Shows / Forged In The Dark
Forged In The Dark
Forged in the Dark is a personal growth podcast for people doing the invisible work, the kind no one sees, no one applauds, and no one can do for you. Hosted by keynote speaker and habits coach Jaime, each episode is real talk about what it actually takes to become who you are capable of being, through the hard lessons, the lonely seasons, and the private standard you hold when everything in you refuses to quit on yourself. Grounded in real experience, fueled by faith in the process, and always…
Episodes
- Forged In The Dark
Smashing Pumpkins: What Anger Does When You Won’t Let It Out
Smashing Pumpkins: What Anger Does When You Won’t Let It Out The other morning I woke up with no idea I’d end up in a field with a borrowed bat, smashing…
- Forged In The Dark
The Mystery Smell: What You’ve Gone Nose Blind To
The Mystery Smell: What You’ve Gone Nose Blind To You know the drill with a mystery smell. It hits you the second you walk in, and you will tear the whole…
- Forged In The Dark
Proof in the Poof: Why the Work Is Working Before You Can See It
Proof in the Poof: Why the Work Is Working Before You Can See It All summer it looked like the work wasn’t working. I ran for months in the brutal Texas heat…
- Forged In The Dark
Not Your Fault. Still Your Job.
A wasp flew into my house the other day and reminded me of something I spent years getting wrong. At my old place, wasps would slip through the door and head…
- Forged In The Dark
Build the Thing That Won’t Let You Quit
You’ll drop everything for a friend who calls. You’ll figure out how to help on the fly, no hesitation, no questions. So why does the promise you made to…
- Forged In The Dark
The Ladder and the Light
When you start growing, not everyone comes with you. The hardest part is realizing some of the people who’ve been closest the longest are the ones who can’t…
- Forged In The Dark
Not Everyone Will Clap When You Grow
There comes a point in your growth where the people closest to you struggle to understand it. Some reach for your hand. Some pick a fight. In this episode I…
- Forged In The Dark
Control What You Can. Release What You Can't
People are going to disappoint you. That part is inevitable. But what if the real question isn't why it happened? What if it's what you're still holding that…
- Forged In The Dark
It's Not Just What You Eat
You can be eating clean and still not absorbing what's on your plate. Because it was never only about the food. The other day I stopped for lunch, sat back…
- Forged In The Dark
A Life You Don't Need to Escape
Burnout doesn't only come from the grind. Sometimes it comes when everything is going right. I had a similar conversation with two different people last week…
- Forged In The Dark
Get Used to Being Uncomfortable
What does it actually take to become someone you've never been before? A million small choices, most of them made when no one is watching. This episode was…
- Forged In The Dark
Sticky Spots (and Permission to Change Your Mind)
You already know your sticky spots. The project you keep pushing to tomorrow. The place you keep telling yourself you'll deal with next week. Not stuck…
- Forged In The Dark
Change the Plan, Not the Goal
You are the key. But a key only works when you turn it. I showed up to my run group ready to run and found out we were walking, slow, because someone was…
- Forged In The Dark
Give It New Meaning
There is a song I hated for almost thirty years. One mortifying high school moment had fused itself to it. For decades, the first note dropped me straight back…
- Forged In The Dark
Root Bound
You can water a plant every day and still watch it die. I found that out on a Sunday, hands in the dirt. My social plans had fallen through, and instead of…
- Forged In The Dark
Different Doors, Same Destination
You think nobody around you understands what you're going through. Yours is different. Harder, or just not the same as theirs. So you carry it alone. What if…
- Forged In The Dark
You Never Know Who Needs You
A rainbow that ended over my house. A varsity football game washed out by lightning. A Starbucks we only ducked into because nature called. And a birthday I…
- Forged In The Dark
The Splash Zone
I dropped a full cup of water down the front of my dress in the middle of a packed event. Lights low, three speakers on stage, a full room locked in, and there…
- Forged In The Dark
You Are the Creator of Your Own Reality
People tell me all the time how lucky I am. And there is something that looks a lot like Lucky Girl syndrome running through my life right now. What they don't…
- Forged In The Dark
At Least the Snake Was Honest
There was a rattlesnake in my backyard. Seven feet of it, close enough to record, and what it did next flipped everything I thought I knew about who the…
- Forged In The Dark
Sometimes You Have To Quit
There's something in your life that stopped working a long time ago. You know exactly what it is. And you're still showing up for it, out of guilt, loyalty, or…
- Forged In The Dark
A Season Of Lasts
We all get one — that season where everything is a last. Sometimes you see it coming. Sometimes it blindsides you. Either way, there's something in it worth…
- Forged In The Dark
Close the Loops
I've been quietly teaching mindfulness since the very beginning — and lately I've been reminded of just how much of what I teach comes back to it. So over the…
- Forged In The Dark
Two Kinds of Backward
