In this episode, host Tina sits down with Tami Franklin, author of Un-Masked, Un-Broken, Healed & Set Free. Tami shares her raw and honest “lived experience” of surviving the loss of her daughter, Brittany, and her stepson, Christian. After 14 years of trauma therapy and writing, Tami explains why she believes grief is “holy ground” and how resilient faith allowed her to move from a three-year pit of despair to a life of liberation. This conversation is a roadmap for anyone wearing a mask of “fine” while feeling broken, offering a powerful reminder that while we don’t always get what we “ordered” from life, healing is an intentional daily choice.

I am sharing my experience of loving the same man for 32 years, a mother to two adult children, a retired military officer, a breast cancer survivor, and my connections with others.  

Anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts should reach out to a suicide hotline or local emergency number in their country: Psychology Today Suicide Hotlines and Prevention Resources Around the World.

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From The Pit To Purpose: Unmasking Resilience And Redemption With Tami Franklin

Grief oftentimes can leave you feeling broken, wearing a mask, hiding your true feelings, and questioning, “Why is this happening to me?” Our guest Tami Franklin shares her personal lived experience of trauma, grief and heartache. Not wanting to be here anymore, but pulling up from all of that in her faith and her strength-encouraging God to know her life has purpose. That healing is possible, and resilience is not just a word. It’s an intentional choice that she chose daily. Three years in a pit, a pastor praying, being by her side and being in resilience have kept her through. Let’s get into this conversation with Tami because resilience and hope are what you need.

 

 

Tami, welcome to the Widowhood.

Thanks for having me. I’m honored to be here.

When you hear widowhood and welcome, what’s the ticker tape message? If someone could open up your mind, what would come across?

The Meaning of the “Hood”

The first word that comes to mind is sisterhood, community, and grief community. Welcome is that arms are open. It may not be the same, but you have a story too, and you’re welcome.

You nailed that because that is exactly what I want to convey in something that is very difficult. I’m from Chicago. The word hood is family. It’s that collective. It’s that group of people. It may be the widow, but there are surrounding losses. As you mentioned, those losses may be different, but they have similar components.

I believe experiencing a profound loss makes life different if you’re willing to lean into the process. It’s not just what happened to me. It’s what I have done in this process. When I reached out to you to have this conversation, I knew you were a bit hesitant. It’s like, “Not my story,” but we had a conversation and realized the similarity of it.

 

 

I’m glad we had that conversation to talk through what your goals were. It did help me understand that the stories are aligned in different ways.

Tami, you flipped through multiple losses and still found the courage to write about it. What made the right time to tell your story and write your book?

The 13-Year Journey to the Page

I’ve been writing the book for nearly thirteen and a half years. That within itself has been a journey. When I got to a point in late 2025 where I had written out all the chapters, read them over and over a million times. I had nothing else left to write. I knew that I was empty, and it was time to get the book published.

Given the way the world is now. Every day, we’re more and more in need. People are in need of hearing stories of survival. Life is hard. We all grieve something. Whether it’s a person that we’ve lost, a job, or something that was significant. It’s important to hear stories of survival and faith more and more. I believe now is the time. The appointed time is now.

Your book title is?

Un-Masked, Un-Broken, Healed & Set Free: A Journey of Healing, Liberation, and Redemption.

When you selected this title, what did it represent for your personal experience? What did you want to convey to the reader?

Unmasking the Core Self

It’s because of the losses I’ve been through and trauma. I have placed a different mask on and showed up in different ways where I thought I would be accepted. There were different masks that I wore. At this point in my life, after so many losses and compounded grief, it became painful to wear all those masks because it wasn’t the person that I truly was at the core. To become unmasked, to unveil the real me or who I am, and to be unbroken.

 

 

Throughout that journey of writing, I also completed fourteen years of trauma therapy, deliverance, and getting set free. It’s unmasked, unbroken, and healed. I am walking through healing, thinking from a healed place, having my mind be renewed, and learning coping strategies and mechanisms. Being set free was the deliverance from the things that plagued me for so many years I carried that didn’t belong to me.

