Be The Wolf

Hosted by Genea Barnes

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174

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Aug 2026

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Ready to stop hiding and playing small … and start living from the TRUTH of who you are? Be the Wolf is for high-achievers who are tired of sacrificing for the sake of others, business, and finances. They’ve done it “right” their whole life, and they’re still feeling stuck, exhausted, and unfulfilled. If you struggle with burnout, people-pleasing, imposter syndrome, chronic self-doubt, or feeling invisible even though you constantly over-deliver… this show is for you. What does it mean to ‘Be the Wolf?’ When Yellowstone Park removed the wolves to make the park "safe," the entire ecosystem collapsed. The wolves weren't the problem … they were essential. The same is true for you. When you hide parts of yourself to stay safe or be liked, the system of YOU gets out of balance, stays stuck in survival mode, and eventually collapses. Being the Wolf means operating from the wholeness of who you are … because that's when the ecosystem of YOU thrives. Host Genea Barnes explores what it means to stop performing for approval and start showing up as your full 100% REAL self. Not just the parts you think are acceptable. Through deep conversations about self-trust, relationships, worthiness, business, boundaries, money, reclaiming your voice, and learning to feel safe in your own skin, you'll discover how to expand your capacity for a life you actually want … without sacrificing joy, fulfillment, and the light of who you are. Topics include: Overcoming self-sabotage and breaking through plateaus Healing people-pleasing patterns and chronic over-functioning Trusting yourself when you've been gaslit or told your needs aren't real Moving from survival mode to feeling safe, embodied, and free to thrive Reclaiming creativity, visibility, and leadership after years of playing small Building relationships where you don't have to disappear to be loved and accepted Saying no, setting and holding boundaries without guilt or fear of rejection Releasing shame and learning you're not "too much" or "not enough" Saying yes to what you truly want without fear of repercussions This isn't about fixing yourself. It's about remembering who you are. Because when you stop trying to cram yourself into someone else's tiny box of who you should be, everything changes. Your work and business thrive. Your relationships deepen. Your body relaxes. You finally feel the peace, safety, and freedom you've been chasing. You weren't meant to hide … you weren’t meant to disappear. You were meant to live from the TRUTH of you. Be the Wolf. New episodes weekly. Real stories. Real transformation. Real freedom. ~ When you operate from the TRUTH of who you are, humanity evolves.~

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August 19, 2026Episode 17639 min

#176 You're Not Being Realistic. You're Just Playing Small and Calling it Wisdom

Genea's first art show was a one-night group show in a bar. She remembers standing in that room like she was on fire from the inside, what she still calls "anxiety on fire," pacing while people looked at the pieces she'd made, too scared to say a word back when someone told her they liked her work. She only talked to the people she already knew were safe. Everyone else, she shrank into the corner and watched. This is what happens when a person learns, long before they have words for it, that taking up space comes with a price. The body doesn't wait for permission. It decides, before you ever open your mouth, that shrinking is safer than being seen, even when being seen was the entire point of what you built. If you've ever built something you're proud of and gone quiet the second someone actually looked at it, you already know this pattern from the inside. It changes. Not by trying to be braver in the room, but by teaching your nervous system, at the muscle level, that it's finally safe to take up the space you were always built to take. Here's what was actually happening every time she went quiet in that corner: 🔹 Why the fear that kept her frozen in that bar showroom shows up everywhere she tries to grow 🔹 What her body was actually reacting to every time someone told her to "network more" 🔹 What years of photographing ghost bikes and roadkill were really about, and what she didn't understand until later 🔹 The exact moment taking up space stopped being optional for her Your life will only ever be as big as the amount of you you're willing to let take up space in it. About Genea Genea Barnes is a mentor, coach, and speaker whose early life was rooted in deep trauma and neglect. To stay safe, she learned to make everyone else feel good and put their needs first. It worked to survive, but it came with a cost. She lost her ability to discern what was truly right for her. And getting what she wanted came with the anxiety that it would be lost or taken away. She was great at making other people’s dreams come true, but when it came to what she truly wanted, she self-sabotaged and procrastinated … always putting something else first. She spent decades exploring and studying every modality under the sun to break free from those patterns and create a life that felt like joy, ease, and freedom. Today, she empowers people to move away from and resolve conflict rooted in trauma, generational trauma, and sacrifice of self … so they can create the life they crave and access greater peace and freedom in all areas of their life. This gives them access to loving, authentic relationships, consistent healthy habits, and success in business, finance, and career that feels like fulfilment and freedom. Connect with Genea Weekly Be the Wolf Call (no cost) – Wednesdays, 7:00 AM PST / 10:00 AM EST https://be-the-wolf.kit.com/freedom Register & learn more about Be the Wolf In-Person Events https://bethewolfnow.com/events Website https://bethewolfnow.com Instagram https://www.instagram.com/geneabarnes/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bethewolfnow LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/genea-barnes TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@geneabarnes