A children's toy, stepping backwards, and a realization mid-yoga practice. Strange combination — stay with me. I was deep in a long practice when I noticed my…
- Forged In The Dark
The Two-Lane Road
Life isn't about finding a road with no surprises. It's about becoming someone who can handle whatever's around the bend. Get in the car with me. It's 4:40…
- Forged In The Dark
The Apology Bus
If you've ever waited for an apology that never came, this one's for you. There are three kinds of forgiveness — for yourself, for the people who are genuinely…
- Forged In The Dark
Willing to Be Bad
Sometimes I sit down, hit record, and exactly what I want to say comes out. Sometimes it doesn't. And that got me thinking about a rule I keep coming back to…
- Forged In The Dark
It Might Not Be Your Fault
You know that thing on your to-do list that was a priority ages ago and you still can't force yourself to do? Or that pattern you keep repeating and repeating?…
- Forged In The Dark
Isn't That Interesting
I read a quote recently that I didn't love, but the message underneath it stuck: don't do something permanently stupid because you're temporarily upset. We've…
- Forged In The Dark
Love-Bombed by the Universe
Where your attention goes, your energy flows. So what you focus on is what you're going to find. I got love-bombed by the universe — and my friend Nicole was…
- Forged In The Dark
Faith In The Forge
Be careful — this is the one I almost didn't tell. 6 a.m. Saturday. Dark. Seventy-five miles an hour on I-35. And out of nowhere, a man steps into the middle…
- Forged In The Dark
Be Your Own "Woo" Person
A stranger at game night stopped mid-turn and said, "Is that all you've got? You're supposed to be my woo girl." I told them the truth: I'll be the loudest…
- Forged In The Dark
The Race With No Medal
No race bib. No medal. No official timer. And it still counts. A group of us decided to run our own 10K on the 4th of July — pre-dawn, almost 80 degrees, 94%…
- Forged In The Dark
Why You Love What You Love
An 80s Kmart parking lot. Blankets in the bed of a truck. Those big tins of popcorn with the cardboard dividers. And a kid who was certain fireworks were pure…
- Forged In The Dark
Reps, Consistency, Self-Trust, Confidence
Most people quit right before it gets good. Not because they can't do the hard thing — because the results don't come fast enough to keep them in the game…
- Forged In The Dark
The "Becoming"
I owned the dress for four years. I cut the tags off the week of my 50th birthday — and walked into a room as a version of myself I hadn't met yet. Here's what…
- Forged In The Dark
The Woodpecker
A woodpecker never asks if it feels like doing the work. It just shows up — whether anyone's watching or not. I spent years saying I wanted more, then living a…
- Forged In The Dark
The Work Is Working
The Work Is Working I do not believe in luck. I believe in what I build when no one is watching. For two weeks straight, people kept telling me how lucky I…
- Forged In The Dark
Is It Time to Quit?
Is It Time to Quit? Yes. I said it. Is it time to quit? Is it time to surrender? Is it time to let go? Here is the real question underneath all of it — are you…
- Forged In The Dark
The Beautiful Prison
Are you living in a beautiful prison? Have you created a beautiful hell? My grandmother was born in 1918 and lived to be almost 104. The most faithful person I…
- Forged In The Dark
The Leap
The Leap The baby steps got you here. They will not get you to what comes next. In this episode Jaime makes the case for the big bold move — the cannonball…
- Forged In The Dark
The Stories You Tell Yourself
Think back to when you were a child playing with shadows on a wall — the flashlight under the covers, the campfire, your hands casting wolves and birds and…
- Forged In The Dark
Blind Spots
Blind Spots Your car has every safety feature available. You chose it specifically for that reason. And you still crashed. Not because the car failed. Because…
- Forged In The Dark
Stuck in Traffic
Stuck in Traffic You can only see the storm when you are in the storm. Jaime spent an entire day in Austin traffic — electronics down, no phone, no music — and…
- Forged In The Dark
The Dark Is a Powerful Teacher
The Dark Is a Powerful Teacher Most people are trying to get out of the dark as fast as possible. What if that is exactly the wrong move? In this episode Jaime…
- Forged In The Dark
Feeling vs "Feelings"
Feeling vs Feelings Your body is sending you information all day long. Tight chest. Heavy legs. Shallow breath. Racing heart. The problem is your brain gets…
- Forged In The Dark
The Dirty Work
The Dirty Work Nobody tells you that growth is messy. Not in the way it actually is. They talk about it like it is a moment — a breakthrough, a revelation, a…
- Forged In The Dark
Facing Life's Challenges
Facing Life's Challenges Why do these horrible things keep happening to me? I'm a good person. If you have ever said those words — or held the phone while…
- Forged In The Dark
The Power of Being Misunderstood
When you choose to grow, really grow, at the identity level -not everyone around you is going to understand it. Some will resist. Some will pull back. And none…
- Forged In The Dark
The Work No One Sees
Forged in the Dark — Episode 1 The Work no One Sees You’ve been doing the work. The 4am alarm. The prayer. The thought you caught mid-spiral and shut down…
- Forged In The Dark
Trailer
Welcome to Forged in the Dark. This is what the show is about, who it’s for, and why it exists. Start here.