77: Can our faith heal our trauma?

More and more adults are realizing that they have experienced trauma in their lives. We may not have realized it at the time. But, now, as adults, we are working through issues, emotions, and struggles and coming to terms wtih the fact that we've carried the burden of trauma for years. Or, perhaps we are very aware that we experienced trauma in our past and are trying to work our way through it while wondering if our faith in God could help us. It's an intriguing question and one that our guest knows all too well. If you have been wrestling with trauma and seeking God in your healing, this is the podcast episode for you.

Guest Info:

Calvin Bagley was raised in a home where education was withheld, modern medicine was
forbidden, and extreme religious beliefs replaced love with fear. He was injected with horse medicine instead of being taken to the doctor. His meals were rationed,and his joy was policed. His education consisted of being taught to read by his older sister afteraccidentally learning the alphabet backwards. His world was one of poverty, abuse, neglect, and secrecy.

And yet, he broke free. Today, Calvin Bagley is a nationally recognized entrepreneur and the founder of Nuvo Health, a Medicare-focused company that's helped over 60 thousand people navigate health insurance with honesty and heart. His companies, including The Medicare Store, Medicare Hub, and PlanFit, are transforming the healthcare industry (often known for predatory tactics) by putting people before profits and ethics before compensation.

Calvin is the author of Hiding from the School Bus, a memoir that chronicles his journey from hiding in the sagebrush to avoid the school bus to standing tall and building multimillion-dollar businesses, traveling to all 50 states and all seven continents, and thriving with his family grounded in love and faith.

Calvin was the seventh of nine children. As an infant, his mother handed him to his teenage sister, saying, "This one's yours."; His sister cared for him as if she were his mother until the age of three, when his father forcibly took him from her arms, shouting, "You are not his mother!"; She was never allowed to touch him again. 

He was a perpetual outsider, even facing incredible pain at scout camp, when a group of boys
attacked him, wielding cactus-covered sticks. At 19, he left home to serve a mission in Brazil for the LDS Church. This changed the trajectory of his life forever. He returned home determined to change his fate. He self-studied and earned a GED at 21. After bombing a college placement exam, his college applications were all denied, but he talked a college admissions counselor into giving him a trial run as a non-admitted student. He later became the most unlikely college graduate, earning a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). 

His story includes pain and trauma, but also many small triumphs that cumulatively shape his life and personality and have led to his resilient nature. He learned to swim at 22, traveled the world as a flight attendant, rose through the ranks at Bank of America from a teller to a Consumer Market Manager, and married the woman he now calls his saving grace. Calvin doesn't just share a story-he opens a door. On the other side of the door is what's possible when you refuse to let your past define your future.