August 12, 2026Episode 17546 min

#175 Her Mother's Love Came With a Price. She Finally Stopped Paying It with Alina Vehuni

Alina Vehuni was that perfect girl. Silent most of her life, meeting every demand placed on her, putting herself last, because somewhere in childhood she learned that love had to be earned. Then, in her late 40s, her mother found out she was dating a man with a different skin color and gave her an ultimatum. Family, or him. This is what happens when love comes with conditions for long enough: you stop noticing the price tag until someone finally asks you to pay it in full. Alina paid it. She chose herself. Her mother stopped speaking to her for a period of time. If you've ever gone quiet to keep the peace and called it love, you already know this one. Once she made that choice, the silence didn't stay contained to her mother. She started speaking up in places she'd stayed quiet for years, in her work, in a podcast she'd been sitting on for years, everywhere she'd been the perfect girl instead of herself. Here's what it cost her to finally stop paying: 🔹 The exact ultimatum her mother gave her, and what she chose instead 🔹 What she'd been calling love for most of her life, and what it actually was 🔹 The parts of her life that changed the moment she stopped staying silent 🔹 What her mother was like once the relationship was finally repaired Her mother's love came with a price. She finally stopped paying it. About Alina: Dr. Alina Vehuni did not arrive at her life's work through the quiet accumulation of ideas—she arrived through the kind of unraveling that leaves no room for anything but truth. After nearly three decades of devotion to children, classrooms, and the labor of school leadership, her body spoke what years of service had kept silent. The fainting episodes, the emergency room visits, the slow dissolution of a self that had given everything and forgotten to ask what remained—none of it was failure. It was an initiation, and on the other side of it waited the question that would reorient her entire life: What does it truly mean to raise and educate a whole human being? From that reckoning, she built Wholeness Education, a global humanistic education platform rooted in the conviction that the inner life of a child is not a supplement to their education but its very foundation. A Fulbright Specialist, keynote speaker, holder of an Ed.D. from USC Rossier School of Education, founder of a non-profit, and host of The Potentiality Podcast, Dr. Vehuni speaks five languages and carries the rare capacity to hold the academic, the philosophical, and the deeply human all at once, because she has lived inside all three. Connect with Alina: Website https://www.alinavehuni.com LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/dralinavehuni/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@alinavehuni Another Link https://substack.com/@potentialitypodcast Connect with Genea : Weekly Be the Wolf Call (no cost) – Wednesdays, 7:00 AM PST / 10:00 AM EST https://be-the-wolf.kit.com/freedom Register & learn more about Be the Wolf In-Person Events https://bethewolfnow.com/events Website https://bethewolfnow.com Instagram https://www.instagram.com/geneabarnes/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bethewolfnow LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/genea-barnes TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@geneabarnes

