Overcomers Approach
“The Overcomers Approach” podcast showcases stories of resilience, where individuals transcend challenges to achieve personal and professional success. With a focus on spiritual, mental, emotional, physical, and financial growth, the podcast inspires listeners to embrace their potential and thrive in all areas of life. Join us to learn how overcoming adversity can lead to evolution, healing, and lasting success.
Overcomers Approach
Rebuilding Life After Brain Injury And Breast Cancer
What if rebuilding your life starts with a single, present moment? I have great conversation with author Shannon Michelle to trace an extraordinary path from a catastrophic motorcycle accident and months in a coma to living with severe short‑term memory loss and then confronting a breast cancer diagnosis. Shannon’s story isn’t framed by grand gestures; it’s anchored in tiny, repeatable practices that restore dignity: taking bullet‑point notes to remember conversations, choosing a quiet cup of tea, walking the dog, and meeting each day without demanding it look like the last.
We talk honestly about identity after trauma, when the “old you” is out of reach and a new version is still forming. Shannon shares how family roles flipped as her 19‑year‑old daughter stepped into caregiver mode, why some friends drew closer while others drifted away, and how she learned to accept help without equating it with failure. The conversation dives into practical mindset tools, presence over prediction, gratitude without denial, and the discipline of choosing small wins on hard days—that listeners can apply to brain injury recovery, stroke rehabilitation, cancer treatment, or any season of upheaval.
Shannon also opens up about early detection, tough treatment choices, and letting go of vanity to protect her health. That honesty leads to a bigger truth: trauma can become a teacher. Instead of chasing invincibility, she models adaptability, treating setbacks as lessons that expand capacity for joy, service, and purpose. We wrap by exploring her book, Step Into Your Miracle, and her plans for a supportive program that helps people move from shock to steady growth with simple, actionable tools.
More about Michelle and how to get connected with her, check out her weblink at https://stepintoyourmiracle.com/
If this conversation moved you, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs hope today, and leave a quick review to help others find these stories of resilience and renewal.
Thank you for listening!
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Good day, everyone. This is Nicole Ellis McGregor, the founder of the Overcomers Approach Podcast. This is a podcast where I meet and talk with different people with different experiences, different journeys, different challenges and victories. But the overarching theme is that we have the ability to overcome almost anything that comes into our life. And I'm so happy to have Shannon Michelle here. She is the author of Step Into Your Miracle. And she went from broken to brilliant. She's turned trauma into triumph, from a devastating motorcycle accident and memory loss to a breast cancer diagnosis and how she found purpose, balance, and joy. Through practical tools and personal insights, Shannon shows you how to take small steps towards reclaiming your life after trauma, focusing on mindset, gratitude, and growth. Shannon, welcome to the podcast today. I am so happy to have you. And your story is just so empowering. Tell me wherever you want to start, because I think I'm a big story. Wherever you want to start, just go for it. Because I think everything is just so important, whatever that is, whatever you whatever you want to pull from it. Thank you.
SPEAKER_00:I think I think for me right now, the the things that I have to um remind myself on a daily basis is um staying present because with the brain trauma that I was in a very severe motorcycle accident, as you mentioned, and I was in a coma for a few months. And when I reawakened, my brain was completely deleted, like literally, like didn't know what a cell phone was. And I used to run my own company. Let's give you a yin and yang of what the severity of what um the brain trauma was. And um, the thing that I have to keep reminding myself that happens every day is that my short-term memory is still very limited. So I remember more of my life and I keep relearning and rebuilding my life, but there are parts of what I do that I don't remember. Like, you know, I I'll give you another example. I you and I will have this wonderful conversation. I'm sure I can tell already. And I will only remember, you know, hopefully 25-30% of it, and only with making bullet point notes for myself. And with images, I'm really good. Um, but ultimately I I can't retain much with my brain trauma. And so that's something that I have to tell myself on a daily basis, it's okay not to remember. Oh, that's good. That's stay present, enjoy each moment, do the best you can. And that's that's who I am today. It's a new me.
