What happens when a 13-year-old loses everything that made him feel powerful? For Sean Smith, a car accident ended his dominant baseball career and set him on a dark path of secretly bullying the one person who wouldn’t fight back: his own mother.

In this episode, Kara sits down with her coach Sean, a transformational coach of 20 years turned actor, for a raw conversation about childhood wounds and the unexpected road to healing. Years after his mother’s death, Sean wrote and performed a one-man show playing both himself and her. Embodying his own victim cracked him open and unlocked a compassion he’d never let himself feel.

Together they explore why everyone carries parental wounds. The question isn’t if, but what are yours, because if you don’t address them, your relationships will. They dig into why mindset work is the “attic” and embodied trauma is the “basement,” and why you have to clean both. Sean breaks down the “recipe” behind your patterns, written in childhood, and how honesty about the ingredients is the first step to rewriting your script, one line at a time. Plus: a redefinition of masculinity as grounded vulnerability, strength that doesn’t need to prove anything.

There are people you meet and then there are divine appointments.

A year ago, I walked into a Miami restaurant for my friend’s 50th birthday dinner and sat down next to a woman I had never met. By the end of that evening, I knew she was the one who was going to help me finally get my book into the world.

That woman is Sandra Rodriguez Bicknell, my book coach.

In this episode of the Unfiltered with Kara podcast, Sandra and I talk about how we met, the journey of bringing From Clearance to Priceless into the world and and why this book took seven years to write.

The truth is, the delay wasn’t because I didn’t know what I wanted to say. It was because I hadn’t fully lived it yet. I was still learning the lessons. Still shedding the identities, beliefs, and patterns that had kept me settling for less than I deserved. My life had to catch up to the message before I could authentically share it.

Sandra didn’t just help me write a book. She helped me excavate the truth. She challenged me, supported me, held me accountable, and created the kind of space that allowed me to tell the story I was meant to tell.

From Clearance to Priceless is for the woman who has spent too much of her life looking for validation outside of herself. The woman who has confused being needed with being loved. The woman who has accepted breadcrumbs because somewhere along the way she forgot her own value. The woman who is tired of shrinking, settling, and playing a supporting role in her own life.

This conversation is about healing, identity, courage, and what happens when you finally decide to stop living from your wounds and start living from your worth.

If you’ve ever felt the pull to become more of who you truly are, this episode is for you.

Find Sandra at Soulful Books or sandrarodriguezbicknell.com. She is the real deal.

In this episode, Nerissa and I talk about tuning out societal noise, owning your voice, and choosing growth on purpose. We talk about breaking free from the pressure to be who the world expects and finally stepping into who you truly are.

Nerissa Trindade, a neuro-transformational coach, international keynote speaker, and two-time bestselling author. Once terrified of public speaking, Nerissa now moves audiences around the world through powerful storytelling, inspiring insights, and dynamic delivery. As the founder of Speak for IMPACT and Say Yes to You, Nerissa has helped leaders and changemakers across 52 countries discover their you-nique superpower, unlock their full potential, and step into the next best version of themselves. With an approach that bridges generations and fuels both personal and professional growth, Nerissa truly believes in growing through life, not just going through it.

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