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THE SJ CHILDS SHOW
Are you looking for an engaging podcast that will help you stay informed and inspired on the topics of education and parenting? Look no further than The SJ Childs Show! This podcast is ranked in the top 10% of all podcasts globally and covers a wide range of topics, from neurodiversity and inclusion to parenting and education. Featuring interviews with top experts and inspiring discussions, this show offers unique insights and perspectives on the world of education and parenting. Join us on an enlightening journey that will challenge your beliefs and help you become a better parent, educator, and global citizen. Tune in now to The SJ Childs Show!
THE SJ CHILDS SHOW
Episode 283-Turning Adversity into Advocacy: Carolyn Sophia's Story of Resilience and Mental Health
How do you turn a life-threatening accident and a struggle with mental health into a story of hope and resilience? The incredible Carolyn Sophia joins us on The SJ Childs Show to share her journey of overcoming a nonverbal learning disability, anxiety, and depression. Carolyn's life took a dramatic turn during her senior year of college after surviving a car accident, which became a pivotal moment for her to start advocating for mental health. Her story is a testament to the power of self-worth and the importance of how we treat others, even in the face of societal beauty standards.
Carolyn takes us through her profound journey of resilience and self-acceptance. Following her accident and a previous suicide attempt, she experienced a sense of divine intervention and gratitude that led her to write the book "Unbreakable." This book became her way of providing hope and inspiration to others facing similar struggles. We discuss how writing became a cathartic process for Carolyn, allowing her to highlight alarming youth mental health statistics and foster a message that life is worth living. Her story is a powerful reminder of overcoming societal pressures, especially those amplified by social media.
Managing social media usage for teens is a unique challenge, and Carolyn offers her insights from a parent's perspective. We explore strategies for setting boundaries and teaching self-regulation to teens, emphasizing the importance of real-life interactions. Carolyn shares her ideas of parenting while being neurodivergent and highlights the evolution of parent-child relationships. The conversation underscores the importance of open communication and validation of feelings to foster mutual respect and trust. Finally, we reflect on the passion for storytelling and the impact of sharing personal experiences through podcasting, aiming to inspire and connect with others. Join us for an inspiring episode that showcases the strength of the human spirit and the power of perseverance.
Welcome to the SJ Child Show, where a little bit of knowledge can turn fear into understanding. Enjoy the show. Hi, welcome to the SG Child Show today. I am really excited and looking forward to this conversation with Carolyn Sophia Beautiful, beautiful name, my beautiful lady. Thank you for coming today. Yeah, thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited about learning more about you, you sharing with my audience the journey and you know the success, the challenges, all of the things that encompass, kind of our passions sometimes when we live them out the way we do. So it's so nice to have you here. Before we get started, tell us a little bit about yourself, where you come from and what brought you here today.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I actually grew up in Pittsburgh, pennsylvania, and I'm a huge hockey fan, so go Pens. And I grew up with the most loving family my sister, my mom and dad. Everyone has always been super supportive, just amazing family. But every time I left my house I always felt like an outsider. I struggled a lot in school with making friends. I struggled a lot in school academically. I really didn't know until my sophomore year of high school that I had this learning disability called nonverbal, which basically is you're highly verbal but you tend to not do too well in school comprehension, science, math, those types of things like analytics, and so once I found out that I ended up going to boarding school for kids with learning disabilities, then I went to college, but it was definitely not the best four years of my life. And then, my senior year of college, I got into a life-threatening car accident and that was when it kind of inspired me to use my voice, since I had been struggling with anxiety and depression for a lot of my life.
Speaker 2:Wow. And sometimes it takes those life-changing events, it's almost like you hit the ground and you have nowhere else to go but up and then you make your way in a whole new fashion. Sometimes I am guilty of being a risk taker, when I and I may be more in my past before I had kids, but with careers and things like that and when sometimes you just really feel the need to pivot and move in another direction. And you know, sometimes we're forced to do those with circumstances in life and other times we have free will and can make those choices, to do those for ourselves and especially if we love ourselves enough to make those choices for ourselves.
