97. Owning Your Story & Finding Your Voice with Alexis Carpenter

What if the story you’ve been told about who you are… was never the truth to begin with?

In this powerful collaborative episode of Next Level You, Stefanie sits down with Alexis Carpenter — founder of Project Rebuild, creator of The Rebuild Room, author, speaker, and mentor — for a deeply honest conversation about identity, self-worth, truth-telling, and rewriting the narratives that keep people stuck. Alexis shares her journey from foster care and corporate leadership to working with at-risk and foster youth, helping them reclaim their voices and build lives they were once told were impossible. Together, Stefanie and Alexis explore how labels, diagnoses, titles, and past experiences can quietly limit our potential — and how owning your story can become the very thing that sets you free.

You’ll hear how one person’s belief can change the entire trajectory of a life, why speaking your truth is both terrifying and liberating, and how healing begins when we stop minimizing who we are. Alexis opens up about writing her book Changing the Reflection, the freedom that came from telling the truths she once hid, and how vulnerability creates safety for others to do the same. This conversation also dives into identity beyond roles, the danger of tying self-worth to productivity or titles, and why community-based healing can be more powerful than one-on-one work alone.

This episode is an invitation to see beyond labels, honor your lived experience, and remember that your past does not disqualify you — it qualifies you. Whether you’re afraid to speak up, struggling with self-worth, or searching for clarity about who you’re becoming, this conversation will remind you that your voice matters, your story is powerful, and your today does not define your tomorrow.