Notes from the Edge

Latest Episodes:

I Worked It. But It Didn’t Work. Why Didn’t You Tell Me? Jul 28, 2026

Show notes

When doing everything “right” in recovery leaves you smaller, sicker, and further away from yourself.For two years, I did exactly what I was told.
Six days a week. Sometimes two meetings a day. Inpatient rehabilitation. Outpatient rehabilitation. Sponsors. Step work. Inventories. Confessions. Amends.
I stayed sober.But I was not becoming healthier.I was becoming smaller.
In this deeply personal episode of Notes From the Edge, I explore what happens when a recovery model fails to recognize the person sitting in front of it, especially when that person is also carrying childhood trauma, sexual assault, domestic violence, psychiatric diagnoses, shame, and a profoundly dysregulated nervous system.
This is not an attack on AA.
If AA saved your life, I celebrate that. Truly. Keep going.This is a grief story about realizing that the map I had been given was never designed for the terrain I was walking.
We will talk about:• The difference between staying sober and actually healing
• When “sharing” becomes uncontained trauma dumping
• Why powerlessness, defect language, and submission may affect traumatized women differently
• The importance of nervous system regulation, boundaries, safety, and co-regulation
• Modern trauma approaches such as EMDR, Internal Family Systems, and somatic therapy
• The evolving science of addiction and neuroplasticity
• Alternatives including SMART Recovery, Women for Sobriety, LifeRing, medication-assisted treatment, recovery coaching, therapy, purpose, community, and connection
• Why informed choice should be part of every recovery conversation
My nervous system did not need another moral inventory.
It needed safety.
Recovery should not require abandoning your intuition or becoming less yourself. It should help you become more yourself.
And if one approach is not helping you heal, that does not automatically mean you are broken.
Maybe you simply need a different map.
This episode reflects personal experience and is intended for education and conversation. It is not a substitute for individualized medical or mental health care.
Learn more about Lisa Lacy and her work at www.lisalacy.com
And before we leave, I want to ask you the question I ask every guest:
What did you perform in order to survive?Welcome to the Edge.
Notes from the Edge with Lisa LacyHuman conversations about trauma, identity, recovery, reinvention, relationships, leadership, and the lives we build after survival.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You Can't Automate Relationships with Beth Granger Jul 27, 2026

Show notes

Beth Granger on visibility, digital trust, critical conversations, and staying human in an increasingly automated worldTechnology can help us reach thousands of people, write polished messages, and build impressive networks.But it cannot create trust for us.Beth Granger is a speaker, consultant, trainer, emcee, and LinkedIn and networking strategist who helps professionals communicate more confidently, navigate critical conversations, and turn online connections into meaningful relationships.Her message is simple and increasingly urgent:You can’t automate relationships.In this episode of Notes From the Edge, Beth and Lisa explore the fear beneath professional visibility, why people hesitate to post or speak honestly online, and what separates a connection from an actual relationship.They also discuss:• How to become visible without performing a polished professional persona
• The difference between listening and simply waiting to speak
• What artificial intelligence can support, and what should never be outsourced
• Why critical conversations either strengthen trust or quietly destroy it
• How leaders, sales professionals, and teams can communicate with greater clarity and humanity
• Why connection, curiosity, kindness, and community still matter in an algorithm-driven worldThis is a conversation about reputation, belonging, confidence, digital communication, and the human work required to make relationships mean something.Learn more about Beth Granger:
https://www.bethgranger.comLearn more about Lisa Lacy:
https://www.lisalacy.comWelcome to the edge. Notes from the Edge with Lisa LacyHuman conversations about trauma, identity, recovery, reinvention, relationships, leadership, and the lives we build after survival.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How Chronic Devaluation Shapes Confidence, Relationships, and Ambition Jul 27, 2026

