PLEASE START WITH EPISODE ONE FIRST. THIS IS A SERIAL PODCAST.

Shay talks about the public persona she developed to hide her identity and meet the expectations of others — ‘Her.’ She explains her journey through a story about her sorority’s signature scholarship event and the fallout from one last performance. Shay takes us into her mind and dealing with mental anxiety which provokes an uneasiness. She takes the first step toward a glimpse of light -- change is coming.

Cast: Shay Potter

Key Themes:

• People often seek the happiness of others at their own expense.
• Ignoring the truth doesn’t make it go away.
• Maintaining a constant performance is exhausting.
• We strive to live by impossible standards.
• Denying your true self will always lead to failure.

Key Quotes:

2:55 — “We both played our role equally well. Even if in reality I would one day grow to realize it was all a performance. We both only saw what we wanted to see. I just rolled along in hopes that my mother’s happiness would one day give way to my own.”

18:17 — “It was a feeble attempt to keep everything under wraps and hidden. To be perfect. My performance as ‘Her’ was exhausting.”

18:41 — “My worst fear? Everyone that I loved, my friends, my world, would leave me once they knew. I was just trying to hold it together. Be this thing, you know, this person, this woman. But it was too foreign.”

19:29 — “I perform everything about my life. ‘She’ was a performer. ‘She’ was my performance. I was motivated to make everyone happy. Everyone, but for me.”

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast platform. 

Brought to you by Be Better Media, LLC. Visit our website.

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Crack This ShXt Open is narrated and produced by Shay Potter. Editing on this episode from Chelsea Sutton and Shay Potter. Sound design and mix by Nathan Maghan and Zach Hahn. 

Music in this episode is Yesterday by Jason Donnelly, Seoul by Jack Bennett, Childhood Memories Ambiance. Our theme song is by Blue Dot Session.

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