Speaker 2:I think that that has a big part to do with it is that understanding self-reflection and maybe sitting with what is best for you and letting go of what's not. It's so challenging, it's easy to say, but those are some really challenging tasks and skills to learn. So what did it look like? As far as that learning disability, you know, if you were going through school, did you find yourself like full of anxiety at the end of the day, kind of what carried you? How did you?
Speaker 1:move through your day. Yeah, so anxiety is something I've struggled with since I was a kid. I just didn't really know that it was anxiety until you know, much later on into my life. But I struggled every day with anxiety, internalization Part of something with nonverbal learning disability is that you internalize a lot and so, building that up with depression and anxiety, it was almost like on another level for me. So I constantly struggled with that. I constantly battled just these like anxious thoughts, these intrusive thoughts and just really not being confident in myself or who I was not really knowing. You know, not even really knowing who I was. Because when I had all that anxiety every day going to school, that was just like going through classes and just hoping that they wouldn't call on me because I didn't want to say the wrong thing and sound stupid. So it was kind of a mix of things. But yeah, I mean anxiety definitely carried with me every single day and that was something I kind of had to learn how to manage.
Speaker 2:That fight or flight response, especially when you're in a heightened social and emotional stages in those teen years, when it's so sensitive for for people, um, it's so hard. Not, I don't even think now that we understand enough or give you know kind of dignity and respect enough to those individuals who are going through those types of challenges. But you're so pretty and so how. I have a daughter who is is growing up and she's so beautiful and it's almost like sometimes it presents these challenges that I did not really expect to have. You know in people saying, oh well, she should be able to or she should because of this and because of that. Did you experience that? What did that look like?
Speaker 1:for you. Yeah, I mean nowadays, you know, I'm 27 and people all the time are like you look like you would be the cool girl in high school and stuff, and I was like not even close. You know, I really think that a lot of you know teenage girls at this point too. You know, with all the filters and with all that like that was just coming out when I was in high school, all the filters and with all that like that was just coming out when I was in high school, and so that pressure of you know I have to look perfect, I have to do this, I have to do that constantly, was something that I struggled with and I think that, because I didn't see myself worth, no one really did.
Speaker 1:You know, and honestly, I think beauty is is more from your heart, and I think that we have this very misconstrued view of it in society, of what beauty is and what the standard is and all the things that you should have done to your face and all this and that. And it's like, at the end of the day, nothing is more important than how you treat people and the way that you have your heart and the way you carry yourself, the way that you treat people. Life really is more about the relationships you have, your heart and the way you carry yourself, the way that you treat people. You know, life really is more about the relationships you have, not about the stuff you do or the things you accomplish. It's about the people who you have surrounding you. And when I was in high school, especially when I went to public high school, I just really struggled finding groups, I really struggled fitting in. I really struggled, you know, finding girls that were true, authentic friends, because I would be lucky if I had, you know, maybe one friend or something to go with to a football game and then the next day they'd be talking shit about me. So you know, it was kind of for me it was not even like it. It it kind of did stem down to like okay, do they not like me Cause I'm not pretty? Do they not like me Cause I'm not fun? Do they not like me Because of I'm like, what Like? And it just it's. It's a dangerous trap because it just your mind will start to just spiral and spiral and spiral.
Speaker 1:And when you're around people, especially in that age, especially now with the generation of Tik TOK and all of that. You know, these kids are so consumed by what they see, and these kids are so consumed by what they see and it's like if I don't look like this, then I'm not considered beautiful. I mean, you see kids who are like in literal middle school, who are getting lip filler, and I'm like why? You know you're so beautiful. You have so much more to offer than just your looks, and I think that that's something that has gotten really misconstrued in society, because people think that, oh well, if you look like this, then you won't have this problem, or vice versa, but it's like it really doesn't matter what you look like. Everyone has issues, everyone's struggling, and that's the truth of it. At the end of the day is that everyone is struggling with something you just might not see it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, life is literally unbiased and does not discriminate. It does not care if you're blonde, brunette, anything beautiful, you know. Whatever in the case, like, life will hand you your lessons, no matter who you are. That comes right back down to how do you treat people. What kind of energy are you bringing back into your life? What type of language circles do you find yourself in in the daytime?
