Would You Look Away? A Family’s Attempt to Escape Nazi Germany & the Cost of Being a Bystander with Ruth Stitt
Would you look away?Ruth E. Stitt is an author and licensed counselor whose family’s preserved letters from Nazi Germany reveal how persecution can unfold gradually, how difficult escape can become, and what happens when ordinary people decide whether to remain bystanders or stand up.In 1938, Ruth’s grandmother in Bridgeport, Connecticut received a letter from relatives in Berlin desperately searching for a way out of Nazi Germany. What followed was five years of correspondence filled with hope, fear, bureaucracy, attempted immigration, love and devastating loss.In this conversation, Ruth and Lisa go beyond the question, “Why didn’t they just leave?” They explore the financial, legal, political and emotional barriers Jewish families faced while trying to escape, the psychology of denial as danger slowly becomes normalized, and what fear and grief do to human beings under extraordinary pressure. They also talk about the choice that can remain when nearly everything else has been taken away: how we respond, who we love and whether we are willing to speak when someone else is being dehumanized.In this episode:• Holocaust history and life inside Nazi Germany• Jewish refugee immigration and the barriers to escape• Family letters documenting persecution as it unfolded• Denial, fear, grief and psychological survival• Why “Why didn’t they just leave?” misses the complexity of displacement• Choosing love when control has been stripped away• Turning documented family history into historical fiction• The difference between a bystander and an upstander• Moral courage, dehumanization and the responsibility to speak• Letting go of perfection, overachievement and the need to always have the answerContent note: This conversation includes discussion of the Holocaust, persecution, forced displacement, psychological trauma and profound loss.Connect with Ruth E. Stitt:https://scripturecomesto.lifeFind Ruth’s books on Amazon by searching Ruth E. Stitt.Connect with Lisa Lacy:https://lisalacy.comWhat did you perform in order to survive?Welcome to the Edge.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Are old patterns running your life? Self-Awareness & Personality with Arky Jones
What if the patterns you keep repeating are not who you are, but behaviors you learned long ago and never stopped to question?Arky Jones, creator of Personality Peek, joins Notes From the Edge to explore how self-awareness can help us recognize the patterns quietly shaping our choices, relationships, work, and identity without turning personality into another label or box. This conversation gets practical fast. Lisa and Arky talk about what happens when we realize we have been living according to other people’s expectations, how toxic workplace dynamics can make us feel powerless, and why taking ownership sometimes starts with something as small as documenting your work, protecting your attention, or changing one percent of a pattern instead of trying to reinvent your entire life overnight.In this episode:Personality as a mirror instead of a labelSelf-awareness and recognizing unconscious patternsPeople-pleasing and living without full authorship of your lifeStoicism and focusing on what you can actually controlToxic workplace dynamics and protecting your workBoundaries, attention, and deciding what you are willing to giveWhy honesty with yourself matters more than the personality resultArky’s “one percent” approach to practical personal growthMoney, debt, freedom, and intentional decision-makingHow small conscious choices can change the direction of your lifePersonality Peek is designed to help people identify strengths, blind spots, and behavioral patterns without treating personality as something fixed or diagnostic. Connect with Arky Jones:https://personalitypeek.comConnect with Lisa Lacy:https://LisaLacy.comWhat did you perform in order to survive?Welcome to the Edge.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
What if the traits that make you successful stop working? Complex Trauma, High Achievement, Attachment & Nervous System Survival with Dr. Christopher Barker
Dr. Christopher Barker is a clinical psychologist and author whose work explores complex trauma, attachment, and one powerful idea: high functioning and psychological health are not always the same thing.In this conversation, we dig into what happens when competence, independence, perfectionism, and overachievement become survival adaptations. We talk about why you can intellectually know a relationship is unhealthy and still feel pulled toward it, why “energizing” can sometimes be mistaken for love, and how the nervous system can keep anticipating danger long after the original threat is gone.In this episode:• Complex trauma and high achievement• Attachment injuries in childhood and adulthood• Perfectionism vs. healthy ambition• Hypervigilance and waiting for the other shoe to drop• Why “activated” may be more useful than “triggered”• Trauma-informed relationships and finding safe support• Why healing may be better understood as repair• Rebuilding choice, trust, and freedom through repeated experiencesMaybe the goal isn’t to get rid of every survival strategy that got you here. Maybe it’s simply to stop letting it run the company.Connect with Dr. Christopher: https://drchristopherbarker.comConnect with Lisa: https://www.lisalacy.comWhat did you perform in order to survive?Welcome to the Edge.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Why is it so hard to leave when they hurt you? Trauma Bonding, Coercive Control & Abusive Relationships | Solo Episode with Lisa Lacy
