Laura Thielemann was born and raised in Lima, Peru, where she spent much of her childhood being raised by her grandparents while her mother worked in the United States to build a future for their family. It was a childhood rooted in love, tradition, and the steady presence of family who helped shape Laura’s sense of belonging.

At twelve years old, Laura moved to the U.S. and reunited with her mother after years apart. She entered a completely new culture and had to slowly find her footing in a place that felt unfamiliar. Without speaking English, Laura began learning the language through Disney movies, navigating school, and discovering how to keep moving forward through seasons of change.

In part one of this conversation, Laura reflects on family, generational influence, and the resilience that forms over time. This episode is a reminder that even when life brings transition and uncertainty, love, perspective, and perseverance can carry us forward. Part two continues next week.

Every life has a story worth telling. Follow Unspoken Lives Podcast on your favorite podcast app and join the conversation. Visit unspokenlivespodcast.com and follow @unspokenlivespodcast on Instagram.

In part two of Brandon’s story, he returns to share the pieces he wasn’t ready to say out loud the first time we talked.

After living a fast, dangerous life shaped by drugs, violence, loyalty, and loss, Brandon reflects on the moments that followed. The realities of prison, the people he lost along the way, and what it looks like to rebuild life at a slower pace after everything he once knew came to a stop.

This conversation goes deeper into faith, identity, anger, patience, and the mental challenges of starting over after years of survival mode. Brandon speaks honestly about learning to live differently, the tension between who he was and who he’s becoming, and why staying the course now matters more than ever.

This episode is for anyone who has had to slow down, start over, or learn a new way to live after life forced change.

If you haven’t listened to part one of Brandon’s story yet, I’d encourage you to start there.

Every life has a story worth telling. Follow Unspoken Lives Podcast on your favorite podcast app and join the conversation. Visit unspokenlivespodcast.com and follow @unspokenlivespodcast on Instagram.

Brandon grew up learning how to survive early, navigating life largely on his own. What followed was a fast, dangerous world shaped by anger, loyalty, money, and choices made long before he understood their weight.

That path eventually led him to prison, a place Brandon now reflects on as the moment his life was forced to slow down and, in many ways, the reason he is still here today.

In part one of Brandon’s story, he shares what life looks like now after years of moving at full speed. He reflects on growing up around drugs and violence, selling at a young age, losing close friends, and how slowing down changed the way he sees the world. Through it all, he shares the lessons he’s still learning about patience, responsibility, faith, and what it means to live a different kind of life now.

This conversation is honest, raw, and deeply human. It’s a reminder that we often cross paths with people every day without knowing the life they’ve lived or what shaped the person in front of us.

In part two, Brandon returns to share the parts of his story he wasn’t ready to say out loud the first time we talked.

Every life has a story worth telling. Follow Unspoken Lives Podcast on your favorite podcast app and join the conversation. Visit unspokenlivespodcast.com and follow @unspokenlivespodcast on Instagram.