What if the shame, hurt, insecurity, fear, and trauma you carry today are connected to experiences you never fully addressed?

In this episode of the Don't Screw Up Your Kids Podcast, I sit down with Dr. Paula Burton Jackson, also known as Coach PBJ, to discuss healing, self-awareness, faith, grief, relationships, and the emotional patterns that often shape our lives without us even realizing it.

After the unexpected loss of her first husband, Coach PBJ found herself carrying grief, anger, fear, and emotional wounds that she had never fully processed. That journey eventually led her to develop a framework that helps people identify the hidden beliefs, unresolved pain, and behavioral patterns that influence the way they show up in their relationships, careers, families, and communities.

During our conversation, we discuss:

• Childhood experiences and their long-term impact
• Emotional triggers and where they come from
• Grief, loss, and healing
• Faith and personal transformation
• Relationships and communication
• Extending grace to ourselves and others
• Breaking unhealthy cycles
• Self-awareness and personal growth
• The connection between healing ourselves and raising healthier children

One of the most powerful insights from this conversation is that many of us spend years reacting to situations without realizing that the reaction is often connected to something much deeper. Once we understand the source, we can begin to heal instead of simply repeating the pattern.

Coach PBJ also shares how she helps women identify the shadows that may be influencing their lives, recognize the seeds of those patterns, and develop healthier ways of responding to life's challenges.

Connect with Coach PBJ:

Website: https://coachpbjspeaks.com

Take the Shadow Assessment:
https://coachpbjspeaks.com

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/CoachPBJ

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/coachpbj

Book:
The Valley Between Me, Myself, and I

If this conversation resonates with you, please like, subscribe, and share it with someone who may be carrying more than they realize.

#CoachPBJ #TraumaToTruth #Healing #PersonalGrowth #Faith #SelfAwareness #EmotionalHealing #DontScrewUpYourKids #MentalHealth

What does it take to stay married for nearly three decades while raising four children and building a successful business together?

In this episode of the Don't Screw Up Your Kids Podcast, I sit down with Nate and Kim Newman to discuss marriage, parenting, homeschooling, entrepreneurship, and the intentional decisions that helped shape their family.

Kim shares her journey from Certified Public Accountant to homeschooling mother, while Nate reflects on the lessons they learned raising four children and creating a family culture centered on faith, purpose, and personal responsibility.

Together, they offer practical wisdom for parents who want to strengthen their relationships with their children while preparing them for success in the real world.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Marriage and partnership
• Raising four children
• Homeschooling and alternative education
• Why Kim left her CPA career
• Family values and family culture
• Teaching children responsibility
• Entrepreneurship and financial stewardship
• Faith and parenting
• Building strong parent-child relationships
• Preparing children for adulthood

One of the most powerful themes from this conversation is that parenting is not about perfection. It is about being intentional and consistently investing in your children over time.

Connect with Nate and Kim Newman:

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/NewmanProsperityGroup

Kim Newman:
https://www.facebook.com/kim.newman6

If you enjoyed this conversation, please like, subscribe, and share it with a parent who is committed to raising children who are happy, healthy, and whole.

#DontScrewUpYourKids #Parenting #Marriage #Homeschooling #FamilyLeadership #FaithAndFamily #Entrepreneurship #GenerationalWealth #NateAndKimNewman

At 26 years old, Shari Paskel received a lupus diagnosis that changed everything.

Doctors told her she would likely need medication for the rest of her life. They also warned her that having children could create serious health complications. Instead of accepting that as her only option, Shari made a different choice.

She chose healing.

In this episode of the Don't Screw Up Your Kids Podcast, Shari shares her journey from lupus diagnosis to remission, the lifestyle changes she made, the role faith played in her healing, and how she learned to prioritize her health, finances, and family.

We discuss:

• Being diagnosed with lupus at age 26
• Why she chose a different path than the one doctors recommended
• The connection between stress and physical health
• Nutrition, inflammation, fasting, and wellness
• Motherhood after being told pregnancy could be dangerous
• Divorce, healing, and resilience
• Parenting lessons learned from childhood
• Financial literacy and generational wealth
• Why health and finances go hand in hand
• Raising children who don't need to recover from their childhood

Shari also shares details about her upcoming platform, The Midlife Edit, and The Wellth Studio, a community designed to help women improve their health, finances, nutrition, and overall well-being through practical tools, education, and AI-powered support.

Connect with Shari:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/midlifewithshari

The Midlife Edit & The Wellth Studio (waitlist coming soon)

If this conversation encouraged you, please like, subscribe, and share it with someone who needs the reminder that healing is possible.

About the Don't Screw Up Your Kids Podcast:

The Don't Screw Up Your Kids Podcast explores parenting, personal growth, education, health, relationships, and the issues that impact families and communities. Our mission is to help parents raise children who are happy, healthy, and whole.

#ShariPaskel #Lupus #Healing #Wellness #FinancialLiteracy #Parenting #DontScrewUpYourKids #GenerationalWealth #TheMidlifeEdit #TheWellthStudio

How to Stop Treating Symptoms and Start Healing | Dr. Leona

What if the symptom is not the real problem?

In this episode of the Don't Screw Up Your Kids Podcast, Kaleesha Washington sits down with Dr. Leona, chiropractor, author, wellness strategist, and founder of Freedom Health Systems, for a conversation about what it truly means to heal.

Dr. Leona explains why many people spend years treating symptoms without addressing the underlying factors contributing to their health challenges. She discusses the role of stress, inflammation, nutrition, emotional health, lifestyle habits, and personal responsibility in creating lasting wellness.

