Sept. 26, 2024

Unbreakable Journeys Carolyn Sophia Skowron on Mental Health and Resilience

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In this episode of Living the Dream with Curveball, we are joined by Carolyn Sophia Skowron, a passionate speaker and author of the book Unbreakable. Carolyn shares her inspiring journey from battling bullying, depression, and a life-threatening car accident to becoming a beacon of hope and resilience. Discover how she turned her struggles into a mission to prevent suicide and promote mental health, especially among young people.
Carolyn discusses the motivation behind writing her book and how she transitioned into public speaking, founding her brand "Unbreakable by Carol." She talks about her innovative approach to mental health advocacy, including her podcast "Coping with Care" and her anti-bullying TikTok series "Do Something About It."
Join us as Carolyn opens up about her personal experiences, shares valuable insights on building self-worth, and emphasizes the importance of authentic connections and seeking help when needed. This episode is a powerful reminder that no matter the challenges, we all have the strength to be unbreakable.
www.carolynsophia.com

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> Curtis Jackson>Welcome, to the Living the Dream podcast with curveball. if you believe you can achieve Chee Chee, welcome to the Living the Dream with Curveball podcast, a show where I interview guests that teach, motivate, and inspire. Today I am joined by speaker and author Carolyn Sophia scarred.

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> Curtis Jackson>Carolyn published her book, unbreakable in 2021, and she focuses on preventing suicide and mental health. Her, book focuses on her journey, and she likes to speak to kids, letting them know that they, too, are unbreakable.

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> Curtis Jackson>So we're going to be talking to Carolyn about everything that she's up to, her journey, and why she started the journey. So, Carolyn, thank you so much for joining me today.

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> Carolyn Sophia>Yeah, thank you so much for having me.

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> Curtis Jackson>Why don't you start off by telling everybody a little bit about yourself?

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> Carolyn Sophia>Yes. So, I am 27 now. I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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> Carolyn Sophia>I struggled from a very young age with bullying and, self worth issues. I really struggled with just kind of my whole just self worth, especially after I got a death threat in third grade. And as I got older, it only kind of continued into high school. And high school was really hard for me, and I dealt with a lot of depression and anxiety. Then I found out I had a learning disability called nonverbal, which you're highly verbal, but you struggle with, like, conceptual skills. science. I was really bad at math. Not too good at either, which made sense, but because of that. And then when I went to college, I thought I was gonna be the best four years of my life. well, in between that, I should say I did go to boarding school, after I found out my learning disability. And that was hard to be away from home. But then I went to college, and I really struggled fitting in and just finding really any place of worth. And, one fall night, I almost did almost take. Try to take my life.

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> Carolyn Sophia>But my best friend in the entire world called me at the right moment, and she literally saved my life. And then fast forward to 2020. March 15, I get in a life threatening car accident. I was really lucky to be alive. I'm a Christian, and I truly thought it was like a blessing from God, like a second chance at life. And whenever, that happened, it was a really, you know, it was a horrible accident. I grabbed my seatbelt seconds before it was a hit and run. Wasn't good. But after the accident, I was really thinking about how lucky I was to be alive.

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> Carolyn Sophia>And I also realized that I was no longer silently struggling. I wanted to talk about it. I was doing really well. I had this whole new appreciation for life.

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> Curtis Jackson>Okay, so what made you wanted to write about it? What made you want to become an author?

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> Carolyn Sophia>Yeah, so, you know, after, I was just, recovering on the couch, really, and I thought, for a moment, you know, what if I wrote a book? I've almost faced death twice. Once by choice and once just praying that I'd make it out of there alive. And once I realized that that wasn't a coincidence, I was like, wait a second. Should I write a book? And I actually did ask, my one friend. Cause she wrote a book before, and she always said, you should write a book. And I was like, no, never. And then after the car accident, I was like, do you think this is crazy? And she was like, no, go for it. So I ended up writing it, and it was approved to be published.

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> Carolyn Sophia>And that was published in 2021. Unbreakable.