Speaker 2:Um, like, something I've been personally working on for my own inner growth is stopping any kind of like conversations in my head that you know, I start with a random whatever and I've really been like okay, if that happens, I'm either singing a song, I'm saying what I'm grateful for, I'm going to make a healthier choice for myself. I'm not going to engage in these imagination negative, like ah, what if this happens? And I think that as humans, we do that, probably out of a little bit of like safety mechanisms to protect ourselves in case things happen. However, it's I. I don't like the way I end up feeling and I really have been trying to just really catch myself and challenge myself to get out of those patterns. So, when and I think that's the way we look at ourselves and obviously I've been doing work for so many years. I'm twice your age, but you know, oh, thank you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, when we practice every day, um, we're, we're able to really make those steps in our lives like easy, like just they just happen rather than work, work, work, work, work, work, work. But at the beginning, when we're at those stages where we're like things need to change, something needs to change, what was that point for you Tell us about? Like the car accident or the I don't know was it? I'm sorry, I shouldn't assume, I don't know. You just said accident, I just decided.
Speaker 2:But yeah what was that like for you, and how did that just kind of you decide then, like enough.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you know, I think I've struggled a lot with anxiety and depression most of my life and silently struggling with something that I really, you know, had a very big issue with. Um, I wouldn't really be honest with my therapist or really anyone, uh. But after my car accident, you know, I grabbed my seatbelt. Seconds before the accident. I was in the backseat middle. The car was totaled. It was a hit and run. They never found the guy and for me I'm Christian and for me it was almost like God was giving me my second chance at life, because I truly did believe that that would be the end. I thought that would be it.
Speaker 1:And when I was recovering from the car accident a few weeks later, I was realizing that I wait a second. Why is number two coming in my head? And then I realized I've almost faced death not once, but twice Once by choice, my freshman year of college, when I did almost take my life and once just praying that I'd make it out of there alive. And I knew that that wasn't a coincidence. I knew that there was something more to that, and from that I kind of realized I was like you know what I'm so blessed to be alive, like I had this whole new appreciation for life, because, you know, still I can sometimes have nightmares of that exact, you know scene happening and you know just the gratefulness and the gratitude for being alive, for being able to use my voice.
Speaker 1:I knew that it wasn't something I was going to take lightly and since I had been, you know, shy and very, you know, to myself for so many years, I realized it was my time to use my voice, it was my time to speak out, and that was when I came up with the idea of writing a book and I never in a million years would have thought I would have ever have done that. But one thing led to another, and then that's how Unbreakable came to be Love it. One thing led to another, and then that's how Unbreakable came to be.
Speaker 2:Love it. And how was that process writing the book?
Speaker 1:Was there a lot of going back and almost for me, sometimes in grief and in those kind of moments, projects that you work through it sometimes seem to be so cathartic in those moments, yeah, I mean, you know, something I realized a lot throughout this whole process was that it was actually, you know, I always said that I wanted to just help one person and ultimately I really think I helped heal myself through the process. It's not like writing chapter by chapter. It kind of is more like you write story by story and then you kind of figure out, like what do you want the theme of this chapter to be? What do you want this to be? And how I really wanted to do it was I wanted to have some of my experiences, but I didn't want it to be a memoir. I wanted it to have a lot of statistics. I wanted it to have a lot of facts to show that everything that I was experiencing was not unique.
Speaker 1:You know, I mean the staggering statistics that I have in my book for the amount of children that are self-harming, the amount of kids who are just going through depression, anxiety, bullying, like it broke my heart when I was doing it and I realized that the reason why I was writing this book was because I wanted to help other people who maybe can't use their voice or maybe they're struggling with their own.
