Épisodes

  • The Trapdoor Moment: Radical Kindness and One-Step Transformation with Dr. Melissa Swonger
    Dec 11 2025
    After literally falling through a trapdoor and breaking her back, Dr. Melissa Swonger had a choice: collapse into the dark or finally listen to her soul. In less than five months, she wrote her book, launched a nonprofit, and sparked a movement around radical kindness. Not long ago, Dr. Melissa Swonger took a single step onto what she thought was solid ground…and fell through a trapdoor. The storm-shelter door opened beneath her, shattering her back and pelvis and forcing her into a season of stillness she never asked for. Lying flat on her back, Melissa finally did the one thing she'd resisted for sixteen years: she wrote her story. In this episode of Unlearn the Crap & Level Up, host Kathy Baldwin sits down with Melissa to explore how that one decision ignited a wave of radical change. Together they unpack: Growing up with CPTSD and a "world is unsafe" brain What happens when trauma trains you for protection instead of connection Why forgiveness of an unrepentant parent became the turning point in Melissa's legacy Awareness → Connection → Movement as a practical framework for transformation The trapdoor accident on May 20, 2025—and the decision to finally write Whom He Raised How radical kindness "walks in when everyone else walks out" What it means to become an agent of change in your family, your work, and your community Melissa also shares how The Sage Hill Project is mobilizing radical kindness as a movement, not a moment. If you've ever felt like you're lying in your own trapdoor moment, wondering how to keep going, this conversation is your reminder that one step—just one—can change everything. About Kathy Baldwin Kathy Baldwin is the creator of Unlearn the Crap & Level Up, a transformational framework that helps high-impact humans release the conditioned responses and automatic programming that keep them stuck. She is the author of the trilogy: Unlearn the Crap & Level Up: Your Soul Is Calling, How I Unlearned My Crap, and The Unlearned Life: An AI-Powered Ritual System for Truth, Transformation, and Personal Empowerment. She is also the founder of Finally Podcast Automation, a business infrastructure system built for podcasters and companies who use podcasting as their growth engine. Finally eliminates backend overwhelm, tech chaos, and burnout so leaders can stay focused on their message—not the mechanics. Learn more, apply to be a guest, or explore Kathy's books at: 👉 https://unlearnthecrap.com Discover the automation system behind this show at: 👉 https://finallypodcastautomation.com 6.4 Key Takeaways How CPTSD shapes your nervous system and relationships—and how to start unlearning it Why your "one more day" choice matters more than motivational clichés The difference between numbing and true healing How radical kindness breaks generational patterns and rewrites legacy A simple framework: Awareness → Connection → Movement Why one act of obedience (writing the story) can open doors you didn't even know existed 6.5 Suggested Timestamps You can adjust these in post to match final edit length. 00:00 – 02:15 – Cold open + VO intro (Kathy) 02:15 – 06:30 – What "crap" Melissa had to unlearn: "the world is unsafe" 06:30 – 15:00 – Trapdoor accident, medical trauma history, and hearing "write your story" 15:00 – 23:00 – CPTSD explained: hypervigilance, gaslighting, and mental whiplash 23:00 – 32:00 – Inner child healing, awareness, and connection work 32:00 – 41:00 – Forgiving her mother, breaking bitterness, changing legacy 41:00 – 52:00 – Canoeing the mountains: when your tools don't fit your current mountain 52:00 – 1:02:00 – Radical kindness: the mentor who wouldn't walk away 1:02:00 – 1:10:00 – The Sage Hill Project and mobilizing radical kindness 1:10:00 – 1:15:00 – One more day, one more step, and closing call to action
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    1 h et 4 min
  • From Cancer to Erotic Power: Reclaiming Body, Voice & Desire After Cancer with Sara Jane Wellock
    Nov 20 2025

    What if pleasure was the missing link in your healing? In this wildly raw, unfiltered, and deeply spiritual conversation, Sarah Jane Wellock shares her journey through cancer, double mastectomy, body reconstruction, and rediscovering the power of erotic energy as medicine.

    We talk about feminine suppression, cultural shame, receiving, and how the body remembers not just trauma — but joy. From universal laws to orgasmic meditation, nothing is off-limits in this episode.

    Sarah Jane is the founder of Caress, a community that helps women reconnect to their sensual wisdom and heal through pleasure. Find Sara Jane at TheLivingBlog.net

    Explore more at kathybaldwin.me and grab Kathy's books Unlearn the Crap and Level UP and How I Unlearned My Crap (Amazon + bookstores).

    🎧 Listen, feel, and remember — your body is sacred.

