Episode 29

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Published on:

20th Aug 2025

Why High Achievers Crash

What happens when the version of you that "has it all together" starts to crumble? Jacqueline Young joins Leticia to unpack how childhood trauma morphs into adult burnout—and why success doesn’t always mean safety.

This episode dives deep into the nervous system, trauma loops, and the healing that begins after the breakdown.

  • 🎯 Fawning, freezing, and the truth about trauma responses
  • 🧠 How the unconscious mind hijacks your success
  • 💔 When high-achievers become emotionally bankrupt
  • 🌱 Why “self-help” isn’t enough without nervous system regulation
  • 🌀 The myth of instant forgiveness & why self-forgiveness comes first
  • 🔁 The real reason you’re repeating cycles—no matter how “smart” you are

🎙️ What We Talk About:

  • Living with an alcoholic parent & developing survival personas
  • How trauma shows up in the workplace (and why high performers ignore it)
  • Dysregulation vs regulation: what it actually feels like
  • How the nervous system stores your emotional history
  • The “deadly trifecta”: People-pleasing, perfectionism, and overachievement
  • Rewiring belief systems through hypnosis and somatic healing
  • Why joy, peace, and calm often feel unsafe at first


🔑 Key Takeaways:

“Trauma doesn’t have to be big. It’s anything that made you feel unseen, unsafe, unloved, or unheard.”
“You’re not addicted to stress. You’re addicted to what felt like safety.”
“There will always be leakage—what you suppress WILL find a way out.”
“You don’t need another book. You need a breakthrough.”


🙌 Why This Episode Matters:

If you’ve ever looked at your life and wondered why you’re still exhausted despite doing “everything right,” this episode is your mirror and your permission slip.

It’s not all in your head. It’s in your nervous system.

And healing starts when we stop glorifying survival—and start reclaiming ease as our baseline.


💬 Connect with Jackie:

  • 💻 Website
  • 📧 Email: jackie@themindshiftcoach.ca


🔗 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