Episode 37

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Published on:

7th Sep 2025

You Only Have to a Step Ahead

What happens when trauma rewires your identity before you even know who you are? In this raw and radically honest episode, Sue Bowles shares her journey of entering survival mode at just 7 years old—and how it took nearly four decades before she started healing. From self-blame to self-discovery, Sue walks us through how she finally stepped into her power and chose to live again.

Here’s what you’ll hear:

  • 💥 How trauma hijacks your identity and rewires your brain
  • 🧠 What “ED” (eating disorder voice) sounds like—and how to shut it down
  • 🔥 The danger of not owning your story (and how to start)
  • ✝️ Why Sue calls herself “a holy exception”—and how faith helped her fight back
  • 🛑 The lie that you need to be “fully healed” to help others
  • 🧱 How radical self-awareness can disrupt years of survival mode
  • 💬 What it actually means to take your power back, one step at a time


🎙️ What We Talk About:

  • What survival mode looks like when it starts in childhood
  • The emotional cost of hiding your story
  • Rewriting your narrative without shame or denial
  • The neuroscience of trauma and thought patterns
  • How to “throw a pebble on the anxiety train track”
  • Breaking cycles through radical ownership and support
  • Letting healing be messy, non-linear, and ongoing


🔑 Key Takeaways:

“A manageable level of tolerable existence is no longer an option.”
“Gratitude and anxiety can’t coexist—they come from the same part of the brain.”
“You don’t have to be healed to help. You only need to be a step ahead.”
“Healing starts with getting the story straight—and calling out the lies.”


🙌 Why This Episode Matters:

Too many women carry invisible wounds and wonder why life feels so hard. This episode strips away the shame and shows what real healing looks like: owning the truth, rewriting the narrative, and taking one brave step at a time. If you’re still pretending you’re fine—this is your wake-up call. You were not built to break. You were made to disrupt.


💬 Connect with Sue

  • 🌐 Website: www.suebowles.com
  • 📲 Sign up for her Wednesday Hump Day Help encouragement text
  • 🎁 Free resource on reframing your thoughts available after signup


🔗 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