That is for you. When someone is skimming through Barnes and Noble or Amazon and they see this book. What are you hoping that they see?

I hope that they see a story from a woman who was resilient and has gone through so many things. If you can see the cover, I’m on the cover. I don’t look like what I’ve been through. I hope that they see hope. I hope that they see courage. Most importantly, I hope they see a resilient type of faith. The type of faith that can move mountains. That kind of faith.

When you speak about faith, how has faith shaped the way you have experienced life, your grief, and the things that have impacted you?

As I wrote in the book at the beginning, I was at rock bottom with grief. I’m grieving the passing of my daughter. That was me experiencing grief not holding onto anything, but how it felt. Painful doesn’t begin to describe that. It was raw. My soul felt raw. When I called out and cried out to God. He answered audibly in that moment, and then I went on this beautiful journey with Him.

Resilience is not just a word. It’s an intentional choice that we make daily. Share on X

Throughout that journey, and it’s been a long time. There were people whom I call glory carriers or divine resources who came with a word of faith. It was on time, something I needed to hear right then and there, that helped carry me and pass a hard emotion. Grief comes in waves. It would help carry me past that and help me to persevere. There was a pastor who was assigned to me to pray for me for a few years.

I was in a pit of grief, and he helped pray me out of there until I was out permanently. That’s the difference. I don’t believe that we can grieve extreme losses in our own capacity. I see so many people who have emotionally lost their lives. They’ve never been the same in a bad way because they’re striving to understand and live with this grief alone without reaching out to the higher power of faith.

Since I did grab hold of God’s hand and didn’t let go,I can speak about this beautiful journey of grief and how God downloaded in me that grief is holy ground. The word says that God is ever so close to the brokenhearted. He was close to me. He left the 99 to pursue the one when I was the one. That’s my testament. It’s not just what I’ve read in the Bible. I lived it. My mind has been renewed, but what I see is different. It’s a beautiful journey at this point.

 

It’s interesting you talked about that. I had your author’s note already. It’s something that I wanted to read. I would like to read this and for you to share what that means to you now. Sometimes, when we write something, where we were at that moment is different than where we are a year or two, or let’s say fourteen years later. It’s a journey of you writing this book.

There is a mask here. “This memoir is a reflection of my lived experience and my truth. As I walked through it, I survived it and by the grace of God, began to heal from it. The memories shared here are based on what I remember, what I felt, and what shaped me. While I’ve done my best to accurately recount events, some names, locations, and details have been changed to protect the privacy of those involved.”

I hope they see a resilient type of faith. The type of faith that can move mountains. Share on X

“Throughout these pages, I speak honestly about deep, personal, painful events. At times, this includes matters of a legal and criminal nature. Please know I am not here to accuse, defend, or litigate. I share only what I carry, what I witnessed, and what I lived. There was a time when I attempted to share what I knew with the law enforcement. Including arranging to speak with a local sergeant. That meeting never took place. What followed was a season of confusion, fear, and trauma no one is ever truly prepared for. I did what I could at the time with the knowledge, safety, and emotional capacity I had.”

“Abuse doesn’t just wound the body. It distorts truth, reshapes reasoning, and can silence even the strongest voice. I often found myself justifying the unjustifiable, not out of ignorance, but out of survival. If you’ve been there, I see you. This book was written with you in mind. This story is not about blame. It’s about freedom. It’s not about perfection. It’s about redemption.”

“My prayer is that in sharing this truth, others will find healing in theirs. ‘You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.’ Genesis 50:20. With love, Tami Franklin, author of Un-Masked, Un-Broken, Healed & Set Free.” In the course of life, I have spoken to many people who have been through traumatic experiences. Instead of leaning into God, they found themselves mad at God, distant, not wanting to communicate, and wondering if even God existed. How has your story become different?

It was different because there was something inside of me that said there had to be something greater on the other end of this. I could not imagine a God that would allow me to suffer so greatly without there being something greater on the other side of it. I could not imagine walking through everything I was going through alone. I tried it. I was at a point where I wanted to die. That’s my thought on it.