August 5, 2026Episode 17441 min

#174 You Call It Being Responsible. It's a Safety Behavior From 1982

She was three sentences into a conversation with people she liked when her body made a decision her mind never signed off on. She turned. She walked away mid-sentence. No argument. No trigger anyone else in the room could have named. This is what happens when a nervous system learns, long before language, that closeness carries risk. It does not wait for permission. It moves the body first and hands the mind a story to explain it afterward. Most people call this being private, or needing space, or just being an introvert. It is rarely any of those things. It is a body still guarding against a danger that ended decades ago. Genea unpacks the exact wiring behind moments like this, including: 🔹 The real reason her art career never worked, and it had nothing to do with talent 🔹 What actually happened the day she caught her own body walking out of a room 🔹 Why finishing every project on deadline can still mean nothing new ever gets built 🔹 The specific belief that made wanting something out loud feel dangerous If you have ever left a room, a conversation, or an opportunity and could not explain why, this episode will not make you feel better. It will make you finally understand. About Genea Genea Barnes is a mentor, coach, and speaker whose early life was rooted in deep trauma and neglect. To stay safe, she learned to make everyone else feel good and put their needs first. It worked to survive, but it came with a cost. She lost her ability to discern what was truly right for her. And getting what she wanted came with the anxiety that it would be lost or taken away. She was great at making other people’s dreams come true, but when it came to what she truly wanted, she self-sabotaged and procrastinated … always putting something else first. She spent decades exploring and studying every modality under the sun to break free from those patterns and create a life that felt like joy, ease, and freedom. Today, she empowers people to move away from and resolve conflict rooted in trauma, generational trauma, and sacrifice of self … so they can create the life they crave and access greater peace and freedom in all areas of their life. This gives them access to loving, authentic relationships, consistent healthy habits, and success in business, finance, and career that feels like fulfilment and freedom. Connect with Genea Weekly Be the Wolf Call (no cost) – Wednesdays, 7:00 AM PST / 10:00 AM EST https://be-the-wolf.kit.com/freedom Register & learn more about Be the Wolf In-Person Events https://bethewolfnow.com/events Website https://bethewolfnow.com Instagram https://www.instagram.com/geneabarnes/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bethewolfnow LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/genea-barnes TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@geneabarnes

July 29, 2026Episode 17349 min

#173 Your Body Is Running the Same Pattern as Your Life with Emily DePauw

For years, Emily Depauw knew, deep down, that something was wrong. She just stopped trusting her gut. Then her body started to realign. And her whole personal life turned chaotic right along with it. Truths surfaced in her closest relationships, with her parents, with her romantic partner, truths that had been sitting there the whole time, waiting for her to stop overriding herself. She describes it like a snow globe getting shaken: everything she'd buried came loose at once, and it all finally made sense. This is what happens when your body and your life are running the same compensation pattern. You don't get to fix one without the other coming loose too. If you've ever wondered why your whole life seemed to unravel the moment you finally started taking care of yourself, this is why. Once things settled, Emily says her inner world only kept getting better. She left the company that gave her her start and built her own. Here's what surfaced once her body stopped compensating: 🔹 What she compares to shaking a snow globe, and what came loose when she did 🔹 The relationships where the truth finally surfaced, and why it wasn't easy 🔹 What she'd known deep down for years, and why she'd stopped trusting it 🔹 Why her body finally aligning and her life finally catching up happened together Whatever's twisted in your body is twisted in your life. Hers came loose at the same time. About Emily: Emily is an Alignment and Performance Coach and founder of Unleashed Movement. She is sought after by high-achieving creatives, performers, athletes, and C-Suite executives looking to upgrade their physical performance and resolve chronic pain, prevent injury, expedite recovery, and break through limitations. Upon graduating from Loyola Marymount University with a BA in Dance and English, Emily knew that movement - in whatever form - was her calling. Emily has worked as a choreographer, dance coach,personal trainer, and a certified Postural Alignment Specialist. Throughout her career, she has helped thousands (literally) of people overcome chronic pain and uplevel their craft through corrective exercise. Connect with Emily: Website https://unleashedmovement.com/ Instagram handle @unleashed.movement Free Gift Link https://unleashedmovement.myflodesk.com/a8nqzn8lij Connect with Genea Weekly Be the Wolf Call (no cost) – Wednesdays, 7:00 AM PST / 10:00 AM EST https://be-the-wolf.kit.com/freedom Register & learn more about Be the Wolf In-Person Events https://bethewolfnow.com/events Website https://bethewolfnow.com Instagram https://www.instagram.com/geneabarnes/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bethewolfnow LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/genea-barnes TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@geneabarnes