Speaker 1:You know their own journey and so I thought that if I could use my voice and hopefully say, hey look, I've been through this, so you don't have to. If you're at this place right now, just know that you're going to get through it and give them that hope and give them that inspiration that like, yeah, middle school, high school, college, they can. They're not always easiest times, but that doesn't mean that you should give up. That doesn't mean life is ever worth giving up and really focusing on life is worth living. And you know, the healing process of just knowing that I was helping people by writing my book was was definitely like the most rewarding part of it, for sure.
Speaker 2:I loved that and I love that you said you healed yourself, because I really think that that is a huge, huge um celebration number one and uh kudos and just what a great like step for you to take forward with yourself saying and now this has healed me too. I feel that I that somehow happened a little bit in in podcasting I was probably 10 years before was just in ponytails and, you know, sweats and raising my kids and everything, and I hadn't, like, done my hair or put on makeup for so many years. And I got in front of the camera and thought how am I going to do this? How can I stare at myself Like this is awkward.
Speaker 2:But after a little while I just started to really appreciate myself and really say, oh, you look good today, you know, whatever. And I started to feel so much better about and knowing the value that I was bringing to you know, just like you said, audiences of people and changing not only theirs, but knowing that they know that it changed my life to, to accept myself for being able to stare at myself in the camera, hear my voice every time I edit a podcast. It took a lot of practice, but it's one of the biggest growths I think I've had in my I'm 47. So in my late forties this has been the best thing for my self-esteem as as an adult.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. Yeah, I think that's the thing too is like learning to accept yourself. You know, I think that's something you really said well is like. I think that's something that everyone gets at a different points in their life and not everyone does get to that point, and I think it's so important that the younger you are especially these kids who are in school and stuff it's important to understand like you need to accept yourself now, how you are.
Speaker 1:But the problem is, social media has gotten to this point where these kids think that they are not going to be accepted unless they look a certain way. So if everyone else is getting lip filler at the age of like 14 years old which I mean I'm pretty sure you have to have parental consent to do that then oh, I must have to do it too. You know what I mean. And so it's just like the way that these kids are viewing and also the way that these kids are treating each other. Um, you know, being a public speaker, which is something I do as well, and hearing some of these stories and hearing how some of these kids treat each other, it is so disturbing to me to to see that these kids are just so hostile toward each other.
Speaker 1:Um, and girls can be really mean to each other, especially in high school. I mean I faced that a lot. But it's just like it doesn't really make sense to me because I'm like it's not cool to be mean, it's not cool to bully, it's not cool to pick on someone or pick on someone's flaws, like when I was a eighth or seventh or eighth grade. In middle school I was called Marvin the Martian because apparently I had a giant nose, frizzy teeth and yellow hair, or no, giant nose, frizzy hair and yellow teeth and they would constantly call me that and I started to hate my nose after that. And then in like eighth grade I told my mom I was like I want a nose job and like my mom was like you're not getting a nose job, like you're in eighth grade, honey, you're not want a nose job. And like my mom was like you're not getting a nose job like you're, it ain't great honey, you're not.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you know, thank god that she had always that. Like you know, this is ridiculous.
Speaker 1:You're not gonna do reality yeah, like you're not gonna change yourself because someone said something like and you know, I feel like my parents definitely have helped me kind of realize too it's like just because someone says something does not mean you have to change yourself or change anything about yourself.
Speaker 1:The only person you should change for is yourself. The only person you should do anything for is for you, and I think that that's something that a lot of people have forgotten at this point is that, oh wait, maybe I shouldn't be doing this for society. Maybe I should be doing this for me, or maybe I shouldn't be doing this for society. Maybe I should be doing this for me, or maybe I shouldn't be doing this because I'm doing it for society. I'm not doing it for me. And I think that that whole thing with social media too, with, like, these kids growing up in this time you know, I really kind of wanted to try my best to explain it from someone who has been there. You know someone who did use to use FaceTune and like all that stuff but also say like hey, like it's a little ridiculous. Like, don't fall into that trap, because you're just going to actually feel worse about yourself, which is exactly what happened to me.