Why can leaving someone who hurts you feel almost impossible?Lisa Lacy, trauma educator and relationship advisor, explores trauma bonding and why intelligence alone cannot protect us from relationships that reshape our attachment, reward, and stress systems.At 40, while in inpatient rehab, Lisa was told she was trauma bonded to her husband. Her response was, “I’m too smart for that.” It would take three more years to go fully no contact, and another three to work through the anger and resentment left behind. In this solo episode, she explains the biology of intermittent reinforcement, why separation can feel unbearable, and why shame rarely helps someone leave sooner.In this episode:Trauma bonding and intermittent reinforcementCoercive control in abusive relationshipsDopamine, oxytocin, cortisol and the stress responseWhy people leave and return repeatedlyNo contact and breaking the cycleMoving from survival to self-trustConnect with Lisa:www.Lisa Lacy.comWhat did you perform in order to survive? Welcome to the Edge.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
How do you break free without labels? Faith, Neuroscience & Recovery with Rose Ann Forte
What happens when the life that looks successful from the outside is quietly falling apart underneath?Rose Ann Forte is an international bestselling author and creator of the Choose Freedom® Program, and her work explores how lasting change can happen without building an identity around shame.In this conversation, Lisa and Rose Ann talk about Rose Ann’s years as a successful executive and church leader while privately struggling with alcohol, toxic relationships, and the pressure to keep everyone else happy. They explore why traditional recovery language did not resonate with her, how neuroscience helped her understand deeply rooted behaviors, and how her Christian faith became part of rebuilding her identity.In this episode:• Alcohol use and behavioral habits• Recovery without shame-based labels• Faith and the renewing of the mind• Neuroscience and habit formation• Toxic relationships and people-pleasing• Self-condemnation versus lasting change• Identity after addiction• Learning to choose freedomLearn more about Rose Ann Forte:https://choosefreedom.todayLearn more about Lisa Lacy:https://www.lisalacy.comWhat did you perform in order to survive?Welcome to the Edge.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
What Happens After You Survive Yourself? Suicide Prevention, Lived Experience & Finding Meaning-Solo Episode with Lisa Lacy
What if suicide prevention is about more than keeping someone alive for the next 72 hours?In this special September Suicide Prevention Month solo episode of Notes From the Edge, Lisa Lacy speaks from lived experience about her first suicide attempt at 15, later attempts, psychiatric hospitalization, and the complicated work of finding reasons to remain when life has become unbearable.Lisa remembers arriving at the hospital still wearing her cheerleader jacket, being met with shame instead of understanding, and later experiencing psychiatric interventions that contained a crisis without necessarily addressing the pain underneath it. She also explores what decades of survival have taught her about meaning, spirituality, mortality, human connection, and making life small enough to survive one hour, one breath, or one tomorrow at a time.In this episode:Suicide prevention through the lens of lived experienceSurviving a suicide attempt as a teenagerWhy shame can deepen an already unbearable crisisPsychiatric hospitalization and the limits of crisis containmentTrauma, suicidal thoughts, and emotional painWhy asking directly and listening without judgment mattersFinding meaning when purpose feels impossibleSpirituality, ancestors, and feeling connected when physically aloneSurviving one hour instead of trying to solve an entire lifeWhy a temporary state of consciousness should not make a permanent decisionWhat Lisa wishes the 15-year-old version of herself could have knownThis is not a clinical guide to suicide prevention. It is one survivor’s perspective on what helped her continue, what did not, and why sometimes staying alive begins with making the horizon small enough to reach.If you are in immediate danger or believe you may act on suicidal thoughts, call or text 988 in the United States, contact emergency services, or go to the nearest emergency department.Connect with Lisa Lacy:https://LisaLacy.comWhat did you perform in order to survive?Welcome to the Edge.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Complex Trauma, Survival Identity & Disability Advocacy with Ashley Townsend