SPEAKER_03:And that's a good thing. And and and the fact that you're here and that you're here and being present. Yes, so so important. And I something about your story really, I connect to my husband had a stroke, and so his brain was impacted. That's a traumatic brain injury. And so we're currently navigating and walking through that journey uh with him. And I love the fact that we I have a living example here for someone who's walking through it, who's overcoming, and knowing that there's a new you that's evolving out of that whole experience.
SPEAKER_00:That's important. And I think I think it's important for everybody, not just the person who's going through it, because internally it's a lot to even imagine what it feels like for your brain to just kind of shut down. Also, everybody around me with such kindness and patience, you know, my daughter, you know, my my family, my my friends, they had to learn to get to know the new me. And I'm sure that you have elements of that that you go through, that you have to be patient and stay present and be like, whoo, okay, this is a new hymn.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and I and I love that. And I know that there's beauty in those experiences, is what I'm learning. And I know that patience is a huge factor. Um huge. And as such as yourself, my husband is a very accomplished man and was prior to his experience. And so uh there's there's new parts of him that I totally, totally I like. I love these new pieces of you, you know, um, just more loving, more attentive, and just so much more appreciation for life.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, yes, yes, and that's a beautiful thing. I mean, that's a beautiful thing to also understand about our us in our human bodies, like things can be broken and and and deleted, and we can still show up in a different way and in a kind way, but not always. It's like one day is kind, one day is not easy. When I mean it goes, it kind of ups and flows as well. Um I the one thing that I that brings that that that that makes me think about when you said that is my goal in once I kind of had reawakened multiple times was to have others, right? I wanted to know, I wanted people to know what it might feel like to be in a broken, deleted brain. Because sometimes at the severity of my accident, two months coma, blah, blah, blah, it does nothing comes back as strong as it has been slowly. And for somebody who's walking that path with somebody, if they can reach out and they need guidance as to what it might have felt like to be that person, yeah. I mean, uh that's not an easy thing to imagine either, you know.
SPEAKER_03:Right. Thank you. Thank you. I so appreciate it. I want you to take me back a little bit when you came out of the accident and was in the hospital. Was there anything that came to your mind at all? Or were you just what was it?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it was it was it was scary because I I kept waking up again and again and again and not knowing where I was because I didn't remember the accident. So people would be realizing that they're talking to somebody that doesn't even know that her body, like my my body was my my new hips, like they had to do a lot of repairs, and I would wake up in the hospital and I'd be like, What? Huh? What they have to keep telling me over and over again. And I'd be like, and then I at some point I got so scared, I'm like, don't tell me again, I don't want to know. Anyway, it took a while for me to accept all of the um changes and to kind of wake up and not be so overwhelmed at loss. Um that was a big that was a big one. It took a that took a long time because you wake up and you wake up and you keep waking up to what, huh? And then you try to remember and then you try to process. And that was hard. That was really hard. But um I had I had to wake up each day for me. What worked is I had to wake up each day. Um, and a therapist told me at one point, um, Shannon, don't worry about what has happened and don't worry about what is going to happen just today, just whatever that is, that present moment. And I live off of that now is staying present and not worrying about the before the afters. And that's not an easy thing to do either, because we live we live off of that sometimes. Um, and I think that that is that can build strength, like with within you, it builds strength for you to stay present with him, I'm sure. And my daughter, like it's not always pretty. She's got she's got a mom that turned into a daughter, that turned into her daughter. Like I turned into a kindergartner, and we shifted gears for a year and a half of what where I was I was the kid and she was the mom, and she was only 19 when my accident happened, so like it was a big transition for her as well.
SPEAKER_03:Yes. Yeah, and then how important do you think it is for people to have someone? Like you have your daughter, my husband has me, and of course, family and other things like that. But how important is that to have a connection?