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> Curtis Jackson>Okay, well, you also a public speaker, so tell the listeners a little bit about that.

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> Carolyn Sophia>Yes, I do. I love that as well. So, after becoming an author, I realized that I wanted to do more with kind of using my voice. So becoming a public speaker. I recently started my own. I used to work for an amazing organization, but I realized I could make more of an impact on my own. So I started my own brand, unbreakable by Carol. And that's kind of how speaking kind of came to be, because the reason it's called unbreakable by Carol is because I didn't have friends for so long. And, like, now that's a. All my best friends call me. So it's kind of, like, special to me. And I started to figure out a speech and, something that would really, you know, hit, hit home. and so I started talking about the building blocks of you, which is basically, everyone has their building blocks when you're growing up, you know? And mine used to be full of anxiety, depression. It breaks my heart to say self harm and just negativity.

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> Carolyn Sophia>And I was able to change my building blocks to positivity, resilience, like overcoming, and stuff like that. And so I kind of now try to give a speech where it shows that no matter what you've been through, no matter where you are in your life, you can look at where you are and wonder, am I happy where I am? And if I'm nothing, what can I do to change it? So, really kind of given self reflection so that other people can better their own lives, too, and better their own mental health.

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> Curtis Jackson>Okay, well, tell us, who are some of your influences when it comes to writing?

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> Carolyn Sophia>I think one of my biggest influences from writing is experiences I go through. I think that's even how the book kind of started because I started by writing just a bunch of different stories and kind of led into the book.

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> Carolyn Sophia>It, depends. You know, you have to be inspired to write.

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> Carolyn Sophia>And I think the biggest thing that inspires me is knowing that I'm making a difference and knowing that I'm helping even one person, saving one life.

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> Carolyn Sophia>You know, that in itself inspires me to just keep going and to, you know, no matter what, like, don't stop, keep going, keep going and keep helping as many people as possible. Because, you know, if I not going to use my voice, who will?

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> Carolyn Sophia>So I really kind of try to almost like, in a way, it's like paying it forward because I used to be the one struggling in silence, and now I just don't want other people to be doing the same thing.

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> Curtis Jackson>Do you have any influences when it comes to your speaking?

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> Carolyn Sophia>With the speaking, I think speaking is very, you know, it's a very personal thing. You know, you try to make it as authentic and relatable to your audience as possible.

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> Carolyn Sophia>And, you know, really with that, I just.

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> Carolyn Sophia>I try to influence by, like, seeing how people are acting. Like, when I see that, like, people are bullying. I'm a very big anti bullying advocate, and I want to incorporate that in my speech because then that inspires me to tell a story of kids who didn't get a chance to tell their story because they got bullied so much to the point of them taking their life and really kind of, that's, I would say that kind of inspires both writing and speaking.

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> Curtis Jackson>Well, tell the listeners where we can get your book and what they can expect when they read your book.

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> Carolyn Sophia>Yes. so you can actually get my book on either through my website, which is just Carolyn sophia.com. it's Carolyn.

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> Carolyn Sophia>Carolyn dot Sophia. S o p h I a.

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> Carolyn Sophia>Uh.com. or you can go to Amazon and you can type in, instead of unbreakable, type in Carolyn Sophia. You might get wine glasses.

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> Carolyn Sophia>people have gotten, like, weird things. Make, sure that you're just typing in Carol and Sophia.

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> Carolyn Sophia>So that's kind of the two places right now where I can get. You can get my book, but I definitely would love to continue being able to get at other places, too.

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> Curtis Jackson>Okay, tell us about any upcoming projects that you're working on that the listeners need to be aware of.

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> Carolyn Sophia>Yes. Oh, wait, I forgot to answer your question. So basically, the book itself, what you'll get out of reading it is, you might just get a new perspective of the things that the people around you, and you might think people are doing really well, but you might just have a whole new perspective and just understand that you might need to check in with your family and friends more than maybe you would have before. And also, it's really just about overcoming and becoming the most authentic version of you and accepting yourself for who you are, because so many of us don't live our lives fully as authentically as we should. And that was me for so long.

