Fearless: Stories of strength, resilience, and rising anyway

What happens when two teenage girls who survived life-altering brain injuries sit down together for the first time? A lot of honesty. A lot of laughter. And a lot of “wait…you do that too?!” In this episode of FEARLESS, Caddie and Aislinn talk openly about recovery, therapy, friendships, school, frustration, identity, and the little things people never think about after neurological trauma. From u...

In this episode of FEARLESS, I sit down with Raylene Lewis—founder of AVM Alliance and mom to Kyler, a stroke survivor whose life changed in an instant. What started as a normal day turned into emergency brain surgery, a diagnosis no parent is prepared for, and a journey filled with impossible decisions, setbacks, and moments of uncertainty. Raylene shares the raw reality of navigating a brain AVM...

In this deeply personal solo episode of FEARLESS , Kilene shares, for the first time, the full story of her daughter Caddie’s AVM—and the day that changed everything. What began as a normal August afternoon quickly turned into a life-threatening emergency, leading to a massive brain bleed, emergency surgery, and moments where the outcome was uncertain. Through a mother’s eyes, Kilene walks listene...

In this episode of FEARLESS , Kilene sits down with Tiffany, a mother whose daughter Kaya experienced a sudden AVM rupture at just nine years old. What began as an ordinary day quickly turned into every parent’s nightmare. With no warning signs, Kaya collapsed at home and was rushed to the hospital, eventually being airlifted to Duke for emergency brain surgery. Doctors warned Tiffany and her husb...

March is Brain Injury Awareness Month — and until this year, it wasn’t even on my radar. In this solo episode of FEARLESS, I share what brain injury really looks like beyond the emergency room, beyond the hospital stay, and beyond the first 72 critical hours. Because when most people hear “brain injury,” they think about the moment it happens — the car accident, the stroke, the fall, the rupture o...

In this episode of FEARLESS , Kilene sits down with Dr. Laura Franco , a certified trauma specialist and psychotherapist with clinical experience across the U.S. and Europe, to talk about what happens after a crisis—when the adrenaline is gone but the impact still lingers. Together, they explore secondary trauma in first responders , why not knowing the outcome of an emergency call can be just as...

In this deeply honest and unexpectedly funny episode of FEARLESS , Kilene sits down with her most requested guest—her daughter, Caddie —to share her side of the journey. Caddie opens up about life after her AVM rupture, what she remembers (and doesn’t), and what it’s really like to navigate recovery as a teenager under constant pressure to be “strong.” With humor, insight, and maturity far beyond...

Comparison has a quiet way of sneaking into our lives — especially during seasons of uncertainty, healing, and waiting. In this solo episode of FEARLESS , Kilene shares a deeply personal reflection on how comparison showed up during her daughter Caddie’s recovery journey and the unexpected weight it carried. What began as connection and community slowly turned into fear, self-doubt, and the pressu...

In this episode of FEARLESS , Kilene sits down with Anne Honkala — registered nurse, trauma-informed coach, yoga instructor, and grief guide — for a deeply honest conversation about loss, healing, and learning to live again after devastation. Anne shares her personal journey after losing her daughter, Piper, and how that loss reshaped her identity, her sense of safety, and the way she moves throug...

So many of us don’t choose to be “the strong one” — we become her. In this episode of Fearless , Kilene shares what it really means to carry strength quietly. The unspoken expectations. The emotional weight. The way you hold everything together for everyone else while learning how to manage your own fear, exhaustion, and uncertainty behind the scenes. Through personal reflection and lived experien...

Waiting can be one of the hardest parts of fear — because there’s nothing to do but feel it. In Episode 3 of Fearless , host Kilene Schelle reflects on the season of waiting that follows crisis — when progress slows, answers aren’t clear, and life feels suspended between what was and what’s next. From the exhaustion of hospital life to the frustration of slow recovery, this episode explores how fe...

Fear doesn’t always scream. Sometimes it whispers — and then slowly takes over the conversation. In Episode 2 of Fearless , host Kilene Schelle explores the fear that surfaces after the crisis has passed — when life gets quiet, expectations shift, and the mind finally has space to process what happened. Kilene shares her experience with panic attacks, post-crisis anxiety, guilt, and mourning the “...

Fear doesn’t always show up loudly. Sometimes it lives quietly in the background of our lives. In this first episode of Fearless , host Kilene Schelle shares the deeply personal story that led to the creation of this podcast — the moment fear entered her family’s life in an unimaginable way, and how strength showed up when survival became the only option. After her daughter Cadence suffered a mass...