SPEAKER_00:I think some type of connection is what you make makes you feel a value because when your brain gets so messed up, you you look for value for self-value. And I think when you can surround yourself with people who love you, who are willing to be patient with you and take you in the new way, that gives you hope. And then that makes the next day feel better and the next day feel better. And from wherever that comes from, I mean, you know, for different people, you know, it's it's different environments. Um, I'm grateful that my daughter was here for a chunk of my recovery. And now she was in college, so she was back in college. But, you know, we we again we learn kind of how to best utilize the loved ones in our life. And I think that that that is sometimes messy too. Like how some I had friends not show up at all, really, and some that showed up major, and some stuck around and some didn't, some more, you know. Um, so you've got to accept that there's a lot of change as well.
SPEAKER_03:Yes. Uh speaking of acceptance, uh, like you're saying, accept that there is a lot of change, and I can resonate with the friends who you know are gonna show up and some that are aren't, and that could be for so many different reasons. Um, and again, it's not to take it personal, but how do you move?
SPEAKER_00:That's another highlight that sometimes I forget, but yeah, um you have to, at least for me, what I needed to understand that I was not responsible for people showing up or not showing up, what I did or what I said or who I was, people showed up because they wanted to or not. There was a big difference, and they get to they get to make those decisions. And for for me, I had to accept that it wasn't my fault. That's right. I had to understand that it had nothing to do with my accident, my brain trauma, my body broken. It actually had to do with people willing to show up for me the way I was. Yes. And I was a caregiver, I was the person that people leaned on, asked, you know, on all levels, and I did not know how to be broken. I was like, ah, that was vulnerable, was broken, that was bad. And I had to learn how beautiful it was to actually accept. I I one of the biggest gifts I have had in in my recovery as well is accepting that, you know, I don't have to do everything, I don't have to fix everything, I don't have to be everything in my life. That's right. And that was a good, that was a good lesson.
SPEAKER_03:I I love the fact that you said vulnerability can be a beautiful thing. And I I can definitely uh resonate, and I'm sure my listeners too as well, and potentially my husband, you know, because he comes from just strengthening, fixing everything and being the go-to person, all those things, and then making that shift and transition. Not easy, not easy, not easy. And the vulnerability piece, I I love the fact that you said that because sometimes I feel like being vulnerable is being authentic. You you want to just be who you authentically are at that present time. And I think that it allows us to connect with those that we're assigned to be connected to, you know. Absolutely, yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00:Those are beautiful words, and I agree. That's that's that's beautifully said, and that's so true. Um yes, um it's and it's hard, it's hard when you're excuse expression, the badass in the family, the the the goal winner, the the financial stability, like when you're a lot of things, um you sometimes don't know how it to be softer, how to be as as I call it more and more breakable. Um and and there's there is there's such beauty in being able to do that.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yes, I agree. And I know that as you go through this journey, I know that, and and you could tell me, and I'm not for sure, those up and down days. There might be days where it's just life is beautiful, the sun is shining, and there are other days where it's just it's it's a hard day. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00:And also getting comfortable with, at least again, in in my journey in my day, day-to-day living, I um I had to get comfortable with as comfortable with the bad days as the good days, because I had gone through, again, with so many broken parts and pieces, I had gone through a lot of physical pain, emotional pain. And and it, and you sometimes I would wake up and look out my my bedroom window and look at the birds and like, oh, what a great day. Make myself a cup of coffee or a cup of tea, whatever that was for me that day. And that was a good day. And then some days I did not want to do anything, and I was so depleted brain and body-wise, and I had to be kind to myself, yeah, even on the painful days. And I had to learn to be nice to some of my caregivers on those days too, because sometimes you're just so off-kelter that you just, you know, you just want to you're like, no, no, you know, so and you do, and you have to, and then I when I had those days, I would try to find small ways to stay present. I learned when I learned to walk my dog again. I mean, it's so so basic, but I loved being able to walk my dog, like, okay, so I'm gonna walk my dog today, and giving myself this freedom to do really simple things, yes, allowed the painful days to be more bearable.