Speaker 2:Isn't that the truth too? And I feel so bad when I know that there's only so much. As a parent, you have control, and really I don't even like the word control the boundaries that you set for your child and the way that you teach them how to really use their own self-control and things like that. And you know social media is, everyone wants to be a part of it, so every kid wants to be a part of it. And then there's just I don't think there's any way to truly protect them from everything they see. There's no parent filters or screen. You know, there's nothing that you can actually like, discern all of the videos. And it's almost like I feel like as far as I have I don't want to say given up, but almost decided that it's. It is what it is Like. I can't change it. I'm not big enough to stop social media. I'm.
Speaker 2:You know if, if I withhold it, then see, the thing that is the truth is that I also have a 24 year old daughter, a 12 year old and a 14 year old. Like I have been down that road 10 years ago when or you know, a decade before them, when I withheld everything and then found out you know they were getting it everywhere else all the time anyways. And then it made me angry that there was such a disconnect in honesty, like you had said, but there was no room to be honest because it was unacceptable. So this time around I'm trying to do things differently. It's so hard to understand what the boundaries look like because they've never been made before and I'm building them as I go and it's almost like, oh, you hit the bumper, pull yourself back up here, you know, or whatever. Pull yourself back up here, you know, or whatever. It does seem impossible. What do you recommend to teens as far as like social media usage or, you know, allowances for themselves?
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, I think obviously you know it's hard because as a teen, your brain's not fully developed until you're like 25. And so now I see it as like, okay, why would I want to waste all my time on my phone when you know you're wanting to go outside and, you know, still live your life? I mean, you know, like I had the pink razor when I was growing up, you know, and I and I was not on the internet. You know you had your texts and your calls and that was it. And now these kids have just access to their phone 24 seven.
Speaker 1:And I think it's a dangerous trap, because I think it's really something you have to work on with self-control, because you can be scrolling on TikTok for hours, you know, but if you set a timeline and I'm like, okay, hey, like I've been on my phone for like this long already, I need to get off my phone. You know that's something I try to. You know, even monitor with myself is like okay, how much time am I spending on my phone? How much screen time am I really giving myself, am I actually getting things done? Because if I'm not getting things done and I'm on my phone, you know it's like there's like that balance. So like if you're in high school and you're, you know, say you have a huge test or something and you're on TikTok, like it's not going to benefit you in the end because you're again, you're just scrolling mindlessly for hours when you actually have something important to study for.
Speaker 1:But it's just. You know, social media has just made it almost like this world of like this is this fake version of myself, but I don't think people realize it's like if I didn't have social media, if I wasn't scrolling, what would I be doing? Who would I be hanging out with? What would be important to me? Like, where would my values align? Because I feel like it's just like social media creates this bubble of like what you need to be. But it's like if you took that all away, who would you be? What would you be doing? And I feel like these kids would have such a different answer if they really took the time to think about that.
Speaker 2:But they don't because they're consumed with their phone just 24 seven broken down into two minutes, two second increments on Tik TOK, so they can watch the whole thing, actually.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's like the attention span is like this. Now it's like a snail, and you know, I think that that's the thing too, though, is we have to like understand that like we are going to literally like somehow just completely screw up our brains If we're just constantly just on our phone, always, like you know, life is not meant to just be on your phone. You know you should be going outside, you should be go seeing your friends, being with your family, being, you know, and I think that it's just. We live in this such digitalized age where it's so hard for people to really see that fine line, and also, too, like when you're a teen, you're not thinking about it that way, but looking back, I'm like okay, yeah, that like makes sense. I was like clearly spending way too much time, and also, if you're on social media all the time, it is going to contribute more to depression and anxiety, because it only got worse for me the more I was on it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and just like you said, the comparison we always tell our kid, like comparison is the killer of joy. Do not engage in that Like. You're fine the way you are. You don't need to, if anything, look for expressions that you want to make or be or anything like that. Don't like try to compare yourself with you know, with others. But it's hard, it's.
