Tiny Brave Steps: Real Women. Real Fear. Real Courage Stories.

Kylyna's Story: Not This. Not Me. This Is Where I Draw The Line

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2395060/fan_mail/new]   Some women learn early that the safest thing to do is disappear.  Kylyna learned it in a house where her father’s drinking was the weather — always there, never her fault, impossible to fix.  So she got the good grades. She kept the peace. She stayed in her room. She made herself easy to overlook. And then she grew up and had a baby. And something in her said no. This is the story of a woman who held a line almost no one around her understood — with the father she loved and couldn’t trust, with the brother she couldn’t save, and, hardest of all, with herself, when she saw her own pain starting to turn into the same thing she’d watched destroy them. It’s about the strength she built alone, long before she knew it was strength.  It’s about grief that doesn’t tie up in a bow.  And it’s about what gets built on the other side of all of it: a business of her own, two sons who know they don’t have to numb what hurts, and a Sunday-morning phone call nobody would have predicted. If you’ve ever been the different one in a room — the one holding a line while everyone else looks away — this one is for you. A gentle note: this episode touches on addiction in the family and the loss of a sibling, held with care. Find your own next step at tinybravesteps.com.   Hosted by Bernice McDonald — Courage Architect, speaker, and author.  Need to find YOUR Next Step through a hard thing you're facing? Have a simple conversation with the Tiny Brave Steps Generator AI:  www.tinybravesteps.com [https://www.tinybravesteps.com/]. Connect with Bernice:   Email: bernice@bernicemcdonald.com Website: www.tinybravesteps.com Join me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernicemcdonald/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernicemcdonald/] If this episode moved something in you — leave a review, share it with a woman who needs it. Do YOU have a Courage Story you'd like to share? Send Bernice a message.

Nadine's Story: When Did I Stop Singing? Losing The Magic In Marriage

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2395060/fan_mail/new] Nadine spent decades helping other women find themselves — as a relationship counselor, NLP trainer, and self-esteem facilitator.  But for 19 years inside her own marriage, she was quietly losing track of who she was. It wasn't dramatic. It was the slow accumulation of small surrenders: preferences set aside, choices made around someone else's moods, a voice that used to sing falling silent somewhere she couldn't quite name. When the marriage ended, Nadine made a choice many women don't know how to make: she refused to let the anger take her down. She changed the locks. She packed her cart with the foods she actually liked. And one day, driving alone, she caught herself singing — and realized she couldn't remember when she had stopped. Nadine's story is a courage story about identity: what it costs when we give it away, what it takes to reclaim it, and how becoming fully yourself again is exactly what makes the second act possible. If you have ever looked up and wondered how you got so far from yourself — this one is for you. Guest: Nadine Hanchar | Relationship Counselor, NLP Trainer, Women's Self-Esteem Website: https://progressiveplus.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadinehanchar/ Hosted by Bernice McDonald — Courage Architect, speaker, and author.  Need to find YOUR Next Step through a hard thing you're facing? Have a simple conversation with the Tiny Brave Steps Generator AI:  www.tinybravesteps.com [https://www.tinybravesteps.com/]. Connect with Bernice:   Email: bernice@bernicemcdonald.com Website: www.tinybravesteps.com Join me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernicemcdonald/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernicemcdonald/] If this episode moved something in you — leave a review, share it with a woman who needs it. Do YOU have a Courage Story you'd like to share? Send Bernice a message.

Chery's Story: Facing Trauma As A Small But Mighty Ninja Warrior

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2395060/fan_mail/new] At 44, Cheryl Ilov walked into a doctor's office and walked out changed.  When the people she trusted most refused to believe her, she buried it. For a year and a half, she held herself together.  And then she didn't.  What pulled her back wasn't therapy or time. It was an acupuncturist who wouldn't stop talking about ninjas.  This is the story of a fussy girl in pointe shoes who became her teacher's first female black belt — and what she discovered along the way about strength she'd been carrying her whole life. CONNECT WITH CHERYL ILOV: https://www.cherylilov.com/ [https://www.cherylilov.com/] https://www.linkedin.com/in/cherylilovvitalityconsultant/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/cherylilovvitalityconsultant/] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU0oIAa1eygYtcRPuNnLv1g [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU0oIAa1eygYtcRPuNnLv1g] FIND CHERYL'S BOOKS HERE. [https://www.amazon.com/Reluctant-Ninja-Middle-Aged-Princess-Warrior-ebook/dp/B09TS18VBG/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=LIYiB&content-id=amzn1.sym.f8e88413-4697-42ea-9bf7-b28eb886330d&pf_rd_p=f8e88413-4697-42ea-9bf7-b28eb886330d&pf_rd_r=132-6014688-8064137&pd_rd_wg=ULl1I&pd_rd_r=29985f0b-fa95-4ba3-bed6-8b67818e33bd] Hosted by Bernice McDonald — Courage Architect, speaker, and author.  Need to find YOUR Next Step through a hard thing you're facing? Have a simple conversation with the Tiny Brave Steps Generator AI:  www.tinybravesteps.com [https://www.tinybravesteps.com/]. Connect with Bernice:   Email: bernice@bernicemcdonald.com Website: www.tinybravesteps.com Join me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernicemcdonald/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernicemcdonald/] If this episode moved something in you — leave a review, share it with a woman who needs it. Do YOU have a Courage Story you'd like to share? Send Bernice a message.

