Are you forcing yourself to fit into an extroverted business mold that drains your energy and leaves you feeling fake?

Welcome to The Story I'm Telling Myself—the premier personal transformation podcast and mindset podcast hosted by Rita Ernst.

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In this raw episode, financial services specialist and author Shannon Brooks (also known as Shannon B) reveals how she built a thriving 21-year business by throwing out corporate sales scripts and unapologetically honoring her introversion.

From using a Rubik's Cube to self-regulate as an isolated child to authoring her interactive financial literacy book MoneyQuest, Shannon proves that success doesn't require pleasing everyone—it requires honoring your boundaries.

Key Takeaways & Frameworks:

• The Social Battery Model: Discover why introverted energy slow-charges like an old phone charger and how to honor low-battery days without guilt.

• Vibe, Energy, & Alignment: Shannon’s 3-part filter for evaluating whether a room matches your purpose or if it's time to "exit to the left".

• Ditching the Pitch: How abandoning rigid scripts creates genuine client trust and lasting impact.

• Atmospheric Transformation: Turning personal stories of lack into tools that empower single mothers and underserved communities.

Whether you need a self-development podcast to establish rock-solid personal boundaries or a personal growth podcast to elevate your career, this episode delivers unfiltered truth. Subscribe to this leading self-help podcast today!

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What if waking up with zero memories of your past was actually the ultimate invitation to start fresh?

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On this episode of The Story I'm Telling Myself, host Rita Ernst sits down with Jenny White—former ICU nurse, brain tumor survivor, best-selling medical thriller author, and TV host. Brain surgery left her with total amnesia and unable to walk, speak, or recognize her husband of 20 years. Jenny faced a choice: grieve a past she couldn't remember, or embrace the ultimate clean slate.

In this powerful conversation on our personal transformation podcast, Jenny reveals how she used creative writing to physically rewire her brain, date her husband from scratch, and build a purpose-centered life.

Key Takeaways & Frameworks:

Joy-Oriented vs. Task-Oriented: Why shifting your daily focus from endless to-do lists to genuine joy changes everything.

The "Mount Everest" Baby Steps Rule: How taking just one or two small steps forward each day creates massive neurological and personal growth.

Ditching the Pleaser Narrative: Releasing the pressure to live up to other people’s expectations of who you "should" be.

Self-Care Without Guilt: Using body awareness, rest, and simple mindset shifts to navigate life's speed bumps.

Subscribe today to the ultimate positivity podcast for real, human-centered self-help podcast inspiration!

Connect with and buy her medical thriller fiction Jenny White

Connect with host Rita Ernst

Overcoming the Invisible Stigma: Turning Mental Health Challenges into Purpose with Yvette Leal

What happens when the story inside your head tells you that a medical diagnosis makes you unfit for your life's passion? On The Story I'm Telling Myself, host Rita Ernst sits down with veteran educator, dual-credit sociology professor, photographer, and author Yvette Leal for an unfiltered conversation on overcoming bipolar disorder stigma and imposter syndrome.

Grab the companion episode activation guide to redefine your relationship with your self-limiting story

After receiving a bipolar diagnosis at age 41, Yvette faced intense fear that societal stigma would destroy her 16-year teaching career, her home, and her custody of her young daughter. Struggling through eight dark months of depression where she wore a purple hoodie as a security blanket and a face mask to hide that she couldn't smile, Yvette fought back by building a personal transformation framework grounded in tangible evidence. By reading student thank-you notes, flooding her thoughts with daily mantras, leaning into therapy and church support, and staying on her sleep medication, she conquered self-doubt and went on to earn her Master's degree.

As a premier mindset podcast and personal transformation podcast, this episode offers actionable tools for anyone seeking to reframe personal trials into a gift of resilience.

Connect with Yvette LealRead Yvette's story in "We Choose to Be More than our Diagnoses Volume 2"Connect with host Rita Ernst