Show notes

What happens when nothing you accomplish ever seems to be enough?In this solo episode of Notes From the Edge, Lisa Lacy explores the long-term impact of chronic devaluation, especially when it begins in childhood. She shares personal stories of earning straight A’s, leading teams, serving on committees, excelling in performance, and still feeling as though the finish line kept moving.
When you are told to go left and then criticized for not going right, you may stop trusting your own direction. Over time, that confusion can shape your confidence, your relationships, your ambition, and your ability to fully receive your own success.
This conversation explores:

Why devaluation can create overachievement and overfunctioning
How moving standards teach children to distrust themselves
Why accomplished adults may still struggle to feel successful
How early devaluation can affect romantic and professional relationships
The difference between creating from self-expression and performing for approval
How to receive feedback without turning it into a verdict on your worth

Devaluation did not stop Lisa from becoming a leader, performer, entrepreneur, writer, and creator.
She accomplished it anyway.
But the deeper work is learning to accomplish without still carrying the need to prove that she deserves to be valued.
What have you spent your life accomplishing in the hope that someone would finally recognize your value?
And what might you create next if you no longer needed their permission?
Welcome to the Edge.
www.lisalacy.com
Notes from the Edge with Lisa LacyHuman conversations about trauma, identity, recovery, reinvention, relationships, leadership, and the lives we build after survival.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Clawing Back From the Bottom with Bryan Blackmon Jul 27, 2026

Show notes

Bryan Blackmon left Texas for California chasing a dream. Instead, he found himself homeless, sleeping in his car, and drowning in alcohol and addiction.Then an elderly landlord named Elaine chose not to give up on him.Her belief became a turning point, but Bryan still had to do the work of becoming someone he could believe in, too.Today, Bryan is sober, a recovery advocate, transformation coach, and the creator of Crab Crew Life, a community built around recovery, resilience, adaptability, accountability, and belief.Bryan says the crab does not swim. It does not fly. It claws its way forward from the bottom of the ocean floor.And so did he.In this episode of Notes From the Edge, Bryan and Lisa explore:• What homelessness and addiction look like from the inside
• The difference between getting sober and rebuilding your identity
• Why redemption is not a moment, but a daily routine
• The ordinary habits that restore dignity and self-respect
• How one person’s belief can help rewrite a life
• Why community can carry us when willpower is no longer enough
• Who we become when survival is no longer our only identityThis is a conversation about second chances, accountability, human connection, and the courage required to keep clawing forward when life has taken you all the way to the bottom.Learn more about Bryan Blackmon and Crab Crew Life:
https://crabcrewlife.comLearn more about Lisa Lacy:
https://www.lisalacy.comWelcome to the edge.
Notes from the Edge with Lisa LacyHuman conversations about trauma, identity, recovery, reinvention, relationships, leadership, and the lives we build after survival.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I Was Wounded… and Slightly Feral Jul 27, 2026

Show notes

It is exactly midnight, I am editing Notes From a Certified Madwoman, and I have finally realized something:
Maybe I was never crazy.
Maybe I was wounded, dysregulated, surviving, and just slightly feral.
In this solo episode of Midnight Menopausal Meanderings, I talk about what happens when trauma is mistaken for personality, survival responses are reduced to mental illness, and the context of a person’s life disappears beneath the diagnosis.
This is not an argument against therapy, psychiatry, medication, recovery, or mental health treatment. Those things save lives, including mine.
It is an invitation to ask a fuller question.
Not only:What is wrong with you?But also:What happened to you?
I also share why some details were intentionally left out of my book, why telling the whole truth can sometimes bring consequences from the very people who benefited from your silence, and why this book is not an attempt to explain or defend myself.
It is an exploration of what happens when we forget that context matters.
Because trauma may explain behavior without excusing harm.
Because a diagnosis may describe symptoms without telling the whole story.
And because sometimes the woman everyone called crazy was carrying more than one nervous system should ever have had to carry alone.
Notes From a Certified Madwoman is coming Fall 2026.
Welcome to the edge.www.lisalacy.com
Notes from the Edge with Lisa LacyHuman conversations about trauma, identity, recovery, reinvention, relationships, leadership, and the lives we build after survival.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

