The Courage to Be Misunderstood

What does it actually take to change your life and make that change last?In this episode of Holding Space with Authentically Amy, I sit down with Stanley Bronstein, who has lost more than 200 pounds and maintained his transformation for more than 17 years. His story isn't really about a number on a scale, though. It's about what happens when we stop searching for the next temporary solution and become willing to change the way we live.Stanley and I talk about the small choices that become extraordinary transformations over time, why taking care of yourself sometimes requires what he calls “healthy selfishness,” and how shifting from “I have to” to “I get to” can completely change the way we experience our lives.We also explore persistence, perfectionism, trusting ourselves, and learning to recognize just how much power we already have within us. Stanley’s journey is a reminder that meaningful change doesn’t require us to get everything right; it asks us to keep choosing ourselves, one decision at a time, for as long as it takes.Connect with Stanley:Website: https://thewayofexcellence.com/Learn more about Amy, apply to be a guest on the podcast, or schedule a personal session for yourself, your business, school, community, organization, etc. here:[email protected]/getamyshelphttps://www.getamyshelp.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/amythurmanhttps://www.instagram.com/amycthurman

**Listener Note:** This episode contains frequent profanity and is intended for mature audiences. If you have children nearby, you may want to save this conversation for another time. I chose not to edit or censor our discussion because authenticity is at the heart of everything I teach, and Zulma's language is simply one expression of her commitment to showing up exactly as she is. Authenticity often asks us to release the approval we've spent a lifetime trying to earn. In this conversation, I sit down with therapist, speaker, and podcast host Zulma Williams, known to many as "The Swearing Therapist". While her language may be what first catches your attention, I hope it won't be what stays with you. What stayed with me was her courage to stop people-pleasing, embrace healthy boundaries, and trust that she doesn't have to be everything for everyone. As we shared our stories, I was reminded that life's greatest challenges often strip away who we think we should be and invite us back to who we've been all along. Whether you've struggled with people-pleasing, setting boundaries, or simply giving yourself permission to be fully yourself, I hope this conversation leaves you with the courage to stop asking the world for approval and start trusting the person you already are. Connect with Zulma: Website: https://www.dragonflytherapyservices.net/ Learn more about Amy, apply to be a guest on the podcast, or schedule a personal session for yourself, your business, school, community, organization, etc. here: [email protected] linktr.ee/getamyshelp https://www.getamyshelp.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/amythurman https://www.instagram.com/amycthurman

This episode is unlike any conversation I've shared before. As I prepare to host my F.L.O.W. with Life Authenticity Intensive this September, I couldn't help but smile at the timing of this conversation because, at its heart, it's about the very thing I believe authenticity requires ... trusting yourself enough to stop resisting who you already are. NOTE: This episode is longer than usual, and I encourage you to stay with it. About ten minutes in, Magdalena channels a deeply personal message for me that turns into one of the most vulnerable conversations I've ever had on the podcast. The energy became so intense that it actually knocked out her power for nearly fifteen minutes before we continued. Whether or not channeling is something you believe in, I hope you'll listen for the deeper invitation beneath it. Together, we explore what happens when we've spent so much of our lives trying to be responsible, productive, and everything everyone else needs us to be that we lose sight of ourselves in the process. We talk about authenticity, intuition, childhood beliefs, the resistance we create when we force life instead of trusting it, and why so many of us have forgotten what genuinely brings us joy. Throughout our conversation, I found myself confronting questions I'd quietly been carrying for years. What if the resistance I've been feeling isn't a sign to work harder, but an invitation to trust more deeply? What if the life I'm trying so hard to build is already trying to find me? And what if I've been encouraging others to follow their joy while forgetting to give myself permission to do the same? By the end of this conversation, I realized that I don't need to become someone different to live more authentically. I simply need to stop resisting the person I've been all along.Connect with Magdalena:Website: https://magdalenalyle.com/Discovery call: https://energie4therapy.com.au/discovery-call Learn more about Amy, apply to be a guest on the podcast, or schedule a personal session for yourself, your business, school, community, organization, etc. here:[email protected]/getamyshelphttps://www.getamyshelp.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/amythurmanhttps://www.instagram.com/amycthurman

For many women, being the strong one begins long before they realize they have a choice. If you've ever been the one everyone turns to, the one who always has it together, or the one who finds it easier to give than receive, this conversation offers a gentle reminder that strength is not diminished by allowing yourself to be cared for. In this powerful conversation, Amy sits down with Adaku Mbagwu, founder of the Healed Hero community, to explore the hidden weight carried by firstborn daughters, parentified women, and those who learned early in life that their value came from being responsible, capable, and dependable. These women often become the caregivers, problem-solvers, and achievers everyone else relies on, yet quietly struggle to receive the same support they so freely give. As Adaku prepares for a life-changing move from Tulum to Dubai, she shares her journey through burnout, depression, entrepreneurship, healing, and self-discovery. Together, Amy and Adaku unpack the patterns of hyper-independence, perfectionism, over-functioning, and the belief that asking for help is weakness. They also explore the deeper truth many strong women rarely say out loud: beneath the strength is often a longing to rest, to be supported, and to know they don't have to carry everything alone. Sometimes the strongest thing we can do is put down the weight we've been carrying and trust that we don't have to hold the world by ourselves. Connect with Adaku: Website: www.healedhero.com Free Training: https://www.healedhero.com/free-training Learn more about Amy, apply to be a guest on the podcast, or schedule a personal session for yourself, your business, school, community, organization, etc. here: [email protected] linktr.ee/getamyshelp https://www.getamyshelp.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/amythurman https://www.instagram.com/amycthurman

