In this powerful episode of Survival Mode Disrupted, Kristell Miles shares her extraordinary story of living in survival mode for decades — including spending more than 10 years as a fugitive while building a self-sustaining brand, raising children, and holding onto unwavering faith.

Kristell opens up about identity fragmentation, living a dual life, and what it means to survive by never fully being seen. She reflects on her exoneration, the relief of finally being free, and the unexpected collapse that followed when her body realized it was finally safe.

Together, Leticia and Kristell unpack survival mode as success, cultural conditioning around emotional suppression, Black women and masculinity for survival, and why healing often begins after the danger ends.

Highlights include:

🧠 Survival mode disguised as success and accolades

⏳ Living a dual life and never saying your real name

⚖️ Exoneration after a decade on the run

🧬 The body shutting down once safety arrives

💔 Chronic illness, loss, and forced stillness

✨ Faith, purpose, and choosing not to dim your light

1. Survival mode as “doing what’s necessary” to avoid poverty and danger
2. Being on the run for over 10 years while building a business
3. Identity loss, dual lives, and never feeling safe to be fully known
4. Exoneration, freedom, and why the body often collapses afterward
5. Chronic illness as the body releasing survival
6. Emotional suppression, anger, and survival masculinity
7. Therapy, softness, and learning to respond instead of react
8. Black women, strength conditioning, and resistance to softness
9. Faith, surrender, and refusing to play small after surviving
10. Turning pain into purpose and service for others

Because so many high-achieving women don’t realize they’re still surviving — they’re just surviving successfully.

This episode exposes the hidden cost of long-term survival mode: identity loss, emotional shutdown, and physical collapse once safety arrives.

Kristell’s story reminds us that healing doesn’t begin with freedom — it begins with permission to rest, feel, and be seen.

If you’ve been wondering why slowing down feels terrifying, this conversation will give you language — and relief.

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