Topics include:

• Diabetes prevention and management
• Weight loss and metabolic health
• Chronic disease and inflammation
• Emotional and physical wellness
• Stress and its effect on health
• Lifestyle medicine
• Health advocacy
• Sustainable healing strategies
• Finding the root cause of illness

If you have ever wondered why some health problems continue to return despite medication, diets, or temporary fixes, this episode will challenge you to think differently about healing.

Connect with Dr. Leona:

Website: drleona.com

Podcast: The Heal Deal Podcast

Additional books, resources, and health tools are available through her website.

Because healthier adults are better equipped to raise children who are happy, healthy, and whole.

What happens when grief is never fully processed?

In this episode of the Don't Screw Up Your Kids Podcast, Kaleesha Washington sits down with grief therapist, author, professor, minister, and executive coach Dr. Darlene Williams to discuss the lasting impact grief can have on our lives.

Dr. Williams explains how grief affects children and adults differently, why unresolved loss can remain with us for years, and how healing becomes possible when we acknowledge what we have been carrying.

Together, we discuss:

• Childhood grief
• Unprocessed loss
• Parenting through grief
• Emotional healing
• Boundaries and self-care
• Resilience and recovery
• Breast cancer advocacy
• Healthcare disparities
• Faith, purpose, and healing

Dr. Williams also shares her personal journey through the loss of her parents and sister, surviving breast cancer, and helping others navigate grief through coaching, counseling, and education.

Connect with Dr. Darlene Williams:

Website: drdarlenewilliams.com

Podcast: The Debrief with Dr. D

Psychology Today: Restoring Bountiful Joy

Books available through her website and Amazon.

Because healing ourselves helps us raise children who are happy, healthy, and whole.

In Part 10 of the Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome series, Kaleesha Washington concludes Chapter 2, “Whole to Three-Fifths: Dehumanization,” by examining how false theories about race were used to justify centuries of oppression and why the effects of those ideas are still visible today.

This episode explores the story of Ota Benga, a young man from the Congo who was displayed in the Bronx Zoo in 1906 as part of an exhibit designed to portray Africans as less than fully human. His story serves as one of the most disturbing examples of dehumanization in modern history.

Topics explored in this episode include:

• Ota Benga and the Bronx Zoo
• human zoos in the United States and Europe
• Madison Grant, eugenics, and scientific racism
• phrenology and other discredited theories
• the rise and misuse of intelligence testing
• cultural bias in standardized testing
• Ellis Island and the testing of immigrants
• Alfred Binet's original intentions for educational assessment
• and the difference between measuring knowledge and measuring intelligence

Drawing from history, education, psychology, and personal reflection, Kaleesha examines how theories once promoted as scientific truth were eventually disproven, yet continued to influence institutions, policies, and public attitudes long after their credibility disappeared.

This episode also highlights a sobering reality: many of these events occurred within the lifetimes of our parents and grandparents. The dehumanization discussed throughout this chapter is not ancient history. Its effects remain observable today.

As Chapter 2 comes to a close, Kaleesha reflects on Dr. Joy DeGruy's central argument that centuries of trauma and dehumanization did not disappear when the pseudoscience was debunked. The theories changed. The lies were exposed. But the damage remained.

This is Part 10 of an ongoing series discussing Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing by Dr. Joy DeGruy.

🎙️ Don't Screw Up Your Kids Podcast
Hosted by Kaleesha Washington

In Part 9 of the Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome series, Kaleesha Washington continues Chapter 2, “Whole to Three-Fifths: Dehumanization,” by examining how ideas about race, beauty, intelligence, morality, and human worth were transformed into a system of white superiority.

This episode explores how some of the most influential racial theories in American history were presented as science, taught as truth, and eventually woven into laws, institutions, and cultural beliefs.

Topics explored in this episode include:

• the power of definition and who gets to determine truth
• the origins of racial hierarchy and white superiority
• science versus pseudoscience in the study of race
• the role of influential writers and thinkers in shaping racial ideology
• Thomas Jefferson's writings about Africans
• beauty standards and the creation of racial preferences
• Virginia's racial laws and restrictions on interracial relationships
• interpretations of the biblical story of Ham and Canaan
• religion, slavery, and the misuse of scripture
• the relationship between law, power, and racial identity
• and how ideas created centuries ago continue to influence society today

Drawing from history, religion, politics, psychology, and personal reflection, Kaleesha examines how opinions became accepted as facts and how unsupported theories were used to justify slavery, segregation, and racial inequality.

This episode also explores an uncomfortable question: If racial superiority had to be invented, promoted, and defended, what does that reveal about the truth behind it?

From the biblical story of Noah and Canaan to Thomas Jefferson, Virginia law, and the rise of racial pseudoscience, this conversation challenges listeners to examine how narratives become accepted as reality and who benefits when they do.

This is Part 9 of an ongoing series discussing Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing by Dr. Joy DeGruy.

🎙️ Don't Screw Up Your Kids Podcast
Hosted by Kaleesha Washington

One of the biggest lies we've been told is that women are more emotional than men.

The evidence is everywhere, yet most people never stop to question the assumption.

Men get angry. Men get jealous. Men get possessive. Men start wars. Men commit most crimes of passion. Men refuse directions when they're lost. Men punch walls, throw things, and let their emotions make decisions every day.

Yet somehow women got labeled the emotional ones.

In this episode, I react to a video claiming that men are logical while women are emotional. I share a different perspective on emotions, problem-solving, listening, and the role that nature and nurture play in shaping who we become.

What if men and women are not nearly as different as we've been taught?

What if many of the behaviors we associate with masculinity and femininity are learned rather than innate?

Most importantly, what if women are not looking for someone to solve their problems at all?

Let's talk about it.