Speaker 2:Everybody is their own individual and I think that and society's idea of parenting is that we have all of this control. We can make kids do what they need to do all the time and just say this or do this, and that's just so unrealistic. It's so unrealistic, especially if you're coming from a space where you're trying to give them love, direction, information, boundaries, acceptance, dignity. That's all the things I'm trying to give my child. And you know I often find myself in this like, okay, like, how would I? You know, we're both late diagnosed autistic ADHD, and that's enough. That holds throws a whole another factor into the mix, right, and and it's like, ok, well, how do I go back to my childhood? Well, that can't really be the case because, said like, as far as you know, knowing that I really want to do it to help, and I just want to help this one person for real.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, seriously I mean, and also too like I'm not a parent yet. But you know, one day I'll have baby Ava. I've always wanted to have a daughter named Ava hey we almost did Ava before she turned into Anna.
Speaker 2:Oh really.
Speaker 1:That's so cute. Yeah, that is so cute. But I just like you know, I feel like it's like there's not. And I have some, you know, some of my best friends are parents and you know I see it as like the only wrong way to parent is not giving attention or neglecting.
Speaker 2:I think it'd be a bad parent or a parent but good parenting.
Speaker 1:That doesn't exist. Everyone just does the best they can, and I think it really just comes down to like are you giving your kid, you know, love and attention and and also, just, you know, making sure? Yeah, the boundary of like you know the fine line of like your child and your parent. You know, like, when you're a kid, your parents talking to your best friend, you know like, when you get older, though, and you're an adult, it changed it, like for my family and I, like my mom and I like I always got along with my whole family, but my mom and I weren't as close as we are now, because, you know, when I was a kid, it was like, okay, don't do this, don't do that, but then now, when you're an adult, it's like it's, it's a different relationship. So it's also like you getting from that teenage years to your adult years, you just you see things differently. And also, too, I like look back now and I'm like I should have talked to my parents more. I really should have, you know, utilize that connection, because, you know, the one thing a lot of people say is, oh, like, some parents aren't validating of their feelings, and for me, it was the opposite.
Speaker 1:My parents were so validating and always, like you know, I had a total understanding going through this, like how can we like make this better, like what can we do? I just didn't want to worry them. And so I think that you know, I've heard a lot from kids too. It's like, oh well, my parents are invalidating, or they don't understand, or this or that. And that's when I always say to them I'm like you got to start with communication, you got to start with like this is how I feel, this is how you're making me feel by not understanding where I'm coming from.
Speaker 1:Because to build that trust, to build that mutual respect with your parents, it really comes down to like okay, can we have that level of trust and communication? Can they at least understand where I'm coming from? They might not understand it, but can they at least be like all right, hey, I empathize with you. I see you're going through this and we're going to get through this. However, I can help you whatever I can do. You know I might not be able to fix this right now, but this is what we're going to do. Here are some steps we're going to take to help you get through this, and I feel like that kind of dialogue sets a completely different conversation.
