ROCK BOTTOM with Mayssa

In this episode of ROCK BOTTOM, host Mayssa Chehata sits down with psychologist, bestselling author, international speaker, and “Midlife Muse” Dr. Amanda Hanson to talk about intuition, motherhood, women’s power, and the rock bottom that changed how she trusted herself forever. Amanda shares how growing up as an intensely curious child through her parents’ difficult divorce taught her to suppress her emotions and take on responsibility early. Years later, becoming a mother and experiencing natural childbirth introduced her to a deeper relationship with her body, womanhood, and what she describes as feminine power.Her rock bottom came while raising four children and caring for her nine-year-old son, who was living with severe, life-threatening food allergies. After seven ambulance rides and few answers, Amanda made a decision almost everyone around her questioned: she moved across the country with four children and four dogs to pursue an alternative treatment program.The year that followed pushed her to physical and emotional exhaustion, but Amanda says it also transformed her son’s life and gave her an unwavering trust in her own intuition.Amanda and Mayssa explore ancestral healing, motherhood, “building the matriarchy,” suppressed anger, Princess vs. Queen energy, nature as a spiritual practice, and why women are so often taught to look outside themselves for answers they already carry within.If you’ve ever struggled to hear your own voice over everyone else’s opinions, this conversation is a reminder to trust what you know inside yourself.ResourcesThis episode is sponsored by GEM — the real food daily bite delivering 20+ essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients in one delicious chew.Use code ROCKBOTTOM or visit dailygem.com/ROCKBOTTOM for 15% off your order.ROCK BOTTOM | Instagram | TikTokGEM | WebsiteBEHAVE Candy | WebsiteCreditsROCK BOTTOM was created by Mayssa Chehata.Production support and audio engineering by Johnny Simon.This episode was produced and recorded in New York City by Wondir Studios.Chapters00:00 “The maiden in me was dying” — Amanda on womanhood and intuition02:10 Growing up curious and feeling like she was “too much”03:25 Divorce, responsibility, and becoming a latchkey child08:21 Ancestral healing and the women who came before her09:52 Unexpected pregnancy and discovering a deeper relationship to womanhood15:58 “I’m building the matriarchy”18:40 Childhood illness, emotional suppression, and finding release through music24:20 Amanda’s rock bottom: her son’s life-threatening food allergies24:49 Seven ambulance rides by age nine27:00 Moving across the country to pursue an alternative treatment28:07 “It’s as if there’s a loaded gun in the room”28:50 Her family questions her sanity29:31 Her husband fears their marriage may not survive30:32 The treatment outcome that changed her son’s life31:15 Exhaustion, isolation, and reaching her breaking point32:04 “I have never doubted my intuition again”33:15 Building a business from intuition37:13 Four kids, four dogs, homeschooling, and treatment43:34 Nature as a lifeline and spiritual practice47:00 Childbirth as a sacred rite of passage50:47 Princess energy vs. Queen energy51:30 The 1% rule for building self-belief52:38 What rock bottom taught her about intuition54:33 “I’m just going to follow the feelings”56:59 Why anger can be powerful59:08 Turning “fossil fuel into renewable energy”59:59 Rapid fire: nature, American Idol, and everything you need being within you1:02:17 Becoming the “divine mother” to your younger self1:18:52 Amanda’s message to the next guest: don’t let the outside crowd override your truth

