No One Is Normal

S2E2 - Bonnie’s Story Part 2: The Gaslighting Narcissist

This is Part 2 of 6 in Bonnie’s story. Sometimes the hardest part about emotional abuse is that it rarely arrives all at once. It builds quietly. Slowly. Through confusion, manipulation, guilt, fear, and the constant feeling that maybe somehow everything is your fault. In part two of Bonnie’s story, the emotional weight deepens. What once felt manageable begins shifting into something harder to explain and even harder to escape. Isolation grows. Fear becomes familiar. Reality becomes harder to trust. And the version of yourself you once recognized slowly begins slipping away. This chapter explores something many survivors understand all too well: abuse does not always leave bruises people can see. Sometimes it changes the way you think, the way you feel, and the way you begin questioning your own worth. If you have ever felt emotionally trapped, questioned your own reality, or struggled to explain why leaving felt impossible, this conversation may resonate deeply. You are not alone. 🎙️ Podcast & Episodes: No One Is Normal Podcast 📘 Book (Print + Kindle): No One Is Normal: From Adversity and Trauma to Self-Discovery & Healing 🎧 Audiobook: No One Is Normal Audiobook 🛍️ Merch: No One Is Normal Merch

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S2E1 - Bonnie’s Story Part 1: The Beginning

This is Part 1 of 6 in Bonnie’s story. Some wounds do not begin with violence. They begin quietly. Slowly. In the moments we dismiss, excuse, or explain away because we want to believe things will get better. In this deeply personal and emotional six-part series, Bonnie shares the beginning of a story that many people never fully understand from the outside. A story of survival that did not look dangerous at first. A story about how fear, control, and emotional manipulation can slowly become normal until you no longer recognize how much of yourself has disappeared. Part one begins at the beginning. The early years. The dreams, the hope, the warning signs that are often invisible when you are living inside them, and the slow normalization of a life built around survival. If you have ever questioned your own reality, stayed longer than you thought you would, or wondered how people slowly lose themselves inside difficult relationships, this story may resonate more deeply than expected. You are not alone. 🎙️ Podcast & Episodes: No One Is Normal Podcast 📘 Book (Print + Kindle): No One Is Normal: From Adversity and Trauma to Self-Discovery & Healing 🎧 Audiobook: No One Is Normal Audiobook 🛍️ Merch: No One Is Normal Merch

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S1E26 - Kirk McCarley - This Should Have Killed Me

What would you do if your life changed overnight… twice? In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Kirk McCarley just days after he was hit by a truck while cycling. With broken ribs, a concussion, and 16 stitches in his head, Kirk shares what it feels like to face life from a completely different perspective — again. This isn’t the first time. Kirk also opens up about surviving a major heart event that led to triple bypass surgery, and how that moment forced him to rethink everything. From walking away from a stable career in human resources to becoming an executive coach later in life, his story is a powerful example of what it means to take control of your direction… even when it feels too late. We talk about depression, anxiety, and the weight of trying to hold everything together. We also get into why men struggle to open up, how small actions create momentum, and what it really takes to move forward when you feel stuck. One of the most powerful moments in this episode is when Kirk shares how he reached out to the man who hit him — not with anger, but with forgiveness. This conversation is about perspective, resilience, and understanding that it’s never too early… or too late… to change your life. 🌐 Learn more about Kirk McCarley:⁠ https://theseedsowercoach.com/ 🔗 More from me: 🎙️ Podcast & episodes:⁠https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast⁠ 📖 Book (Print + Kindle):⁠https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB⁠ 🎧 Audiobook:⁠https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ⁠ 👕 Wear the message:⁠https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

S1E25 - Practicing Gratitude

Gratitude sounds simple until life gives me every reason not to feel it. In this episode of No One Is Normal, I talk about the difference between fake positivity and real gratitude. Not the social media version. Not pretending everything is perfect. Real gratitude is harder than that. It’s learning how to recognize what still matters while life is uncomfortable, uncertain, frustrating, or painful. I share how easy it is to become consumed by stress, comparison, resentment, and survival mode without even realizing it. Because when the mind is constantly focused on what’s missing, broken, unfair, or out of reach, eventually nothing feels like enough anymore. This episode is about perspective, awareness, and learning how to stop overlooking the things I once prayed for just because they became familiar. Gratitude doesn’t erase struggle, but it changes how I carry it. Because sometimes the problem isn’t that life gave me nothing. Sometimes it’s that pain made me blind to what was already there. 🎙️ Podcast & episodes: https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast 📖 Book (Print + Kindle): https://www.amazon.com/No-One-Normal-Adversity-Self-Discovery/dp/B0G2TN62YV/ 🎧 Audiobook: https://www.amazon.com/No-One-Normal-Adversity-Self-Discovery/dp/B0GJFZ142N/ 🛒 Merch: https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