SPEAKER_03:Yes. I I like that you said, you know, just to count the the the basic things like taking the dog for a walk, and that's you're out in nature, you're connecting with your pet. I mean, you're you're seeing people, sometimes they smile. I just think there's something about being out in nature that's just so healing and connecting, and it's it's it's a resource that's out there that's still really available to us.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it is, and we need to take advantage of it as much as possible. And I live in Los Angeles, so I live in the city. So it's kind of like, but walking down my street, there's beautiful trees and there's birds and there's animals and whatever you can gather from your environment, there's nature, even in the city, you know, go find it, you know.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, that's right, that's right. And and you remind us that there's beauty everywhere, no matter where the city, the country, whether it's rural, whether you're no matter where you are placed or where you're at, there's beauty in that space. And so I think sometimes people forget that. And you know, life can just turn into a rat race sometimes. Yep. And and it's the you know, sometimes our our thought process, our brain, or at least my brain's rewired to just kind of go in the past or think of the negative, especially when you've hit a trauma traumatic experience. Oh, yes. It's it's you gotta really go of it. Yes, yes. You really have to shift your mindset. Yeah. So what type of things help you shift your mindset as you went through this journey and still continue to go through it?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I do, I do continue. And then that again, that that's a great point because sometimes I try to work so hard at getting better and better and better. And that's not that's not that's not a good way to live. And I have to pause and like be remind myself, Shannon, you you have been through enough. You do not have to get to the other side of where you were. Right and I and I that's a hard thing again. It's hard to see yourself so differently and see your life differently. And I I do, and I appreciate all of it. I appreciate I appreciate my accident, I appreciate my cancer, because even when I got the cancer diagnosis, after all of the rebuild craziness, and my daughter, this was a great moment. My daughter, I called her, she was already back in college, and I called her and I said, I've got uh, you know, I got a call and I said, I have breast cancer. They, you know, going through all the the diagnosis stuff, and I started laughing. And she was like, Yeah, she's like, This isn't funny, mom. I said, I know, but if I was gonna die, I would have died. And then she said, Mom, I need you to focus on not your brain recovery and not your body recovery, but your breast cancer. And she, my daughter had to tell me to focus on my breast cancer. Yes, and there was, you know, it wasn't pretty. And I had multiple surgeries and I had to go through um radiation and they didn't know if I came came up. I mean, it was a rough road, but yeah, you know, today I sit here supposedly cancer free. I also don't believe that, you know, it's a it it it it is still um, it's still a lesson for me. And I think what I needed to learn is that no matter how broken you are, don't think not that something bad can't happen. Just just be aware that this is your life, this is who you are, and you will learn from whatever you get exposed to or experience. And that's a hard thing to do too, because you you think if you know you're broken enough or if you're learned enough or repaired enough that bad things are are gonna go away, but it's not bad things, it's actually just lessons. They're lessons to teach us how to be bigger and better people, and that is something again that we need to learn. Like no matter the chaos you're in right now, whoever is listening, know that this is just a lesson. It's not forever, it's just today, you know?
SPEAKER_03:Yes, I love that. I I heard this somewhere else that um our challenges or our traumas or our experiences come into our life, they don't have to break us and they don't have to destroy us. They're ultimately lessons for us to learn to kind of evolve and to grow into who we are, you know. And if we look at it from that perspective, I feel like you take the victim head off and you really move into a victorious position no matter what you're doing. Yeah. Yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:But that's hard, it's hard to see yourself that way sometimes. It's hard to it's hard to be um to understand that trauma can bring you joy later. Yeah, it can bring you insight, it can bring you next steps. Um, but that's important that you can see yourself that way, that these are next steps for all of us, whatever they are, even this conversation. Like I love this conversation we're having, it's really great.
SPEAKER_03:So do I? I mean, I'm so impacted by, and I want to touch on breast cancer too. I'm just so impacted by how you went through the motorcycle accident, brain injury, relearning, you know, who this new person is, who am I, and going through that and then breast cancer, you know. Right, right, and like you said, it was messy, and so um just as a question. How did you find out that you had breast cancer?