Thank you. Faith is a very personal journey. You can sit right next to someone else in your place of worship and go through similar experiences. You view them differently. When you’ve gone through something and what you’ve believed has shown up and been physically evident. There’s a difference there. It’s not just something you hope for. You saw the evidence of a manifestation in your life. You spoke about the pastor being assigned to pay for you for three years.

God downloaded in me that grief is holy ground. Share on X

From Ghana, Africa, who had no relation to me or anyone I knew. It was out of the blue.

Out of the blue?

Not out of the blue. You’re right. Thank you for that correction. It was on assignment.

It didn’t stop the process from happening.

Not at all.

What would you say to someone who said, “I thought God loved me. Why is God allowing me to go through this? He could stop it.”

He could, but what I’ve learned over everything that I’ve gone through is that God allows things to happen for a higher purpose. Our thoughts are not His thoughts, and our ways are not His ways. We believe that when bad things happen, that is against us. Sometimes, it’s the opposite. Sometimes, it’s here to teach us something or to shape us in a different way or it’s a ministry.

God allows things to happen for a higher purpose. Our thoughts are not His thoughts, and our ways are not His ways. Share on X

I believe that the hard things that we’ve been able to go through and overcome are ministry. We could share with someone else the things that we’ve gone through and how we overcame them, and now we’re helping other people. I believe that He does love us. He allows things to happen for a reason, sometimes we can’t understand.

Also, the Bible talks about hidden treasures. I believe that when you trust Him in the moments that are unfathomable. You can’t imagine ever having experienced what you’re going through and trust Him. That’s where you find the hidden treasures. That’s where you find some of the answers that won’t come from any other human. It’s a spiritual thing.

From that, I want to read the preface of your book. “Call unto Me, and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3. Why was it important to start your book with that verse?

Crying Out from the Rock Bottom

It’s because I started the book with a scene where I was at that rock bottom place. I was calling out to God and saying, “I don’t want to live anymore. I can’t live with this pain. I don’t know what to do with it. I don’t want to live.” The word says, “Call unto Me, and I will answer.” It became true for me. I called out His name three times and audibly heard Him say, “I’ve allowed you to get to this place for a reason and needed you to slow down to see your life.”

When I read that part, it sent chills down my body to think about the hardship of life, thinking, “I don’t want to do this anymore. I ordered a different life. This is not what was on the menu.” This is what life looks like often. We don’t get what we ordered, but we do get something amazing if we choose to look at it that way. Those three years and everything you’ve endured in this are real. It’s what we do with it that matters.

You may not be able to get there mentally by yourself. It takes the renewing of your mind and calling out for whatever you need. Whatever you ask God for, He will answer. He will give to you. You just have to believe it. That’s not always easy either, but it’s a journey. Believing is a journey. If you continue, you’ll see how it starts to build you up, the word and God Himself, with people or whatever.

My audience that came across this video was expecting another video about somebody who had lost a spouse. The idea of God is foreign to them. What does that mean? How would you introduce them to God?

First of all, we are all made in God’s image. The spirit of God lives in each and every one of us. There are some people who may not feel that connection yet it is still there. It is real. If there’s someone who’s maybe searching, I want to say test what the word says, but they may not have even read the word. Try it.

Talk to God. Maybe you could read the Bible wherever you’re led to and test the word for yourself to see. The word even says, “Test me in what I’ve said and see if it’s real. See how it shows up in your life.” Be open to it and try it. What I know now is that 100%, none of the words in the Bible are ever returned void. I would ask someone to try the word for themselves.

Say your daughter’s name for us, please.

Brittany.

I wanted you to be the first person to say her name at this conference.

Thank you.

“As I’m writing this, it has been about 30 days since my sweetheart, Brittany, passed away. Brittany, or Brit, as I called her, was the oldest of my five kids. She was 22 years old and passed away after a 5-and-a-half year battle with a rare form of cancer.”

It’s chordoma.

