Unstoppable with Paula Swain

How much of your life reflects who you really are, and how much reflects who you've learned you're supposed to be?

Many women spend years trying to keep the peace, make others happy, and meet expectations without realizing how much of themselves they've set aside.

In this episode of Unstoppable with Paula Swain, Alissa Gardenhire explores what happens when we stop questioning the roles we've been taught to play and start asking what we actually want.

A Harvard-trained researcher, writer, and speaker, Alissa shares her perspective on relationships, emotional freedom, communication, and what...

What happens when life changes everything you thought your future would look like? And how do you find joy when the challenges keep coming?

At just 21 years old, Heather Hall was diagnosed with an aggressive form of bone cancer. What followed was more than a year of chemotherapy, surgery, and learning to walk again. Years later, she faced melanoma and then breast cancer. Three cancer diagnoses, each leaving a lasting impact on her life.

In this episode of Unstoppable with Paula Swain, Heather shares the moment she stopped asking why this was happening and began...

Who were you before you became who everyone else needed you to be?

Sarah Shard saw that question play out in an unexpected way through her mother, Pat. After decades of being known primarily as a wife and mother, and then experiencing profound grief after losing her husband, Pat began showing a different side of herself as Alzheimer’s changed her life. Sarah watched her mother become more social, adventurous, and connected to the woman she had once been. It left Sarah wondering whether that woman had been there all along.

🌿 If this conve...

Some of the beliefs running your life may not have started with you.

And changing the pattern may begin with asking a surprisingly simple question: Is this actually mine?

In this episode of Unstoppable with Paula Swain, Paula talks with Mindy Jackson about family conditioning, trauma, intuition, self-trust, and the patterns we carry through life.

After heart surgery, a postoperative stroke, vision loss, a painful breakup, the death of her mother, and other major health challenges, Mindy began looking differently at healing and identity. She shares how those experiences...

Your life can look nothing like the one you planned and still have meaning, purpose, and dreams left in it.

In this episode of Unstoppable with Paula Swain, Paula talks with Alma Thomas about grief, resilience, faith, and what Alma calls her “bounce back spirit.”

After losing her 18-year-old son, experiencing homelessness, going through a difficult marriage and divorce, and later surviving a massive stroke, Alma faced one life-changing challenge after another.

But she refused to believe her life was over.

Paula and Alma talk about what help...

Being the woman everyone depends on can feel like a strength. But what happens when you’re carrying things that were never yours to carry?

In this episode of Unstoppable with Paula Swain, Paula talks with Canetha Armour Porter about what Canetha calls being the “Glue Woman”, the woman who helps, fixes, carries, and holds everything together for everyone else.

Canetha spent years being the person others relied on. Eventually, she realized the problem was not simply burnout. She was taking responsibility for other people’s emotions, problems, and outcomes.

Paula...

What happens when you stop trying to become who everyone else thinks you should be and start listening to yourself?

Amanda Sweet calls herself the Creative Fairy Godmother, but getting to this version of herself was anything but a straight path. Her story includes difficult relationships, jobs that were not right for her, dropping out of college, acting, modeling, thrifting, community building, and plenty of unexpected turns.

In this conversation, Amanda and Paula talk honestly about identity, self-worth, fear, people pleasing, and what can happen when you finally give yourself permission to explore what feels...