Vulnerability Is the New Strong: A Conversation with Mandy Cansler on Resilience and Reclaiming Your Voice

In this deeply intimate and emotionally rich conversation, Dr. Katie W. Chu sits down with Mandy Cansler to explore what resilience, strength, and vulnerability truly mean when life breaks you open. Through raw storytelling, both reflect on the emotional scars they’ve carried — and how facing them head-on transformed their lives.

They unpack how “strong” evolves over time, why vulnerability is not weakness but power, and how discovering your voice often requires losing something you once relied on. From navigating identity, grief, cancer, adoption trauma, divorce, and rediscovering self-worth, the conversation offers a blueprint for anyone who has ever felt “not enough.”

This episode is a reminder that resilience isn’t about pushing through — it’s about being honest, being seen, and allowing yourself to become the next version of you.

KEY TAKEAWAYS Vulnerability is the new strong.

Both speakers come to the same realization: strength isn’t armor, stoicism, or perfection — it’s the courage to be seen, to tell the truth, and to let people witness the parts of you you once hid.

Emotional scars shape us, but they don’t define us.

Whether through loss, trauma, adoption, divorce, or illness, owning emotional scars out loud can dissolve shame and help others feel less alone.

You don’t fail unless you stop trying.

Resilience isn’t instant — it’s getting back up after you’ve fallen, giving yourself grace, and taking the next small step even when it feels impossible.

CONNECT WITH MANDY

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mandycansler-comt/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mandycanslerclarity/ and https://www.instagram.com/mandyhcansler/ 

Website: https://www.mandycanslerconsulting.com/