AWAKENING TRUTHS | MAKEUPYOURPOWER PODCAST

Where the truth hurts — and we talk about it anyway.

There are moments in life that change us.

The relationship that broke us.

The loss we didn't think we'd survive.

The identity that no longer fits.

The career that ended.

The shame we carried quietly.

The awakening we couldn't explain.

The moment we looked at the life we'd been living and realized:

I can't go back to who I was before this.

Welcome to Awakening Truths | Makeupyourpower Podcast.

Hosted by Nichole Lynn Haywood and Tina Akowitz, Awakening Truths is a space for honest conversations about the experiences that shape us, break us open, wake us up—and ultimately ask us to decide who we're going to become next.

This isn't about having everything figured out.

It isn't about pretending everything happens for a reason.

And it isn't about bypassing the painful parts of being human in the name of positivity or spirituality.

It's about telling the truth about what happened—and discovering what becomes possible when we stop allowing that experience to be the end of our story.

THE STORY BEHIND AWAKENING TRUTHS

Awakening Truths was born from something deeply personal.

Before it became what you see today, this podcast began in 2021 as Transmute Your Pain Into Power.

And in many ways, that's exactly what the podcast did for me.

It gave me somewhere to put a voice to my own pain, shame and guilt.

It gave me somewhere to talk about the things I once didn't know how to say out loud.

And over time, something became very clear:

I wasn't the only one carrying a story.

We all have one.

A chapter we thought would destroy us.

Something we wish we could undo.

A version of ourselves we had to leave behind.

A truth we weren't ready to see until life made it impossible not to.

And somewhere inside those experiences lives information.

Wisdom.

Choice.

Sometimes even purpose.

That realization became the foundation for what Awakening Truths is becoming.

A NEW SEASON OF AWAKENING TRUTHS

The Spotlight Guest Series

This fall, we're opening the microphone.

The Awakening Truths Spotlight Guest Series brings real people into honest conversations about the stories behind who they've become.

Not simply:

“What do you do?”

But:

“What happened to you?”

“What did it awaken?”

“What fell apart?”

“What did you have to rebuild?”

“Who did you become?”

“And what are you doing with everything you've learned?”

Every Spotlight conversation follows an intentional journey:

PAIN → AWAKENING → BREAKDOWN → REBUILD → EMBODIMENT → SERVICE

Because we aren't interested only in the polished version of someone's success.

We want to understand the human being behind it.

You'll meet healers, therapists, coaches, teachers, entrepreneurs, intuitives, advocates, veterans, creators and people from very different walks of life.

Different stories.

Different beliefs.

Different paths.

But one common thread:

Something happened that changed the direction of their life—and they chose to do something with it.

THIS ISN'T TRAUMA STORYTELLING.

It's transformation in motion.

There is intention behind every part of this show.

We aren't bringing guests on simply because they have something to promote.

Before a Spotlight Guest ever sits down behind the microphone, we learn their story.

We ask about the pain.

The fear.

The shadows.

The turning point.

The rebuilding.

The lessons.

And the work that grew from it.

Then we create a conversation specifically around that human being.

Because when someone trusts us with the most vulnerable chapters of their life, that story deserves more than a list of generic interview questions.

It deserves presence.

It deserves curiosity.

It deserves respect.

And it deserves enough space to unfold.

Sometimes there will be laughter.

Sometimes there will be tears.

Sometimes Tina and I won't agree with everything a guest believes.

Sometimes a guest may say something that challenges what you believe.

That's part of the point.

Awakening doesn't require everyone to arrive at the same truth.

It asks us to become curious enough to examine our own.

FROM THE SPOTLIGHT...

TO THE ROUNDTABLE

The Spotlight Series is only one part of where Awakening Truths is going.

My vision has always been bigger than an interview podcast.

I've imagined a roundtable.

A place where different people, experiences, professions, spiritual paths and perspectives can sit together and have the conversations many of us are having privately—but rarely know where to have publicly.

Conversations about:

shame and guilt.

relationships and identity.

grief and rebuilding.

intuition and spirituality.

mental and emotional growth.

purpose.

boundaries.

awakening.

failure.

resilience.

the light.

the shadow.

and everything that exists between them.

And eventually, I want you at that table too.

Through listener questions and deeper conversations, Awakening Truths will continue growing into a space where someone sitting alone in the middle of their own awakening can hear:

“Someone else has been here too.”

Not because another person's path should become yours.

But because sometimes hearing how someone else survived gives us enough hope to take our own next step.

THE HEART OF THE SHOW

There is something I've learned through my own life and through the people I've had the privilege of sitting across from:

Your painful experiences are part of your story.

They are not the entirety of who you are.

The shame.

The guilt.

The failure.

The relationship.

The grief.

The choices you wish you'd made differently.

The version of yourself you barely recognize anymore.

Those chapters matter.

But so does what happened next.

What did you see?

What did you learn?

What did you choose?

Who are you becoming?

That's where power begins returning.

Not because the past disappears.

But because you stop handing it sole authorship of your future.

OUR MISSION

We preserve the stories that prove transformation is possible.

That's the heart of Awakening Truths.

One person's story may never look exactly like yours.

Their beliefs may not be yours.

Their healing may not be yours.

Their awakening may not be yours.

But somewhere inside their story may be one sentence...

one realization...

one moment...

that helps you see your own life differently.

And sometimes...

that's where awakening begins.

MEET YOUR HOSTS

Nichole Lynn Haywood

Founder of Makeupyourpower, Spiritualist, Intuitive Development Guide, Psychic Medium, Astrology lover, and creator and host of Awakening Truths | Makeupyourpower Podcast.

My work centers around helping people reconnect with their intuition, understand the experiences shaping their lives, and recognize that awareness creates something incredibly powerful:

choice.

Not someone else's answer.

Not someone else's path.

Your choice about what happens next.

Explore Nichole's work at Makeupyourpower

Tina Akowitz

Empowerment Coach and co-host of Awakening Truths | Makeupyourpower Podcast.

Tina brings the relational and practical side of transformation into our conversations—helping bridge the stories we hear into reflection around resilience, empowerment, self-worth, and what moving forward can actually look like in everyday life.

Explore Tina's work at Purposeful Transitions

Together, we aren't here to tell you what your truth should be.

We're here to create conversations that help you discover it.

DO YOU HAVE A STORY?

Maybe you've lived through something that completely changed you.

Maybe the thing you once carried with shame has become part of how you serve others.

Maybe you've rebuilt after losing everything familiar.

Maybe you're doing work today that exists because of something you once thought you'd never survive.

Or maybe you know someone whose story needs to be heard.

We're always looking for meaningful voices and lived experiences to bring to the Awakening Truths Spotlight Series.

Your story doesn't need to be perfect.

It needs to be yours.

Apply to Become an Awakening Truths Spotlight Guest

LISTEN • WATCH • REFLECT • AWAKEN

Come for the conversation.

Stay for the questions it creates within you.

Share an episode with someone who needs it.

Bring your questions to the table.

And as we move into this next season of Awakening Truths, remember:

Your story matters.

Your voice has value.

And your experiences do not have to be the end of your story.

Welcome to Awakening Truths.

Where the truth hurts — and we talk about it anyway.

We preserve the stories that prove transformation is possible.

THE SPOTLIGHT GUEST EXPERIENCE