I cannot return to the person I was before trauma. But I can return to my harp. After nearly thirty years away, I am rediscovering music through new eyes and a new heart. This episode explores beginning again, embracing patience, and meeting the musician I am today. Learn more at JulieMLane.com and 7Pedals.com . #RedeemingHope #7Pedals #Harpist #MusicHealing #CreativeJourney

For much of my life, I searched for answers about the past. Today, I am learning to ask a different question; what do I notice about myself right now? Join me as I reflect on creativity, nature, curiosity, and the quiet observations that are helping me discover who I am today. Learn more at JulieMLane.com . #RedeemingHope #SelfDiscovery #PresentMoment #HealingJourney #RedeemThyself

There is a unique grief that comes with early childhood trauma; grieving the person you might have been. In this episode, I share why I do not believe I need to make my abuse meaningful in order to build a meaningful life. Instead, I am learning to become curious about the woman I am today. Learn more at JulieMLane.com . #RedeemingHope #ChildhoodTrauma #HealingJourney #SelfDiscovery #RedeemThyself

For years, survival gave me a clear purpose; keep going, work hard, solve problems, and take care of everyone else. But what happens when survival finally makes room for discovery? In this first episode of Redeeming Hope: Discovering Who I Am , I reflect on why I am not trying to "find myself again," but instead discovering who I am, perhaps for the first time. Learn more at JulieMLane.com . #Rede...

Healing is often quieter than we expect. Not dramatic; not immediate; but gradual; subtle; and ongoing. Like rivers that continue carving stone over time; or trees that root deeper season after season; healing often happens slowly. This reflection explores returning to ourselves; to stillness; to nature; and to what feels aligned. More at JulieMLane.com and through the Redeemed Collective. #Healin...

Sometimes what once deeply hurt us no longer stings in the same way. But does that mean we healed; or simply learned to minimize? Experts note that many trauma survivors downplay their experiences in order to continue functioning. Over time; reflection becomes essential in understanding the difference between healing; adaptation; and avoidance. This reflection explores that quiet and often complic...

In this episode of The Redeeming Stories Podcast, I sit down with Michelle Dean, financial services professional, author, speaker, and founder of WHOW (Women Helping Other Women). Michelle's story begins in a place many survivors know well. After experiencing years of childhood sexual abuse, life became about surviving. Like so many women, she learned how to endure, but somewhere along the way she...

Sometimes moving quickly is not productivity; it is protection. Experts note that trauma can shape how we process uncertainty; risk; and decision-making. Staying busy; pushing forward; and remaining in motion can become ways of avoiding what feels uncomfortable underneath. This reflection explores slowing down; allowing clarity to form; and learning that not every decision needs urgency. More at J...

In this episode of The Redeeming Stories Podcast, I sit down with Megan Ashton, breathwork facilitator, teacher, and founder of Unity Breathwork, for a conversation about healing, trauma, grief, addiction, and the remarkable tool we all carry with us every day: our breath. Megan shares her personal journey of discovering connected breathwork during her own healing process and how that experience t...

For some women, boundaries do not feel empowering at first. They feel risky. Experts explain that when boundaries once led to conflict; rejection; or harm; the body learns to associate boundaries with danger rather than protection. This reflection explores the difference between knowing what we need; and learning how to express it safely and clearly. More at JulieMLane.com and through the Redeemed...

In this episode of The Redeeming Stories Podcast, I sit down with Ruth Darlene, Founder and Executive Director of WomenSV: Survivor Voices, for an important conversation about coercive control and the hidden realities of domestic abuse that often go unseen. Ruth has spent years supporting survivors, educating professionals, and helping communities understand how abuse can exist without visible bru...

Many women who have experienced trauma quietly carry responsibility for everything around them. Not just for themselves; but for outcomes; emotions; stability; and the wellbeing of others. Over time; carrying so much can begin to feel normal. But experts remind us that over-responsibility is often adaptation; not identity. This reflection explores what it means to slowly return to ourselves; and t...

There was a time in my life when survival was enough. Survival meant getting through the day, managing responsibilities, building a career, raising my daughters, and continuing to move forward despite the wounds I carried quietly. From the outside, much of my life looked successful. On the inside, I was still trying to understand how childhood trauma, abuse, and years of unhealthy relationships ha...

Who are we outside of adaptation? Trauma does not just shape experience; it can shape identity. Many women learn early how to adjust; accommodate; anticipate; and survive. Over time; those adaptations can begin to feel like personality itself. In this reflection; I explore the quiet question many women eventually ask themselves: Who am I beyond what I needed to become in order to survive? More at...

In this deeply honest episode of The Redeeming Stories Podcast , Julie M. Lane welcomes Nesha, creator of @nesha_canvascreations and @vulnerablevoices_podcast, for a conversation about healing through art, vulnerability, and human connection. After surviving suicidal thoughts and emotional despair, Nesha shares how creativity, therapy, holistic healing, and self-awareness became a lifeline that ul...

Many women become so accustomed to survival mode that they no longer recognize it as survival. The constant movement; the pressure to keep going; the inability to rest without guilt; these patterns often begin long before we realize they are there. Experts explain that the nervous system learns through experience; not logic. And sometimes the body continues preparing for danger long after circumst...

Trauma is not just something we remember; it is something the body experiences and holds. As I begin this new rhythm of alternating between podcast conversations and weekly reflections, I wanted to begin with something foundational. So many women move through life questioning themselves, wondering why certain patterns remain even years later. What experts are helping us understand is this: the bod...

In this episode of The Redeeming Stories Podcast, I sit down with Kristen Giacomini, interior designer and founder of Flow Designs, for a conversation that goes far beyond design. Kristen shares how experiencing deep loss at a young age, along with her own health challenges, shaped the way she sees the world and the spaces we live in. What began as a creative path became something much more intent...

Over the past several weeks, I have been writing more consistently through the Redeeming Hub, not with the intention of having something polished or complete, but simply to process, to reflect, and to better understand my own story as it continues to unfold. In this solo episode of The Redeeming Stories Podcast, I step back and reflect on what has been emerging through that writing. Not just the s...

In this episode of The Redeeming Stories Podcast, I’m joined by Sarah Wilkinson, an entrepreneur, mother, and advocate who shares her story of navigating profound loss, health challenges, and the realities of continuing to move forward when life feels anything but steady. Sarah’s journey includes raising children with epilepsy, facing her own health struggles, and the devastating loss of her young...

Over the past eight weeks, I’ve had the privilege of sitting with incredible guests; each one sharing their story of pain, healing, resilience, and redemption. And while every story is different, the threads are the same. In this solo episode of The Redeeming Stories Podcast, I take a step back to reflect on what has been woven through these conversations; the patterns that continue to rise to the...