So many people are deeply lonely, not because they don’t want connection, but because being truly seen feels vulnerable, uncomfortable, and sometimes even unsafe. In this conversation with Loren Silverman, we explore why so many adults struggle to build meaningful community, why authenticity often requires us to step outside our comfort zones, and how hiding parts of ourselves can quietly keep us disconnected from the very thing we want most. We talk about the fear of putting ourselves out there, the tension between protection and openness, and the reality that real connection cannot happen while we are constantly filtering, performing, or keeping people at a distance. Loren shares his journey from a 20-year career in tech to volunteering with Ukrainian refugees in Poland and eventually creating coaching programs focused on community, self-awareness, and helping people reconnect with what truly matters to them. Together, we discuss the power of values alignment, the importance of becoming an observer of your own patterns, and why small consistent choices often change our lives more than dramatic moments ever do. This episode is a reminder that connection is not something we find by accident. It’s something we create when we slowly learn to let ourselves be known. Connect with Loren: Life Reboot: Nerd Edition Community: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/16yUF5Vnzu/ Weekly Mastermind: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1978356578783?aff=oddtdtcreator Free strategy call: http://silverman.coach Values to Voice Guide: https://valuestovoiceguide.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/loren.silverman Insta: https://www.instagram.com/loren.silverman/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorensilverman/ Learn more about Amy, apply to be a guest on the podcast, or schedule a personal session for yourself, your business, school, community, organization, etc. here: [email protected] linktr.ee/getamyshelp https://www.getamyshelp.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/amythurman https://www.instagram.com/amycthurman

There’s a question most people don’t say out loud, but almost everyone feels at some point:Do I matter?In this conversation with Tim Tedder, we go beneath success, beneath failure, beneath the roles we’ve built our lives around, and into the space where that question actually lives. Not the version measured by followers, achievements, or impact, but the quiet, often uncomfortable version that shows up when everything external gets stripped away.Tim shares parts of his story he hasn’t openly talked about, including the tension of helping others heal while navigating his own private realities, and what it feels like to question your worth when the life you built no longer reflects who you are. Together, we explore what happens when you stop measuring your value by what you produce and start recognizing it in the moments that don’t get seen, tracked, or validated.This episode is about authenticity in its rawest form, the kind that doesn’t perform, doesn’t hide, and doesn’t pretend to have it all figured out. It’s about what it costs to be real, and why that cost might actually be the doorway to everything we’ve been looking for.If you’ve ever questioned your significance, your impact, or whether you’re enough without everything you’ve built, this conversation will stay with you.Connect with Tim:https://www.affairhealing.comTim's Free Downloads: https://www.affairhealing.com/freeLearn more about Amy, apply to be a guest on the podcast, or schedule a personal session for yourself, your business, school, community, organization, etc. here:[email protected]/getamyshelphttps://www.getamyshelp.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/amythurmanhttps://www.instagram.com/amycthurman

What happens when the thing you’ve built your life around is no longer required?In this conversation with Eric Twohey, we explore what it means to have your time given back to you, whether through retirement, life transitions, or the rapid changes happening with AI, and why so many people feel lost when the structure of work is removed. The truth is, most of us have spent years defining ourselves by what we do, not by who we are, and when that disappears, it forces a question many of us have never taken the time to answer.We talk about the power of the “Sacred Pause,” the idea that creating space in your life is not unproductive but necessary, and how learning to sit with yourself before life forces you to can completely change the way you experience everything. This isn’t about having more time, it’s about what more time reveals, and whether you’ve built a life that can hold it.At the heart of this episode is a TED-worthy idea and conversation, one that has the power to shift how we think about work, identity, and purpose in a world that is changing faster than most of us are prepared for. It’s not just insightful, it’s the kind of perspective that belongs on a stage because of how deeply it challenges what we’ve been taught to believe about productivity and who we are without it.If you’ve ever felt the pressure to always be doing, always producing, always moving toward the next thing, this will invite you to consider what might be waiting for you in the space you’ve been avoiding.And more importantly, it will leave you with a question you won’t be able to unhear: Who are you when there’s nothing left to prove?Connect with Eric:Email: [email protected]: uncorkedmediagroup.comMeet: calendly.com/erictwoheyLearn more about Amy, apply to be a guest on the podcast, or schedule a personal session for yourself, your business, school, community, organization, etc. here:[email protected]/getamyshelphttps://www.getamyshelp.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/amythurmanhttps://www.instagram.com/amycthurman

