No One Is Normal
No One Is Normal is a raw, honest self-improvement podcast about recovering, healing, and rebuilding life. Brad H. Hill, author of No One Is Normal, shares real stories from the book, meaningful listener experiences, and conversations with professionals to explore addiction, trauma, shame, and self-forgiveness. This show helps you grow, reflect, and take the next step toward becoming who you were meant to be.
Episodes
S2E20 - The Power of No
There is a difference between being kind and constantly giving pieces of yourself away.For a lot of us, saying yes became automatic. We took on more at work, more at home, more for friends, and more for everyone else until we couldn't remember what we actually wanted anymore. Somewhere along the way, being dependable quietly turned into feeling responsible for everything.In this episode of Und
S2E19 - Bart Merrell - When Life Happens
Life rarely asks whether you're ready before it changes the plan.Bart Merrell knows that better than most.In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Bart, known as The Side Hustle Samurai, to talk about resilience, entrepreneurship, financial security, and what happens when the future you expected suddenly disappears.Bart once planned to join the FBI and chase serial kill
S2E18 - Direction Over Drift
Most people don't wake up one day and intentionally build a life they don't want.It usually happens one small decision at a time.We put things off. We tell ourselves we'll deal with it later. We hope life somehow organizes itself while we stay busy reacting to whatever shows up next. Before long, months or even years have passed, and we're still wondering why nothing seems to change.In this episod
S2E17 - Brandi (Bee) Doyle - When Survival Isn't Enough
There comes a point when surviving is no longer enough.You can check all the boxes. Build the career. Earn the degree. Get married. Have children. Accomplish everything you thought was supposed to make you happy.And still feel disconnected from yourself.In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Brandi (Bee) Doyle, Army combat veteran, former nurse practitioner, coach, and fo
S2E16 - The Mirror Doesn't Lie
There is a strange kind of confidence that can come from getting your life together.You become dependable. You build a career. You handle responsibility. People trust you. From the outside, it can look like growth, maturity, and self-awareness all rolled into one.The problem is that functioning well is not the same thing as seeing yourself clearly.In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I
S2E15 - Jenna Udenberg - Normal Is a Myth
Most people never think about accessibility until they need it.They walk into buildings without wondering if everyone can get through the door. They make plans without thinking about whether the space was designed for everyone. They assume the world works because, for them, most of the time it does.In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Jenna Udenberg, educator, author, a
S2E14 - What is Normal?
People use the word normal like the definition is obvious.But most of us were handed that definition long before we were old enough to question it.In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I talk about the difference between what is familiar, what is healthy, and what people judge simply because they do not understand it.We explore how family, school, work, culture, trauma, disability, grie
S2E13 - Debbie Weiss - Life After Loss
Some losses do not happen all at once.Sometimes they unfold slowly. Over years. Through caregiving, exhaustion, changing roles, and the quiet grief of watching someone you love slowly fade in front of you while life keeps moving around you.In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Debbie Weiss to talk about caregiving, grief, burnout, identity, and what happens after surviva
S2E12 - What Death Reveals
Death changes more than the room. It changes the people standing in it.In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I talk about grief, funerals, family dynamics, and the things death exposes once there is no more pretending that time is unlimited.This is not a philosophical conversation about death from a distance. It is about the version people actually live through. The hospital rooms. The
S2E11– Jennifer Chase - The Addict. The Daughter. The Mother.
Addiction rarely starts with the substance.In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Jennifer Chase, recovery coach, speaker, and founder of Rise Addiction Life Coaching, to talk about addiction from three perspectives: daughter of an alcoholic, addict, and mother of a child struggling with addiction.Jennifer shares how trauma, childhood instability, and years of emotional p
S2E10 - Why I Am Wired This Way
A lot of adulthood starts making more sense once you understand the emotional climate you grew up in.In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I talk about family life, instability, and the quiet ways childhood shapes who we become long before we have language for any of it.This is not about blaming family or putting private moments on trial. It is about understanding what happens when unpr
S2E9 - Randy Bishop - Shunned, Then Rebuilt
There’s a point in life where everything can look fine on the outside…but internally, something feels completely off.In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Randy Bishop to talk about identity, authenticity, and what it really means to start over later in life.Randy opens up about approaching 60 and realizing that despite a lifetime of experience, success, and roles he had
S2E8 - We Are Not Normal, Now What?