What if the thing you call your personality is actually something you learned to perform in order to survive?Ashley Townsend is a transformational and integration coach and complex trauma recovery specialist who spent 15 years working inside the mental health system before deciding that traditional labels and approaches were no longer enough.In this conversation, Ashley and I go straight into what made her become a self-described “former LCSW gone rogue.” We talk about what she witnessed working across domestic violence, addiction, foster care and trauma treatment, and how being blind shaped her own experience of trying to belong inside systems that often failed to see the whole person. Ashley also challenges the idea that personality is fixed, arguing that some of what we call personality may actually be protection we practiced until it became familiar.Then the conversation gets even deeper. Ashley shares how she performed being the “nice girl,” performed being sighted as she progressively lost her vision, and eventually performed the role of rescuer, believing she could carry systems and other people on her back. We explore why those protections were once brilliant, why they eventually become heavy, and what happens when we stop building our lives from fear and begin creating from love.In this episode:Complex trauma and the protective patterns underneath behaviorWhy Ashley chose to leave the traditional therapy modelDisability advocacy and the experience of performing being sightedMental health diagnoses, labels and the limitations of treating personality as fixedWhy “just do it” can completely miss the context of traumaThe difference between an explanation and an excuseRecovery as an ongoing process rather than a finish linePsychedelic preparation and integration, and why Ashley does not view psychedelics as a magic fixThe “nice girl,” the rescuer and other identities we perform to belongSelf-trust, play, the inner child and why healing does not always have to hurtWhat becomes possible when we stop fighting everything and start creating from loveConnect with Ashley:http://www.findingyourphoenixcoaching.com/Connect with Lisa:www.lisalacy.comWhat did you perform in order to survive?Welcome to the edgeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
What Do We Reach for When Purpose Is Gone? PTSD, Gambling Addiction & Life After War with Sean Carberry
What do we reach for when the thing that gave us purpose, identity, adrenaline, and belonging is suddenly gone?Sean Carberry is an award-winning journalist and former NPR Kabul correspondent whose experience raises a difficult question: what happens when you come home from years of danger, but your mind and body are still wired to look for it?In this episode of Notes From the Edge, Sean and Lisa Lacy talk about what happened after Afghanistan, when Sean returned to civilian life carrying undiagnosed PTSD, without the structure, intensity, or sense of purpose that had defined his years overseas. He describes walking into a Maryland casino about six weeks after coming home, initially gambling a few hundred dollars, and how the risk, rewards, recognition, casino perks, and escalating bets gradually began filling something that was missing outside those walls.The conversation goes far beyond gambling. Sean talks candidly about identity loss, loneliness, relationships, the psychological impact of years spent witnessing human suffering, and eventually recognizing patterns he could not see while he was living inside them. He also discusses how writing became part of processing his experiences and why we need to take much more seriously what happens when veterans, journalists, humanitarian workers, and others who have spent years operating in dangerous environments are expected to simply come home and resume ordinary life.In this episode:• PTSD after war and conflict reporting• Gambling addiction and compulsive gambling• Adrenaline seeking, risk, and the nervous system• Identity loss after leaving high-intensity environments• Returning home and adjusting to civilian life• Why danger can begin to feel familiar• Casino rewards, validation, and escalating gambling behavior• Loneliness, relationships, and destructive coping patterns• Mental health among journalists and war correspondents• Supporting veterans, reporters, humanitarian workers, and civilians after high-risk assignments• Why being functional does not necessarily mean someone is okay• Writing, memoir, and processing trauma• Learning to recognize patterns before they become destructive• Why coming home deserves as much attention as going into dangerSean’s work and books:passport-stamps.comLisa Lacy and Notes From the Edge:lisalacy.comWhat did you perform in order to survive?Welcome to the Edge.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
ADHD, Autism & AuDHD: Trauma, Masking and Late Diagnosis with Ellie AuDHD Capstick
What happens when you spend decades believing you’re lazy, too much, unreliable or simply doing life wrong, only to discover your brain has been working differently all along?Ellie AuDHD Capstick is an AuDHD educator and podcast host whose late diagnosis gave her something she had spent a lifetime searching for: language for experiences she once understood as personal failures.In this conversation, Ellie gets candid about the collision of ADHD and autism, years of masking and pushing herself into burnout, and why she doesn’t automatically call neurodivergence a “superpower.” She also shares what she wishes she had understood while raising her older neurodivergent children and how diagnosis helped her move from shame toward self-advocacy.In this episode:AuDHD and living with both ADHD and autismLate diagnosis, identity and self-understandingNeurodivergent masking and autistic/ADHD burnoutExecutive dysfunction versus “laziness”Rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD)Trauma, vulnerability and neurodivergenceParenting neurodivergent children with confidenceSelf-advocacy, relationships and dropping the maskConnect with Ellie AuDHD CapstickFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1Ls1EfoRam/?mibextid=wwXIfrLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellie-audhd-capstick-b8a971415Connect with Lisa Lacyhttps://www.lisalacy.comWhat did you perform in order to survive?Welcome to the Edge.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Can Worms, Sprouts & Laughter Change Your Life? with Cathy Nesbitt
