Episode Summary
What happens when you're someone who teaches resilience, helps others navigate stress, and believes in the power of the mind—but suddenly find yourself unable to use those very tools in your own life?
Olivia Mead, founder and CEO of Yoga for First Responders, knows what it's like to have life unravel in ways you never anticipated. The end of her first marriage, a changing career, strained relationships, financial uncertainty, and years of infertility and IVF brought one disruption after another. Eventually, even her ability to keep moving forward began to break down.
In this conversation, Olivia opens up about the pressure she put on herself to be resilient, the moment she recognized she needed more help than her own practices could provide, and how medication, support, and a willingness to rethink her expectations helped her find her footing again.
We also talk about the difference between being sad and being stuck, why hiding our struggles can make them harder to carry, and what it means to reconsider the happy ending we've always imagined.
Sometimes moving forward isn't about getting the life you planned. It's about giving yourself permission to change your dream.
In This Episode
When life doesn't go according to plan: How the end of a marriage, career changes, financial strain, and infertility became a series of disruptions that forced Olivia to reconsider the life she had imagined.
The resilience expert who needed help: What it was like to be unable to practice what she taught others, and why accepting medication was an important part of getting back to a place where she could use her tools.
The cost of keeping struggles private: How hiding what she was experiencing made the pain harder to carry, and what changed when she began sharing her story.
Sadness versus being stuck: How Olivia learned to experience disappointment and grief without losing herself in them.
Rethinking the happy ending: How Olivia began to recognize that changing a dream isn't the same as failing or giving up.
Key Takeaways
Being resilient doesn't mean you don't need help—and getting help might allow your own efforts to be more effective.
Changing your dream doesn't mean you've failed.
Resilience isn't about controlling the outcome; it's about how you meet what happens.