Mary Beth's Story: The Year The Unthinkable Struck Twice

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2395060/fan_mail/new] In January 2019, Mary Beth went in for a routine appointment and came out with a cancer diagnosis. Ten days after her own surgery, her husband received a diagnosis with a five percent survival rate.  What followed was a year that asked everything of her — and she showed up for all of it. This is a story about what you do when the weight is too heavy to carry alone. About the song you put on repeat. About the meltdown in the hotel hallway that let you walk back into the room.  About the strange courage it takes not to hold on, but to let go. Mary Beth Plank Mezo is a coach who helps women move from feeling like life is happening to them to knowing they can respond to whatever life brings. This story is where that conviction was forged. If you are the one holding everything together right now, this episode was made for you. Connect with Mary Beth: https://www.lifeleadershipessentials.com/ [https://www.lifeleadershipessentials.com/] https://www.linkedin.com/feed/ [https://www.linkedin.com/feed/] https://www.facebook.com/marybethLLE [https://www.facebook.com/marybethLLE] Find your next Tiny Brave Step: www.tinybravesteps.com Hosted by Bernice McDonald — Courage Architect, speaker, and author.  Need to find YOUR Next Step through a hard thing you're facing? Have a simple conversation with the Tiny Brave Steps Generator AI:  www.tinybravesteps.com [https://www.tinybravesteps.com/]. Connect with Bernice:   Email: bernice@bernicemcdonald.com Website: www.tinybravesteps.com Join me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernicemcdonald/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernicemcdonald/] If this episode moved something in you — leave a review, share it with a woman who needs it. Do YOU have a Courage Story you'd like to share? Send Bernice a message.

Kelly's Story: She Stopped Building Everyone Else's Dream

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2395060/fan_mail/new] For twenty years, Kelly Schuknecht was the woman behind the vision.  Two CEOs. Two decades. She made everything happen — the platforms, the books, the speaking events, the brand.  She was exceptional at it. And she was invisible doing it.  Then, a company acquisition decided she wasn't needed anymore. The layoff hit her harder than she expected. Not just professionally. Deep down, in the place where we keep the questions we're afraid to ask out loud.  Why didn't they think I was enough to keep?  The morning after, Kelly made a decision. She wasn't going to go looking for one more person to be the person behind. She opened a spreadsheet, typed three words at the top — Can We Do This? — and started building something of her own.  This episode is about what courage looks like when the wound is still fresh, and the story isn't finished yet.  It's about the dream you've been writing down but haven't let yourself say out loud.  And it's about the question Kelly's husband asked her on a hard day that changed the way she thought about fear.  You're going to want to hear it.  ________________________________________________________________  Connect with Kelly * Personal Website: https://kellyschuknecht.com/ [https://kellyschuknecht.com/] * Business Website (QUIZ is here:) https://twomilehighmarketing.com/ [https://twomilehighmarketing.com/] Kelly's Book https://authorityxfactor.com/ [https://authorityxfactor.com/]  Social Media * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellyschuknecht [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellyschuknecht] * TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@kellyschuknecht [https://tiktok.com/@kellyschuknecht] * Instagram: https://instagram.com/KellySchuknecht [https://instagram.com/KellySchuknecht] * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/kellyschuknecht [https://www.youtube.com/kellyschuknecht] Hosted by Bernice McDonald — Courage Architect, speaker, and author.  Need to find YOUR Next Step through a hard thing you're facing? Have a simple conversation with the Tiny Brave Steps Generator AI:  www.tinybravesteps.com [https://www.tinybravesteps.com/]. Connect with Bernice:   Email: bernice@bernicemcdonald.com Website: www.tinybravesteps.com Join me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernicemcdonald/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernicemcdonald/] If this episode moved something in you — leave a review, share it with a woman who needs it. Do YOU have a Courage Story you'd like to share? Send Bernice a message.