“The cancer was discovered in 2006 after Brit kept complaining about extreme back pain. After taking her to our family doctor for over a year and a half and receiving different explanations of what it could be. The doctor finally suggested we do an X-ray of her chest to see what it would reveal. Before we made it home from the X-ray, a call came in on my cell phone from the doctor’s nurse.”

The Diagnosis That Changed Everything

“When I answered, the panicked nurse on the other end blurted, “You need to take Brittany to the nearest emergency room as soon as possible. She has a sixteen-inch tumor on her spine.” For the nurse to be unhinged and to get this call. Sometimes, we wait 2 to 3 days to hear from them and you’re driving home.

We were driving home from the X-ray facility.

This starts a chain of events. When you said 30 days, was this a journal you were keeping, or did you start thinking of the idea of writing a book then?

It was a journal. I had started with a journal, recounting my experience.

When you hear this now, do you see Brittany?

I do. I remember that call came in, and I asked Brittany, “Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” I knew she was in pain. She was afraid. She was like, “Mom, I’m fine. Why are you asking me that?” She heard me on the phone, but I didn’t take it on speaker. She couldn’t hear what the nurses said, but she knew it was the doctor’s office. That was our conversation. We got to the nearest emergency room as soon as possible.

My goal is not to give them the whole book. The goal is for them to get to know you and the desire to want to read the entire book and share. I don’t want you to think, “She’s not going through all of it.”

That’s okay.

I love how you put yourself at the beginning of the chapters because people spend a lot of time trying to find a different author or verse. You started it with a snippet from yourself in the chapters. How did you come up with that idea?

I have to admit, originally, I was one of those that was searching for quotes from other people. I know that through this journey, God has inspired me so much. I was sharing a bunch of quotes and positive, inspirational things on social media. I’m like, “I have an arsenal of things that I can share.” I started searching for what would be appropriate for the beginning of the titles in each chapter. I said, “Why not? They inspired many people over the years, and they’re very appropriate for my story.” That’s where I came in and replaced some of the other quotes with my own.

 

Becoming the Woman You Needed

Thank you for sharing that. I was trying to find it in the book, and I’m like, “Hold on.” There we go. That’s the answer to that. I want to read the Tami quote for this chapter, and if you would share what this chapter is about. Chapter four, Ziploc Bag. “If you run into the little girl I used to be, let her know that everything she suffered through was well worth the investment of her heart and broken soul. The woman she is today is the woman she needed then.” – Tami Franklin.

That chapter is about a very broken little girl because I was a teenager at the time. I had a miscarriage. I was very not educated on many things. I knew I was pregnant. I knew I had a miscarriage. When it passed, I put it in a Ziploc bag and put it in my top drawer. Again, a young girl, not knowing what to do. That was me mourning the passing of my first child. I’ve shared the story before, but I’d never said that that was the passing of my first child. I was a child who experienced child loss.

That is the quote that came to mind. Through my journey, everything I’ve learned and the woman that I’ve become, I am the woman that I wish I had when I was that age. The one who’s compassionate, who will listen without judgment, and who will help that person or young girl or whatever, through that journey. Our journey.

In everything that you’ve experienced in life, you were able to retain it. To step back in time and to speak to Tammy then. What would you tell her?

Honestly, I would tell her from a faith standpoint. Everything she’s going through is because she is called and she is chosen. I know that the journey is hard, but there’s a higher purpose in calling on your life. God is cultivating everything you’re experiencing for His higher good.

I like how you said cultivating for your experience. Often, in conversations, people feel as if God or the universe is doing this to them and attacking them. This is a repercussion and a punishment, or humanity is flawed. There are things that happen that God makes through the experience.

I want to agree that humanity is flawed. We’re flawed in our thinking. We’re flawed in some of our beliefs, too. A lot of our beliefs are not what the word says. Since the word says that the enemy, Satan, is the accuser of the brethren. Those thoughts come in. Sometimes, we relate them to our own beliefs not realizing that they are coming from outside sources. That’s the best way to explain that. Hopefully, that makes sense.

Thank you. You have experienced the loss of your daughter and your stepson. How has that changed what you thought grief was to what it is?