SPEAKER_00:I was in the midst of doing a lot of again, body rebuild, like they had an eye surgery and some wrist surgery because I was a righty and I couldn't use my right. And I had a more surgeries to do. And I remember asking my main doctor, can we just put this off, you know, my age? Because I'm 56, right? Um, and she said no. And I'm like, okay, and I'm glad she did because they went in, did the mammogram, did the test, and you got breast cancer. Thankfully, she pushed me to get to do the next steps with even my age, or else I don't know. I mean, I might not be sitting here. So I went in and I did all that, and and um, and then here's another perfectly honest moment. I um post having my daughter years later, I had um uh breast surgery done to make them look turky again. And so I had I had them add small implants and I was like, I don't want any more surgeries, take everything out. Um but I but I you know I I had to be faced with the vanity of how they look doesn't really matter. That's how you end up physically, how you look really it's who you are, it's not how you look. And um, that was a part of I think my my lesson, or I don't know about a lesson, but my my roadmap with my breast cancer was you know, find your way out. Whatever, whatever it takes, you're going to find your way out. And I did. Um, and I feel again, and uh I feel grateful. I feel grateful to be breathing and to be cancer free and to be my brain is you I'm using my brain. Sometimes I sometimes I miss words, so bear with me. I was just having a word I was trying to find in my brain, and as I love that too, my neurologist always said, he goes, It's all in there, Shannon. Just keep digging it out. No, no, I am in the space.
SPEAKER_03:I get a lot of practice with my husband because his stroke in impacted his speech mostly. Everything else pretty much came out okay, but it was uh speech and language, and so yeah, so sometimes I it takes a minute to find the word, and I'm just and I'm just like, hey, I got time. And he and you know, he may get a little frustrated, but he's just trying to find the word. So I'm totally used to this, so this is just more practice for me. So hey, I'm good.
SPEAKER_00:Well, hopefully, I mean, they haven't come out with the audio version of my book yet, but they the the book is out and they're working on the audio, so hopefully he can read it or you can read it to him, or he can listen to it because I think it might be a strong connection to what I say about a lot of the brain trauma part.
SPEAKER_03:Very much so. I and just so that you know I am taking it all in because it's so um enlightening for me. It's really educational. Um, and and as you know, as you walk with a loved one through a journey like that, it's giving me a whole new respect for the brain, for life, for life itself. Right? Um, yes, yeah. And just how we're not immortal, you know, we will transition at some point. And what legacy will we leave? What legacy will we leave for our children? Writing books, that's a legacy. What legacy, what role mat will you leave for other people? And so I'm beginning to just really appreciate life at a whole nother level. And so, yeah, I I'm looking forward to that. Either I'm gonna read it or or if it comes out in audio, we'll do it, or maybe by that time he can read it. He's starting to read more now, which is great.
SPEAKER_00:Um if I could write it, he could probably read it because it's it's not I mean, I could speak into my phone. I spoke the book into my phone, I didn't realize I was writing it when I was writing it. I was just trying to find myself and repair myself. And so again, I I I I'd love some feedback if he gets a piece.
SPEAKER_03:Definitely give you feedback, and I think uh where he gets most of his strength from is people with lived experiences. So people that are on the similar journey as him, that's where he really feels empowered. It really just brings his day up, it just really lightens the load. Yes, for him to see that there are people out here living similar, you're he's not alone.
SPEAKER_00:And not just in the in the in the relational way, but in the in the brain way, because I feel the same way. Sometimes I talk to people and they feel bad for me and they, you know, they have sorrow. And um, and then I talk to somebody who has been through any sort of brain trauma, and there's a connection that you can't understand. Be really, it's hard to understand, even when you're holding somebody's hand through it, it's still hard to understand what it feels like for your brain to be broken.
SPEAKER_03:That's right, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, and how not to get sad or overwhelmed by that, honestly.
SPEAKER_03:That's right. And I love the fact that you said like people feeling sorry or oh, like um, you know, there's some type of pity, and that's definitely something that he doesn't want, and I don't want, you know, I just want people to love and accept him in the present, yeah, and this new person that's evolving from it. Exactly who he is today. That's right. I love the fact that we're connecting. And I I love the fact that you touched on when you went over the breast cancer, and you said at some point you had implants, and I could I identify to that because that there was one point in my life I did want implants, and a doctor, it was more like a boyfriend thing, and just what I was going through at the time too. I just wanted to improve the you know, the address, you know, what I really didn't have to improve anything, but that's a whole you know, that's we know I understand I didn't either. And so um the doctor ultimately talked me out of it. Um, and I'm so grateful that the doctor did as I look back now because I'm like, I don't think I could have dealt with it right now. And the way my body is, you know, going through, you know, post-50, I'm like, oh, that would have just been too much going on. And you know, I just want to be comfortable, you know.