What if the secret to a healthier, happier, more sustainable life is hiding in a bin of worms, a jar of sprouts and one really good belly laugh?Cathy Nesbitt is an award-winning entrepreneur and laughter yoga teacher who has spent more than two decades showing people how worms, sprouts, and laughter can create a healthier, more sustainable life.In this episode, Cathy and Lisa go from the surprising story behind Cathy’s “worm empire” to why she believes laughter is an essential tool for navigating stress. They talk about turning food waste into “black gold,” growing your own nutrition through sprouts, learning to move toward the weirdness, and what happened when Cathy stopped being a lifelong people pleaser and started giving herself permission to say no.In this episode:Vermicomposting and turning household waste into healthy soilWhy Cathy believes worms matter for sustainability and food securityGrowing fresh sprouts at homeLaughter yoga and nervous-system regulationWhy adults need more play and laughterStress, isolation, and protecting your mental healthRecovering from people pleasingSaying no without overexplaining or apologizingWhy shame loses power when we stop keeping it silentChoosing simple tools for a healthier, more sustainable lifeCathy Nesbitt: www.kathysclub.comLisa Lacy: www.lisalacy.comWhat did you perform in order to survive?Welcome to the Edge.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Regret, Grief & Moving Forward Without Moving On with Stephanie Renner
What if moving forward doesn’t require you to “get over” what happened?Stephanie Renner is an attorney, keynote speaker, and creator of the Regret to Resilience Method™, a framework for moving through unresolved guilt and regret without erasing the people, experiences, or losses that shaped us.After the death of her son Jordan by suicide, Stephanie’s understanding of regret became deeply personal. In this conversation, we talk about the brutal “if onlys” that can follow loss, the illusion of control, and why building a meaningful life after grief doesn’t mean leaving someone behind. We also explore how regret reaches far beyond bereavement, showing up in relationships, careers, caregiving, and the decisions we replay long after they’re over.In this episode:Grief, regret, and the “if only” cycleSuicide loss and unanswered questionsResponsibility vs. hindsightMoving forward without “moving on”Self-forgiveness and self-compassionThe illusion of controlFinding purpose after profound lossTurning regret into resilienceLearn more about Stephanie Renner:https://www.stephanierennerspeaks.com/Find Lisa Lacy and Notes From the Edge:https://www.lisalacy.com/What did you perform in order to survive?Welcome to the Edge.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Menopause Didn’t Make Me Crazy. It Exposed What I Was Already Carrying. Solo Episode with Lisa Lacy
What happens when menopause doesn’t create the crisis, but exposes everything your mind and body have spent decades carrying?Lisa Lacy, writer and host of Notes From the Edge, explores how surgical menopause collided with a lifetime of trauma, recovery, psychiatric diagnoses, chronic illness and survival.After having her ovaries unexpectedly removed at 45, Lisa experienced rage, panic, depression, insomnia, brain fog and an unsettling loss of identity. In this solo episode, she examines what happens when hormonal change collides with years of stored stress, hypervigilance and survival patterns, and why women deserve more than being told they’re “just hormonal.”In this episode:Surgical menopause and mental healthTrauma activation and survival patternsRage, anxiety, depression and identity lossMedical dismissal in midlife womenHigh-functioning survival and performanceWhy menopause can expose what was already thereLearn more: www.lisalacy.comWhat did you perform in order to survive?Welcome to the Edge.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Sexual Addiction & Betrayal Trauma: Boundaries, Grief and Healing with Roxanna Johnson