I thought grief was grieving, aching, and probably being stuck in this grief cycle. You hear people say, “I’ll never get over that. I’ll never get over this. I’ll never heal.” You’ll never hear me confess that. Even in my worst of the worst, I never confessed that because it’s not the truth. That was the greatest thing that I would say.

Many people going through grief, especially child loss, plague themselves with, “If I had done this or I wish I had done this or why?” How did that become a part of your journey but not swallow you up?

It was initially something that plagued me for the first two years because I didn’t tell Brittany that the diagnosis was terminal. She was sixteen years old. I didn’t want her to focus on that diagnosis. I wanted her to focus on living. I remember at the time God had given me, “This is the gift of time.” It was a message that He downloaded into me. It’s the gift of time. We all have the gift of time. We don’t know when our time is up here on earth. Let’s live every day as if it’s our last. That’s what I wanted the focus to be.

After she passed away, I toiled with that for a couple of years and said, “Maybe I should have told her. Maybe she had a right to know.” I finally resonated with the fact that I did exactly right because she lived every day to the fullest. I didn’t take anything away from her. She had an authentic experience because it was what she believed and what she was going through every day. She met it with her highest, best self every day.

The next chapter is the Gift of Time. This is so the readers know. It wasn’t sequential. Chapter eight, the Gift of Time. “In life’s most turbulent seasons, time becomes a sacred gift, a gentle reminder that healing unfolds in moments, not milestones, and every second holds the power to restore, renew, reveal purpose.” – Tami Franklin.

Healing unfolds in moments, not milestones, and every second holds the power to restore, renew, and reveal purpose. Share on X

As I had said, grief comes in waves. Our natural human way of dealing with hard moments like that is to avoid them. We try to fill this space up with something else, or numb it out and not deal with it. Every wave comes to teach us something. It comes to teach us something, or it comes to refine us further. When we can sit through that wave and allow it to tell us what it’s there for, learn and receive it. That is where we’re at that optimal place that we need to be to continue on in the journey.

You have been so kind to share with us things that happened in your youth, your journey through grief, and different things that you greet. How does that connect to things that you experience now in life?

Honestly, everything I’ve been through, especially the grief, has softened in my heart. I have such compassion for people. Whether they are broken people or people going through trauma. It’s almost like a calling. I want to be there to help them and give them words of life. Words of life that were given to me to help me see it differently. Wherever I can be there to add to someone’s life that way, I want to do that. I say that to say life is still hard. We all have hard things that happen. I receive it in a different way.

Usually, if it’s hard and it won’t go away. I’m asking God, “What am I to learn here? Help me to see what I can’t see and know what I can’t know. Help me learn what I need to learn from this moment.” I take it that way. I don’t allow hard emotions to take me out. Sometimes, things will come, but I usually always give back to that solid ground of, “There’s something here that I need to learn or there’s something here that I need to know that I didn’t know earlier.” I try to find out the purpose behind it.

In the fourteen years of writing the book, the life lived before it happened. Were you always trying to find something out in the process of it, or did that come late?

It came late. I always had this gift of being the one who inspires others. I have a gift of edification. It started growing inside of me. I was one who would always try to see the positive side of things. I was the encourager or inspirer of other people. I was always greatly moved by hard things emotionally. I was born and raised in the church. I always had faith, but if something would come and happen, I’d be like, “God, why did you let that happen?” I would be greatly moved.

I then started to realize, “Wait a minute. That’s not faith. If I have faith, you may sway like a palm tree will sway in a storm, but it won’t become uprooted.” I was becoming uprooted. All of those things helped to grow my roots stronger. I started catching when I was becoming swayed sooner. I can catch it and say, “No,” and speak in faith.

This is chapter thirteen, Pay Attention to the Hard Pause. “As I arrived in Phoenix and greeted my kids, Bree, Brian, and Tiki.” Tiki?

She doesn’t want me to use her real name. She said Tiki is fine.

