The Quiet As Kept Podcast With Shawnti Refuge
Join host Shawnti Refuge, Master Certified Mental Health Coach, author the best-selling book, "Quiet As Kept", and journaling enthusiast, as she introduces The Quiet as Kept Podcast. In this first episode, Shawnti shares her personal journey of overcoming severe depression and anxiety, discusses the purpose of the podcast, and sets the stage for what’s to come.
This podcast is a safe space to unpack the conversations we, especially in the African American community, were told to avoid. From mental health and generational trauma to self-love and journaling for healing, Shawnti keeps it real, relatable, and rooted in the belief that healing is possible for everyone.
Whether you’re navigating your mental health journey, looking for balance as a professional, or just ready to start thriving, this podcast is for you. Grab your journal and tune in for honest conversations, actionable tips, and guided prompts that will help you rewrite your story.
Episodes
75 episodes
S2:EP10 The Pressure to Be a Good Mother Will Break You If You Let It
Motherhood is praised publicly… and suffered through privately.In this episode, Shawnti Refuge gets real about the emotional weight of being “a good mother” and how unrealistic expectations, silent pressure, and unprocessed trauma can sl...
S2:EP9 You Say You’re Fine… But Your Body Knows You’re Not
Everybody keeps saying they’re “fine.” But anxiety is loud. Burnout is real. And functioning doesn’t mean you’re okay.In this episode, I’m breaking down what mental health actually looks like when you’re the one everybody depend...
S2:E8- EMOTIONAL SPRING CLEANING-Let It Go for Real This Time: Closure, Release, and Choosing Yourself
You’ve acknowledged it. You’ve faced it. Now it’s time to release it.In this final episode of the Emotional Spring Cleaning series, we’re talking about what it actually means to let go—for real. Not just saying “I’m don...
S2:E7- Emotional Spring Cleaning: You’re Not Confused… You’re Avoiding It: The Truth You Keep Running From
Let’s be honest… you already know.You know what hurt you. You know what didn’t sit right. You know what you should’ve walked away from.But instead of facing it… you stayed busy, distracted, and “focused on other ...
S2:E6- Emotional Spring Cleaning: It’s Not Them… It’s the Pattern: Why You Keep Attracting the Same Energy
You keep saying it’s different this time… but it keeps ending the same way.Different person. Same outcome. Same feelings. Same frustration.In this episode, we’re breaking down the emotional patterns you keep repeating in your rela...
S2:EP5- Emotional Spring Cleaning: You Keep Calling It Strength… But It’s Emotional Hoarding
You’ve been holding it together for everybody… but who’s holding space for you?In this episode, we’re unpacking what it really looks like to carry unprocessed emotions, unresolved pain, and old survival habits that no longer serve you. J...
EP4: High-Functioning but Highly Unhealed
High-Functioning but Highly UnhealedIn this episode of The Quiet As Kept Podcast, Shawnti Refuge explores the emotional reality many high-achieving women face — appearing successful on the outside while quietly carrying e...
S2:EP3 Mother Wounds, Silent Grief & Becoming the Woman You Needed
In this Women’s History Month episode of The Quiet As Kept Podcast, Shawnti Refuge explores one of the quietest and most complicated forms of grief women carry — the mother wound.What happens when the person who was suppo...
S2:EP2 Healing Isn’t Pretty: The Rage Women Were Never Allowed to Feel
Healing Isn’t Pretty: The Rage Women Were Never Allowed to FeelIn this Women’s History Month episode of The Quiet As Kept Podcast, Shawnti Refuge explores the anger women were taught to suppress and how that suppressed ra...
S2:E1 THE AUDACITY OF A HEALING WOMAN
In this Women’s History Month episode of The Quiet As Kept Podcast, Shawnti Refuge unpacks the hidden emotional cost of being the “strong woman.” If you’ve ever been praised for holding it together while quietly falling apart, this epi...
FEB26-EP4: I’m Not Reinventing Myself. I’m Returning.