July 22, 2026Episode 17247 min

#172 When Something Finally Feels Right, You Assume You Did It Wrong

She gave that teacher exactly what she wanted. The grade came back an A, and something in her body clicked into place. Safe. Correct. Good job. This is what happens when a nervous system spends childhood in survival mode. It stops looking for the right choice and starts hunting for the choice that produces a hit of relief. That hit has a name. It is dopamine, and it is not a reward for doing well. It is a signal that danger has passed, for now. Genea spent years mistaking that signal for the truth, until she built something actually right for her, and felt nothing when it worked. Here's the part almost nobody catches in themselves: 🔹 The exact classroom trick that stopped working the moment the room got bigger 🔹 What her body did the first time a real win landed as nothing at all 🔹 The specific thought that shows up right after something finally works, and quietly undoes it 🔹 Why chasing that feeling was never actually about the achievement If success has ever felt flatter than it should, you have not failed. You have just never been taught what safe actually feels like. About Genea Genea Barnes is a mentor, coach, and speaker whose early life was rooted in deep trauma and neglect. To stay safe, she learned to make everyone else feel good and put their needs first. It worked to survive, but it came with a cost. She lost her ability to discern what was truly right for her. And getting what she wanted came with the anxiety that it would be lost or taken away. She was great at making other people’s dreams come true, but when it came to what she truly wanted, she self-sabotaged and procrastinated … always putting something else first. She spent decades exploring and studying every modality under the sun to break free from those patterns and create a life that felt like joy, ease, and freedom. Today, she empowers people to move away from and resolve conflict rooted in trauma, generational trauma, and sacrifice of self … so they can create the life they crave and access greater peace and freedom in all areas of their life. This gives them access to loving, authentic relationships, consistent healthy habits, and success in business, finance, and career that feels like fulfilment and freedom. Connect with Genea Weekly Be the Wolf Call (no cost) – Wednesdays, 7:00 AM PST / 10:00 AM EST https://be-the-wolf.kit.com/freedom Register & learn more about Be the Wolf In-Person Events https://bethewolfnow.com/events Website https://bethewolfnow.com Instagram https://www.instagram.com/geneabarnes/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bethewolfnow LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/genea-barnes TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@geneabarnes

July 15, 2026Episode 17154 min

#171 Her Body Was Screaming. Every Doctor Said She Was Normal with Angie Knierim

Angie Knierim was not having a breakdown on that waiting room floor. She was finally telling the truth. For thirteen years, doctors told her she was fine. Her body sent a different message. Migraines. Chest pain. A cough that never left. She smiled through all of it, because smiling through it was the only skill anyone ever rewarded her for. Then a scheduling mistake cracked open something that had been sealed since childhood. What came out of her on that floor was not weakness. It was the part of her that had never been allowed to advocate for herself, finally breaking the lock she built to survive. If you have spent your life managing everyone's comfort but your own, this episode is going to name something you have never said out loud. Here's what happens when the truth finally gets louder than the performance. 🔹 The three months she carried a secret that nearly cost her everything, and told no one 🔹 Why "your tests are normal" was the most dangerous sentence a doctor ever told her 🔹 The moment on a waiting room floor that was not a breakdown, it was a door 🔹 What she had to let back into her life, because keeping it out was killing her If you have never let yourself fall apart in front of another human being, ask yourself what you're actually protecting. About Angie: Angie Knierim is an engineer by day, an advocate by calling, and a novelist deep in the editing cave on her first fantasy fiction book, though it's been shelved for about a year while life got loud. By trade, she brings 25+ years of experience in engineering and program management within medical device and life sciences, and continues to pursue senior roles in that space. She founded The Empowering Women in Midlife Community after living through her own confusing, under-supported peri/menopause, tired of feeling dismissed by doctors and unable to find real answers or community for what she was going through. EWM is the resource she wished existed: expert-led education, clinical navigation, and a space where women don't have to white-knuckle their way through this alone. She's also active in advocacy work pushing for federal menopause legislation and is on a mission to close the gap between what women experience in midlife and what their doctors actually recognize. If anything in this conversation resonated with you, you don't have to figure this out alone. Empowering Women in Midlife is a community built for real conversations, honest talk, and women connecting over what we're actually going through—not just the highlight reel. Inside, you'll also find free tools to help you get started: a symptom tracker (electronic and printable), a resource library packed with expert sessions and guidance, and a list of clinicians who actually prescribe HRT, all available at JoinEWM.com. If you're also interested in the advocacy side of menopause care, including federal legislation, check out Women's Health Advocates at womenshealthadvocates.org. And if you or someone you know is looking for program management, PMO, Chief of Staff, or strategic operations talent, feel free to reach out to Angie directly at angie@angieknierim.com . Connect with Angie: Website www.joinewm.com Instagram handle https://www.instagram.com/angieknierim/ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/angieknierim/ Connect with Genea: Weekly Be the Wolf Call (no cost) – Wednesdays, 7:00 AM PST / 10:00 AM EST https://be-the-wolf.kit.com/freedom Register & learn more about Be the Wolf In-Person Events https://bethewolfnow.com/events Website https://bethewolfnow.com Instagram https://www.instagram.com/geneabarnes/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bethewolfnow LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/genea-barnes TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@geneabarnes

