"Everything starts with me… I didn't deserve what I got as a child, but it's now on me to figure out how to get out of that." In this episode, Nick speaks with speaks Christina Russell, founder of the RusMix brand, about her journey through personal and religious trauma, the importance of self-awareness, and the healing process. Christina shares her experiences with a past relationship that led to significant emotional turmoil and how it intertwined with her upbringing and faith. What to listen for: We don’t have to face healing from trauma alone Healing is a process that requires self-awareness and action Negative thoughts can be protective yet still need to be managed Community and connection play a vital role in the healing journey It's essential to have grace and kindness towards oneself during tough times The journey of self-discovery can be exhausting but is ultimately rewarding "I laid on the ground for days… but when I was open to receive it, the right help came at the right time." Real healing often begins the moment we drop resistance and allow ourselves to be supported Hitting bottom isn’t the end, It's often the beginning of something powerful Sometimes the help we need doesn’t arrive until we’re ready to actually receive it There are dark moments that feel endless, but they can lead to breakthrough if we stay open The right support doesn’t always require a fight; when you’re ready, it often meets you halfway "Name your negative thoughts. Tell them, 'You’re not needed right now.'" Naming the thought/feeling gives you power over it instead of letting it control you You can give your inner critic a name, it helps separate it from your true self Acknowledge your thoughts and set boundaries Most negative thoughts are just your brain trying to keep you safe You get to decide which thoughts get airtime and which ones get dismissed About Christina Russell Christina is a mindset and self-worth coach, founder of RusMix, and host of the podcast Breaking Curses with Excellence. She helps people break generational cycles, stop self-sabotaging, and step into their power through healing-centered coaching and faith-based mindset work. Her mission is to help people reclaim their worth and grow into the healthiest, most confident version of themselves—inside and out. https://TheRusmix.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/christina-russell-strong-21502621a https://www.instagram.com/rusmixcoaching https://www.patreon.com/RusMixExcellence Resources: Interested in starting your own podcast or need help with one you already have? Send Nick an email or schedule a time to discuss your podcast today! https://themindsetandselfmasteryshow.com/podcasting-services/ Thank you for listening! Please subscribe on iTunes and give us a 5-Star review! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mindset-and-self-mastery-show/id1604262089 Listen to other episodes here: https://themindsetandselfmasteryshow.com/ Watch Clips and highlights: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk1tCM7KTe3hrq_-UAa6GHA Guest Inquiries right here: podcasts@themindsetandselfmasteryshow.com Your Friends at “The Mindset & Self-Mastery Show” Click Here To View The Episode Transcript Nick McGowan (00:00.11)All right, three, two, hello and welcome to the Mindset and Self Mastery Show. I'm your host, Nick McGowan. Today on the show we have Christina Russell. Christina, how you doing today? Christina Russell (00:11.423)I'm doing amazing, how about you? Nick McGowan (00:13.399)Good, good, I'm excited to have a conversation. I you've talked to my partner and you guys have become friends at this point. And I think you would sign up for the podcast, connect it with her. And you guys have connected a number of times since then and now you're on the show. So I'm excited with this conversation. I think it's gonna be great. Why don't you kick us off? Tell us what you do for a living and what's one thing most people don't know about you that's maybe a little odd or bizarre. Christina Russell (00:16.561)Yes, yes, absolutely. Christina Russell (00:26.817)Yes. Christina Russell (00:38.859)So, Christina, the founder of the Rust Mix brand, focused on empowering, healing, growth, motivation, anything positive. A little sass and fun in there as well. But I have a variety of things, right? So I'm multi-passionate when it comes to my brand. I have a podcast as well, books, et cetera, just to encourage people on their journey, either to start or continue going. So something odd or bizarre about me, I once fell for… Nick McGowan (01:08.558)Yeah. Christina Russell (01:18.741)A very good scam, but a Nigerian scam. And I was engaged to be married. Nick McGowan (01:27.725)to that prince that emailed you or to somebody else? Christina Russell (01:28.545)It wasn't a prince he didn't come off as a prince, but he definitely had his game up his sleeve