In this episode of The Shadows We Cast, I sit down with Tychon Carter for a conversation about identity, self-trust, and what it really means to come back to yourself.

Tychon shares his experience of growing up feeling misunderstood — navigating early messages around masculinity, emotional expression, and what it meant to be “right” or “wrong.”

We talk about the identity shift that comes in early adulthood, especially when something that once defined you suddenly falls away — and the quiet, often confusing experience of feeling misaligned, even when everything looks “good” on the outside.

Tychon reflects on how his time on Big Brother Canada became an unexpected turning point — not because of the game itself, but because of what happens when the noise disappears and you’re left with your own instincts.

Throughout this conversation, we explore vulnerability, emotional literacy, and the process of rebuilding self-trust — including the powerful work of forgiving the version of yourself who had to survive.

We also talk about the small, practical ways we can begin to reconnect with ourselves — from noticing what we feel, to creating routines that support both our mental and physical well-being.

This is a conversation about embodiment — about learning to listen, to trust, and to return to who we are beneath everything we’ve been taught to be.

ABOUT TYCHON CARTER

Tychon Newman-Carter is a Canadian speaker, mental health advocate, and community builder, widely known as the first Black winner of Big Brother Canada and a contestant on The Amazing Race Canada.

Beyond television, Tychon has built a platform centered around emotional awareness, personal growth, and self-trust. Through his work, he shares openly about his own experiences navigating identity, masculinity, and mental health — using storytelling, humor, and lived experience to make these conversations more accessible.

His work also explores intergenerational trauma and anti-Black racism within African-Canadian communities, while emphasizing the importance of mindfulness, meaningful relationships, and purposeful routines as foundations for resilience and well-being.

Connect with Tychon

• Website: https://www.tychoncarter.com/
  
  
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/tychonxcarter
  
  
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tychoncarter
  
  
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tychonxcarter

Host/Producer/Writer/Director: Jenn St John

Editor: Andrew Schiller
Website: www.jennstjohn.ca
Follow along:
Instagram: @jenn_stjohn
LinkedIn: Jenn St John

If this episode spoke to you, share it with someone who might need to hear it too.

Subscribe, leave a review, or just send a little love—your support helps these conversations reach the people who need them most.

Amanda Patrick joins me for a conversation about inheritance—what we’re given, what we absorb, and what we eventually have to decide to do with it.

In this episode, Inheritance, Amanda shares the story of her childhood—marked by poverty, neglect, and profound loss—and the long, complex path of what it means to carry that forward into adulthood.

At just 13 years old, Amanda experienced a tragic event that would shape the course of her life. What followed were years of survival—leaving home at 15, navigating instability, masking pain, and building a life from the ground up without support. But as Amanda shares, survival is only one part of the story.

This conversation explores what we inherit—not just from our families, but from the environments we grow up in. The patterns we learn. The coping mechanisms that once kept us safe. And the difficult, often painful work of deciding what we keep… and what we lay down.

We talk about:

• Growing up in neglect and the loneliness that lingers long after
• Trauma, coping, and the masks we learn to wear
• Addiction, sobriety, and the turning point into motherhood
• The power of long-term therapy and self-awareness
• Estrangement, boundaries, and the grief that comes with choosing distance
• And how healing can evolve into service

Today, Amanda is the co-founder of LADR Consulting, a speaker, and the founder of Gift-a-Family—an initiative that has raised over $200,000 to support children who might otherwise be overlooked during the holidays.

Her story is not linear. It’s not simple. But it is deeply human.

And at its core, it’s about this:

We don’t get to choose what we inherit.
But we do get to choose what we do with it.

GUEST INFORMATION

Amanda Patrick is a business strategist and co-founder of LADR Virtual Assistants, where she helps entrepreneurs streamline operations and build scalable systems. She is also a speaker and philanthropist, and the founder of Gift-a-Family, a community initiative that has raised over $200,000 to support hundreds of children. Through her “Drop the Mask” presentations, Amanda works with youth to build confidence, resilience, and self-trust. She’s also a proud mom and pickleball enthusiast.

Connect with Amanda:
Instagram: @amandalelepatrick
Instagram: @ladrcoaching
Instagram: @gift_a_family
Website: https://www.ladrconsulting.com/

CONTENT NOTE

This episode includes discussions of childhood trauma, neglect, addiction, and suicidal ideation. Please take care while listening and choose a time and space that feels supportive.

SUPPORT RESOURCES

If this episode brought something up for you, you don’t have to sit with it alone.

Canada: Call or text 988
Simcoe County Crisis Line: 1-888-893-8333
U.S.: Call or text 988
Australia: Lifeline 13 11 14

Host/Producer/Writer/Director: Jenn St John

Editor: Andrew Schiller
Website: www.jennstjohn.ca
Follow along:
Instagram: @jenn_stjohn
LinkedIn: Jenn St John

If this episode spoke to you, share it with someone who might need to hear it too.

Subscribe, leave a review, or just send a little love—your support helps these conversations reach the people who need them most.

In this episode of The Shadows We Cast, I sit down with Christina Orfanakos, MSW, RSW—Registered Social Worker and founder of Grace North Therapy—for a conversation about attachment, survival patterns, and what it really means to begin feeling safe again.

Some patterns don’t start with us.
They start in the environments we learned to survive in.

We talk about the ways early experiences—especially those shaped by silence, unpredictability, or emotional disconnection—can shape how we move through the world as adults.
How hyper-independence, people-pleasing, over-functioning, and even success can all be rooted in adaptations we learned long before we had language for them.

And how those same patterns that once protected us…
can quietly keep us stuck.

Christina brings both professional insight and deep compassion to this conversation, grounded in her work with women and mothers navigating overwhelm, burnout, and disconnection. Her approach is rooted in attachment theory and the belief that meaningful change happens when we feel seen, understood, and supported.

We also explore:

• how attachment patterns are formed—and how they show up in adulthood
• the difference between empathy and caretaking
• why awareness is the first step, but not the only one
• how to begin reconnecting with your body and nervous system
• and what it looks like to gently shift patterns that no longer serve you

This is a conversation about understanding—not fixing.
About compassion—for the parts of you that learned to survive.
And about the possibility of something different.

About Christina:
Christina Orfanakos is a Registered Social Worker and the founder of Grace North Therapy. She works with women and mothers navigating overwhelm, burnout, and disconnection, with a focus on attachment, emotional regulation, and reconnecting to self.

Connect with Christina:
Instagram: @gracenorththerapy
Website: gracenorththerapy.com
LinkedIn: Christina Orfanakos, MSW, RSW

Host/Producer/Writer/Director: Jenn St John

Editor: Andrew Schiller
Website: www.jennstjohn.ca
Follow along:
Instagram: @jenn_stjohn
LinkedIn: Jenn St John

If this episode spoke to you, share it with someone who might need to hear it too.

Subscribe, leave a review, or just send a little love—your support helps these conversations reach the people who need them most.