Episode 78

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Published on:

23rd Nov 2025

You Are Not the Supporting Character

In this powerful episode of Survival Mode Disrupted, Leticia sits down with Stephany, a woman who has lived through the kind of plot twists most people only see in movies:

🔹 Two emotionally and psychologically abusive marriages (with legal abuse layered on top)

🔹 A second marriage that ended in physical violence

🔹 A baby born with a rare genetic disorder

🔹 A home destroyed by Hurricane Ian

🔹 Temporary loss of her eyesight

And yet… the most life-changing moment didn’t happen in a courtroom, hospital, or hurricane. It happened on the bathroom floor, at rock bottom, when a quiet inner voice told her: “You’re not seeing your story correctly. It’s time to stop being the victim and become the star.” From that moment, Stephany stopped waiting to be rescued and started rewriting her fairytale.

🎙️ What We Talk About

  • How survival mode can look like overstaying in a relationship and calling it “loyalty” or “endurance”
  • The truth about thinking someone else will change… and realizing you’re the only one who actually did
  • Crying on the bathroom floor: the moment she decided to let go of the victim story
  • Losing her house, her sight, and her sense of self – and the inner voice that told her to redefine her story
  • The concept of becoming the star of your story instead of a side character in someone else’s
  • Why so many women live as the supporting actress in their own life, especially after toxic and narcissistic relationships
  • The “cave you fear to enter” and what it really means to go within, get quiet, and face your own shadows
  • Identity creation: rewriting your self-concept after years of emotional and psychological abuse
  • How delusional vision + aligned action = nervous system recalibration and higher self embodiment
  • Why opportunities now come to her because she kept showing up messy, unpolished, and raw in the beginning


🔑 Key Takeaways

“You are not seeing your story correctly. It’s time to stop being the victim and become the star.”
“You are not your past, you are not your trauma, and you are not your shame.”
“If you’re still waiting for someone to come and save you, you’re still stuck in the fairytale.”
“Your nervous system won’t believe you’re ‘her’ until you keep showing up as her on repeat.”


💬 Connect with Stephany

  • Instagram: @rewritethefairytale
  • Facebook: Stephany Ann
  • Book: Magnificent Me: A Formula and Process for Higher Self Creation (for women rewriting identity after narcissistic abuse & trauma)



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About the Podcast

Survival Mode Disrupted with Leticia R Francis
Disruptive 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.

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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