July 8, 2026Episode 17045 min

#170 Your Sacrifice Didn't Come from Your Heart. It Came from a Life That Taught You Safety and Love Had a Price

The sacrifice wasn't a choice. It was a survival strategy. And it has been running your life for a very long time. Genea Barnes doesn't talk around the hard stuff. In this episode, she goes straight to the root of one of the most painful patterns she sees in high-achieving, emotionally intelligent people … the ones who give everything, hold everyone together, and quietly wonder why they feel so far from the life they were supposed to be living. She traces her own sacrifice through every area of her life. The jobs she bent herself inside out for. The relationships she worked two jobs to support. The body she managed to keep everyone else comfortable. The business she almost destroyed by saying what she thought her coaches wanted to hear instead of what was actually true. And the moment … broke, maxed out, in full meltdown — when she finally stopped. This isn't an episode about being nicer to yourself. It's not a self-care conversation. It's the deeper one. The one about the parts of you that learned, early and completely, that love and safety came with a price tag. And you've been paying it ever since. The stories inside this episode go places most podcasts won't: 🔹 Why the sacrifice showed up in her relationship, her job, her body, and her business … all at once, all from the same wound 🔹 The forbidden part of herself she had buried since childhood, and what welcoming it back made possible in her life and business 🔹 How she kept attracting incompetent bosses, a failing business, and partners who left … and what it all had in common 🔹 What it felt like to let things crumble … and why that crumbling was the only path back to herself You are not broken. You are not too much. You learned to survive in a world that didn't always make it safe to exist fully. This episode is the beginning of something different. Come listen. About Genea Genea Barnes is a mentor, coach, and speaker whose early life was rooted in deep trauma and neglect. To stay safe, she learned to make everyone else feel good and put their needs first. It worked to survive, but it came with a cost. She lost her ability to discern what was truly right for her. And getting what she wanted came with the anxiety that it would be lost or taken away. She was great at making other people’s dreams come true, but when it came to what she truly wanted, she self-sabotaged and procrastinated … always putting something else first. She spent decades exploring and studying every modality under the sun to break free from those patterns and create a life that felt like joy, ease, and freedom. Today, she empowers people to move away from and resolve conflict rooted in trauma, generational trauma, and sacrifice of self … so they can create the life they crave and access greater peace and freedom in all areas of their life. This gives them access to loving, authentic relationships, consistent healthy habits, and success in business, finance, and career that feels like fulfilment and freedom. Connect with Genea Weekly Be the Wolf Call (no cost) – Wednesdays, 7:00 AM PST / 10:00 AM EST https://be-the-wolf.kit.com/freedom Register & learn more about Be the Wolf In-Person Events https://bethewolfnow.com/events Website https://bethewolfnow.com Instagram https://www.instagram.com/geneabarnes/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bethewolfnow LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/genea-barnes TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@geneabarnes