At some point, I had to stop asking how to become “normal” and start asking a different question:Now what?In this episode of No One Is Normal, I talk about what happens after the realization hits that normal was never really the goal in the first place. Because so many people spend years trying to force themselves into expectations, identities, careers, relationships, or lifestyles that were never
S2E7 - Bonnie Hill - Healing After Abuse
Healing is not a straight line. It is messy, frustrating, emotional, and at times feels impossible.After a six-part series sharing the reality of living through domestic abuse, Bonnie Hill joins me for a raw and honest conversation about what happens after survival.Because leaving is not the end of the story.In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, Bonnie opens up about the healing process
S2E6 - Bonnie’s Story Part 6: The End
This is Part 6 of 6 in Bonnie’s story.Healing does not begin the moment someone leaves. In many ways, that is where the real work starts.In the final chapter of Bonnie’s story, survival finally begins making room for something unfamiliar: peace. But healing is rarely simple. After years of fear, control, emotional exhaustion, and learning how to survive, rebuilding a life means learning how to tru
S2E5 - Bonnie’s Story Part 5: The Final Sequence of Events
This is Part 5 of 6 in Bonnie’s story.Sometimes the moments that change our lives are not loud or dramatic. Sometimes they build quietly until one final sequence of events makes it impossible to ignore what has been true for far too long.In part five of Bonnie’s story, everything begins moving toward a breaking point. The emotional weight of survival reaches a place where difficult truths can no l
S2E4 - Bonnie’s Story Part 4: The Downward Spiral
This is Part 4 of 6 in Bonnie’s storyThere comes a point in survival where exhaustion replaces hope. When surviving no longer feels temporary, and the weight of carrying everything alone begins changing who you are.In part four of Bonnie’s story, the downward spiral deepens. Fear becomes routine. Emotional exhaustion settles in. The distance between who Bonnie once was and who survival forced her
S2E3 - Bonnie’s Story Part 3: The Abortion
This is Part 3 of 6 in Bonnie’s story.Some decisions leave marks that never fully disappear. Not because they were easy, but because survival sometimes forces choices no one should ever have to make.In part three of Bonnie’s story, the emotional toll deepens as fear, control, and instability begin shaping impossible decisions. The weight of survival grows heavier. The lines between hope, guilt, lo
S2E2 - Bonnie’s Story Part 2: The Gaslighting Narcissist
This is Part 2 of 6 in Bonnie’s story.Sometimes the hardest part about emotional abuse is that it rarely arrives all at once. It builds quietly. Slowly. Through confusion, manipulation, guilt, fear, and the constant feeling that maybe somehow everything is your fault.In part two of Bonnie’s story, the emotional weight deepens. What once felt manageable begins shifting into something harder to expl
S2E1 - Bonnie’s Story Part 1: The Beginning
This is Part 1 of 6 in Bonnie’s story.Some wounds do not begin with violence. They begin quietly. Slowly. In the moments we dismiss, excuse, or explain away because we want to believe things will get better.In this deeply personal and emotional six-part series, Bonnie shares the beginning of a story that many people never fully understand from the outside. A story of survival that did not look dan
S1E26 - Kirk McCarley - This Should Have Killed Me
What would you do if your life changed overnight… twice?In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Kirk McCarley just days after he was hit by a truck while cycling. With broken ribs, a concussion, and 16 stitches in his head, Kirk shares what it feels like to face life from a completely different perspective — again.This isn’t the first time.Kirk also opens up about survivin
S1E25 - Practicing Gratitude
Gratitude sounds simple until life gives me every reason not to feel it.In this episode of No One Is Normal, I talk about the difference between fake positivity and real gratitude. Not the social media version. Not pretending everything is perfect. Real gratitude is harder than that. It’s learning how to recognize what still matters while life is uncomfortable, uncertain, frustrating, or painful.I
S1E24 – Olaolu Ogunyemi - Raising Unbreakable Kids
Some paths are shaped by talent. Others are shaped by the people who step in at the right time.In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Olaolu Ogunyemi, United States Marine, author, and founder of Parent Child Connect, to talk about the role mentorship, failure, and environment play in shaping who we become.Olaolu shares how growing up in Louisiana, the right mentors helpe
S1E23 – Control the Controllables
There is a line in life most people never clearly see. The line between what we can control and what we cannot.In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I talk about what happens when we spend our lives trying to control everything except the one thing that is actually ours. Ourselves.I share personal stories about guilt, loss, relationships, and decisions that forced me to confront how lit
