197 The Authentic You with Kristina Holle197 The Authentic You with Kristina Holle
You're Sober! Now What?
HR leader and author Kristina Holle talks with Tamar Medford about childhood trauma, shame and authenticity, and how owning difficult stories can fuel resilience in recovery and leadership. The conversation links emotional honesty, daily routines and inner child work to living a more wholehearted, sober life.
55:31•1 Apr 2022
The Authentic You: Owning Your Story with Kristina Holle
Episode Overview
- Owning your entire story, including adversity, helps dissolve toxic shame and reveals strengths like resilience and adaptability.
- Suppressing emotions to "suck it up" can contribute to depression and anxiety; emotions need to move, not be buried.
- Inner child work and examining triggers can highlight old beliefs and patterns that still drive behaviour today.
- Daily practices such as early-morning journalling, meditation and intention-setting can support authenticity and long-term recovery.
- Living from the heart rather than from fear or others' expectations is key to stop playing small and stepping into limitless potential.
“You're not broken. You've had a human experience.”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey once the drinking stops? This conversation with human resources leader and author Kristina Holle brings a fresh angle: authenticity as a daily practice, not a buzzword. Hosted by long-term recovery advocate Tamar Medford, the chat centres on how owning your full story – especially the messy, painful bits – can become a strength in both life and leadership.
Kristina, a senior HR professional of over 20 years and author of *The Authentic You – Unleash Your Leadership Potential*, explains how writing her book during Covid pushed her to stop hiding her childhood trauma and to "own my story in its entirety". You’ll hear her describe growing up with a mother living with schizophrenia, being removed from that home at 13, and then spending decades pretending that part of her life didn’t exist.
She and Tamar break down how shame and conformity keep people playing small, why suppressing emotions feeds depression and anxiety, and how many of us were raised on messages like "suck it up" and "boys don’t cry". Kristina talks about inner child work, triggers as "gifts", and the importance of daily self-care rituals like early-morning journalling and meditation.
Tamar connects this to recovery, sharing how resilience, routine and owning her past addiction have become her superpowers, and how relapse is more likely when she forgets where she came from. Together they unpack people-pleasing, codependency, emotional eating, and the habit of keeping one foot out the door in relationships. Throughout, there’s plenty of honesty, humour and practical examples that anyone in or beyond recovery will recognise.
If you’re sober and asking, "Now what?" this honest chat offers a gentle nudge towards one answer: stop hiding, start owning, and let your real self lead the way. What part of your story are you ready to stop keeping in the dark?
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