Yeah, yeah, so that that that ended not so great obviously With him mirroring somebody there, right? Well, okay so it ended with finding out that he obviously had someone there and They were got married five months after we were supposed Nick McGowan (01:41.677)We can't just leave it at that. Christina Russell (01:56.831)Yeah, five months after we were supposed to get married. I found out about everything that was happening two months before our wedding date. Dresses were already paid for. I already had mine. My bridesmaid had theirs. My guys, I made it simple for them, you know, because he was supposed to come here. I had already been there multiple times, brought my mom, right, stayed with his mom. But yeah, so. I found out through a friend who was from there as well, that something doesn't seem right. Because I was telling him, he called me out of the blue, him and his wife had come visit, I tried to be very welcoming to them. This was all through church. And so he was like, this just doesn't seem right. This would be the happiest time of your lives and it's not going well. Let me talk to him. Nick McGowan (02:31.468)Hmm. Nick McGowan (02:43.948)Uh-huh. Christina Russell (02:54.047)And so he literally had the screenshots of him saying horrible things about me, the picture of the one that he married, like just all of it. So that was my odd and bizarre thing. Nick McGowan (03:05.727)Wow. Ahem. Well, that certainly answers that question then. And that sucks. I think there are different scams that people can fall for. I make the joke of like, what was the prince's name? Because that's kind of the old version of like, I'm this, yeah, I'm this prince. I have all this money. And for some dumb reason, I think you should get like billions of dollars. Send me some money and then I'll send you even more. Christina Russell (03:15.073)I'm out. there. Christina Russell (03:25.459)Usually it is a print, right? Christina Russell (03:33.344)So it would. It wasn't even he didn't he didn't present like that. He just presented like a regular guy but And we were part of the same religion, right? Which which is supposed to present Trust and loyalty and you know a confidence that you can have versus anybody else, right? So that's what kind of drew me in and It actually ties to some of my own trauma as to why I even fell for it in the first place. Nick McGowan (04:07.627)Wow. My brain is actively trying to figure out which direction do we go with this because not only that trauma that's there, but how did that tie into the religious system that you're a part of? Because once you're bought into something like that, there's an assumed trust. Christina Russell (04:13.099)Okay. Christina Russell (04:24.757)Yes. Yes. Nick McGowan (04:25.772)But there's also biases that people have. Like I was part of churches for, I don't know, a bit over a decade and played the lead guitar in bands for a decade at churches. And there were still times where like, I would see what people would say and then I would see what they would do. And then I would hear about the things that maybe they did with somebody else's wife or whatever else. And it's like… Christina Russell (04:42.239)Yes. Nick McGowan (04:48.075)We're all talking a good game, we're all just fucking humans. instead of talking the game, why not just be real about this stuff instead of just… But there are things that go into that. So even tying in, like your trauma will compact and compound because then you go, all right, well this squished it down, but then this added to it made it even larger. And then the trust or whatever it is starts to just really deteriorate to the point where you can say, I don't want to do any of it. So… Christina Russell (04:48.256)Yes. Christina Russell (04:55.381)Yes. Christina Russell (05:01.025)There it is. Christina Russell (05:09.568)Yes. Nick McGowan (05:16.852)I'm sure there was a big ball of all of those things. Where do you want to start with that to be able to kind of unravel those pieces? And can you name what those pieces were that you were like, I can see how these all tied up. Christina Russell (05:27.841)So we can start with why I was drawn to him, right? As a child, my father was very charismatic. He drew a lot of attention. He was amazing at getting and appealing to people, right? But he was a monster at home. And his sole purpose at times was to tear down. So tear down my mom, tear down me. So… I heard a lot of negative things about myself as a child, right? And, you know, after me and my mom finally got away from him, it wasn't like suddenly this onset of outpouring of loving words and affirmations and building up happened, right? Because my family likes to roast and they like to joke and they like to tease and they like to tell you about yourself, right? So there was nothing to build up. And to be honest with you, the reason why I look back and I said,