We all have the gift of time. We don't know when our time is up here on Earth. Let's live every day as if it's our last. Share on X

“Through our tears, we talk about each of our accounts of the last time we saw Christian and what was special to each of us about him. We shared all the memories we could muster at that time. I had a sudden realization. I told Bree, my oldest now, that God knew the heartbreak we were going to be walking through.”

“In His grace, He gave us her newborn son, Cameron, who was shy of six weeks old at the time of Christian’s passing. I said, ‘Babies are a heritage, a gift from God. Cam told God yes and agreed to the assignment of joining our family here on earth.’ God knew we would need the love of His precious gift now, and we must thank Him even in the heartbreak of this moment.”

That brings tears to my eyes. It was a tender moment. It was spoken through me. It’s not something that I read anywhere or something I rehearsed before. It was a realization in that moment, while we were grieving the loss of my kid’s second sibling, God’s grace was there. We had this beautiful newborn baby. My daughter thought she was going to have trouble getting pregnant, and she and her husband had this beautiful baby. This newborn baby, we were able to love on him through our grief, and it helped. It was a beautiful gift.

I want to shift the conversation to your author journey. There are often people that are hearing these stories and go, “I, too, want to write a book. There is something in me that I feel like the world should know.” When you began writing, did you see it as therapy or a testimony? What did you see it as?

When I began writing, it was all things. It started with me sending emails to myself, things that I thought I needed to document and keep. When Brittany was going through her journey of cancer, we had a large number of people in our community, family, and friends that I would keep updated by email. I say, “This is where we are. These are the prayers we’re looking for.” It got me used to writing. It came more like a narrative. It’s like I’m writing a story, our story. That resonated with me. I would start to save those as well. I collected them in a folder. It was both testimonies and journaling.

At what point in the journaling or the capturing did you realize, “This is more than sharing our story. A book needs to come from this. There’s someone who needs to hear this who will be encouraged.”

By this time, I had hundreds of emails in this one folder. I went to the beginning, and I started reading. I asked God, “Why did you let us go through so much?” I had this revelation like, “There is a testimony here and this is a book.” When Brittany was going through her journey, we spent many hours, days, weeks, and months at the hospital talking about our story or her story being a movie. It was something that kept us talking and not keeping our minds on the treatment she was going through.

We would laugh about it. Later, as I’m going through these emails and thinking back to that time, I’m like, “Maybe there’s a book here. God said it’s a testimony. What better way to have a public testimony?” It was so much. I shared it with some people, and they’re like, “This should be a Netflix mini-series. This doesn’t sound like it could be one person’s life. This has to be a book.” All those things came together, and then I started putting it together like a book.

What has the publishing journey taught you about patience and perseverance?

I have a very good lesson about that. Can I share with you?

This is your story. I’m just here navigating it.

In my first attempt at publishing, I was writing under a pen name, Quiet Storm Speaks. The editor I was using at the time was my editor and publisher. Whatever software she used introduced errors into my book to the point where it was completely scrambled. The only way I found out is because I ordered an author’s copy and read through it before I published it. Although, I had already told all of my followers that I was going to publish this book. When I got it, I was devastated. The entire book had to be rewritten.

The “Hard Pause” and Publishing Setbacks

It’s in the book too, in chapter fourteen, Hard Pause. As I sat with that, I realized the book wasn’t ready, and I wasn’t ready. Also, that helped direct me to my new editor and new publisher, who helped me get to a very professional book, which became an Amazon number one bestseller in ten categories. That wouldn’t have happened with this if I hadn’t been patient and sat through the hard pause of, “Why did this happen?” To get the wisdom from it, I gleaned wisdom as to why this happened. I received that wisdom, and used it to take two more years to get it right. This would have been a book that went out that would have made me look bad. It wouldn’t have accomplished what God intended for it to accomplish.

At all.

Patience is huge. It’s very huge with this journey.

What strategies have you used to connect and share your book? What has worked, and what has been a flop?