In this episode of ROCK BOTTOM, host Mayssa Chehata sits down with singer, herbalist, founder of Organic Olivia, and What’s The Juice host Olivia Amitrano — a woman whose life’s work has been shaped by ancestral wounds, a near-loss of both parents, and the decision to step away from runaway success to reclaim her art. Olivia opens up about growing up in a chaotic home with “genius but unregulated” parents, the mother wound that shaped her self-worth, and the long line of women before her who survived arranged marriages, war, and hardship. She shares how being the gifted, performing child — perfect grades, perfect piano, perfect daughter — slowly pulled her out of her own body and into a lifetime of codependency, performance, and self-abandonment. From there, Olivia takes us to 2020, when both of her parents were hospitalized with life-threatening COVID at the same time, while her business exploded in the wellness boom. Suddenly, she was managing hospital calls, massive revenue, and a growing brand — all while realizing that the “hungry monster” inside her could never be fed by numbers, followers, or the next productivity hack. That reckoning led her to question everything: her relationship to herbalism, to success, to her body, and to the family “curse” she thought she was destined to repeat. This conversation dives into generational trauma, codependency, nervous system healing, forgiving our parents, and the radical act of building a life around joy instead of survival. Olivia shares how she spent a year gently removing the things she was dependent on, reconnecting with her creative child, and allowing herself to be a beginner again as a songwriter and musician. Today, she calls her greatest achievement not her company or her album, but becoming her own friend — someone who does what she says she’ll do and lives from the inside out.If you’ve ever felt like you’re performing your life instead of living it, terrified of repeating your parents’ patterns, or afraid to walk away from “success” that doesn’t feel like yours, Olivia’s story is a powerful reminder that you can rewrite the meaning of your past — and that forgiveness might just be the portal to your real life. ResourcesThis episode is sponsored by GEM — the real food daily bite delivering 20+ essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients in one delicious chew. Use code ROCKBOTTOM or visit dailygem.com/ROCKBOTTOM for 15% off your order. Organic Olivia | Website | Instagram | What’s The Juice Podcast | ROCK BOTTOM | Instagram | TikTokGEM | Website BEHAVE Candy | Website

In this episode of ROCK BOTTOM, host Mayssa Chehata sits down with therapist, teacher, and guide Flynn Skidmore, whose work in internal family systems and somatic healing has quietly supported millions online. At 18, Flynn had what he describes as a spiritual shock to the system, a violent awakening that left him dissociated, depressed, and unable to make sense of the world around him. What followed was nearly a decade-long rock bottom that forced him to confront toxic masculinity, rage, shame, and his own desire not to be here anymore.Flynn opens up about growing up as one of the only white kids in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, navigating race and power dynamics in his neighborhood, while also surviving an explosive home shaped by generational violence and “rite-of-passage” masculinity. He shares how being jumped as a kid, watching his father battle chronic illness and addiction, and getting into physical fights with the man he loved most in the world all shaped his understanding of what it meant to be a man and why he eventually had to burn that model to the ground.This conversation dives into toxic masculinity, celibacy, sexuality, lying as a childhood survival strategy, and what happens when you lose access to your own desire. Flynn talks about committing to radical honesty, pushing through grad school and therapy training while secretly questioning his own will to live, and the moment he realized that the only way out was to design his own value system and his own life. Today, he helps people transform self-hatred into radical self-love by treating even the cruelest inner voices as parts that are just trying (badly) to keep us safe.If you’ve ever felt like you “now know too much,” along your own path and journey, like you’re stuck in a matrix you can’t unsee, or like there’s a version of you that might not make it out, Flynn’s story is a powerful reminder that creation is the antidote to despair, and that the parts of you that hate you are really just begging to be loved in their own way.Content note: This episode includes discussion of suicidal thoughts and self-hatred. Please listen with care.ResourcesThis episode is sponsored by GEM — the real food daily bite delivering 20+ essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients in one delicious chew. Use code ROCKBOTTOM or visit dailygem.com/ROCKBOTTOM for 15% off your order.Flynn Skidmore | InstagramROCK BOTTOM | Instagram GEM | Website BEHAVE Candy | WebsiteIf you or someone you know is in crisis or having thoughts of suicide, please reach out to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or visit their website for chat and resources.Credits:Created by Mayssa ChehataProduced by Desta Wondirad and Wondir StudiosProduction Support and Audio Recording by Johnny Simon