SPEAKER_00:So that's but that's building strength within you, and you've you've seen yourself and you staying present. I mean, these are all beautiful, beautiful things, and they're not easy, they're not easy, not easy, no.
SPEAKER_03:And um, I think, you know, with you know, um, you know, and not to knock anyone who has it, because I want people to know you could do whatever you want with your body. Absolutely, but I know for me, you know, and where I was and and realizing there's beauty in all beauty in uh humanity, beauty in all everybody's beautiful. And I I know that sounds corny and that's just kind of always my perspective on things. But I just like we're really the our, you know, God's creation, and he doesn't make any mistakes, and we're we're made exactly and we came out how we're yeah, how we were supposed to come out. So we don't really need to touch and tamper with much of anything because you know, and our breasts are used for you know, nurturing our children and feeding our children, and they serve a purpose, you know, and it doesn't have to be so much the physical aspect. I like the fact that there are a lot of women moving to getting their implants taken out because they're realizing they don't need them, and some of them cause health issues, you know, and so they're just realizing, you know, I'm good just as I am. Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_00:And again, that's all that all of us can do is be the perfect us. Yes, that's not the perfect them, just the perfect us.
SPEAKER_03:I love that. I love that. I know we got a few minutes, man, coming down. This has been awesome, Shannon. I really I'm getting so much from this conversation. I know my listeners are as well. Um, as you continue on in this journey, how do you continue to, you know, we all have a purpose and you're living and walking in your purpose now. How do you how does that purpose evolve for you or or what what what's come out of this? Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I have a few goals, and we're talking about those within um, I have, you know, publicist and I um I have helpers, and um I'm creating a little um program where I can help others on a on a hopefully the concept is like talking once a week or once a month and and really having a little mini Shannon Michelle Step in Your Miracle class. Yeah, people can be a part of. Um that hasn't come, it hasn't, I haven't, we haven't figured it all out yet. And it's it's it's baby steps as well, but that's the goal. Is that on my website? So please take a look at my website and look again later. Step in your miracle, because I just feel like I have so much, I have so much to give. And I I do it on a weekly basis here. I volunteer at the VA and um obviously my daughter just graduated from college. There's all kinds of ways that I give, but big picture is I want to be able to help more people, whether they whatever trauma they're going through. And it doesn't have to be brain trauma, it could be all the other traumas that all of us go through. So that's the goal. That's my goal.
SPEAKER_03:I think that is a beautiful goal, and you're still touching lives um in impactful ways, still bringing inspiration, very empowering. So if people want to reach out to you, purchase your book, find out more information, and you're manifesting, you know, what what you want. And so that's coming, that's coming. Coming to me. Oh, I can feel it.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, you're gonna you're gonna you're gonna see you're gonna see me all over.
SPEAKER_03:I love it. I love it, and I love the fact that I was able to divinely connect with you. If people want to get in touch with you, what is your what is your title of your website?
SPEAKER_00:Step into your miracle.com.
SPEAKER_03:Awesome. I love it.
SPEAKER_00:I know, right? That that was even available.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, I love that. Step into your miracle.com.
SPEAKER_00:Uh-huh. And I'm Shannon at Step Into Your Miracle and you know, reach out, send an email. I'm I'm around. I I love to help. So, you know, and now that I can do most things, like I'm still learning things. So people have to be patient with me and my new existence. But um, I'm doing better and better.
SPEAKER_03:That's right, that's right. Well, I'm so happy that we were able to connect on this journey. You are so inspiring. I just want to thank you for the time that you took with me today, and my listeners will be impacted as well. Thank you, Shannon.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you. Bye, everybody.
SPEAKER_03:Bye.