What happens when you grow up feeling like you don’t quite fit in?

In this Unmute with Priya Live, I’m joined by Dr. PJ Sedillo, professor and chair of Special/Gifted Education at New Mexico Highlands University, whose work explores giftedness, LGBTQ+ identity, risk, resilience, belonging, and mental health. PJ also spent more than two decades in leadership with Albuquerque Pride and has been a longtime advocate for LGBTQ+ communities. We’ll talk about what it means to be different in environments that often reward fitting in, why belonging matters so deeply, the particular challenges faced by gifted and LGBTQ+ young people, and how the things that once made us feel like outsiders can become an important part of who we are.

This is a conversation about identity, acceptance, resilience, and ultimately, learning to embrace being different.

What if your birth chart isn’t here to tell you who you are, but to help you understand yourself more deeply?

Join me LIVE on Unmute with Priya with @bigeastrology and Allana Taylor- a real conversation about astrology, birth charts, timing, purpose, relationships, free will, and the patterns that may be written in the stars. We’re getting into what your chart can reveal about the way you move through the world, why certain seasons of life can feel so intense, and how astrology can be used as a tool for self awareness without giving away your power or letting someone else tell you how to live your life.

Bring your questions and join us live because this is going to be a conversation, not a lecture. Can your birth chart help you understand the life you’re here to live? Let’s find out together.

Grab Stars, Signs, and Rhyme Lines Workbook and Card deck here: https://bigeastrology.com/

Connect with Eric: eric@bigeastrology.com

By 40, Jeff Rasley had achieved what many people spend their lives chasing: a successful career, financial freedom, a loving marriage, and a family. So why did he keep asking himself, “Is this all there is?” The answer eventually took him halfway around the world.

In this episode of Unmute with Priya, I talk with Jeff Rasley, author, adventurer, and founder of the Basa Village Foundation, about the unexpected journey that began when his wife encouraged him to trek to Everest Base Camp.

What started as a way to reconnect with his adventurous spirit became something much bigger. His experiences in the Himalayas challenged his understanding of happiness, spirituality, success, and what it means to live a meaningful life.

We talk about:

• Why having everything doesn't always mean feeling fulfilled
• The pressure men face to appear strong and hide their struggles
• How one trip to Nepal changed Jeff's direction in life
• Finding purpose through service without creating dependency
• Recognizing when the path you're on has become a rut

Jeff's story is a reminder that you don't have to abandon everything you've built to discover something more meaningful. Sometimes, you just need to find a different path.

Connect with Jeff Rasley

Personal website, books, and adventures: https://www.jeffreyrasley.com

Basa Village Foundation: https://www.basa.org

Book: You Have to Get Lost Before You Can Be Found

Some families have rules that are never spoken out loud.

Don't tell anyone. Keep it in the family. Don't make us look bad.

But what happens when you carry those rules into adulthood, your relationships, your career, and even the way you see yourself?
In this episode of Unmute with Priya, I'm joined by Laura DuBois, life and career coach, coach educator, and author of The Picked Lock: Everything That Couldn't Be Said and Everything That Finally Was.

Laura grew up in a home where secrecy was expected. Now, at 60, she's choosing to tell the stories she spent decades keeping to herself. We get into the difference between privacy and secrecy, how childhood conditioning teaches us to stay quiet, and the emotional cost of being the responsible one who holds everything together.

In this episode, we explore:
• Why privacy and secrecy are not the same thing
• How childhood silence follows us into adult relationships and careers
• The hidden cost of being the “good girl”
• Why we're not responsible for everyone else's reactions to our truth
• What it takes to finally own your story and speak it out loud

And there's an unexpected twist behind the title of Laura's book that you'll have to hear for yourself.

Connect with Laura DuBois
Coaching: https://www.headcoachlaura.com/events-media
Book website: https://thepickedlock.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/headcoachlauradubois
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HEADcoachLauraDuBois/

Your story belongs to you. And you get to decide when you're ready to tell it.

#FamilySecrets, #FamilyDynamics, #ChildhoodConditioning, #BreakingTheSilence, #PeoplePleasing, #GoodGirlSyndrome, #FindingYourVoice, #SelfDiscovery, #EmotionalHealing, #MidlifeWomen, #UnmuteWithPriya, #LauraDuBois, #Podcast, #Trending, #Trend, #viral, #fyp, #fypシ,

When was the last time you stopped in the middle of everything you do for everyone else and asked yourself: What do I need?

That question sits at the heart of my conversation with James P. Kelleher, licensed mental health counselor, life coach, and founder of JPK3 Counseling and Coaching. James challenges the idea that mental health is something we only address when we're in crisis or during an hour-long therapy session. It's showing up every day: in our relationships, our stress, the roles we play, the things we carry quietly, and those moments when we realize we've lost our spark.

We also talk about why awareness has to come before change, the importance of having a space where you can show up without judgment, and why getting support doesn't mean something is wrong with you.

In this episode:

• Why mental health is an everyday conversation

• The surprisingly powerful question: “What do I need?”

• Recognizing when you've lost your spark

• Why self-awareness comes before action

• Finding support before you reach a breaking point

Sometimes the first sign that something needs to change isn't a crisis. It's simply that quiet feeling that something doesn't fit anymore.

Connect with James P. Kelleher

Website: jamespkellard.com

What happens when you realize the life you've built isn't actually aligned with who you are?

In this episode of Unmute with Priya, I sit down with John Chambers, founder of JC Coaching and Consulting and an ICF-certified professional coach, to talk about burnout, people pleasing, fear, shame, and the exhausting pressure to prove yourself.

John shares how growing up as a pastor's son shaped his pursuit of perfection and external validation, and how therapy, loss, and his own experience with burnout eventually forced him to question the story he'd been living. We explore what it takes to separate who you truly are from who you learned you needed to be and why changing your life isn't about getting it perfect.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The connection between people pleasing, perfectionism, and burnout

• How fear and shame can quietly shape your choices

• Separating your own values from other people's expectations

• Why the stories you tell about yourself matter

• Creating a life and career you don't have to recover from

If you've spent years becoming who everyone expected you to be, this conversation is an invitation to start asking what you actually want.

Connect with John Chambers

Website: coachingwithjc.com

Social media: @CoachingWithJC

What happens when life completely rewrites the story you thought you were living?

In this episode of Unmute with Priya, I sit down with Candice Suarez, life drafting and transition coach and stage four tongue cancer survivor, to talk about navigating the plot twists we never saw coming and deciding what comes next.

After having more than half of her tongue removed and reconstructed, Candice had to relearn something that had always come naturally to her: using her voice. Since then, life has brought even more transitions, from becoming an empty nester to separating from her husband of nearly 30 years.
Through it all, Candice has learned to think of life as a draft, something we're allowed to edit, revise, and rewrite as we change.

In this episode, we discuss:
• Rebuilding your life when everything changes
• Why you're allowed to change your mind
• Letting go of the idea of a “final draft”
• Finding yourself in the messy middle of a transition
• The difference between optimism and toxic positivity
• Why resilience isn't about returning to who you were
• Taking the pen back when you've let others write your story
• Creating a new normal instead of fighting for the old one

Whether you're facing a major transition or simply realizing this isn't working for me anymore, Candice offers a powerful reminder: your story is still being written.

Connect with Candice: https://www.lifedrafting.com/