Episode #22: Loosing Your Career to Find Yourself with Melissa Keefe

This week I sit down with one of our Sacred Circle sisters Melissa, whose story of resilience and redirection reminds us that sometimes losing what we thought defined us is what sets us free.

After being forced to retire from her long-standing, respected career due to MS, Melissa found herself grieving not just her work, but her identity. For years, she’d pushed through anxiety and depression, believing her worth was tied to productivity because that’s what society taught her: school was your job, then your job was your job.

But when her body said enough, she was finally forced to listen.

Melissa opens up about her experience with EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), explaining how trauma lives in the body and how healing can happen even through simple, non-clinical practices at home. She shares how reconnecting with her past self helped her realize it wasn’t her fault and that she didn’t have to carry it anymore.

Through community, therapy, and her involvement in Sacred Circle, Melissa has learned it’s okay to be angry, to feel deeply, and to still love the people who’ve let you down. She also shares how taking "From Victim to Villain" helped her redefine boundaries and start asking for help, realizing that self-care isn’t selfish...it’s NECCESARY.

As she puts it, “Not everyone is equipped to handle your story,” but finding a safe space to share it can change everything. Her healing has brought stability to her health, peace to her mind, and strength to her family.

“If more women came together to do what we do, we’d be unstoppable,” Melissa says, and this episode proves just that.

Tune in to hear a raw, honest conversation about burnout, boundaries, and the brave act of healing your body, mind, and story. If this conversation landed for you, please share it, leave a review, and subscribe! To connect further, subscribe to my weekly newsletter or follow me on TikTok/Pinterest! We will see you next Wednesday for our next episode!