Loud & Lifted

The Day a Truck Took Her Strength — and How She Got It Back

Rachel Druckenmiller was out for a run when she was hit by a truck. The crash fractured her spine — and it fractured something harder to see: her trust in her own body. This Quick Lift pulls the biggest lessons from that conversation. It's not a fitness episode, and it's definitely not about working out to look a certain way. It's about what happens when movement becomes the way you come back to yourself. After the accident, Rachel felt weak, scared, and disconnected. What rebuilt her wasn't a mindset shift or a magic moment of clarity. It was lifting. It was consistency. It was support. It was borrowing belief from someone else until she could believe in herself again. Three takeaways we break down: ▪ Confidence isn't a feeling — it's self-trust, and self-trust is built by keeping promises to yourself ▪ Strength changes how you show up — in a room, in a hard conversation, in your own life ▪ You don't rebuild alone — and the people who tell you that you do are wrong Confidence doesn't come from thinking harder. It comes from doing the thing. Keeping the promise. Taking the walk. Lifting the weight. Asking for help. One rep at a time.

How Lifting Helped Rebuild Confidence After Trauma

Rachel Druckenmiller is known for helping people get unmuted — to stop holding back, use their voice, and show up more fully in their lives and work. But this conversation takes a different path. Six years ago, Rachel was hit by a truck while out for a run and suffered a spinal fracture. In the months and years that followed, she had to rebuild her relationship with her body, her confidence, and her sense of trust in herself. She was presenting about hope and resilience while wearing a back brace, managing pain, navigating isolation during the pandemic, and privately wondering if she would ever feel strong again. What changed wasn’t a quick mindset shift. It was movement. Showing up consistently. Borrowing belief from people who could see her strength before she could fully feel it herself. Rachel shares how lifting helped her repair the mind-body connection, rebuild confidence, and move from feeling powerless to feeling strong, capable, and fully alive again. This is not a conversation about fitness for appearance. It’s about fitness as evidence. Evidence that your body can be trusted. Evidence that you can do hard things. Evidence that confidence is built one promise, one rep, one brave step at a time. We cover: ▪ What people didn’t see behind the scenes of her resilience ▪ How trauma impacted her mind-body connection ▪ Why lifting became a path back to strength and self-trust ▪ The connection between physical strength and confidence ▪ How confidence ripples into leadership, presence, voice, and opportunity ▪ Why asking for help is not weakness — it’s part of rebuilding ▪ What it really means to get unmuted from the inside out Chapters 00:00 Introduction: Rachel Druckenmiller’s Story of Resilience 01:45 The Day Rachel Was Hit by a Truck 06:14 Recovery, Pain, and Learning to Move Again 07:41 What People Didn’t See Behind the Scenes 09:42 Showing Up When You Don’t Feel Strong 11:08 How Lifting Became the Turning Point 12:28 Borrowing Someone Else’s Belief 14:52 Rebuilding the Mind-Body Connection 15:54 Trauma, PTSD, and Feeling Powerless 17:52 How Strength Training Restored Confidence 19:26 Why You Don’t Need a Crisis to Rebuild 20:40 How Confidence Started Showing Up Outside the Gym 22:36 Main Character Energy and Walking Into Rooms Differently 25:23 Why Feeling Good Isn’t Vanity 26:13 How Getting Strong Changed What “Unmuted” Means 30:20 Why No One Rebuilds Alone 32:14 The Cost of Trying to Do Everything Alone 36:18 The First Step When You Feel Stuck 37:58 “If It Were Just Right, What Would It Look Like?” 39:31 Borrowing Belief and Building Accountability 40:03 Visualizing What Becomes Possible Links Rachel Druckenmiller [https://www.racheldruckenmiller.com/]

Quick Lift: What Young Girls Need Before the Workplace

Confidence does not begin when girls become women. It starts much earlier — in the small moments where they are learning whether their voice matters, whether they should speak up, and whether they are capable of leading. In this Quick Lift, we break down the biggest takeaways from our conversation with Sharice Johnson, a youth empowerment leader, mentor, and education administrator at Milton Hershey School. This recap is all about what girls really need from the adults around them — from confidence modeling and leadership practice to mentorship, exposure, and intentional support. We cover: * Why confidence needs to be modeled, not just talked about * How girls build leadership through repetition and practice * Why it matters when adults recognize potential early * How exposure helps girls see bigger possibilities for themselves * Why mentorship is really about consistently pouring into someone If we want stronger women leaders tomorrow, this episode is the reminder that it starts with how we support girls today. Links: Full episode [https://www.loudandliftedpodcast.com/how-to-build-confidence-and-leadership-in-young-girls/]

How to Build Confidence and Leadership in Young Girls

Confidence does not suddenly show up in adulthood. It starts much earlier — and so does leadership. In this episode, we sit down with Sharice Johnson, a youth empowerment leader, mentor, and education administrator at Milton Hershey School. With two decades of experience helping young people build confidence, leadership skills, and voice, Sharice shares what girls really need from the adults around them — and why this work matters long before they ever enter the workplace. We cover: * how confidence is modeled before it is taught * why repetition and practice help girls build leadership skills * how mentorship can change a young person’s trajectory * why exposure to different people and opportunities matters * practical ways women can support girls in their own families and communities If we want stronger women leaders in the future, this conversation makes one thing clear: it starts now. Chapters 00:00 — Why Kids Belong in This Conversation 02:10 — Who Is Sharice Johnson? 04:05 — From Service to Student Leadership0 6:20 — Leadership Starts Earlier Than We Think 08:45 — Confidence Is Built, Not Given 11:30 — Setting the Foundation for Young Girls 14:05 — Mentorship Changes Everything 17:20 — Giving Kids Real Responsibility 20:10 — What Young People Actually Need From Us 23:00 — Helping Kids Feel Seen 26:15 — Women Leaders Have a Role to Play 29:05 — Advice for the Next Generation 31:20 — The Foundation Starts Now

Quick Lift: How Women Build Confidence and Reinvent Themselves

Confidence rarely shows up first. It gets built in the smaller moments—through reps, discomfort, and the decision to move before we feel fully ready. In this Quick Lift, we unpack the biggest takeaways from our conversation with Jeannie Zappe, from building confidence in small steps to learning how to challenge the story we tell ourselves. Her story is bigger than swimming or reinvention. It is about how women build courage in real life. We cover: * why confidence is built before the big moment ever comes * why waiting to feel 100% ready keeps us stuck * how to shift from worst-case thinking to possibility * why reinvention is not reckless * how “What if I can?” can change the way we move If we’ve been hesitating, overthinking, or talking ourselves out of something bigger, this one is the reminder to take the next step.