In this episode of Holding Space with Authentically Amy, I sit down with Ruthie Elliott for a heartfelt conversation about love, intuition, trauma, spiritual trust, and the importance of protecting your peace without closing your heart.Together, we explore what it means to embody love in a world that can feel heavy, how to notice when someone’s energy is not aligned with yours, and why loving people does not always mean letting them stay close. Sometimes the most loving thing you can do is send them on their way with grace.We also talk about trusting your body, listening to your inner knowing, allowing tears and prayer to do their work, and learning that surrender is not weakness. It is a practice.If you’ve ever struggled to stay loving without becoming depleted, this conversation will meet you there with warmth, wisdom, and a reminder that protecting your peace can still be an act of love.Connect with Ruthie:www.ruthieelliott.comGoMommyGo.comSpirit-Led-Supermoms.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RuthElliottHilsdon9/featuredInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/elliotthilsdon/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ruth.elliott/IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0254619/?ref_=fn_t_2Learn more about Amy, apply to be a guest on the podcast, or schedule a personal Holding Space session for yourself, your business, school, community, organization, etc. here:[email protected]/getamyshelphttps://www.getamyshelp.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/amythurmanhttps://www.instagram.com/amycthurman

There comes a point in life where everything can look right on the outside, yet something inside you knows it no longer fits. Not because you failed, but because you’ve grown, and growth has a way of asking for more honesty than comfort.In this episode, I sit down with Susan Houston for a conversation that goes far beyond career changes and relationship endings, and into what it actually feels like to outgrow a life you once worked so hard to build. Susan shares her journey of walking away from a 19-year career, ending her marriage, and stepping into the unknown without having everything figured out, all in pursuit of something deeper, something more true.As we talk, it becomes clear that this kind of transformation does not start in the moment you leave, but in the quiet moments long before that, when you begin to notice the disconnect between who you are and who you’ve been trying to be. We explore how childhood experiences can shape our sense of worth, how they can lead us to become who others need us to be, and how those patterns can follow us into adulthood in ways we don’t always recognize.We also talk about the parts of this journey that are rarely spoken out loud, including the emotional weight of success, the sting of rejection when you begin to step into something new, and the courage it takes to stay with yourself when everything familiar starts to fall away. There is a depth to this conversation that builds as it unfolds, inviting you to consider where you may be holding onto a version of your life that no longer reflects who you are becoming.If you have ever felt like you are outgrowing your career, your relationships, or even your identity, this conversation will meet you there. Not with answers you are supposed to follow, but with the reminder that it is okay to change, it is okay to choose yourself, and it is okay to build something new from a place that feels more aligned with who you truly are.Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is honor who you’ve become, even when it means letting go of everything you once worked so hard to build.Connect with Susan:www.thesusanhouston.comhttps://www.instagram.com/susanhouston.kienitz/www.linkedin.com/in/thesusanhoustonhttps://www.facebook.com/susanhouston.kienitz/https://www.tiktok.com/@susan.houston6?lang=enLearn more about Amy, apply to be a guest on the podcast, or schedule a personal Holding Space session for yourself, your business, school, community, organization, etc. here:[email protected]/getamyshelphttps://www.getamyshelp.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/amythurmanhttps://www.instagram.com/amycthurman

What if the moments that hurt you the most didn’t have to define you forever?In this episode, I sit down with Tammy Ward, former police officer turned motivational speaker, for a conversation that is raw, real, and deeply human. What she shares will stay with you.We talk about trauma that doesn’t just go away, the kind that quietly shapes how you see the world, how you show up, and how you carry yourself through the hardest seasons of life. And instead of avoiding it, Tammy made a choice that most people don’t even realize is possible - she chose to face it differently.This is a conversation about what it actually looks like to heal, not in a perfect, polished way, but in the kind of way that requires honesty, courage, and a willingness to feel what most people try to avoid.We talk about:* Why so many people say they’re “fine” when they’re not* What forgiveness really means (and what it doesn’t)* The silent realities of trauma, mental health, and domestic violence* How to begin creating new meaning in places that once held painThere is a moment in this conversation that will shift how you think about healing, about control, and about what it really means to move forward, and it’s one you won’t want to miss.If you’ve ever carried something heavy, if you’ve ever tried to move on but didn’t know how, or if you’ve ever wondered if healing is actually possible for you, this conversation is for you.And if it speaks to you, share it. You never know who might need to hear this today.Connect with Tammy:7 day reset called a Brave Start : https://tammywardspeaks.com/thebravestart/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/tammy-ward-speaks/https://www.instagram.com/yourtruthlieswithin/https://tammywardspeaks.com/Learn more about Amy, apply to be a guest on the podcast, or schedule a personal Holding Space session for yourself, your business, school, community, organization, etc. here:[email protected]/getamyshelphttps://www.getamyshelp.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/amythurmanhttps://www.instagram.com/amycthurman