✨ Episode DescriptionIn this solo episode of ROCK BOTTOM, host Mayssa Chehata opens up for the first time about the tools, rituals, and mindset shifts that helped her climb out of her own rock bottom.From choosing isolation and celibacy, to inner child work, breathwork, and plant medicine, Mayssa shares the ten practices that became the foundation for her healing and spiritual growth. She reveals how nervous system regulation, emotional release, and radical self-honesty allowed her to rebuild her life and why she believes every rock bottom hides the seed of transformation.This intimate conversation is both practical and deeply personal, offering a roadmap for anyone who’s ever felt stuck, lost, or on the verge of starting over.If you’ve been waiting for a sign to begin again, this episode is it.Show Notes:(00:00) Welcome to Rock Bottom — finding the trampoline in the fall(01:00) Isolation and sitting with sadness instead of running from it(02:30) Choosing celibacy and closing emotional loops(04:00) The To Be Magnetic program and healing the inner child(08:30) Moving from New York to Mexico City — changing energy and environment(10:30) Letting go of old dynamics and shifting your circle(14:00) Mushrooms, plant medicine, and spiritual purging(19:30) Asking the universe for signs and learning to trust again(25:00) Discovering breathwork as emotional and spiritual release(33:00) Prioritizing mental health over hustle and redefining success(38:30) Cutting out alcohol and aligning with clarity and purpose(42:00) Closing reflections — transformation as the gift of rock bottomResources:This episode is sponsored by GEM — the real food daily bite delivering 20+ essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients in one delicious chew. Use code ROCKBOTTOM or visit dailygem.com/ROCKBOTTOM for 15% off your order.Mayssa Chehata | Instagram ROCK BOTTOM | Instagram GEM | Website BEHAVE Candy | WebsiteCredits: Created by Mayssa Chehata Produced by Wondir Studios

In this episode of ROCK BOTTOM, host Mayssa Chehata sits down with Kendra Austin: writer, model, and creator behind The Realest Oracle deck and The Eldest Daughter podcast. Known for her wit, depth, and spiritual clarity, Kendra opens up about the journey that led her to rock bottom — and how burning her old life to the ground became the beginning of her rebirth.Together, they explore Kendra’s path through emotional abuse, overachievement, and the perfectionism that masked deep pain. She shares how stillness, solitude, and plant medicine became portals to healing — and how she transformed her defensiveness into self-trust, her anger into art, and her chaos into clarity.This intimate conversation dives into themes of nervous system regulation, emotional reprogramming, inner child healing, and reclaiming creative power. It’s a raw and revelatory story of how rock bottom can be the clean slate you never knew you needed and a reminder that transformation begins when we stop running from ourselves.If you’ve ever felt stuck in survival mode or trapped in cycles of chaos, Kendra’s story will remind you that you are never broken, only becoming. Show Notes:(00:00) Introduction — What is Rock Bottom?(02:00) Kendra’s childhood: chaos, old souls, and survival through imagination(06:00) Growing up in emotional volatility and learning self-protection(13:00) The “little lawyer” — how defensiveness becomes identity(19:00) Learning that no one is coming to save you(22:00) Kendra’s 2020 rock bottom: an abusive relationship and financial collapse(31:00) The psychic metaphor — cleaning the house within(34:00) The “scorched earth” chapter — anger as liberation(43:00) Healing through psilocybin, journaling, meditation, and walking(52:00) From victimhood to responsibility — taking ownership of your healing(1:05:00) Creating The Realest Oracle deck and redefining spirituality(1:14:00) Rewiring the nervous system and rebuilding self-trust(1:25:00) Discipline without self-hate — the power of joyful choice(1:31:00) Curiosity, evolution, and embracing the next rock bottomResources:This episode is sponsored by GEM — the real food daily bite delivering 20+ essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients in one delicious chew.Use code ROCKBOTTOM or visit dailygem.com/ROCKBOTTOM for 15% off your order.Kendra Austin | InstagramThe Realest Oracle | WebsiteGEM | WebsiteBEHAVE Candy | WebsiteCredits:Created by Mayssa ChehataProduced by Desta Wondirad and Wondir StudiosProduction Support and Audio Engineering by Johnny SimonRecorded in New York City by Wondir Studios