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S1E24 – Olaolu Ogunyemi - Raising Unbreakable Kids

Some paths are shaped by talent. Others are shaped by the people who step in at the right time. In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Olaolu Ogunyemi, United States Marine, author, and founder of Parent Child Connect, to talk about the role mentorship, failure, and environment play in shaping who we become. Olaolu shares how growing up in Louisiana, the right mentors helped guide him away from paths that could have led somewhere very different. From family and coaches to leaders who gave him second chances, those influences shaped his journey into the Marine Corps, leadership, and fatherhood. We talk about failure, especially his early struggles during Officer Candidate School, and how those moments taught him the importance of preparation and breaking challenges into smaller, manageable steps. He explains how confidence alone is not enough. Growth comes from discipline, consistency, and learning how to respond when things do not go as planned. This conversation also explores parenting in today’s world. How constant information, outside influence, and social pressure impact children. And why creating a safe environment for kids to fail, process emotions, and learn is one of the most important roles a parent can play. Olaolu shares his philosophy of “Lead Last,” emphasizing the importance of understanding yourself, the people around you, and the environment before trying to lead effectively. This episode is about mentorship, resilience, and the responsibility we all carry to influence the people around us in a positive way. 🌐 Learn more about Olaolu & Parent Child Connect: https://parent-child-connect.com/ 🔗 More from me: 🎙️ Podcast & episodes: https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast 📖 Book (Print + Kindle): https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB 🎧 Audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ 👕 Wear the message: https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

S1E23 – Control the Controllables

There is a line in life most people never clearly see. The line between what we can control and what we cannot. In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I talk about what happens when we spend our lives trying to control everything except the one thing that is actually ours. Ourselves. I share personal stories about guilt, loss, relationships, and decisions that forced me to confront how little control we truly have over outcomes, and how much we still have over our choices. From a fatal accident that stayed with me for years, to staying too long in relationships that were never going to become what I wanted, to walking away from security and taking a massive pay cut to build something different. These moments all carried the same question underneath them. What is actually mine to own here. We talk about the illusion of control, how people take responsibility for things they were never meant to carry, and how that mindset keeps them stuck. We also break down the difference between reacting to life and actively choosing how to show up in it. This episode is about shifting your focus away from outcomes you cannot control and putting that energy into your effort, your boundaries, your decisions, and your next step. Because life will always be unpredictable. But your response to it does not have to be. 🔗 More from me: 🎙️ Podcast & episodes: https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast 📖 Book (Print + Kindle): https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB 🎧 Audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ 👕 Wear the message: https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

S1E22 – Robin Clare - From Struggle To Peace

Some struggles hide in plain sight. They can last for years, sometimes decades, while the outside world sees something completely different. In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Robin Clare, bestselling author and creator of the Harmony Method, to talk about her journey through more than forty years of battling obsessive eating and bulimia. Robin shares how trauma, shame, and humiliation shaped much of her early life and how the long path of healing eventually led her to develop a framework for personal alignment. Her Six Elements of Harmony include awareness, commitment, mastery, service, leadership, and freedom. Together they form a path toward bringing the inner world and outer life into alignment. We talk about the role trauma plays in shaping behavior, how social media and outside pressures can disrupt inner peace, and why silence, reflection, and strong personal boundaries can help people stay grounded in a chaotic world. This conversation explores the idea that harmony is not about eliminating life’s challenges. It is about learning how to stay centered within them. 🌐 Learn more about Robin Clare: https://www.robinhclare.com/ 🔗 More from me: 🎙️ Podcast & episodes: https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast 📖 Book (Print + Kindle): https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB 🎧 Audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ 👕 Wear the message: https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