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> Carolyn Sophia>There's just a lot of stories in there. There's a lot of statistics in there, mind blowing statistics, let me tell you, but I really just hope that you enjoy it.

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> Curtis Jackson>Okay, well, tell us about any upcoming projects that you're working on that listeners need to be aware of.

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> Carolyn Sophia>Well, I can't say everything, but I definitely am doing more of my podcast, which is coping with care, so I'm getting back into that. you know, just being on other podcasts has had inspired me to kind of, you know, get my own together.

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> Carolyn Sophia>And, another thing I'm really, you know, working on, too, is just being able to get as many, opportunities as I can for speaking engagements because, it's a lot of work. but it's so worth it. And, so I'm just going to continue with that and continue just being a mental health advocate. you know, a lot of things are kind of in, in the works, but that's the main thing right now.

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> Curtis Jackson>Well, tell us about that podcast. What can. What can we expect when we listen to it?

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> Carolyn Sophia>So, coping with care is actually because, again, going back to a nickname, my friends also call me care. And again, it translates back to, like, I didn't really fit in in high school. I was like, kind of a loser and. And didn't really have friends. So, like, that, having that nickname now was like something special. So I called it coping with care, because we all need to cope in our lives with care, self care, you know, and I really am trying to help it help other people who maybe are really struggling with their self worth, or maybe they're really struggling with anxiety or depression, or maybe they're just struggling with social media and the way that it's, you know, portrayed now. You know, I only have a couple episodes out right now, but I, love it. And I think that if I can continue doing it, continue inspiring and helping other people use their voice, then it makes it all worth it.

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> Curtis Jackson>Okay, so you gave out your website Carolyn sophia.com close us out with some final thoughts. Maybe if that was something I forgot to talk about that you would like to touch on. Any final thoughts you have for the listeners?

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> Carolyn Sophia>Oh, I also should say, too, I am trying to do social media more now, and, I started this TikTok series called do something about it. I recommend checking it out. It is an anti bullying series I am doing as I am very passionate about helping others not go through what I went through.

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> Carolyn Sophia>So, if you do go to TikTok, it's just Carolyn C a righe Olyn and then Skowrin. S k o w r o n. So that's definitely something else I'm really trying to do. And so if anyone knows any anti bullying boards that I could get on, I would love to be a part of it.

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> Curtis Jackson>Absolutely. So all you TikTokers out there, be sure to check that out. You have any final thoughts for the listeners?

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> Carolyn Sophia>Really, the biggest thing I would say is the right people will find you. Don't try to be someone you're not. Don't try to fit in, because quite frankly, the most authentic friendships you will have are those vulnerable friendships. And that is better to find and let yourself kind of find that and not worry about surface level friendships.

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> Carolyn Sophia>Another thing I would also just say too is, like, if you are struggling, if you are struggling with any of the things that I've talked about, I really, really, really encourage you to go see a therapist or talk to someone, your mom, your dad, your sister, your brother, like, just someone who you can talk to. Because none of us are alone and none of us ever deserve to feel alone. And I just really hope that other people can know that they are worth it. They are enough and they are unbreakable.

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> Curtis Jackson>All right, ladies and gentlemen, Miss Unbreakable herself, Carolyn.

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> Curtis Jackson>Be sure to check out her website at carolyn sophia.com. check out our TikTok series follow rate review share this episode to as many people as possible. Check out our podcast. Check out our book. If you have any guest or suggestion topics, Curtis Jackson, 1978 at att.net is the place to send them. Jump on your favorite podcast app.

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> Curtis Jackson>Give us a follow. Leave us a review. Thank you for listening and supporting the show. Karen thank you for all that you do. Carol Ann, I should say thank you for all that you do. And thank you for joining me.

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> Carolyn Sophia>Thank you so much for having me.

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> Curtis Jackson>For more information on the living the Dream podcast, visit www.djcurvefball.com.

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> Curtis Jackson>until next time, stay focused on living the dream dream.