She Believed She Was a Mistake with Madison Orlando | Episode 73

The Touch of a Mustang · May 18, 2026 · 1h 1m · transcript

Madison Orlando’s father died four days before she was born. Her mother went silent, and Madison grew up believing she had not simply made a mistake—she was one.

Raised by a grandmother who could not walk, pregnant at 15, and working multiple jobs to survive, Madison learned early how to keep going without the guidance most children depend on. But surviving those years required more than strength. She eventually had to question the shame she carried and the story it had taught her to believe about herself.

Madison and I examine the difference between guilt and shame: one tells us we made a…