    The Power of Pleasure and Permission: Reclaiming the Feminine Body and Voice with Sarah Jane Wellock

    🎙️ Key Highlights

    • Guest's "Crap to Unlearn": The belief that the body must be hidden, silenced, or shamed — especially women's sexuality and pleasure.

    • Kathy's tie-in: The cost of good-girl conditioning, the physical toll of suppression, and how reclaiming embodiment can heal dis-ease.

    • Notable moments: Sarah Jane opens up about her double mastectomy and reconstruction journey, the rebirth of feminine power, and how her group Caress uses sensual connection as medicine.

    • Taboo topics explored: Universal laws, orgasmic meditation, access consciousness, feminine repression, burkas, cancer healing, and spiritual eroticism.

    • Relatable themes: Learning to receive, healing from trauma through pleasure, the link between the nervous system and empowerment, and the body's wisdom as a spiritual compass.

    • Guest action step: Experience Caress — a guided group practice for women to reconnect with their bodies and pleasure as healing.

    💡 Memorable Quotes

    • "The body remembers — not just trauma, but joy." — Sarah Jane

    • "Relaxation is a gateway to receiving." — Kathy

    • "Pleasure is not shameful. It's sacred." — Sarah Jane

    • "We've been taught to numb out. Healing begins when we let ourselves feel." — Kathy

    • "Love and pleasure are the same energy that heals the world." — Sarah Jane

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    1 h et 27 min
  • Trigger Warning: Human Trafficking & Trauma Recovery; Turning Pain into a Paid Message
    Nov 13 2025

    Trigger Warning: This episode discusses trauma, abuse, and human trafficking.

    When trauma is silenced, the body carries the weight. In this deeply moving episode, Kathy explores how survivors of abuse and trafficking can reclaim their voices, heal, and turn pain into a paid message. From emotional eating and shame to speaking truth on global stages, this conversation reveals why your story is intellectual property—and why you deserve to be heard and paid for it.

    We cover trauma recovery, emotional eating, human trafficking awareness, and how speaking your truth can transform both your life and the lives of others.

    ✨ Resources & tools: https://kathybaldwin.me
    📚 Books: Unlearn the Crap & Level UP: Your Soul is Calling + How I Unlearned MY Crap (Amazon & bookstores)

    If this episode resonates, please share, subscribe, and leave a review. Your voice can help someone else begin to heal.

    Support human trafficing victims by visiting https:YouAreMyLight.org

    Connect with Orly Amor visit her website at https://meetorlyamor.com/

    Highlights:

    • Guest unlearned: victim identity, shame, people-pleasing.

    • Kathy tie-in: body judgment vs. body as protection.

    • Notable stat: Survived severe abuse; at 428 lbs; rebuilt as global speaker/coach with $150K guarantee.

    • Relatable signs: emotional eating, carrying invisible weight, delaying dreams until "perfect."

    • Myths challenged: "Eat less, move more" solves trauma; abuse stories stay silent; stories can't pay bills.

    • Action step: Journal — "What weight am I carrying that isn't mine?"

    Quotes:

    • "Your story is intellectual property—you paid for it with your life."

    • "I had to evict the perpetrators from my mind."

    • "My body wasn't lazy—it was protecting me."

    • "What is your body trying to protect you from?"

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    58 min
  • Healing the Hidden Weight: PCOS, Trauma Recovery & Creating Aligned Business Success
    Nov 6 2025

    What happens when your body, your business, and your life feel out of sync? In this episode, Megan Dirks shares how living with PCOS and weight struggles shaped her journey, and how finding alignment in health and business completely transformed her path.

    As the founder of The Girl on the Left Project, Megan challenges women to step out of the shadows, reframe the stories they tell themselves, and redefine success on their own terms. From grief and personal healing to marketing and business growth, Megan exemplifies what it means to carry the hidden weight so many women face—and to alchemize it into strength, clarity, and visibility.

    If you've ever struggled with your body while building a business, or wondered how to align your personal truth with professional success, this conversation will resonate deeply.

    ✨ Episode Summary

    What if the weight you're carrying isn't just on the scale—but in the stories you tell yourself?

    In this powerful episode, Megan Dirks shares how PCOS, weight struggles, and grief shaped her personal and professional journey—and how she found alignment that changed everything.

    As the founder of The Girl on the Left Project, Megan is helping women step out of the shadows, reclaim their visibility, and redefine success on their own terms. Together, we dive into health, healing, business growth, and the personal alignment that ties them all together.

    If you've ever felt out of sync with your body or business, this episode will resonate deeply.