S1E21 – Stop Carrying It

There is a place most of us visit far more often than we admit. It is not our kitchen, our bedroom, or the office. It is the past. In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I talk about what it really means to stop living in the rearview mirror and start taking control of what comes next. For a long time, my past was not just something that happened. It became my explanation for everything. The panic attacks, the relationships, the decisions I made, and the ones I avoided. It felt honest. It also kept me stuck. I share personal experiences with anxiety, misdiagnosis, medication, and the way trauma can quietly shape how we see ourselves, our relationships, and even what we believe we deserve. I also talk about watching those same patterns play out in people I love, and how easily we can accept systems that are supposed to help us without ever questioning them. This conversation is not about pretending the past did not happen. It is about recognizing how deeply it influences us, and deciding that it does not get to define us. We explore how trauma lives in the body, how identity can become tied to old pain, and what it looks like to slowly shift from “this is what happened to me” to “this is what I am going to do with it.” Because the past will always be there. The question is whether it gets to drive. 🔗 More from me: 🎙️ Podcast & episodes: https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast 📖 Book (Print + Kindle): https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB 🎧 Audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ 👕 Wear the message: https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

S1E20 – Shelly Ketelhut - Social Media Overloaded

We live in a time where information moves faster than our ability to process it. In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Shelly Ketelhut, licensed professional counselor and clinical substance abuse counselor, to talk about how constant information, social media, and digital overload are impacting the way we think, feel, and respond. Shelly explains how the brain is wired to react quickly to perceived threats, and how today’s nonstop flow of notifications, headlines, and partial stories can trigger that same fight-or-flight response. When that happens, emotion takes over while critical thinking struggles to keep up. We talk about confirmation bias, incomplete narratives, and how people often fill in the gaps of a story with their own experiences, creating beliefs that feel real but are not always accurate. This conversation also focuses on solutions. Shelly shares practical ways to create healthier boundaries with technology, including limiting screen time, setting intentional windows for news consumption, and building space between reaction and response. We explore the impact of FOMO, comparison, and constant connectivity, and why more access to information is not always leading to more clarity. Instead, it often creates noise, stress, and disconnection. This episode is about slowing down, thinking clearly, and learning how to stay grounded in a world that never stops moving. 🔗 More from me: 🎙️ Podcast & episodes: https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast 📖 Book (Print + Kindle): https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB 🎧 Audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ 👕 Wear the message: https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

S1E19 - Social Media Isn't Real

Social media can connect people across the world… and still leave me feeling completely alone. It can build relationships that change my life, and it can tear down my confidence in a single comment. And the longer I stayed plugged into the noise, the easier it became to forget who I was outside of a screen. In this episode of No One Is Normal, I talk about the reality of living in a world where everything is public, performative, and open to judgment. I share what it felt like to be attacked by strangers, the temptation to fight back, and the quiet damage that comes from tying my self-worth to likes, comments, and validation from people who don’t actually know me. I also get honest about the paradox of social media. It’s where I met my wife. It’s where real connection exists. But it’s also where comparison, outrage, and loneliness quietly grow if I’m not paying attention. This is about learning to set boundaries, protecting my peace, and remembering that my real life exists off the screen. Because the hard truth and the freeing truth are the same: Social media only has as much power as I give it. 🔗 More from me: 🎙️ Podcast & episodes: https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast 📖 Book (Print + Kindle): https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB 🎧 Audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ 👕 Wear the message: https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

S1E18 - Philip Briscoe - Midlife Reset

Midlife does not always arrive with a dramatic crash. Sometimes it shows up quietly, after the career that defined you stops feeling the same. In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Philip Briscoe, creator of the Midlife Men podcast, to talk about what happens when work, identity, and purpose collide in the middle of life. Philip shares how burnout from a startup job forced him to rethink who he was outside of his career. That period of reflection eventually led him to start a podcast focused on something many men struggle to talk about openly. Mental health, identity, vulnerability, and the difficult questions that often appear in midlife. We talk about why so many men keep struggles hidden, how humor can open the door to conversations about heavy topics, and why midlife can be less about crisis and more about awareness. It is a moment where people can step back, question old definitions of success, and decide what actually matters moving forward. This conversation is about honesty, reflection, and the courage to start asking better questions about the life you are building. 🎧 Philip Briscoe’s podcast: https://mid-lifemen.com 🔗 More from me: 🎙️ Podcast & episodes: https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast 📖 Book (Print + Kindle): https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB 🎧 Audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ 👕 Wear the message: https://www.bradhhill.com/merch