WATCH ME with Renee Carbone Fleming Jul 27, 2026

Show notes

The Price of Waiting for Permission and the Power of Becoming Visible Anyway
What happens when a woman stops waiting to feel confident, stops explaining every decision, and starts building the life she knows she is capable of creating?
In this episode of Notes From the Edge, Lisa Lacy sits down with award-winning entrepreneur, author, podcast host, and founder of the Badass Queen™ movement, Renee Carbone Fleming.
Renee filed for bankruptcy. Her marriage ended. She found herself rebuilding from the ground up and made a two-word decision that would shape everything that followed:
Watch me.
That decision became a philosophy, a movement, and the foundation of the WATCH ME Method™, Renee’s five-principle operating system for women who are done seeking permission, shrinking their ambitions, and waiting for approval before taking action.
Renee went on to build a direct-sales organization that generated more than $13 million, lead a team of over 400 people, create a multimillion-dollar brand empire, publish three books, launch the Unapologetically Badass podcast, and see her brand featured on the NASDAQ billboard in Times Square.
In this bold and honest conversation, Lisa and Renee explore:• What reinvention really looks like before the success story becomes polished
• Why overexplaining quietly weakens a woman’s authority
• The hidden emotional and financial cost of waiting for approval
• Why confidence is the result of execution, not the requirement for it
• How women can become visible before they feel completely ready
• What Renee had to survive, release, and rebuild between bankruptcy and success
• How to stop asking others to approve the future you are creating
This is a conversation for every woman who has ever known she was capable of more but kept waiting for permission to prove it.
Connect with Renee Carbone Fleming:
https://badassqueen.coConnect with Lisa Lacy:
https://www.lisalacy.com
Welcome to the edge.
Notes from the Edge with Lisa LacyHuman conversations about trauma, identity, recovery, reinvention, relationships, leadership, and the lives we build after survival.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

People Were More Comfortable With My Suffering When I Carried It Quietly Jul 26, 2026

Show notes

Female Anger, Menopause, and What Happens When the Manageable Woman Disappears
People celebrate strong women until those women get angry, set boundaries, stop apologizing, or remove access.
In this episode of Midnight Menopausal Meanderings, Lisa Lacy explores female anger, menopause, nervous-system overload, and what happens when the emotionally manageable woman begins to disappear. Menopause may not create a new, irrational woman. It may reveal the woman who spent decades swallowing betrayal, exhaustion, grief, emotional labor, and uncomfortable truths to keep everyone else comfortable.
This conversation also holds the harder truth: anger can carry important information, but justified rage can still cause harm. Trauma explains behavior. It does not excuse it. Healing is not about silencing anger or worshipping it. It is about learning to hold truth without destruction, boundaries without cruelty, and power without abandoning our humanity.
This episode draws from Lisa’s upcoming book, Notes of a Certified Madwoman, an exploration of trauma, survival, identity, nervous-system adaptation, and the women we became in order to survive.
Who benefited from the version of you who carried her suffering quietly?
Welcome to the edge.www,lisalacy.com
Notes from the Edge with Lisa LacyHuman conversations about trauma, identity, recovery, reinvention, relationships, leadership, and the lives we build after survival.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Last Rocketman: Fear Is Information Not Instruction with Dan Schlund Jul 25, 2026