What happens to the spouse when the person with the addiction gets all the attention?In this deeply personal conversation, Lisa Lacy sits down with author, speaker and advocate Roxanna Johnson to talk about the side of sexual addiction that is too often forgotten: betrayal trauma and what it does to the partner left trying to make sense of a life that suddenly feels unrecognizable.After nearly 24 years of marriage, Roxanna discovered that her husband had been living with a hidden pattern of sexual addiction. She calls the disclosure “the bomb” because it didn’t simply reveal a secret. It blew apart her understanding of her marriage, her safety and, for a time, herself.Lisa and Roxanna dig into what betrayal trauma can actually look like: hypervigilance, panic, anger, grief, shame, questioning your own reality and becoming so focused on another person’s behavior that you lose touch with your own wants, needs and identity.They also explore one of the most important distinctions in recovery: boundaries are not control. Roxanna shares how she learned to stop twisting herself into what she calls “a pretzel” to keep the peace and instead use boundaries to create emotional safety for herself, regardless of whether her partner chose recovery.The conversation goes into codependency and counterdependence, lovingly detaching, rebuilding self-trust, finding competent betrayal-trauma support, creating a recovery community, spiritual reawakening and grieving the marriage, family or future you thought you had.And perhaps most importantly, they talk about the spouse’s right to heal independently of the outcome of the relationship.Roxanna’s work and book, Forgotten in the Battle with Sexual Addiction: The Journey of a Spouse, give language and support to partners and families who have too often been treated as collateral damage in someone else’s recovery.Connect with Roxanna Johnson:https://ForgottenSpouse.comConnect with Lisa Lacy and Notes From the Edge:https://www.lisalacy.com/podcastWhat did you perform in order to survive?Welcome to the Edge.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The Longest Distance: Men’s Mental Health, Male Loneliness & Emotional Healing with Daniel Sterling
What happens when achievement becomes a substitute for being seen?Writer, memoirist, and speaker Daniel Sterling joins Lisa Lacy for a candid conversation about men’s mental health, male loneliness, emotional vulnerability, masculinity, identity, and what it takes to raise emotionally whole boys.Daniel traces his own journey from an eight-year-old alpine ski racer who discovered the powerful rush of recognition to becoming one of the top ski racers in the country, then pursuing success through television, broadcasting, screenwriting, and filmmaking. But underneath the ambition was something much more human: the need to be seen, valued, and loved.After emotionally cratering in midlife, Daniel began questioning the identity he had built around achievement. A mentor introduced him to self-study, accountability, and a different way of living, beginning what he describes as the much longer journey from his head to his heart.Lisa and Daniel dig into why so many men learn to armor up instead of open up, how childhood messages like “toughen up” and “man up” can follow boys into adulthood, and why our current crisis of male isolation may have roots much earlier than we think.They also explore what parents can do differently: knowing the child in front of them, celebrating effort instead of achievement, allowing boys to fail and recover, giving them a voice, and creating enough emotional safety for vulnerability without removing the structure they need to grow.And perhaps most importantly, they talk about personal accountability: learning to recognize what belongs to you, apologize without defending yourself, change the behavior that caused harm, and discover who you are when you no longer need the performance.Daniel is currently seeking representation for his completed memoir, Hungry, and shares excerpts from his writing through his Substack.Connect with Daniel Sterling:https://daniel-sterling.comConnect with Lisa Lacy:https://lisalacy.comWhat did you perform in order to survive?Welcome to the Edge.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The Book Was Never Just the Book: Turning Your Story into Legacy with Missy Maxwell Worton
What if the story that will not leave you alone is not merely asking to be written, but asking to become a message that changes lives?In this live episode of Notes From the Edge, Lisa Lacy sits down with her publisher, award-winning author, publishing strategist, and Light Warrior Publishing founder Missy Maxwell Worton for an honest conversation about writing through fear, publishing with purpose, and turning lived experience into lasting impact.Missy has helped hundreds of purpose-driven authors move from an idea to a completed manuscript, publication, launch, platform growth, and bestseller status. Her own author journey began with the deeply personal book Don’t Mess With This Mama: Risking It All to Rescue Our Daughter, which became a number-one Amazon bestseller and received multiple literary honors.Missy also published Lisa’s Reclaiming Your Savage Sovereignty, which remained a number-one New Release in its category for two months. They are now preparing to release Lisa’s most personal work yet, Notes From a Certified Madwoman.Together, Lisa and Missy will explore:• How to know whether you have a book idea or a message you are responsible for sharing• Why talented writers remain trapped in perfectionism and fear• What authors misunderstand about publishing, visibility, and book launches• How to protect your authentic voice during editing• The difference between publishing a book and building a movement• How to tell painful stories without exploiting your own wounds• What makes a publisher believe in an author before the audience or numbers existThis conversation is for aspiring authors, speakers, entrepreneurs, and anyone carrying a story that refuses to remain silent.Where to Find Missy:https://www.missymaxwellworton.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/missy-maxwell-worton-898261371/How to Find Lisa:https://www.lisalacy.com/What did you perform in order to survive?And what might it do for your life to finally put that role, mask, or performance down?Welcome to the Edge. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Suicide, Radical Listening & the Truths We Leave Unsaid with Sean Wellington
