Dare To Share Your Untold Story

Michael openly speaks out about physical, emotional, and sexual abuse he endured from childhood. He has suffered through post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, amoung other painful experiences. Michael emphasized that he was leading a regular life, until an encounter he had with a mental health facility, at a time when he underwent a nervous breakdown, he attempted to seek help...

In this episode Carla unveils with true vulnerability her experience of burnout that she endured in 2020 simultaneous to the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. She came to realize that even though she was doing all the right things to ensure she was engaging in regular self-care, self-care just wasn't enough to feel better. Carla described that she wasn't functional, she couldn't work, she experience...

Tanya takes a deep dive in sharing some delicate parts to her untold story. She explained that she went from being an out-going, full of energy, enthusiastic and bold in personality, to suddenly losing her voice, finding herself with the inability to communicate. Her story dates back more than 20 years ago, where she entered the corporate world as a young female of colour, heavily dominated by alp...

Thalia tells her story of the murder-suicide attempt of her grandparents when she was a young teenager, the lives of her grandparents had deteriorated in many ways which led her grandfather through a period of desperation. Her grandparents were later separated and hospitalized for what ended up leading into the loss of her grandparents within the span of a year. Thalia spoke about the differences...

In Saidat's story she openly shares about all the inner triumphs which get brushed under the rug while she talks about being a parent to a child with autism, a journey which began 20 years ago. She expresses what it was like to not have the opportunity and not give herself the opportunity to sit with that pain, knowing that it is a grieving of its own kind, to know that she must embark on a differ...

Belinda conveys that initially her story begins with grief and losing her mother to illness, which expands to larger circumstances that were seen from the lens of a minority, a black African woman, raised in a culture where there was no permission to have a voice. Belinda articulates the obligations of this cultural upbringing are some of what her mother endured which Belinda witnessed. The witnes...

Justin expresses the depth of his experiences with trauma, substance abuse issues, cycling through the system, mental health challenges that have been part of his journey, and the recovery process which all led him an opportunity to pave his career successes in the field. He shares what it's like to be raised in a religious cult led by prominent family members who also met with mental health chall...

Shirley identifies herself as an introvert who stepped into a male dominated workspace, and found her way to shine, despite facing barriers as a black woman, facing gender inequities, pay disparities, and finding her voice. She spoke about what it was like to work ten times harder than others for less opportunities, and for whatever did come her way, she needed to be gracious for it, and sacrifice...

Melissa unpacks details of a childhood that was unpredictable, intense, and full of turmoil. She delved into what it was like to grow up in an alcoholic household that was very abusive, particularly after her mother's death. She explained that her parents were divorced, and while living with her mother, at 8 years old, mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer suddenly and deteriorated quickly, th...

Jennifer describes what she experienced as an emotional divorce, finding herself in a situation where she made a choice that she would have never thought could be something she would follow through with -- an affair. She speaks about the consequences to her mental well-being and how it affected others. The big change in her life started when she came across the most devastating email. She openly s...

Wynnikka is no stranger at sharing her story of living with a disability since birth, due to a birth injury and having to navigate through life because of the irreparable impact on her overall well-being. She openly speaks about having a wealth of support from her parents, extended family, good friends, and solid mentors, all guiding her to reach her potential and become the woman that she is toda...

Brittany gives us a deep dive into her challenging upbringing as a child and all the disorder that came her way. While facing adversity, she highlights how she drew from a place of strength, resiliency, and perseverance that has shaped her into who she has become today. Some of the odds that Brittany faced included coming from a family of divorce and having a young mother (who is currently a missi...

Stephanie takes a plunge into sharing how she has lived her life from a young age, coping with mental illness while learning to hide it from the outside world, including those she is close to. As an individual who has encountered trauma at age 15, worked through suicidal ideations, and combatted diagnoses of anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder, she openly speaks to what it has been like to n...

Alyza pours her heart into sharing how the imposter within her emerged, while successfully masking it for years to her external world. She speaks about the internal struggle of fearing to let her guard and let herself see her true worth. Alyza openly talks about what it is like to grow up in a home where she witnessed her father's abusive personality take a toll on her mother, while not having any...

Returning guest, Asante speaks about the providence in being vulnerable and nourishing himself with emotional and psychological tools rooted in strength, truth, and honesty. Asante explores what the last two years of his public life experience has been behind closed doors, and how he needed to take a step back to re-evaluate his goals. He also identified what he was working towards by taking a sec...

Her cancer diagnosis necessitated her to come to terms with facing death and mortality. Rishma elaborates on how her cancer journey ran deeper than just the physical toll, preparation, or adjustment during and after treatments. She gave herself an opportunity to turn inward, connected to  herself and did some soul-searching. She identifies with some prominent thoughts that played on her mind in th...

Peter took the opportunity to dive deep into an area of conversation that he typically doesn't express publicly too often. He shares his journey growing up and coming to Canada as a young immigrant, starting his own businesses from such a young age, and getting caught up in success and living the life he thought would bring him happiness. He shared details of what it was like to experience that le...

Laimina's story goes well beyond her journey through taking leaps of faith and entering career success, she took the time to take us down memory lane and share what it was like to find a way to support her young son's inability to hear from a very tender developmental age. She detailed what it was like to scope out all the possibilities for her son's future, what decisions had to be undertaken to...

Ifeoma describes what it was like for her to transition from a highly successful and driven young professional and pausing her career for a decade to raise her four children. She expressed what it was like for her to watch her former classmates progress in their careers and finding herself constantly questioning her life choices, leaving her to feel tormented that she let her education go to waste...

Zak dives right in to talk about how her life had been impacted by depression and how some of it was rooted in fear of how she would be judged or interpreted by others, which resulted in the fear of showing up authentically and being seen. She unveils that the depression brought her to an all-time low point in her life, she recognized that this wasn't who she was, she continued to seek outwardly t...

Today's guest openly shares that her upbringing began with a mother who suffered with undiagnosed schizophrenia, and when she was the tender age of 6, one day at school, she met her two older brothers at the school office where they were then taken and placed in foster care. She remained in the foster care system until she was 18 years of age. She connects with difficult moments and unknown feelin...

Marnie's story is all about bringing her son, Joe, into the world as the dust was settling in New York from the 9/11 attacks which became a transformative experience for her. Her story circles around her experience of getting pregnant and having a scheduled delivery on that same day, while residing in downtown Chicago, where the city was bracing itself to be the next hit after New York. Her experi...

Dr. Naira takes the time to convey what it was like to be a child of divorce from the age of three being brought up in Moscow, Russia. Expressing that her mother was busy with her personal life and her father oblivious to her needs, Dr. Naira felt alone from this young age. She grew up having self-doubt, not confident in her abilities, though aspiring to be a perfectionist in anything she put her...

Karima voices what it has been like to be caught in a system she believes has failed her by giving her a false mental health diagnosis leading to a life altering narrative, combined with the difficulties that come along with her identity as an ethnically mixed Muslim woman of colour. She shares details about feeling like the odd one out growing up, being bullied not just with appearance but also i...

Christine openly shares how she has struggled with depression since her teen years, undiagnosed, with some re-occurrences post-partum. She explains that her parents' marriage had fallen apart and the narrative that was created in her mind was that her family had fallen apart. The breakdown of the family unit was a major theme in her struggles growing up. Christine shared that at the time of her pa...