Birthdays often come with pressure—to be further along, more healed, or completely reinvented. But healing doesn’t work on deadlines.In this episode of The Quiet As Kept Podcast, Shawnti Refuge reflects on birthday month energy,...
FEB26- EP3: Self-Abandonment Isn’t a Personality Trait
Self-abandonment often gets mislabeled as being “too nice,” “too accommodating,” or “just the way you are”—but it’s actually a learned survival response.In this episode of The Quiet As Kept Podcast, Shawnti Refuge explores how s...
FEB26-2Self-Trust After You’ve Been Let Down (By Others and Yourself)
Rebuilding self-trust after burnout, betrayal, or self-abandonment can feel overwhelming—especially when survival mode taught you to doubt your own instincts.In this episode of The Quiet As Kept Podcast, Shawnti Refuge explores ...
FEB26-1-Who Am I When I’m Not Performing?
Who are you when you’re not performing for survival, approval, or productivity?In this episode of The Quiet As Kept Podcast, Shawnti Refuge explores how performance becomes a survival strategy—and why slowing down can fee...
2026 EP7: Better Me Is Quieter. Clearer. Unavailable.
The healed version of you doesn’t argue—she moves differently. In the final episode of the New Year, Better Me series, Shawnti reflects on peace, detachment, clarity, and choosing yourself without explanation. This is about integration, not rei...
2026 EP6: Discipline Is Self-Respect, Not Punishment
Healing still requires effort. This episode reframes discipline as devotion—not punishment—and challenges the idea that motivation alone leads to change. If you want peace that lasts, this conversation will help you build it intentionally.<...
2026 EP5: You’re Not Stuck. You’re Scared of What Healing Costs
What if you’re not stuck—just afraid? In this episode, Shawnti unpacks the fear of becoming someone new, outgrowing relationships, and losing identities rooted in pain. Healing has a cost, and this conversation names it.
2026 EP4: Closure Is a Myth. Heal Anyway.
Waiting for closure keeps you tied to people who may never give it. This episode explores why healing doesn’t require apologies, understanding, or acknowledgment—and how waiting can quietly delay your growth. This is a grounding conversation ab...
2026 EP3: Being “Strong” Is Not a Flex
Being the strong one is praised—but rarely supported. In this episode, Shawnti talks about survival mode, burnout, and the emotional cost of always holding it together. If rest feels unsafe and exhaustion feels normal, this conversation is for ...
2026 EP2: You Don’t Need Another Affirmation. You Need Boundaries.
Affirmations without boundaries don’t work—and this episode tells the truth about why. Shawnti explores how guilt, access, and emotional over-availability keep people stuck, even when they’re “doing the work.” This conversation challenges the i...
2026 EP1: New Year, Same You: Be For Real
New year, same patterns? Let’s talk about it.In this episode, Shawnti Refuge cuts through the motivation fluff and gets honest about why so many people repeat years instead of changing their lives. This conversation is about comfort, avo...
Healing Through The Holidays Episode 6: Reclaiming Your Peace for the New Year
The new year isn’t about resolutions — it’s about reclamation. In this powerful finale to the Healing Through the Holidays series, Shawnti Refuge guides listeners through reflection, release, and rebirth. Learn how to reclaim you...
Healing Through the Holidays Episode 5: Self-Care Ain’t Selfish
Self-care is not selfish. It’s sacred. In this soothing episode, Shawnti Refuge reminds us that true rest is a form of resistance. Through storytelling and guided prompts, she shares how to release guilt, reset your energy, and build new ...
The Truth About Estrangement That Oprah Missed.
Oprah opened the door to a powerful conversation about estrangement — but there’s a whole side of this experience that didn’t get covered. The grief, the guilt, the identity shift… the part where mothers are hurting too.Estrange...
Healing Through the Holidays Episode 4: Guilt-Free Boundaries & Saying No
Boundaries are not rejection — they’re protection. In this powerful episode, Shawnti Refuge dives into why it’s so hard to say no during the holidays, how guilt is part of growth, and why peace should never come with a price tag. Through...