Speaker 2:Yeah, agreed. I think that I'm really lucky and blessed that I have all of these. You know 300 conversations with people about these topics and I'm able to really take all of the. I'm always learning from every single one of them and um, and always gaining so much new insight, new perceptions, new perspectives to to help, and I think that that's the best thing we can do as humans is constantly learn and challenge. And I have a 96-year-old, had a 96-year-old grandfather that he was doing like college courses audibly. So he was 92, 94, you know just recently, you know just recently he I mean, it's crazy. And and just to know that you don't ever stop expanding your, your mind and your, you know all of those things through learning. And that's so hard as a kid, when you're in and all it's more emotional and everything and you have to separate yourself from those things. What advice do you give to kids, like kind of your final statement when you're, you know, closing out your, your speech? Is there like a certain saying that you like to give them or a quote?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So you know, I think, um, the one thing I always really try to say is you know, and my, the reason I called my book unbreakable is more than just a title. You know, I end with you are unbreakable because the thing is is like anyone can be getting through. Anyone can have battle sore at them, but if you pick yourself back up, if you keep going, if you, you know, proved yourself that you can be resilient and you overcome this adversity, you can show yourself, proved yourself that you can be resilient and you overcome this adversity. You can show yourself that, yeah, you too are unbreakable and you can get through anything, you know.
Speaker 1:I think that's something we really have to understand and sometimes we really have to believe in life. It's like I can get through anything. I can make it through the bullying, I can make it through the pain and all the trauma, because I know that ahead of me is going to be something greater. And also to to turn your trauma which is what I tried to do into something beautiful is another way to look at it as well. You know, maybe not write a book, but maybe healing for you would be like art or music or writing, like whatever it would be for that person.
Speaker 1:But I think that the you are unbreakable is a really, really big statement, because it's like listen, you can get through anything, you can keep fighting, you can get better every single day. You just have to know, and you just have to believe it and fully believe it in yourself, that, hey, you know what I'm getting through, this. I'm going to make it through, no matter what people say to me, if they're mean to me, if they're not okay. You know, getting to that point where it's almost like letting things like roll off your back is another way that I kind of try to look at it now. Um, you know, that's kind of because you know I, I'll get hate comments, I'll get this or that, you know whatever, from like even social media, and I'm just just like okay, like I'm unbreakable, screw that, like, I'm just going to keep on going. And the more you can block out the negativity of people, the better you can find that peace in yourself and become more confident in yourself.
Speaker 2:Love. That. That's fantastic, and I completely agree with you. It all really comes down to at the end of the day. My husband always says you're the one laying your head down on your pillow. Can you live with yourself? Do you love yourself? Are you proud of yourself for who you've been that day and who will you be the next day? Will you be proud of yourself tomorrow? And I think that's a strong question to ask yourself in the both morning and night, to say that and really hold yourself accountable for what might come and what has already happened, and so you have to make your choices there. It was so nice to get to know you and talk to you today, and I hope we can stay in touch. Um, before we go, though, tell everyone where we can go and find unbreakable and get all of the knowledge and connect with you.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, so my website actually just came out like a month and a half ago. It's carolynsofiacom and I, um, am so excited about that. I have on there a connect with me. So in case anyone wants to book me for schools, events, conferences, whatever, you can go, fill out the form, I'll get in touch with you and then we can figure out a date. And then also on my website is my book. It'll take you to the link to Amazon or Barnes Noble. But if you don't want to do that, you can also just go to Amazon and just type in Carolyn Sophia um, unbreakable as well.
Speaker 2:I love that. Thank you so, so much. I really look forward to see what's next for you Any any plans ahead?
Speaker 1:You know, right now I'm really trying to do as much speaking as I can and podcasting as well. I love just being able to share my story and hopefully inspire or help you know one or two people. That's really all that matters for me. It doesn't matter how many, as long as it's one person. And social media too. As much as I don't love it, I'm trying to kind of utilize it more for, you know, kids and kind of advice for, like, high school and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:I love that and maybe you should do pod. Are you doing your own podcast?
Speaker 1:I actually do have a podcast. Yes, I just started it not too long ago. I have two episodes out, but I'm trying to do to do more, but yeah, I'm trying to just balance everything, but absolutely that'll balance.
Speaker 2:Oh, I get it. I get it. Well, it's so nice to have you here today and connect with you. Thank you so much for your time and for the work you're doing. Um, it was really inspiring and such a great message for for everyone.
Speaker 1:Thank you, thank you, I really appreciate you having me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was a wonderful conversation. Well, you have a great day you too.
