Soft Power Project

Content note: this episode talks about sexual assault.I took a week off social media last week. While that was happening, my custody case, seven years in, was ramping up, and the Cornell 7 case kicked off another Me Too moment.Of all the women I've interviewed, what I'm most interested in is the messy middle, and that's exactly where I am right now. So this is not a neat, clean episode. I talk about what I'm trying, and a story of my own that other women's sexual assault stories on Threads brought back. I've never shared it with anyone, and I'm not ready to tell all of it.If you've had some version of this experience, you don't have to wait until you're completely processed. You get to decide how much you share, when, and with whom. There's no pressure.I wanted to share what I've been going through with custody, but you don't need to have a perfect story. If you ever feel like sharing how you handle your messy middle, email me at [email protected], and we can talk about whether you're ready to share it on the Soft Power Project.0:00 - Why I Took a Week Off Content2:01 - What I Care About: The Messy Middle3:17 - My Custody Case, Seven Years In4:47 - Mindset Is My Superpower6:46 - What I'm Trying Right Now8:13 - The Cornell 7 Case and Using Our Voice11:07 - Women's Stories on Threads12:27 - The Story I've Never Shared14:36 - You Decide How Much to Share#SoftPowerProject #SoftPower #MentalHealth #HealingLeave a comment and share your thoughts: https://open.firstory.fm/user/cm5etbvm00a1i01sl6k6h99de/commentsYoutubeInstagramDo you want to become a more confident, clear, and self-trusting communicator?Let's talk! Fill out this form and see you soon.Would you like to share your life stories?Please fill out this form.

What does it mean to trust yourself before you have the proof? In high school, someone told Kate Morgan they wouldn't know what to get her, because she had everything. It looked that way, she says. What she longed for was an internal foundation.Kate is twenty now, a fashion student at FIT who quit her job to build her own brand of heels and handbags. On the Soft Power Project, Sherry and Kate talk about what happens when you build yourself alongside the thing you are building.The Soft Power Summit, where she met Sherry, was one of the first times she put herself out there as a brand founder. It was new and it was scary. She acknowledged those feelings and let them ride in the backseat.From admiring other people online without dimming her own light, to walking away from friendships that weren't serving her anymore, to slow mornings and journaling at night.She wants her brand to be something that doesn't complete you, but is already a part of you. For Kate, soft power is honoring her truth and building her dream from within. At seventeen, she had forgotten about the brand completely. The person she is now, she says, is everything she needed then.0:00 - Intro1:48 - Going after what she wants6:54 - Showing up scared as a new founder8:33 - A brand built from within10:18 - Admiring others, staying in her lane12:41 - Choosing yourself, finding your people16:30 - It looked like she had everything22:01 - Feeling her feelings, staying centered28:18 - Her 17-year-old self, and soft powerMENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:The Soft Power Summit, New York, June 20, 2026, where Sherry and Kate met: https://luma.com/q8i8ubvgKate on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/embodebykatemorgan/ABOUT KATE MORGAN:Kate Morgan is a fashion student at FIT in New York, originally from Arizona. She quit her job to build her own brand of heels and handbags, a childhood dream she came back to.Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaatefrederick/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@styledinsubstance#SoftPowerProject #SelfTrust #FemaleEntrepreneur #SelfDiscoveryLeave a comment and share your thoughts: https://open.firstory.fm/user/cm5etbvm00a1i01sl6k6h99de/commentsYoutubeInstagramDo you want to become a more confident, clear, and self-trusting communicator?Let's talk! Fill out this form and see you soon.Would you like to share your life stories?Please fill out this form.