This conversation includes candid discussion of suicide, suicidal ideation, attempts, grief, and the emotional realities carried by survivors and the people who love them.What happens when someone finally tells the whole truth and discovers that the person listening does not panic, turn away, or try to make the story more comfortable?In this episode of Notes From the Edge, Lisa Lacy sits down with Sean Wellington, founder and host of the Suicide Noted podcast, for a candid conversation about suicide, survival, silence, and what it means to truly listen.Since launching Suicide Noted in 2020, Sean has facilitated more than 400 long-form conversations with suicide attempt survivors and people who have experienced suicidal ideation across 47 U.S. states and 27 countries. His mission is to help us become better at talking about the hardest parts of being human so that fewer people are forced to carry them alone.Together, Lisa and Sean explore:What suicide attempt survivors wish more people understoodThe difference between listening and trying to rescueWhy people often remain silent until they reach a crisisWhat pauses, contradictions, and unfinished sentences revealThe responsibility involved in holding another person’s storyHow families, clinicians, leaders, and friends can become safer people to tell the truth toThis is a conversation about radical listening, difficult truths, and the profound relief of being heard without being reduced to a diagnosis, a crisis, or the worst moment of your life.How to Find Sean:Home | Suicide Noted - Raw Talks with Attempt Survivorswww.seangwellington.comThe Missing RecordHow to Find Lisa:www.lisalacy.comNotes From the Edge explores trauma, identity, recovery, leadership, reinvention, and the conversations we should have been having all along.And as always, we end with the question:What did you perform in order to survive?Welcome to the Edge. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
No Longer Leading With the Wound with Hilary Momberger Powers
What happens when success arrives before you have had the chance to understand who you are?In this episode of Notes From the Edge, Lisa Lacy sits down with transformational mentor, trauma-informed coach, motivational speaker, former child performer, and Licensed Vocational Nurse Hilary Momberger Powers.Hilary began working in front of the camera at five years old as the voice of Sally Brown in the Peanuts cartoons. Behind the early success, however, were unresolved childhood wounds that later contributed to addiction, painful choices, and a life that began to unravel.After entering recovery in 1983, Hilary discovered that putting down the addiction was only the beginning. The deeper work meant confronting the trauma, identity patterns, and emotional wounds that had been leading her life.Together, Lisa and Hilary explore childhood fame, addiction, inner-child work, recovery, self-advocacy, reinvention, and what it means to stop allowing old pain to make present-day decisions.This is a conversation about moving from victim to victor, reclaiming your voice, and proving that it is never too late to begin again.How to Find Hilary:Hilary Momberger Powers | LinkedInHILARY POWERSHow to find Lisa:Lisa LacyLisa Lacy | LinkedInWhat did you perform in order to survive?Welcome to the Edge. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Hope Without Sight: Learning to Feel Deeply Without Losing Yourself with Saylor Cooper
What happens when empathy feels less like a gift and more like carrying everyone else’s emotions inside your own body?In this episode of Notes From the Edge, Lisa Lacy sits down with former client, author, entrepreneur, and radio host Saylor Cooper for an honest conversation about blindness, disability, emotional intelligence, nervous-system awareness, boundaries, and learning how to become the container instead of the sponge.Saylor shares how understanding his emotional depth helped him become calmer, more grounded, and more connected to who he has always been at his core. We also explore how he moved beyond other people’s expectations to create Real Variety Radio and Hope Without Sight, platforms built around resilience, storytelling, music, and meaningful human connection.This conversation is about feeling deeply without disappearing inside what you feel, transforming adversity without allowing it to become your entire identity, and recognizing that emotional sensitivity can become a powerful form of leadership when it is supported by self-awareness and boundaries.Hosted by Lisa LacyFeaturing Saylor Cooper:Saylor Cooper | LinkedInhttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blissful-connections/id1789566162What did you perform in order to survive?Welcome to the Edge. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
I Worked It. But It Didn’t Work. Why Didn’t You Tell Me?
