No One Is Normal is a 2026 Signal Awards Finalist for Best Writing podcast about recovery, identity, resilience, and the moments that change us. Hosted by Brad H. Hill, author of No One Is Normal: Breaking Free from Normal, the show features honest solo episodes and real conversations about adversity, loss, addiction, trauma, grief, rebuilding, and starting over. No polished success stories—just honest conversations about what happened and what came next. You weren’t meant to be normal. You were meant to be you.
Some of the most important lessons in life come from doing things nobody else notices.
For me, one of those places was a farm.
In this episode of Under the Surface, I look back at what farm life taught me about responsibility, consistency, mistakes, and showing up when the work still needs to be done. Animals need to be fed. Water needs to be checked. Gates need to be secured. The work does not care whether you're tired, distracted, frustrated, or simply not in the mood.
There was something valuable in that honesty.
I learned that rushing usually created more work later. Mistakes did not have to become proof that I was incapable. They could teach me something, as long as I was willing to correct them. And the things that eventually made me more dependable were rarely dramatic. They were built through repetition, attention, and returning the next day.
The farm also taught me something I would carry into work, relationships, sobriety, and the rest of my adult life: what we repeatedly do matters far more than what we intended to do.
You don't have to grow up on a farm to understand that lesson. We all have places in our lives that show us the truth about how we're showing up.
Sometimes growth happens there, quietly, while nobody is watching.
🔗 More from me:
🎙️ Podcast & episodes: https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast (https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast)
📖 Book: https://a.co/d/06CoAtVF (https://a.co/d/06CoAtVF)
🎧 Audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ (https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ)
🛍️ Merch: https://www.bradhhill.com/merch (https://www.bradhhill.com/merch)
19 Oct 2026
S2E21 - Heather Stewart - Stop Pretending You’re Fine
"I'm fine."
We say it so automatically that sometimes we don't even stop to ask ourselves whether it's true.
In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Heather Stewart to talk about what happens when the life that looks right from the outside no longer feels right on the inside.
Heather spent 15 years as a CPA and climbed the corporate ladder into senior leadership. She had the career, the money, the house, and many of the things we're told we're supposed to want. Eventually, she realized the next promotion wasn't going to give her more of the life she wanted. It was going to require her to give even more of her life away.
But her story goes much deeper than a career change.
Heather opens up about spending 12 years in a narcissistic relationship that slowly changed the way she saw herself. She talks about isolation, control, gaslighting, losing confidence in her own judgment, and the moment someone else's simple comment finally made her recognize what had been happening.
Leaving meant learning to trust herself again.
We also talk about why people stay in careers, relationships, and lives that no longer fit simply because change feels more frightening than what they already know. Heather shares what she learned about boundaries, asking for help, happiness, and the enormous cost of constantly trying to hold everything together.
Then, in 2021, Heather suffered two strokes.
Lying alone in an emergency room during COVID forced her to confront another reality. She had spent years rebuilding a life that actually supported her, and when everything suddenly stopped, that life was still there. Her relationships, community, finances, and the choices she had made gave her room to recover. That experience changed the direction of the work she wanted to do with others.
This conversation isn't about blowing up your life because you're having a bad day.
It's about being willing to ask whether the life you're protecting is actually the life you want.
Because sometimes "I'm fine" is true.
And sometimes we've just gotten really good at saying it.
🌐 Connect with Heather Stewart:
Website: https://heatherstewart.coach/ (https://heatherstewart.coach/)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heatherstewartcoaches (https://www.facebook.com/heatherstewartcoaches)
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heatherstewartcoaching/ (https://www.instagram.com/heatherstewartcoaching/)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heatherstewartcoaching/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/heatherstewartcoaching/)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HeatherStewartCoaching (https://www.youtube.com/@HeatherStewartCoaching)
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@heatherstewartcoaching (https://www.tiktok.com/@heatherstewartcoaching)
🔗 More from me:
🎙️ Podcast & episodes: https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast (https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast)
📖 Book: https://a.co/d/06CoAtVF (https://a.co/d/06CoAtVF)
🎧 Audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ (https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ)
🛍️ Merch: https://www.bradhhill.com/merch (https://www.bradhhill.com/merch)
12 Oct 2026
S2E20 - The Power of No
There is a difference between being kind and constantly giving pieces of yourself away.
For a lot of us, saying yes became automatic. We took on more at work, more at home, more for friends, and more for everyone else until we couldn't remember what we actually wanted anymore. Somewhere along the way, being dependable quietly turned into feeling responsible for everything.
In this episode of Under the Surface, I talk about why saying no became one of the hardest and most important lessons I have ever learned. We explore where that fear comes from, why so many of us struggle to set boundaries, and how constantly trying to keep everyone else happy can slowly wear us down.
This isn't about becoming selfish or pushing people away. It's about recognizing that every yes costs something. Sometimes protecting your peace, your time, and your health starts with one simple word.
Because the people who care about you should never require you to disappear.
🔗 More from me:
🎙️ Podcast & episodes: https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast (https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast)
📖 Book: https://a.co/d/06CoAtVF (https://a.co/d/06CoAtVF)
🎧 Audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ (https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ)
🛍️ Merch: https://www.bradhhill.com/merch (https://www.bradhhill.com/merch)
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