    🔑 What You'll Learn in This Episode
    • The hidden weight women carry through PCOS, grief, and body shame

    • Why personal alignment is the foundation of business success

    • How the Girl on the Left Project is helping women step into visibility

    • Practical insights on reframing your story to reclaim power and confidence

    • How personal healing fuels professional growth

    💬 Memorable Quotes
    • "The weight you carry isn't always on the scale—it's in the stories you tell yourself." – Megan Dirks

    • "Alignment is when your body, your business, and your truth finally match." – Megan Dirks

    • "The Girl on the Left is every woman who's been overlooked, underestimated, or hidden—and is ready to step forward." – Megan Dirks

    • "Your personal healing and your business growth aren't separate—they're the same journey." – Kathy Baldwin

    📚 Resources & Links
    • Explore more with Kathy → https://kathybaldwin.me

    • Books by Kathy:

      • Unlearn the Crap & Level UP: Your Soul is Calling

      • How I Unlearned MY Crap

      • The Unlearned Life

    Connect with Megan Dirks at BrandOSaurusMeg.com

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    1 h
  • Healing the Mother Wound: How to Stop Parenting from Survival Mode with Emily Cleghorn
    Oct 30 2025

    Parenting from survival mode is not love, it's trauma reenactment. In this raw and hopeful episode, Emily Cleghorn, founder of Mamahood After Trauma and bestselling author, shares how she stopped parenting from reactivity, healed her nervous system, and began mothering from peace. We talk about how unprocessed trauma lives in the body, what overwhelm really looks like, and why self-awareness is a muscle you can strengthen every day. Together we unlearn the cultural silence around pain and reclaim compassion — for ourselves and the generations after us.

    Grab Emily's free Unlocking Peace Guide at mamahoodaftertrauma.ca.

    Explore Kathy's world and books at kathybaldwin.me.
    Unlearn the Crap and Level UP: Your Soul Is Calling and How I Unlearned My Crap are available on Amazon and in bookstores.

    If this conversation moved you, share it, subscribe, and leave a review. Healing ripples through generations.

    🔥 Title/Theme
    Healing the Mother Wound: How to Stop Parenting from Survival Mode

    🎙️ Key Highlights

    • Guest's "Crap to Unlearn": Living from survival mode, confusing hypervigilance for love, parenting from fear instead of peace.

    • Kathy's tie-in: How unprocessed trauma becomes physical illness and generational repetition — and why awareness is the first step to freedom.

    • Notable facts: Emily is founder of Mamahood After Trauma, host of the Mamahood After Trauma Podcast, and bestselling author of Rising from the Ashes and Breaking Free.

    • Relatable signs: Snapping at your kids, chronic overwhelm, gut issues, people-pleasing, pretending everything's fine while feeling empty inside.

    • Myths challenged: "What happens at home stays at home," "We don't talk that way," "Kids are resilient no matter what happens," "Peace must be earned."

    • Guest freebie/CTA: Free Unlocking Peace Guide — seven-page download with emotional regulation tools at mamahoodaftertrauma.ca.

    • Audience action step: Notice your next big reaction, pause, ask "What was that about?" and let the truth rise instead of pushing it down.

    💡 Memorable Quotes

    • "Peace isn't a luxury. It's your birthright." — Kathy

    • "Trauma is what happens inside you when you face pain alone." — Emily

    • "Self-awareness is a muscle; reflection is how you strengthen it." — Emily

    • "We perform to survive, but healing starts when we stop pretending everything's fine." — Kathy

    • "When you challenge everything, you can change anything." — Kathy

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    57 min
  • From Fear to Freedom: What Swimming Teaches Us About Fear, Confidence & Life with Cori Myka
    Oct 28 2025

    What if fear in the water is the same fear that's holding you back in life?

    In this episode of Unlearn the Crap & Level Up: Your Soul is Calling, Kathy Baldwin sits down with Cori Myka, swim coach and transformation guide, to explore how learning to swim as an adult reveals the deeper conditioning we all carry.

    Cori shares why so many adults avoid the water, how fear of sinking mirrors the fear of being seen, and what happens when we finally trust ourselves enough to let go. From swimming lessons to self-worth, Cori shows how confidence in the pool ripples out into confidence in everyday life. ✨

    Connect with Cori Mika: https://adultswimlesson.com/

    📚 Explore Kathy's books Unlearn the Crap & Level UP: Your Soul is Calling and How I Unlearned MY Crap — available on Amazon and in bookstores.

    🌐 Learn more at kathybaldwin.me

    👉 Subscribe for more episodes and share this one with someone who's ready to face fear and step into freedom.

    🔑 Key Points

    Why adults often carry deep fear when learning to swim

    How fear in the water mirrors fear in everyday life

    The hidden conditioning that teaches us to play small and stay quiet

    Why owning your gifts and "tooting your own horn" isn't arrogance — it's empowerment

    How facing fear in one area (like the pool) ripples into confidence everywhere

    💬 Memorable Quotes From Cori Mika:

    "The same fear that keeps someone from getting in the water is the fear that keeps them playing small in life."