June 24, 2026Episode 16945 min

#169 The Woman Who Wants: Reclaiming Desire, Rebuilding Intimacy, and the Business Born From Both with Eva Angeloff

There's a version of disappearing that nobody talks about. It doesn't look like falling apart. It looks like getting it all done. The matching sweatsuit at preschool drop-off. The perfectly managed household. The birthday party with the Etsy decorations. Eva Angeloff looked like a woman who had it together. And she did. She had everything managed. Everything except herself. Her husband finally said it out loud. "Do you think we'll ever be intimate again?" She didn't see it coming. Because she hadn't meant to close the door on him. On her body. On any of it. It had just happened. Slowly. The way these things always do. One disowned need at a time. What followed was one of the most honest conversations about desire, control, and reclamation you'll hear anywhere. Eva is the founder of Women's Lib … a brand centered on women's vitality and sexuality. But before she could build it, she had to become the woman her brand is about. Here's what cracked open in this conversation: 🔹 The therapy session where three words — "you have a control problem" — sent her to the floor and changed everything she thought she knew about herself 🔹 Why her need for clean countertops and her loss of intimacy were rooted in exactly the same wound 🔹 How the woman who manages everything is often the woman who has disappeared the most — and what it looks like when she finally comes home 🔹 The generational pattern behind people-pleasing, lost desire, and why you can't think your way out of programming that lives in your body If you've been managing your life beautifully but feeling flat... this episode was made for you. If any part of this felt familiar... you already know what to do. About Eva: Eva Angeloff is the founder of Women’s Lib, a women’s wellness brand created to bring desire, pleasure, vitality, and sexual well-being into the center of the wellness conversation. A wife, mother of three, and lifelong believer in embodiment, Eva built Women’s Lib after recognizing how many women quietly lose access to parts of themselves while being responsible, capable, useful, and “good.” For Eva, Being the Wolf means reclaiming the wild connection to Self - the part of a woman that wants, feels, desires, questions, and refuses to disappear. Her work centers on one belief: pleasure is not frivolous. It is part of being fully well. Connect with Eva: Website: www.womens-lib.com Instagram handle: womenslibco Promotional Link: https://womens-lib.com/discount/IMAWOLF20 LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/eva-angeloff-410838353/ Email: eva@womens-lib.com Connect with Genea Weekly Be the Wolf Call (no cost) – Wednesdays, 7:00 AM PST / 10:00 AM EST https://be-the-wolf.kit.com/freedom Register & learn more about Be the Wolf In-Person Events https://bethewolfnow.com/events Website https://bethewolfnow.com Instagram https://www.instagram.com/geneabarnes/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bethewolfnow LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/genea-barnes TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@geneabarnes

June 24, 2026Episode 16842 min

#168 I Cleared My Money Blocks for Years. I Was Healing the Wrong Wound.

