Candice & Tracy reunite nearly six months after recording their previous convo. They discuss what it’s been like sharing their stories & unpack major takeaways on the other side of a transformative few weeks. Tracy shares new perspective on the tools-turned-weapons of self-help, along with a vision of how she'd like to do group culture differently in the future. Candice speaks about two nervous system adaptations commonly overlooked...
2006, just as I was coming out of my daze in the Org. Have you ever been totally enamored with a person, teaching, or way of life? Captivated (as in held captive) by potential or a promise? Unable to to walk way despite the downright-ugly dysfunction, because saying aw-hell-no means stepping away from a sure thing or a path that feels as though it was carved out specially for you? Yeah. Me, neither. 🙃 But for those who CAN relate (are you...
Due to unexpected weather patterns, Candice opens up the episode from her bedroom closet where she’s riding out a monsoon thunderstorm. The metaphor is a timely one, as she speaks candidly about a humbling week that put her face to face with her number one challenge — speaking hard truths & disappointing people. This leads directly into the third and final segment of the conversation she had with Tracy Stamper back in March of this...
In the fourth episode of the 'cult'ure series, Candice is back with Part 2 of her conversation with Tracy Stamper. In a follow-up to last week, Tracy shares candidly about the devastation she felt in 2017 when she was fired from the high-demand 'cult'ure where she'd devoted sixteen years of her life. She was let go within hours of her father's passing, and the loss - of a parent, a job, an identity, and a community - resulted in feelings of...
This is me 'power posturing' at age 26. 🤨 I've since learned to stop imitating power-over 'cult'ural dynamics. "I told myself that my silence was self preservation and that it was in service to taking the high road, you know, all of that stuff. Which was true... but only somewhat. I had kept my story close because I was still afraid of the goddamn bear. Don't poke the bear, because if you do, he'll puff himself up in anger and assume control...
In Episode 33, Candice shared intimately about what it was like to work in the ‘cult’ure of new age wellness; and this week she sits down with former colleague and long-time friend Tracy Stamper who has agreed to share her own personal story of separation from ‘the Org’ (referenced in the last episode). Tracy will be joining Candice for a series of episodes where the two reflect on what it’s like to survive the aftermath of a culty...
When I was nine and ten years old, we lived in SoCal. The summer days were long and hot & I refused to wear shoes. I’d run through the asphalt roads of our trailer park on leather-skinned feet. After more than one trip to the doctor to have plantar warts removed, my mother finally insisted that I start wearing my ‘jellies’ while playing outside. I eventually gave in, but not before defiantly announcing: “Fine! But you just wait and...
Turns out the ‘cult’ure of new ageism isn't really all that new, but it is positively alive and well; and its over-emphasis on love & light can blinding. In this episode, Candice speaks transparently about the decade she spent working and teaching in new-age wellness circles. She tells you how she extricated herself from a pseudoscientific yoga cult in 2002, and what it might’ve cost her had she stayed. She speaks transparently...
She lifted the pages and waved them in the space between us before she spoke. “Candice, the writing is good. But I can't seem to find you on the page. It's like you're reporting events from somewhere outside of yourself. I just keep wondering, where are YOU in this story?” Her words struck a chord deep inside me, & I had no idea how to answer her. I felt like I'd been using my writing to try to claw back into the center of myself since...
In the first episode of the 'cult'ure series, Candice invites us to get real about the relationships and groups we occupy. What does it mean to be psychosocially ‘under the influence’ and why are we humans so prone to surrendering personal agency? Candice shares more about what's challenged her most when it comes to living at the center of her own story, revealing the recent therapeutic ah-hah that led to the creation of this podcast summer...
