Episode 25

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Published on:

19th Aug 2025

What Radical Ownership Really Looks Like After Trauma

Sarah Schaefer doesn’t just talk about surviving—she embodies what it means to reclaim power after a lifetime of chaos. From childhood abuse and addiction to 9/11 trauma and parenting through a health crisis, Sarah has lived what most only imagine. In this raw and redemptive episode, we talk recovery, reinvention, and radical responsibility.

  • 💥 The 11 Shades of Meredith Grey and why we relate so deeply
  • 🧠 How trauma becomes your identity—and how to shake it
  • 🧨 Why ownership is the missing link in healing
  • 🧬 Ketamine therapy, coaching, and unconventional modalities that actually help
  • 🔥 The real reason we self-sabotage and repeat pain
  • 🤯 How historical trauma gets passed through generations
  • 📖 Her powerful book The Dumpster Fire Diaries—and what it means to finally feel peace


🎙️ What We Talk About:

  • Growing up with abuse and navigating early hypervigilance
  • Surviving 9/11 and the spiral into 30 years of addiction
  • The truth about trauma responses and emotional addiction
  • How ketamine therapy helped Sarah interrupt intrusive thoughts
  • Why generational trauma shows up in your money mindset, relationships, and more
  • The real cost of avoidance, denial, and toxic resilience
  • Strategies to quiet the “dumpster fire” in your head—without bypassing pain


🔑 Key Takeaways:

“If you think you deserve better—you do.”
“The fire doesn’t define you. What you do next does.”
“Toxic resilience is still survival mode—it’s just dressed up prettier.”
“You can’t heal what you keep hiding. And you don’t need to earn your breakthrough.”


🙌 Why This Episode Matters:

This is more than a conversation—it’s a full-body exhale for anyone carrying silent battles. Sarah proves that healing isn’t pretty, linear, or safe—but it’s possible. And that possibility begins with one bold decision: to stop pointing fingers and start rewriting the story. If you’re stuck in cycles, craving peace, or questioning if it’s too late for you—press play.

💬 Connect with Sarah:

📖 The Dumpster Fire Diaries → https://www.thedumpsterfirediaries.com

📱 Follow Sarah on Instagram, LinkedIn & TikTok via her website


🔗 Resources & Links:


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Show artwork for Survival Mode Disrupted with Leticia R Francis

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