The Trapdoor Moment: Radical Kindness and One-Step Transformation with Dr. Melissa Swonger

After literally falling through a trapdoor and breaking her back, Dr. Melissa Swonger had a choice: collapse into the dark or finally listen to her soul. In less than five months, she wrote her book, launched a nonprofit, and sparked a movement around radical kindness.

Not long ago, Dr. Melissa Swonger took a single step onto what she thought was solid ground…and fell through a trapdoor.

The storm-shelter door opened beneath her, shattering her back and pelvis and forcing her into a season of stillness she never asked for. Lying flat on her back, Melissa finally did the one thing she’d resisted for sixteen years: she wrote her story.

In this episode of Unlearn the Crap & Level Up, host Kathy Baldwin sits down with Melissa to explore how that one decision ignited a wave of radical change.

Together they unpack:

• Growing up with CPTSD and a “world is unsafe” brain

• What happens when trauma trains you for protection instead of connection

• Why forgiveness of an unrepentant parent became the turning point in Melissa’s legacy

• Awareness → Connection → Movement as a practical framework for transformation

• The trapdoor accident on May 20, 2025—and the decision to finally write Whom He Raised

• How radical kindness “walks in when everyone else walks out”

• What it means to become an agent of change in your family, your work, and your community

Melissa also shares how The Sage Hill Project is mobilizing radical kindness as a movement, not a moment.

If you’ve ever felt like you’re lying in your own trapdoor moment, wondering how to keep going, this conversation is your reminder that one step—just one—can change everything.

About Kathy Baldwin
Kathy Baldwin is the creator of Unlearn the Crap & Level Up, a transformational framework that helps high-impact humans release the conditioned responses and automatic programming that keep them stuck. She is the author of the trilogy: Unlearn the Crap & Level Up: Your Soul Is Calling, How I Unlearned My Crap, and The Unlearned Life: An AI-Powered Ritual System for Truth, Transformation, and Personal Empowerment.

She is also the founder of Finally Podcast Automation, a business infrastructure system built for podcasters and companies who use podcasting as their growth engine. Finally eliminates backend overwhelm, tech chaos, and burnout so leaders can stay focused on their message—not the mechanics.

Learn more, apply to be a guest, or explore Kathy’s books at:
👉 https://unlearnthecrap.com
Discover the automation system behind this show at:
👉 https://finallypodcastautomation.com

6.4 Key Takeaways

• How CPTSD shapes your nervous system and relationships—and how to start unlearning it

• Why your “one more day” choice matters more than motivational clichés

• The difference between numbing and true healing

• How radical kindness breaks generational patterns and rewrites legacy

• A simple framework: Awareness → Connection → Movement

• Why one act of obedience (writing the story) can open doors you didn’t even know existed

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6.5 Suggested Timestamps

You can adjust these in post to match final edit length.

• 00:00 – 02:15 – Cold open + VO intro (Kathy)

• 02:15 – 06:30 – What “crap” Melissa had to unlearn: “the world is unsafe”

• 06:30 – 15:00 – Trapdoor accident, medical trauma history, and hearing “write your story”

• 15:00 – 23:00 – CPTSD explained: hypervigilance, gaslighting, and mental whiplash

• 23:00 – 32:00 – Inner child healing, awareness, and connection work

• 32:00 – 41:00 – Forgiving her mother, breaking bitterness, changing legacy

• 41:00 – 52:00 – Canoeing the mountains: when your tools don’t fit your current mountain

• 52:00 – 1:02:00 – Radical kindness: the mentor who wouldn’t walk away

• 1:02:00 – 1:10:00 – The Sage Hill Project and mobilizing radical kindness

• 1:10:00 – 1:15:00 – One more day, one more step, and closing call to action

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