You can't ride the middle between joy and bitterness.

Rachel Martin thought she could. She thought if she just held it together, stayed grateful, did everything right, the chaos would fix itself.

But the truck got repossessed. The finances were abysmal. And she kept saying "it is what it is" like it was protection, when really, it was surrender.

The wake-up call came on a winter road in Minnesota when she heard: You have to choose. Not someday. Not when things get better. Now.

This conversation is about the moment you stop tolerating and start owning your life. Rachel opens up about the messy middle, the emotional stages of taking responsibility, and what it really means to choose truth over comfort.

Here's what unfolds in this episode:

🔹 The phrase that signals you're choosing bitterness without realizing it 🔹 How gratitude became Rachel's numbing mechanism, and why that almost destroyed her 🔹 What it feels like to go from powerless to sole provider while everyone thinks you've lost your mind 🔹 The permission her friend gave her that changed everything: "That's not normal."

If you've been waiting for life to fix itself before you step into who you really are, this episode will shake something loose.

Listen now and stop riding the middle.

Connect with Genea

Weekly Clarity Call - Wednesdays 7a PST/10a EST - Join the call here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Mr9xoteOSj-pYabKDTNBRA

Inquire about Events, Firewalking, Coaching, being a guest on Be the Wolf LIVE or Be the Wolf Podcast https://bethewolfnow.com/connect/

Website: http://bethewolfnow.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geneabarnes/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bethewolfnow

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@geneabarnes

Connect with Rachel

Website: https://findingjoy.net

Facebook link: https://facebook.com/findingjoyblog

Email: rachel@findingjoy.net

About Rachel

Rachel Marie Martin believes in the quiet, unshakable strength of the human spirit and its ability to rise again, to rebuild, and to rediscover joy.

She is the author of Get Your Spark Back, Mom Enough, and The Brave Art of Motherhood, and the voice behind FindingJoy.net, an online community reaching millions of readers each month.

Her words have been translated into more than 25 languages and featured on The Today Show, Good Morning America, NPR, The Huffington Post, Tiny Buddha, Parents, PopSugar, and more. A founding partner of Audience Industries, Rachel also equips entrepreneurs around the world to build message-driven, sustainable businesses that make a difference.

with over 50 million pageviews, 1.1 million+ Facebook followers, and a deeply engaged community across social media, Rachel’s work reminds people that their stories matter, they can create an impact, and that joy can be found.

She held his hand while he died.

Genea was four years old. He was a Vietnam vet. A junkie. And the only person around who made her feel loved.

Her mom was emotionally unavailable, physically abusive, and gaslighting her constantly. So this man up the street became her best friend. He gave her what her mom couldn't. Belonging. Encouragement. Safety.

And then he overdosed. And she watched him die.

That was just the beginning. Trauma stacked on trauma until Genea's entire nervous system was wired for one thing: survival.

She never wanted her trauma to define her. But it did. It defined every job she took. Every relationship she stayed in. Every dollar she made. She couldn't make more money than her mom. She couldn't step into what she wanted. She couldn't hold joy when she found it.

In this raw solo episode, Genea opens up about:

🔹 Why she used her trauma story to push people away (and how that kept her trapped in freeze) 🔹 The moment she realized every decision she'd ever made was about staying safe, not living free 🔹 What happened when she spent years in therapy, plant medicine, NLP, hypnosis, and still felt stuck 🔹 How she finally broke the pattern and stepped into relationships, money, and work that actually feel good

If you've been running from your past while it quietly runs your life, this episode will meet you there.

Listen now and stop letting survival mode make your decisions.

Connect with Genea

Weekly Clarity Call - Wednesdays 7a PST/10a EST - Join the call here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Mr9xoteOSj-pYabKDTNBRA

Inquire about Events, Firewalking, Coaching, being a guest on Be the Wolf LIVE or Be the Wolf Podcast https://bethewolfnow.com/connect/

Website: http://bethewolfnow.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geneabarnes/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bethewolfnow

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@geneabarnes

About Genea

Genea Barnes is a mentor, coach, and speaker whose early life was rooted in deep trauma and neglect. To stay safe, she learned to make everyone else feel good and put their needs first.

It worked to survive, but it came with a cost. She lost her ability to discern what was truly right for her. And getting what she wanted came with the anxiety that it would be lost or taken away.

She was great at making other people’s dreams come true, but when it came to what she truly wanted, she self-sabotaged and procrastinated … always putting something else first.

She spent decades exploring and studying every modality under the sun to break free from those patterns and create a life that felt like joy, ease, and freedom.

Today, she empowers people to move away from and resolve conflict rooted in trauma, generational trauma, and sacrifice of self … so they can create the life they crave and access greater peace and freedom in all areas of their life.

This gives them access to loving, authentic relationships, consistent healthy habits, and success in business, finance, and career that feels like fulfilment and freedom.

She believes that when you operate from the TRUTH of who you are, humanity evolves.

The system was designed to create destruction, and she was part of it.

For nine years, Jen Mitchell Love worked as a litigation attorney. She watched families get torn apart in courtrooms. She saw kids become collateral damage. She felt the heaviness of a broken system that treated people's real lives like billable hours. And she knew something had to change.

This conversation captures Jen in the middle of her most honest evolution yet. She's merging the spiritual practice she kept private for years with her legal work. She's speaking the truth about what divorce actually is: a sacred transition that can heal generational patterns instead of destroying families.

Jen gets raw about:

🔹 Why she became a lawyer to get around the rules (and ended up trapped by them) 🔹 The moment she gave a client lavender essential oil and thought, "What am I doing?" 🔹 Why she attracted a narcissistic relationship right after her divorce (and what it taught her) 🔹 The divine message she received on October 12th that changed everything about her work

This is for anyone who's built something impressive but hollow and stressful. Anyone who knows they're meant for something different but hasn't fully claimed it yet.

Watch to see what real evolution looks like when you're still in it.

Connect with Genea:

Website: http://bethewolfnow.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geneabarnes/

Connect with Jen:

Website https://solacedivorce.com

Appointment Link: https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=20935226

Instagram handle: https://www.instagram.com/solacejenmitchell/

Jen’s Bio:

Jen Mitchell Love is a family law attorney, mediator, and holistic coach who founded Solace Divorce Mediation to change the way people experience divorce. After years in the courtroom, she created a heart-centered, spiritually grounded approach that honors the soul contract of marriage while guiding couples through the legal process with mindfulness, intention, and love.

Through Solace, her “Divorce with Love” Master Class, Solace University, and her book “Shine, Soul, SHINE!” Jen helps people release what no longer serves them, protect their children, and step into a new chapter as empowered co-creators of their Dream Life.