In this episode of The Phoenix Mind with Lisa Manzo, Mandy Alexis shares her powerful journey of addiction, recovery, and deep nervous system healing. After starting drugs and alcohol at just 12 years old, Mandy spent 16 years addicted to cocaine. Even during those years, she carried a quiet fascination with the human mind and the deeper reasons behind behavior, pain, and emotional survival.

Recovery became the turning point that changed everything. While living in three countries across Central America, Mandy faced a complete nervous system breakdown and deep depression that forced her to slow down and look inward. Through that process, she began learning about the vagus nerve, energy clearing, and what it truly means to rebuild from the inside out. Today, Mandy shares her story to remind others that no matter how lost or broken you feel, healing, happiness, and freedom are always possible when we meet ourselves with compassion and commit to the journey.

Want to learn more about Mandy Alexis?

https://www.instagram.com/mandyalexismotivation/?hl=en

Want to learn more about Lisa Manzo?
https://lisamanzo.us

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https://thephoenixmind.com

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https://thephoenixmind.com/ei-certification

Have a story to share and think you would make a good guest on The Phoenix Mind with Lisa Manzo?
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In this episode of The Phoenix Mind with Lisa Manzo, Dawn Jackson, RN, Advanced Grief Recovery Method Specialist, and bestselling author, shares how healing unresolved grief can transform every area of life. With more than 30 years of nursing experience, Dawn brings deep compassion and lived understanding to the process of moving from survival into wholeness. Her work has been featured in Aspire Magazine, international bestselling anthologies, and on podcasts around the world.

Growing up in a family impacted by alcoholism, Dawn learned early how pain can quietly shape identity, relationships, and self worth. After finding herself divorced at 30, she realized that much of her past grief had never been healed. That awakening led her to The Grief Recovery Method and a profound personal transformation. Today, as the author of Journey to Peace and Healing and Journey to Self Discovery: 100 Days of Soulful Reflections, Dawn guides others to release old pain, heal the heart, and rediscover joy in mind, body, and spirit.

Want to learn more aout Dawn Jackson?

https://www.dawnmichelejackson.com/

Want to learn more about Lisa Manzo?
https://lisamanzo.us

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https://thephoenixmind.com

Want to check out our free Emotional Intelligence certification?
https://thephoenixmind.com/ei-certification

Have a story to share and think you would make a good guest on The Phoenix Mind with Lisa Manzo?
https://thephoenixmind.com/be-a-guest

In this episode of The Phoenix Mind with Lisa Manzo, dual service U.S. Navy and Air Force veteran Marilyn Richards shares her powerful journey from survival to significance. As one of the first women to serve aboard the USS Carl Vinson and later an Air Force service member after 9/11, Marilyn carried deep responsibility, discipline, and unspoken trauma beneath the uniform. Childhood wounds and military experiences were buried under service until burnout, depression, and spiritual silence forced her to pause and listen inward.

Through therapy, faith, community, and writing, Marilyn reclaimed her identity and healing. That rebirth led to the founding of Echo Tango Sierra LLC, a trauma informed, faith based transition and empowerment platform supporting veterans and trauma survivors as they rebuild resilient, purpose driven lives. This conversation explores faith, recovery, identity after service, and the courage required to stop surviving and begin forging ahead with intention and hope.

Want to learn more about Marilyn Richards?https://linktr.ee/marilynr

Want to learn more about Lisa Manzo?
https://lisamanzo.us

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https://thephoenixmind.com

Want to check out our free Emotional Intelligence certification?
https://thephoenixmind.com/ei-certification

Have a story to share and think you would make a good guest on The Phoenix Mind with Lisa Manzo?
https://thephoenixmind.com/be-a-guest

In this episode of The Phoenix Mind with Lisa Manzo, coach, facilitator, and mentor Julie Cyvonne shares how she left a successful legal career to build a life that actually feels good to live. After doing everything “right” on paper and still waking up numb, Julie realized her achievement armor was protecting her from pain while also blocking joy. Her turning point came through deep inner work and the discovery of psilocybin as a catalyst for change, not a cure.

Julie recognized a missing piece in the psychedelic space: integration. Since then, she has guided more than 300 people through mentorship, retreats, and group programs that blend science, nervous system literacy, and radically honest support. Her work focuses on helping people integrate transformation into everyday life so growth shows up on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon. This conversation explores identity, feeling again, and creating lives we do not need to escape from.

