Human Amplified

Before conversations about confidence or authenticity, there is something more foundational that shapes how we move through the world. We want to feel seen. But for many people, especially those navigating multiple identities, being seen has never been simple. It is shaped by safety, by context, and by whether the spaces around you were ever designed to hold your full reality. In this episode, Ami...

Long before today’s headlines, social justice movements were shaped in local communities, in conversations, in classrooms, and in everyday decisions people made about what they would accept and what they would challenge. Timothy Hughes, activist, civic educator, and community organizer, shares how history continues to shape the present and why the stories we tell about that history matter more tha...

Before hypnotherapy became a mainstream wellness tool, it lived mostly at the edges. Part clinical, part spiritual, and often misunderstood. In this conversation, Hannah Bethel, a hypnotherapist, musician, and energy practitioner, walks through what actually happens beneath the surface when people start working with the subconscious. Not just what it is, but what changes when you stop trying to th...

Second-guessing your intuition is normal, especially in the south where there’s culturally a lot of fear around trusting your intuition… and we’ll go so far as to say trusting psychic hits that you get. Yes, you. In this episode, we’re talking to Laura Stendel. She’s a licensed massage therapist here in Franklin, TN offering various forms of body work and energy work in her sessions. She owns Intu...

We spend a lot of time trying to hold things in place. Our identity, our relationships, our sense of control. But what if nothing is meant to stay the same? In this conversation, John M. DeMarco reflects on impermanence and what it means to live fully within it. Instead of resisting change, he explores how awareness, presence, and acceptance can lead to a deeper sense of meaning. He talks about th...

We don’t enter relationships as blank slates. By the time we start dating, committing, or getting married, we’ve already built an internal framework for what love looks like, how conflict works, and what we’re willing to tolerate. That framework often forms long before we have the language to describe it. In this conversation, psychotherapist Amanda JP Brown connects those early experiences to the...

For much of her life, Christy Pruitt-Haynes moved through the world in close connection with others. Her time, energy, and sense of enjoyment were shaped by relationships. Family, friendships, and shared experiences that gave her life structure and meaning. Over a relatively short period, that structure shifted. The loss of her best friend, a divorce, and her daughter leaving for college all chang...

Today we’re talking to Tian Yuming. She’s a yoga teacher and trauma-informed certified life coach who immigrated to Singapore from China at an early age with her family. This immigration and the generational impact of the Chinese cultural revolution set the stage for the healing journey and expertise Yuming shares with us in this episode.  The most prominent thing I noticed about Yuming when...

This episode is all about using spirituality as a practical tool in your life, thanks to today’s guest, Ashley B. Jones.  Ashley is a Transformation Coach and Healer based in Denver, Colorado who supports feelers and dreamers as they learn to embrace change and build inner security to transform their lives into one where anything is possible. She is known for her unique holistic approach that...

Y’all, go ahead and grab your tissues now. Today we’re talking to Cheyenne England about her miraculous healing journey. In late October 2020, at 38 years old, Cheyenne was diagnosed with stage 4b high-grade serous epithelial ovarian cancer.  Cheyenne is not only a cancer survivor, but she’s a mother, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, and teacher. She’s been a teacher for 16 years in Tenne...

Do you ever just sit and listen to someone tell stories from their life? What a gift it is to be able to listen to such intimate memories that helped shape a person into who they are in this exact moment, with wisdom unmatched. If you love doing that as much as I do, you’re in for a treat today — this is one of our ultimate storytelling episodes from a special person who has a rich tapestry of exp...

Today we’re talking to Emerson Wright. They go by Em. And y’all, this episode is worth a listen. Through the lens of being a transgender law professor in Florida, we look at how bringing our whole selves to how we show up is healing and empowering, whether we do it individually or systemically. And staying connected to our humanness is how we make life and systems better. That’s huge, and that’s h...

You’re in for a treat with this interview. We start out by talking what it looks like when a man has healthy levels of testosterone and what it looks like if testosterone is low. You’ll see that the role testosterone plays is way bigger than we typically give it credit for. Then, Justin squashes the stigma around testosterone usage and what healthy masculinity really is. Justin opens up about his...