What’s working is the communities that I am a part of. The Deliverance Center is a deliverance center for people around the world. We have women’s Zoom calls. I’m known in the community. The deliverance ministers have supported me in putting out the book and telling everyone to join or purchase it. They joined my launch team, read the early copies, and gave me reviews. My church community and my family. That is what has worked well so far.

What hasn’t worked so well is trying to move past this early momentum to keep the momentum going. I’m like, “What’s the next step?” I’m trying to figure that out. I’m calling on different colleagues that I’ve had in common with who could help get my story on different platforms, and not showing up. What helped me? I was starting to get discouraged. I’m tapping into people who know me.

 

Finding Support Among Strangers

There is a cousin of mine whom I pray with. We have a family prayer call every Thursday. She called me and said, “I have a message for you.” She gave me this Bible verse, Mark 6:4, “A prophet is treated with honor everywhere except in his own hometown, among his relatives, and in his own house.” That freed me. People who are familiar with you know you one way. They may have grown up with you. They may have worked with you. They know you in this one way. They may not see the anointing on your life or whatever the higher call is. Even if they see it, they may not call you that.

That helped me to pivot, to know that my greatest supporters are strangers. When I run into new people or am introduced to new people, they are the most supportive. Everyone loves a story of redemption. Sometimes, they love your energy and the way that you show up. They want to invest in what you have available or what you’re offering. That has been a great pivot for me.

You are sharing so much of your life and being so transparent. How are you guarding your personal space and energy?

I have to let my no be no and my yes be yes. My no does not come with a comma, but it’s a no, period. It doesn’t come with guilt carving out intentional time for myself. The spirit being that I know I am has learned by process of trial and error that I have to have time to transition. I have to have time to process. I’m a life coach, but I haven’t launched my business yet. I help a lot of people pro bono. When I receive from people that I’m working with, I have to have time to process for myself, too. Not to overextend myself.

Walking in Intentional Freedom

Having gone through everything I’ve gone through, especially the trauma. I’ve lived most of my life in survival mode, which does not give you time to rest. Rest is not a part of that. Now, I’m intentionally resting and putting my phone on Do Not Disturb when I need moments of sacred peace. I have no apologies for that. I feel much better as a being that’s continuing to evolve.

How does being free and heal look for you?

It is a journey. I find moments where that survival mode pops up. I’m very well aware that this is a survival tactic that I’ve done in the past. I challenge myself to do something different. As I told you earlier, before we began the recording. I traveled to Maryland for this women’s conference. I had gotten the invite five days before the conference, and I made it happen. Usually, what I would have done is make excuses for why I couldn’t have made it.

I’m doing things differently to be intentional, not hide and not have my voice be hidden anymore. I take up space because I am needed to be there as everyone else. Not let those voices be louder than what I know is the truth. It’s intentional. Some days, those voices come. I’m mousing down a little bit to it, but then I realize, “We don’t live like that anymore. This is a new day. We walk in freedom.” I have to constantly remind myself of that, but that’s okay. This is a continual journey.

Thank you. I try to give my guests an opportunity to be the host. Do you have any questions you’d like to ask me?

The biggest question that comes to mind is how you think your audience will relate to my journey, as far as their journey. It sounds like most of your audience are widows and have gone through that loss. How do you believe they will relate or resonate with my story?

That is a good question. The majority of my audience are widows or widowers, but a large component of my audience is also part of that Hood. There are people who are dealing with parental loss, child loss, or sibling loss. There are some people dealing with health issues, relocation, or losing a job. As you spoke about earlier in the conversation, the world is in turmoil. People are finding themselves in unfamiliar territory. They are looking for ways to navigate it, have hope, and try things they may not have done before because what they’ve been doing hasn’t worked.

They’re still getting up every day. To hear someone say, “I didn’t want to be here anymore, but I found a way to be here and survive.” That resonates. The details of the why may not be the same, but the feelings are. They’re like, “Maybe this is the place where I can find inspiration because I am lacking it.” Community is important.

There are important moments of reflection and pulling away, as you spoke about. There is power in numbers and being able to say, “This person may be able to coach me on my difficulty because they’ve shown what they’ve gone through. This is somebody that I can relate to,” which is more of the issue. The story that you shared, your life journey, is going to empower the reader to want to say, “I can do this. It may not be what I wanted to do, but this is something that I can do.”