A year and a half ago, I set a boundary with my ex: no more direct communication, go to my lawyer. A month later he messaged me to say he'd talked to my lawyer, didn't like what she said, and had blocked her.I didn't hold that boundary. I held an empty fake peace for a year and a half. Last week I told him one last time: all communication goes to my lawyer. Has he listened? Obviously not. But that's okay. That's not my job.Communication only does 10% of the job. The rest is your action. I'm a communication trainer, and I know the irony. I kept hoping that if I could persuade him, everything would be okay. I was wrong.Today on the Soft Power Project I'm talking about setting a boundary when you know the other side won't change. Boundary setting is like strength training. With heavier weights, you're still going to feel uncomfortable.This is your invitation to set yours in one line, with no explanation. Need help confirming a boundary? Email me at [email protected]. If you need my coaching service: https://forms.gle/w4hA9zB1MNCWTfjL80:00 - Boundaries When They Won't Change2:50 - Setting a Boundary With My Ex5:27 - The Empty Fake Peace I Held8:33 - Why Written Beats Direct Communication11:11 - Holding the Line Is 90% of the Job14:07 - Heavier Weights and Asking for HelpWant to understand your own boundary? Let's talk! Fill out this form and see you soon.Leave a comment and share your thoughts: https://open.firstory.fm/user/cm5etbvm00a1i01sl6k6h99de/commentsYoutubeInstagramDo you want to become a more confident, clear, and self-trusting communicator?Let's talk! Fill out this form and see you soon.Would you like to share your life stories?Please fill out this form.

Stephanie Whitley was still in the middle of domestic violence, a new mom to a three-year-old and an almost one-year-old, when a moment in her garden knocked her to her knees.It was late spring or early summer of 2022. She was watering her plants with music in her headphones when grief arrived out of nowhere, and with it a realization: the situation she was in, the choices that had led her there, and the life she could give her children instead. She describes it as a veil being lifted. She knew it would be incredibly difficult. She also knew what she had to do.Sherry and Stephanie talk about what happens after you choose to leave. Getting out was not one decision. She compares it to separating industrial strength Velcro, slowly and methodically, and she names why the time after leaving can be a dangerous one. There were moments when getting back together looked easier.From shadow work, to a therapist who pushed her back into dating, to the custody weeks alone that gave her time with herself.She is fierce about protecting her peace now. She still struggles with guilt about the life with mom and dad both at home.Her definition of soft power is a kind of alchemy: turning darkness into lightness, gently, without forcing it. Her advice for anyone going through it right now: sometimes the scariest choice is the best one.0:00 - Intro1:29 - Lost, then a moment in the garden6:26 - Why leaving is like separating Velcro15:11 - Rebuilding a relationship with herself18:53 - Dating after trauma28:39 - Dating as a single mom34:47 - Protecting her peace43:41 - Did it make her a better mom?46:40 - Soft power as alchemyMENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:Roddy by Djo, the song Stephanie says resonates with her moment in the garden: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCfCzzCyMU4ABOUT STEPHANIE WHITLEY:Stephanie Whitley is a single mom to two young boys. She left an abusive second marriage, and she says she has since worked through most of the trauma it left her with. She is on the parent teacher organization board at her kids' school, was recently appointed to a city committee where she lives, and is going back to school.#SoftPowerProject #SingleMom #Healing #BoundariesLeave a comment and share your thoughts: https://open.firstory.fm/user/cm5etbvm00a1i01sl6k6h99de/commentsYoutubeInstagramDo you want to become a more confident, clear, and self-trusting communicator?Let's talk! Fill out this form and see you soon.Would you like to share your life stories?Please fill out this form.

Last year I started the Soft Power Project. I was on my way to reinventing myself, and I really thought I had nailed it. This year I realized I was judging myself for judging myself.Ever since I was little, I've had a camera in my head to judge myself and make sure I show up in a way that's acceptable. When I got divorced at 35 and my world got bigger, that conditioning got worse.This June and July, when I felt my reels weren't getting the likes I wanted, I got really depressed, and I didn't understand why. I had thought healing was black and white. Instead of completely detaching from that conditioning, I just kind of switched audiences.What I'm experiencing is kind of a messy middle, like being handed Lego pieces with no diagram. I'm still not sure who I am or where this is going. Validation is delicious, but it doesn't nourish us. So I ask myself, am I here?If you're in your own messy middle, this is your invitation to sit with a cup of coffee, taste it, and keep that moment to yourself.0:00 - The Camera in My Head3:02 - Judging Myself for Judging Myself6:01 - The Messy Middle and Validation8:43 - Glow-Ups and the Imaginary Audience#SoftPowerProject #SoftPower #SelfDiscovery #ReinventionLeave a comment and share your thoughts: https://open.firstory.fm/user/cm5etbvm00a1i01sl6k6h99de/commentsYoutubeInstagramWould you like to share your life stories?Please fill out this form. See you there~