S1E22 – Robin Clare - From Struggle To Peace
Some struggles hide in plain sight. They can last for years, sometimes decades, while the outside world sees something completely different.In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Robin Clare, bestselling author and creator of the Harmony Method, to talk about her journey through more than forty years of battling obsessive eating and bulimia.Robin shares how trauma, shame,
S1E21 – Stop Carrying It
There is a place most of us visit far more often than we admit. It is not our kitchen, our bedroom, or the office. It is the past.In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I talk about what it really means to stop living in the rearview mirror and start taking control of what comes next.For a long time, my past was not just something that happened. It became my explanation for everything. T
S1E20 – Shelly Ketelhut - Social Media Overloaded
We live in a time where information moves faster than our ability to process it.In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Shelly Ketelhut, licensed professional counselor and clinical substance abuse counselor, to talk about how constant information, social media, and digital overload are impacting the way we think, feel, and respond.Shelly explains how the brain is wired to
S1E19 - Social Media Isn't Real
Social media can connect people across the world… and still leave me feeling completely alone.It can build relationships that change my life, and it can tear down my confidence in a single comment. And the longer I stayed plugged into the noise, the easier it became to forget who I was outside of a screen.In this episode of No One Is Normal, I talk about the reality of living in a world where ever
S1E18 - Philip Briscoe - Midlife Reset
Midlife does not always arrive with a dramatic crash. Sometimes it shows up quietly, after the career that defined you stops feeling the same.In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Philip Briscoe, creator of the Midlife Men podcast, to talk about what happens when work, identity, and purpose collide in the middle of life.Philip shares how burnout from a startup job forced
S1E17 - Decide Your Journey
There’s a hard realization that shows up when drifting stops working.No one is coming to fix my habits. Not my debt. Not my health. Not my career. Not the quiet routines that were slowly either building me or breaking me. And the longer I stayed on autopilot, the further I moved from the life I actually wanted.In this episode of No One Is Normal, I talk about what changed when I stopped waiting fo
S1E16 - Ronald Reich - Own Your Life
Some of the most important lessons in life do not come from success. They come from the moments we would rather forget.In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Ronald Reich, a leadership coach and corporate trainer with more than three decades of experience helping organizations develop stronger leaders and healthier workplace cultures. Ron shares the night that forced him
S1E15 - Believe In Yourself
There’s a quiet kind of damage that happens when no one ever tells me, “I believe in you.”No big speech. No defining moment. No one pulling me aside and saying I was capable of more. And after a while, I stopped looking for it. I settled. I played my role. I told myself this was just how life worked.In this episode of No One Is Normal, I talk about what changed when I realized belief was never goi
S1E14 - Laura Bratton - Blind But Not Broken
Some changes arrive slowly, but alter everything.In this episode of No One Is Normal, Brad sits down with Laura Bratton to discuss her journey of losing her sight as a teenager and how that gradual change reshaped not only her world, but her understanding of herself.Laura shares what it was like to move through denial and grief while the world around her continued operating as usual. She speaks op
S1E13 - It Starts With Me
There’s a brutal truth that took me way too long to accept.No one is coming to live my life for me. Not a boss. Not a mentor. Not a partner. Not the “right opportunity.” Not the perfect timing. And the longer I waited for someone else to step in and make things easier, the longer I stayed stuck.In this episode of No One Is Normal, I talk about the moment everything shifted. The moment I stopped ho
S1E12 - Zulma Williams - Unfiltered Healing
Starting over doesn’t always happen once. Sometimes ithappens again and again, across countries, careers, health challenges, and identity shifts.In this episode, Brad sits down with Zulma Williams, a licensed clinical social worker known as The Swearing Therapist, to talk about reinvention, discipline, and what real mental health work looks like when life doesn’t follow a traditional timeline. Zul
S1E11 - Adapting to Change