The wound that's been stopping you might not have happened to you at all. Genea Barnes has spent years doing the work. Clearing money blocks. Healing abundance patterns. Trying every approach that promised to change her relationship with finances and freedom. And underneath all of it, a fear she could never fully reach. A sensation so old, so embedded, that she had no story to put to it. Because it wasn't her story. In this episode, Genea traces the invisible thread from her grandmother's childhood right after the Great Depression, through her mother, and into her own body. She explains why the most stubborn fears often have no lived experience to explain them, and why that's exactly what makes them so hard to shift. These are wounds that travel not just through behavior and modeling, but through the nervous system itself. From womb to womb. Generation to generation. This episode is for anyone who has tried, again and again, to break through a ceiling that makes no logical sense. Anyone who has felt a fear far bigger than the situation in front of them. Anyone who has done everything right and still can't get free. The reason might be simpler than you think. And older than you know. Here's what this episode cracks open: 🔹 The science of inherited fear, what caterpillars, butterflies, and their babies reveal about the patterns running your decisions right now 🔹 The moment Genea realized her healing had been pointed at the story, not the sensation, and what finally shifted when she found the root 🔹 Why the rebel child and the controlled child are both living inside the same wound, and what the middle way actually requires 🔹 What it means to be the cycle breaker, and the real reason it feels like the world is disintegrating when you try If that hum inside you keeps saying there is more, this episode is a place to start. Listen when you're ready. About Genea Genea Barnes is a mentor, coach, and speaker whose early life was rooted in deep trauma and neglect. To stay safe, she learned to make everyone else feel good and put their needs first. It worked to survive, but it came with a cost. She lost her ability to discern what was truly right for her. And getting what she wanted came with the anxiety that it would be lost or taken away. She was great at making other people’s dreams come true, but when it came to what she truly wanted, she self-sabotaged and procrastinated … always putting something else first. She spent decades exploring and studying every modality under the sun to break free from those patterns and create a life that felt like joy, ease, and freedom. Today, she empowers people to move away from and resolve conflict rooted in trauma, generational trauma, and sacrifice of self … so they can create the life they crave and access greater peace and freedom in all areas of their life. This gives them access to loving, authentic relationships, consistent healthy habits, and success in business, finance, and career that feels like fulfilment and freedom. Connect with Genea Weekly Be the Wolf Call (no cost) – Wednesdays, 7:00 AM PST / 10:00 AM EST https://be-the-wolf.kit.com/freedom Register & learn more about Be the Wolf In-Person Events https://bethewolfnow.com/events Website https://bethewolfnow.com Instagram https://www.instagram.com/geneabarnes/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bethewolfnow LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/genea-barnes TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@geneabarnes

June 17, 2026Episode 16740 min

#167 What You’ve Been Rejected For is the Key to the Life You’ve Been Chasing

You've built a life that looks right. So why does it feel like nothing? You're not someone who gave up. You've worked harder on yourself than most people will in a lifetime. Therapy. Coaches. Books. Retreats. You've rebuilt yourself more than once. And you're still here. In the gap. Between who you know you're supposed to be and where you actually are. Still waiting for it to feel the way you always knew it could. What if the reason nothing has fully worked isn't about strategy? What if the parts of you that you learned to hide earliest in life are the exact parts your business, your relationships, and your sense of aliveness have been missing? Genea Barnes gets into all of it in this episode. Using the story of the Yellowstone wolves and a seventh-grade classroom moment that changed the course of her life, she traces exactly what happens when the most essential parts of a person go quiet. And what becomes possible when they finally come back. Here's what's waiting inside: 🔹 Why the life you've carefully built might belong to the version of you that learned to survive, not the one that was built to thrive 🔹 The moment she said something true out loud and paid for it with every friendship she had 🔹 How a collapsing national park became the most accurate map she'd ever found for what was happening inside her own life 🔹 What it actually looks and feels like when the real you starts coming back online If you've been waiting for something to finally name what's been quietly wrong, this is the episode. Listen now. About Genea Genea Barnes is a mentor, coach, and speaker whose early life was rooted in deep trauma and neglect. To stay safe, she learned to make everyone else feel good and put their needs first. It worked to survive, but it came with a cost. She lost her ability to discern what was truly right for her. And getting what she wanted came with the anxiety that it would be lost or taken away. She was great at making other people’s dreams come true, but when it came to what she truly wanted, she self-sabotaged and procrastinated … always putting something else first. She spent decades exploring and studying every modality under the sun to break free from those patterns and create a life that felt like joy, ease, and freedom. Today, she empowers people to move away from and resolve conflict rooted in trauma, generational trauma, and sacrifice of self … so they can create the life they crave and access greater peace and freedom in all areas of their life. This gives them access to loving, authentic relationships, consistent healthy habits, and success in business, finance, and career that feels like fulfilment and freedom. Connect with Genea Weekly Be the Wolf Call (no cost) – Wednesdays, 7:00 AM PST / 10:00 AM EST https://be-the-wolf.kit.com/freedom Register & learn more about Be the Wolf In-Person Events https://bethewolfnow.com/events Website https://bethewolfnow.com Instagram https://www.instagram.com/geneabarnes/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bethewolfnow LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/genea-barnes TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@geneabarnes