    "Learning to swim isn't just about strokes — it's about trust. Trusting the water, and trusting yourself."

    "Tooting your own horn isn't arrogance. It's standing firm on your foundation so you can actually contribute."

    From Kathy Baldwin:

    "What struck me most was how fear in the pool looks exactly like fear in life — the fear of sinking, the fear of losing control, the fear of being seen."

    "When we minimize ourselves, we don't just hide our gifts — we rob the world of what we're here to give."

    #UnlearnTheCrap #Podcast #OvercomingFear #SwimmingLessons #Confidence #Transformation #StopPlayingSmall #FearAndTrust #EmpowermentPodcast #KathyBaldwin

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    1 h
  • Why Diets Fail & Stress Wins: Reverse Aging & Heal Inflammation with Deepak Saini
    Oct 23 2025

    Why do diets fail and stress always seem to win?

    In this episode of Unlearn the Crap & Level Up: Your Soul is Calling, Kathy Baldwin sits down with Deepak Saini, longevity coach and health strategist, to unpack the myths that keep us stuck, inflamed, and aging faster than we should.

    Together, we dive into the hidden cost of "eat less, move more," the link between suppressed emotions and disease, and how stress and inflammation quietly shape our health, hormones, and energy. Deepak shares practical steps for reversing aging naturally, healing the nervous system, and reclaiming vitality from the inside out.

    ✨ Connect with Deepak at deepaksainihealth.com

    📚 Explore Kathy's books Unlearn the Crap & Level UP: Your Soul is Calling and How I Unlearned MY Crap — available on Amazon and in bookstores.

    🌐 Learn more at kathybaldwin.me

    If this conversation resonates, don't forget to subscribe, share, and leave a comment — your soul is calling you to step into more.

    🔑 Key Points

    Why the "eat less, move more" formula keeps people sick, stressed, and inflamed The hidden connection between stress, suppressed emotions, and disease

    How inflammation accelerates aging and impacts hormones, gut health, and energy Daily practices to reprogram the nervous system and support longevity

    Why unlearning old health myths is the key to reclaiming vitality

    💬 Memorable Quotes

    Deepak Saini: "Stress doesn't just live in your mind — it shows up in your body as inflammation, gut issues, and accelerated aging."

    "You can't diet your way out of a nervous system that's stuck in survival mode."

    "Longevity isn't about living longer, it's about living better — without pain, without burnout, and without disease."

    Kathy Baldwin:

    "What hit me was realizing how much of what I've carried in my body wasn't even mine — it was programming I needed to unlearn."

    "We've been taught to push harder and do more, but what if healing starts by slowing down and listening to what the body has been saying all along?"

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    1 h
  • From Sexless Marriage to Orgasmic Life: Xanet Pailet on Healing Shame, Energy & Intimacy
    Oct 21 2025

    We were told not to talk about money, sex, or politics but that rule kept us small.
    This episode cracks open sexual shame, emotional safety, and the truth about real intimacy.

    Former healthcare lawyer Xanet Pailet left a 26-year sexless marriage at 50 and rebuilt her life as a sex and intimacy educator. In this raw, liberating conversation, we unpack how breath, sound, and movement move sexual energy from the root to the heart, why emotional safety is the doorway to desire, and how your core desires, to be adored, taken, or cherished, often echo childhood wounds and even ancestral patterns.
    If you're done performing and ready to feel, this is where empowerment starts.

    👉 Connect with Xanet: howtoimprovemylovelife.com
    Get her free 3-minute tools and videos to improve your love life.

    📚 Explore Kathy's books: Unlearn the Crap & Level UP: Your Soul Is Calling and How I Unlearned My Crap — available on Amazon and in bookstores.
    Visit unlearnthecrap.com to read more or apply to be a guest.

    ⚙️ Discover FINALLY: Build a podcast that grows without burnout at finallypodcastautomation.com — automate production, growth, and repurposing so your voice never gets lost.

    🌐 All things Kathy Baldwin: https://kathybaldwin.me

    Quotes

    Xanet Pailet

    • "Safety is the doorway to desire."

    • "Your core desire comes from your core wound—know it, honor it, communicate it."

    • "Sexless marriage is a symptom of injured emotional connection."

    • "Breath, sound, and movement turn performance into presence."

    • "When the second chakra is blocked, everything above it shuts down."

    Kathy Baldwin

    • "Your body keeps the promises your mouth refuses to speak."

    • "Pleasure is a birthright, not a reward for perfection."

    • "If you're done performing and ready to feel, this is where empowerment starts."

    • "Challenge everything so you can achieve anything including an orgasmic life."

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    56 min