Show notes

What happens when the thing that made you feel most alive nearly kills you?“Rocketman” Dan Schlund is one of the last professionally trained Rocketbelt pilots in the world. For a decade, he flew jet packs at events across 25 countries and six continents, performing hundreds of flights without a parachute and with only seconds of fuel strapped to his back.But Dan’s most extraordinary story began after the spectacle ended.Following devastating burns, extensive skin-graft surgeries, and a crash that left him with a broken neck, Dan lost far more than his ability to fly. He lost his income, his marriage, and the identity he had built around being the Rocketman. He also became dependent on pain medication and had to rebuild his life from the ground up.Dan eventually founded National Set Medics, growing it into a multimillion-dollar company that provides medical professionals for film and television productions nationwide. Ten years after his final flight, he purchased the Rocketbelt and training hangar and returned to the air one more time for his memoir and documentary, The Last Rocketman.In this episode of Notes From the Edge, Lisa Lacy and Dan explore:• What happens when your identity disappears overnight
• The difference between courage and fearlessness
• How the nervous system responds after catastrophic injury
• Addiction, recovery, and the invisible work behind a comeback
• Calculated risk and decision-making under pressure
• Why Dan believes fear is information, not instruction
• What it took to strap the Rocketbelt on one final timeDan’s message is not that we should become fearless. It is that courage can be practiced, preparation can change our relationship with fear, and our worst experience does not have to become our final one.Learn more about Dan, his book, and the documentary:
https://rocketman.tv/Learn more about Lisa Lacy and Notes From the Edge:
https://www.lisalacy.com/Welcome to the Edge.
Notes from the Edge with Lisa LacyHuman conversations about trauma, identity, recovery, reinvention, relationships, leadership, and the lives we build after survival.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When Your Diagnosis Enters the Room Before You Do Jul 24, 2026

Show notes

Psychiatric labels, medical dismissal, and what happens when a human being becomes paperworkWhat happens when a provider sees your psychiatric history before they truly see you?In this deeply personal solo episode of Notes From the Edge, Lisa Lacy explores the dangerous gap between being treated as a medically complex human being and being reduced to “the psychiatric patient.”Drawing from her lived experience inside mental health facilities, jail, addiction recovery, emergency rooms, and repeated life-threatening medical crises, Lisa examines how quickly dignity, autonomy, and credibility can disappear once a diagnosis enters the room.This episode explores institutionalization, medical gaslighting, hospital trauma, psychiatric bias, and the devastating consequences of being labeled emotional instead of symptomatic, anxious instead of endangered, and crazy instead of sick.It also offers an early look into Lisa’s forthcoming memoir, Notes From a Certified Madwoman, releasing in October. Part memoir, part cultural critique, and part nervous-system conversation, the book asks a question that could change how we understand trauma and mental illness:What if the diagnosis was sometimes describing survival?Mental illness should never cancel physical illness.
A psychiatric record should never erase a patient’s credibility.
Institutionalization should never require the surrender of human dignity.Learn more about Lisa, the podcast, and her upcoming work at:https://lisa-lacy.comNotes From a Certified Madwoman releases in October.See you at the edge.
Notes from the Edge with Lisa LacyHuman conversations about trauma, identity, recovery, reinvention, relationships, leadership, and the lives we build after survival.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What the Hell is Love? Jul 24, 2026

Show notes

What happens when you grow up without hearing “I love you,” without being held, and without learning what safe, enduring affection feels like?In this deeply personal solo episode of Midnight Menopausal Meanderings, I explore the difference between loving someone and knowing how to experience love.My parents never told me they loved me. My father wrote the words in letters I would not open until decades later, after he died. My mother never said them. I learned touch through violation rather than comfort, and when I became a mother, I had to consciously teach myself how to hug my daughter and say, “I love you.”For years, I believed love meant providing. I became the financial provider, the problem-solver, the rescuer, and eventually a workaholic driven by survival.Now, with the help of transformational coach Steve Barton, I am exploring a different idea:Love can be wisdom.
Love can be trust.
And love can simply be love.We also talk about menopause, the disappearing bullshit filter, and the challenge of setting boundaries that are loving, direct, and final. Because you can love someone, understand them, forgive them, and still decide they no longer have access to you.This next chapter is not about performing love.It is about finally learning what love feels like when it does not require self-abandonment.What did you perform in order to survive?Learn more at lisalacy.comSee you at the edge.
Notes from the Edge with Lisa LacyHuman conversations about trauma, identity, recovery, reinvention, relationships, leadership, and the lives we build after survival.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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