Change looks great on paper… until real life shows up and lights the whole plan on fire.In this episode of No One Is Normal, I’m talking about what change actually feels like when the honeymoon wears off. The kind of change that’s supposed to be a step up. More money. Better balance. A smarter move. And then the reality hits: burnout, anxiety, regret, and that sinking feeling of “what the hell did
S1E10 - Hilary Momberger Powers - Life Rewritten
In this episode, I sit down with Hilary Momberger Powers, a womanwith an unbelievable story of transformation, recovery, and deep emotionalhealing. Hilary began her career at only five years old, landing the role of SallyBrown in the Charlie Brown cartoons and working alongside legends like CharlesSchulz. But early fame came with pressure, fear, and a painful realitybehind the scenes that shaped h
S1E9 - Relapsed: How Easy It Creeps Back In
🏆 2026 Signal Awards Finalist — Best Writing, Individual EpisodesVote for “Relapsed: How Easy It Creeps Back In” in the Signal Awards Listener’s Choice:https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2026/individual-episodes/craft/best-writingRelapse is one of those words people whisper, like it is a confession. It gets treated like proof you failed, like it cancels every ounce of progress you made. Bu
S1E8 - Stanley Bronstein - Beating Yesterday
Some changes start with urgency. Others begin with quiet resolve.Stanley Bronstein’s story didn’t hinge on one dramatic moment. It unfolded through years of learning what works, what fades, and what it actually takes to build a life that stays healthy long after motivation disappears.In this conversation, Stanley opens up about the cycle so many people know too well. You lock in for a while, you l
S1E7 - Excuses Are Like A**holes
There’s an old saying that excuses are like assholes and everyone has one. I am not here to beat anyone up for having them. I am here to be honest about what it cost me when excuses stopped being occasional and started becoming my default setting. For a long time, I did not just make excuses. I collected them. I polished them. I built whole stories around them. They were armor when I felt insecure
S1E6 - Peter Gunn - Reinvention in Real Time
In this episode of No One Is Normal, Brad sits down with Peter Gunn — poet, author, musician, U.S. Air Force veteran, and lifelong creative — for a wide-ranging conversation about identity, discipline, creativity, and purpose.Peter shares his life story through many roles he has lived over time, including military service, bodybuilding, fatherhood, poetry, and music. He reflects on a near-death ex
S1E5 - Finding Your Tribe
Belonging is one of those things I did not realize I was starving for until I finally got a taste of it. You can be surrounded by people and still feel completely alone, or you can be with one person who really gets you and feel entirely at home. This episode is about that difference. In “Finding Your Tribe,” I talk about how easy it is to confuse a crowd for community, especially when addiction o
S1E4 - Ryan Reichert - Life After the Fall
Transition doesn’t always arrive as a breaking point. Sometimes it shows up quietly, in the space where old structure no longer fits and new meaning hasn’t fully formed yet.In this episode, Brad sits down with Ryan Reichert, a former U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, coach, and speaker, to talk about sobriety, faith, discipline, and rebuilding a life after long-held systems fall away. Ryan shares his
S1E3 - Stupid Games Stupid Prizes
This is not a lecture about drugs. This is about patterns.In this episode, I go underneath my chapter Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes. I grew up in survival mode, watching my mom grind to keep us afloat. That shaped how I saw myself and left that quiet question on loop: Am I ever going to measure up.That gap did not stay empty. I tried to fill it with curiosity, bravado, and bad decisions. I
S1E2 - Karen Peters - Rebuilding Life
In this episode of No One Is Normal, I sit down with Karen Peters for a raw and deeply human conversation about what happens when a life that looks perfect from the outside collapses in full public view.Karen shares her experience navigating a public scandal involving her ex-husband’s SA accusations, an event that shattered her family’s sense of safety and identity overnight. She talks openly abou
S1E1 - Relationships Are Hard
Relationships look simple on paper. Love someone, build a life, roll credits. Real life is two flawed people with old wounds, busy schedules, stress, and the daily grind of dishes, work, and emotional labor. In this episode, I get honest about what happens after the honeymoon phase, when effort stops being mutual and appreciation turns into expectation. I share what I learned from my own relations
Start Here - Reason Behind the Book
Welcome to the very first episode of No One Is Normal.This show exists for anyone who’s ever felt out of place, misunderstood, mislabeled, or judged for the way their story unfolded. This is the space where people like us finally get to breathe, talk, and be real without apologizing for the roads we’ve had to walk.In this episode, I’m introducing the mission behind the show and why this whole proj
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