Stories...the stories we tell ourselves shape who we've been, who we are, and what we become. What you choose to do next either reinforces or changes your story. You have the power to choose where we go from here, as humans. So, welcome to the evolving story of what it means to be human through one beautiful and messy person at a time.  We’re back after a two-year break and we’re gonna dig de...

Trauma is often framed as something that happens in a moment. A single event with a clear beginning and end. But for many people, the real impact comes after. In the patterns we develop, the ways we adapt, and the identities we form without fully understanding why. In this conversation, Yemi Penn, an engineer, author, and trauma researcher, shares how her experience with childhood abuse shaped her...

Clutter usually gets framed as a discipline problem. You just need a better system, more motivation, or a weekend to finally get it together. But what if clutter isn’t about effort at all? In this conversation, organizer coach Sara Skillen reframes clutter as something much deeper. Not a failure to clean up, but a pattern tied to postponed decisions, overwhelm, and systems that were never built fo...

Long before most people would willingly push themselves to physical and mental extremes, endurance challenges have existed as a way to test not just skill, but identity. In this episode, Steve Davis (Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge finisher, Navy veteran, and Angels Alive supporter) shares what it means to take on a 10,000-mile ride with no GPS, limited sleep, and constant uncertainty. What begins a...

Most people think pilots are trained to stay calm during emergencies. But long before a crisis happens, they’ve already imagined it. They’ve walked through worst-case scenarios in simulators, practiced communication under pressure, and learned how to make decisions without letting panic take over. In aviation, preparation matters more than confidence. In this episode, Brandi Fleck talks with airli...

When Human Amplified first launched, the goal was to create honest conversations about what it means to be human. One hundred episodes later, those conversations have grown into something much bigger. In this special milestone episode, Brandi Fleck and producer Ryan Sauls reflect on the evolution of the podcast over four years, from conversations about trauma and resilience to deeper discussions a...

Before clothing became fast, seasonal, and trend-driven, it was designed around how it felt on the body. Alyssa Couture (fashion author, designer, and founder of the Healthy Fashion Campaign) shares how her experience in fashion, retail, and design led her to question the role materials play in everyday life. Over time, she began to notice a pattern. Certain fabrics felt better, lasted longer, and...

Clif Doyal has spent most of his life in rooms where people weren’t supposed to mix. He played in integrated rock bands in the 1970s when racial tension still divided crowds inside clubs. He worked alongside Muslim crews in Saudi Arabia as a teenager. He tour managed artists during Donald Trump’s inauguration, then joined the Women’s March the next day. Clif reflects on political polarization, rac...

Most emotional walls are built slowly. They form through judgment, discomfort, self-protection, past experiences, and the quiet conclusions people make about themselves, other people, and the world around them. In this episode of Human Amplified, communication expert and author Kass Thomas joins Brandi Fleck for a conversation about authentic communication, emotional awareness, intuition, inclusio...

People often ask survivors of abuse the same question: “Why didn’t you leave?” But abusive relationships rarely begin with obvious violence. More often, they unfold slowly through jealousy, control, isolation, emotional manipulation, and trauma bonding over time. By the time the abuse becomes impossible to ignore, many people are already emotionally, financially, psychologically, or physically tra...

Gratitude is easy when life feels supportive. The harder question is whether gratitude is possible during experiences people would normally label traumatic. Dr. John Demartini explores trauma, grief, panic attacks, emotional resilience, and the role our perception plays in creating suffering. Through stories involving kidnapping, violent assault, prison inmates, family conflict, and fear of death,...

Taylor Rochestie has spent years living with uncertainty. Between international basketball contracts, constant travel, unexpected setbacks, and raising a family across different countries, he’s had to learn how to stay grounded even when life refuses to feel stable. In this conversation with Brandi Fleck, Taylor explains why he believes happiness is less about circumstances and more about daily pe...