Episode 28

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Published on:

20th Aug 2025

From Great Dane Attack to Great Awakening

Chelsea didn’t just survive an attack—she survived the grief of losing the life she had before it.

What began as a tragic dog attack became a full-blown awakening to the reality of trauma, abandonment, and the power of reinvention.

In this soul-shaking episode of Survival Mode Disrupted, Chelsea shares the brutal truth about healing—how it’s not linear, never simple, and deeply human.

Here’s what you’ll hear:

  • 🩸 A traumatic attack that led to ICU, plastic surgery, and a near-death experience
  • 🧠 What trauma really does to memory and why she had to rewatch her pain
  • 🧱 Why the loneliness after trauma hits harder than the event itself
  • 🛑 How society gaslights emotional pain by measuring trauma on a scale
  • ❤️ Why she built a nonprofit to make sure no one else heals alone
  • 📣 How pain creates purpose—but only after it’s processed
  • 🧍‍♀️ And what it means to grieve a version of yourself that no longer exists

🎙️ What We Talk About:

  • The lies your brain tells to "protect" you from your own truth
  • Why time doesn’t heal trauma—but action does
  • Grieving the loss of who you were before trauma
  • Creating a new identity without shame or apology
  • The emotional whiplash of survival mode and why it feels like crazy
  • Why community is non-negotiable in recovery
  • How to stop waiting for your purpose to fall from the sky and build it instead


🔑 Key Takeaways:

“I had to grieve my own death while I was still alive.”
“Surviving was the easy part. It’s what came after that nearly broke me.”
“You don’t need to be stronger. You need to be seen.”
“Healing doesn’t have a deadline—and trauma doesn’t need to be big to be real.”


🙌 Why This Episode Matters:

We’ve been taught to rank trauma.

To minimize our pain.

To measure healing in days, weeks, or therapy sessions.

Chelsea’s story dismantles all of that.

She reminds us that trauma is personal, healing is daily, and survival is just the beginning.

If you’ve ever questioned whether your pain matters, whether you’re “overreacting,” or whether healing is possible—you need this episode in your bones.


💬 Connect with Chelsea:

📌 YouTube: We Heal Together with Chelsea

📘 Facebook: Chelsea Elizabeth


🔗 Resources & Links:






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About the Podcast

Survival Mode Disrupted with Leticia R Francis
Disrupted Unapologetic Conversations about Survival Mode
Survival Mode Disrupted is not just a podcast. It's a rebellion.

A raw, unfiltered space where we finally stop pretending we're fine and start telling the truth—the truth about the trauma we've carried, the identities they had to wear to survive, and the radical decisions we made to break free.

Because here's the deal: survival mode isn’t just a season. It’s a damn identity. One that so many were forced to adopt just to get through life, to stay safe, to stay needed, to stay sane. But eventually, it starts costing you more than it protects. Your peace. Your purpose. Your power.

This podcast is for the disruptors—the people who were told to stay small, stay silent, stay grateful for crumbs… and said “hell no.”

Hosted by Leticia, The Survival Mode Disruptor herself—a trauma recovery mentor, speaker, and woman who has lived through the fires of abuse, betrayal, and breakdown and still chose to rise—this show dives deep into the unapologetic exits from survival mode that no one talks about.

You’ll hear from women (and a few brave men) who walked away from toxic relationships, soul-sucking careers, generational dysfunction, religious trauma, cultural expectations, and the lies they were taught to believe about themselves. Not because it was easy—but because staying would’ve killed something sacred inside of them.

These are the stories of bold pivots, quiet courage, and messy but miraculous rebirths.

Each episode is a conversation—a disruption—meant to wake something up in you. Whether it’s a guest sharing the moment they chose themselves for the first time, or Leticia dropping a truth bomb that makes you question everything you’ve normalized, this podcast is here to shake the foundation of your survival mode identity and replace it with something truer. Something freer.

We’re not here for surface-level self-care tips or fake empowerment slogans.

We’re here to talk about what it really takes to:

Reclaim your voice after being silenced.

Reinvent yourself after being broken down.

Rewrite your story when everyone else wants you to stay the same.

Release the guilt of choosing YOU.

This is for those who are done performing. Done pleasing. Done pretending.

It’s for the ones ready to exit survival mode—not slowly, not quietly, but disruptively and unapologetically.

You won’t leave this podcast the same.
You’ll cry. You’ll rage. You’ll laugh.
You’ll see yourself in every story.
And more importantly, you’ll remember who the hell you are.

Welcome to Survival Mode Disrupted.
It’s not just a podcast.
It’s a movement.
And your exit begins here.

About your host

Profile picture for Leticia Francis

Leticia Francis

I am not here to inspire you—I am here to activate you.

As a Survivor, Keynote Speaker, and Trauma Recovery Mentor, I know what it’s like to fight battles no one sees. I also know that breaking free is possible. My work is about disrupting survival mode, exposing trauma-driven success cycles, and giving women the blueprint to reclaim their lives.

🔹 200+ podcast features & speaking engagements
🔹 Global Women of Choice Award Winner 2022
🔹 Creator of the Survival Mode Exit Plan
🔹 Host of Survival Mode Disrupted Podcast