When doing everything “right” in recovery leaves you smaller, sicker, and further away from yourself.For two years, I did exactly what I was told.Six days a week. Sometimes two meetings a day. Inpatient rehabilitation. Outpatient rehabilitation. Sponsors. Step work. Inventories. Confessions. Amends.I stayed sober.But I was not becoming healthier.I was becoming smaller.In this deeply personal episode of Notes From the Edge, I explore what happens when a recovery model fails to recognize the person sitting in front of it, especially when that person is also carrying childhood trauma, sexual assault, domestic violence, psychiatric diagnoses, shame, and a profoundly dysregulated nervous system.This is not an attack on AA.If AA saved your life, I celebrate that. Truly. Keep going.This is a grief story about realizing that the map I had been given was never designed for the terrain I was walking.We will talk about:• The difference between staying sober and actually healing• When “sharing” becomes uncontained trauma dumping• Why powerlessness, defect language, and submission may affect traumatized women differently• The importance of nervous system regulation, boundaries, safety, and co-regulation• Modern trauma approaches such as EMDR, Internal Family Systems, and somatic therapy• The evolving science of addiction and neuroplasticity• Alternatives including SMART Recovery, Women for Sobriety, LifeRing, medication-assisted treatment, recovery coaching, therapy, purpose, community, and connection• Why informed choice should be part of every recovery conversationMy nervous system did not need another moral inventory.It needed safety.Recovery should not require abandoning your intuition or becoming less yourself. It should help you become more yourself.And if one approach is not helping you heal, that does not automatically mean you are broken.Maybe you simply need a different map.This episode reflects personal experience and is intended for education and conversation. It is not a substitute for individualized medical or mental health care.Learn more about Lisa Lacy and her work at www.lisalacy.comAnd before we leave, I want to ask you the question I ask every guest:What did you perform in order to survive?Welcome to the Edge. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
You Can't Automate Relationships with Beth Granger
Beth Granger on visibility, digital trust, critical conversations, and staying human in an increasingly automated worldTechnology can help us reach thousands of people, write polished messages, and build impressive networks.But it cannot create trust for us.Beth Granger is a speaker, consultant, trainer, emcee, and LinkedIn and networking strategist who helps professionals communicate more confidently, navigate critical conversations, and turn online connections into meaningful relationships.Her message is simple and increasingly urgent:You can’t automate relationships.In this episode of Notes From the Edge, Beth and Lisa explore the fear beneath professional visibility, why people hesitate to post or speak honestly online, and what separates a connection from an actual relationship.They also discuss:• How to become visible without performing a polished professional persona• The difference between listening and simply waiting to speak• What artificial intelligence can support, and what should never be outsourced• Why critical conversations either strengthen trust or quietly destroy it• How leaders, sales professionals, and teams can communicate with greater clarity and humanity• Why connection, curiosity, kindness, and community still matter in an algorithm-driven worldThis is a conversation about reputation, belonging, confidence, digital communication, and the human work required to make relationships mean something.Learn more about Beth Granger:https://www.bethgranger.comLearn more about Lisa Lacy:https://www.lisalacy.comWelcome to the edge. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Notes From the Edge is where polished stories end and the truth begins. Hosted by writer, trauma educator, executive advisor, and author Lisa Lacy, this globally ranked podcast explores survival, identity, trauma, addiction, recovery, leadership, relationships, and reinvention through raw, deeply human conversations. No scripts. No small talk. Just the stories we were taught to hide, the roles we performed to survive, and the truths that set us free. What did you perform in order to survive? Welcome to the edge. www.lisalacy.com