Want to learn more about Julie Cyvonne?

https://www.juliecyvonne.com/

Want to learn more about Lisa Manzo?
https://lisamanzo.us

Want to learn more about The Phoenix Mind?
https://thephoenixmind.com

Want to check out our free Emotional Intelligence certification?
https://thephoenixmind.com/ei-certification

Have a story to share and think you would make a good guest on The Phoenix Mind with Lisa Manzo?
https://thephoenixmind.com/be-a-guest

In this episode of The Phoenix Mind with Lisa Manzo, Nervous System Whisperer and Venting Coach Jennifer Grove shares how high-functioning women can stop performing calm and start truly releasing what they carry. Known for blending science, soul, and sass, Jennifer helps emotionally exhausted women soften, regulate their nervous systems, and return to deep self-trust through breathwork, somatic release, and emotional alchemy.

After years of teaching yoga and Pilates, Jennifer realized she was helping people look calm rather than feel safe. Her own turning point came when she recognized she was the calmest person in every room and secretly the angriest. Letting herself fall apart became the beginning of real healing. That moment gave birth to The Soft Return experience and her podcast, Gettin’ in the Grove. This conversation explores self-abandonment, emotional release, and why true healing begins when we stop holding it all together and finally exhale.

Want to learn more about Jennifer Grove?

www.jgrovewellness.com

Want to learn more about Lisa Manzo?
https://lisamanzo.us

Want to learn more about The Phoenix Mind?
https://thephoenixmind.com

Want to check out our free Emotional Intelligence certification?
https://thephoenixmind.com/ei-certification

Have a story to share and think you would make a good guest on The Phoenix Mind with Lisa Manzo?
https://thephoenixmind.com/be-a-guest

In this episode of The Phoenix Mind with Lisa Manzo, author, entrepreneur, and educator Cesar R. Espino shares his extraordinary journey from deep poverty in Mexico City to building a life rooted in purpose, resilience, and service. Born into a single parent household during a national financial crisis, Cesar spent his early years living in a 200 square foot home made of sheet metal and plywood, with no running water, no floor, and no insulation. Survival was not a mindset. It was a daily requirement.

When his mother migrated to the United States in pursuit of the American Dream, Cesar was forced to grow up fast, working at a young age to help put food on the table. Today, Cesar holds an MBA, has worked in corporate America, built businesses, invested in real estate, and authored You Can Overcome Anything! Even When the World Says No. His mission is clear. To empower others to rise beyond circumstance and create opportunity regardless of background or current situation.

Want to learn more about Cesar Espino?

www.cesarrespino.com

Want to learn more about Lisa Manzo?
https://lisamanzo.us

Want to learn more about The Phoenix Mind?
https://thephoenixmind.com

Want to check out our free Emotional Intelligence certification?
https://thephoenixmind.com/ei-certification

Have a story to share and think you would make a good guest on The Phoenix Mind with Lisa Manzo?
https://thephoenixmind.com/be-a-guest

In this episode of The Phoenix Mind with Lisa Manzo, Rob McCarthy shares the raw story behind the FCK the Standard movement and his breakout book FCK the Script. A lifelong blue-collar worker from New York, Rob built his message from lived experience, hard lessons, and a refusal to keep following a version of success that never made sense.

Rob’s wake-up call came in a hospital emergency room with chest pains, when his boss called to ask about work instead of his health. In that moment, he realized something sobering. Jobs move on. Families live with the loss. Rob chose to step away from a high-stress managerial role, return to blue-collar work, and rebuild a life centered on freedom, family, and meaning. Through his writing, podcast, and community, Rob challenges people to stop living by a script written by society and start building a life that actually feels like their own.

Want to learn more about Rob McCarthy?

Stan.store/fts25

Want to learn more about Lisa Manzo?
https://lisamanzo.us

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https://thephoenixmind.com

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https://thephoenixmind.com/ei-certification

Have a story to share and think you would make a good guest on The Phoenix Mind with Lisa Manzo?
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In this episode of The Phoenix Mind with Lisa Manzo, writer, educator, and global health professional Ted Neill shares how storytelling became the path that saved his life. With work spanning five continents, Ted has witnessed profound suffering and resilience through his humanitarian and health work. Yet his most important healing journey began when he confronted the childhood sexual abuse he had buried for decades.

For years, Ted poured himself into serving others, attempting to outrun his own pain. Eventually, the unspoken trauma caught up with him physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Writing became the turning point. Through books like Two Years of Wonder and Twenty Years of Unraveling, Ted reclaimed his voice and transformed pain into purpose. A recipient of the Martin Luther King Jr. Torch of Peace Award and author of the upcoming series My Name is Ted and I’m a Racist, he now helps others understand that healing is not linear and that telling the truth is often where wholeness begins.

Want to learn more about Ted Neill?https://tedneillauthor.com/

Want to learn more about Lisa Manzo?
https://lisamanzo.us

Want to learn more about The Phoenix Mind?
https://thephoenixmind.com

Want to check out our free Emotional Intelligence certification?
https://thephoenixmind.com/ei-certification

Have a story to share and think you would make a good guest on The Phoenix Mind with Lisa Manzo?
https://thephoenixmind.com/be-a-guest