I appreciate that. Another question I thought of, and this is something that I ask everyone that I coach or even in familiar circles. What is healing you in this season?

I always have to make this separation. Widowhood Real Talk with Tina is a registered 501(c)(3) that has no faith affiliation. We support people because a loved one has died. We show up to support them and love them, whether it’s through our grief support meetings, a mental health event, or these interviews. Hopeless people are too many in our world, and they need to know the community exists.

I agree.

That is Widowhood Real Talk with Tina as an organization. For Tina as an individual, if it were not for my relationship with God, there is nothing else that has the capacity to heal me or strengthen me. At the end of the day, when everything is done, everything is temporary. Everything has a beginning and an end. That is where I find my strength to try to do better before an interview, a grief support meeting, or someplace that I know I need to share and pour out. I make sure I am filled, in perspective, and in line with what God has called me to do. I do it on my own ability because that’s going to crash and burn.

I worked from home. After I was done, I went and took a nap. I got up out of bed fifteen minutes before this conversation because I was tired. I get up and work out in the morning with my sister at 4:30 or 5:00 AM. I try to have my personal devotional and prayer time in the morning. The girl will be weary. I didn’t drink all the water and drink all the coffee. You can’t beat sleep.

That’s true. I love that. That’s real.

I’m going to go take a nap. My husband gets on me all the time. He’s like, “Why don’t you go to sleep?” I’m like, “I could do it.”

That sounds so familiar.

What I will do after this is, if it’s not too bad out, I’m probably going to go for a walk to reset myself. Being outside in fresh air, moving my body, taking time away from all of the noise, and hearing nature. It fills my soul to be able to walk and move. Those things are what are healing for me.

I love everything you said. Everything you said is perfect. Thank you.

Thank you for trusting me after the anonymous invitation out there. Thank you for that. I want you to close out this conversation. Share with our audience how they can connect with you. Whether it is to purchase your book, or maybe have you for a speaking engagement or coaching. Share what that looks like, how you can support them in their difficult time, and how you show up. Any final words?

Your readers can follow me on my website or find me there, TamiFranklin.com. You’ll see a link for my book purchase, which goes to Amazon, but the book is available online on Barnes and Noble and other major retailers. You could also email me through that website. There is a media kit on the website that tells you what I’m up to. I’m scheduling that out for a fall book tour where I’ll have book signings.

As far as life coaching, I haven’t officially launched my business yet, but it is called House of Hope and Healing. The goal is to help those who are in any type of transformational period of their lives. Whether it’s from grief to going for inner healing. I do faith-based coaching as well as grief support through House of Hope and Healing.

I love how you said that your 501(c)(3) supports everyone. That’s huge. Although I’m a faith-based life coach and I always speak in faith, I’m always open to helping anyone. My call is to the brokenhearted, to help them on this journey to find hope and healing. That’s why my business is House of Hope and Healing.

I want to encourage anyone who’s going through anything that needs any type of hope, encouragement, or a different perspective. That can help you where you are. Reach out to me. I’m always honored to help. Even if it’s outside of my business because several people reached out and helped me on my journey. It’s my honor to reach back and help others on theirs.

Thank you, Tami.

Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. It’s an honor to be here.

 

Important Links

• Tami Franklin
• Tami Franklin on LinkedIn
• Tami Franklin on Instagram
• Tamie Franklin on Facebook
• Un-Masked, Un-Broken, Healed & Set Free: A Journey of Healing, Liberation, and Redemption
• The Deliverance Center

 

About Tami Franklin

Tami Franklin is a transformational and grief coach, speaker, and founder of House of Hope & Healing, LLC. She helps people move from pain to purpose through faith-grounded coaching, retreats, and resources. Tami serves as a prayer partner, community leader, and advocate for healing and restoration. She resides in Arizona and is the author of the bestselling memoir, Un-Masked Un-Broken Healed & Set Free.