In this deeply personal solo episode, I’m sharing the 10-year anniversary story of my cancer diagnosis—what I now call my diagnosiversary—and how it shaped the entire ethos behind Sink & Swim.

Before cancer, I was the poster child for Western medicine and performance-based success: top of my PT class, working with elite athletes, constantly striving to optimize, fix, and keep swimming. But my body had other plans.

This episode unpacks the full descent—from panic attacks to mystery illnesses, orthorexia masked as wellness, and years of doctors telling me “it’s nothing” about a mass in my lung that turned out to be cancer. But more than that, it’s a story of intuition, identity unraveling, and finally learning to listen—not just to symptoms, but to the soul story underneath.

For anyone who’s ever been gaslit by medical providers, questioned their identity as a healthcare professional, or chased health info like it’s a job—this episode is a reckoning, a reclamation, and a love letter to your inner knowing.

0:00:00 – The Real Reason I Started Sink & Swim
0:10:59 – When Science Was My Scripture
0:24:12 – Candida, Panic, & the Descent
0:38:34 – “It’s Not Cancer”… Until It Was
0:52:47 – Trusting the Whisper Over the Protocol
1:10:26 – The 10-Year Mark & Redefining Aliveness
1:24:01 – From Fixing to Listening — In My Coaching Work, Too

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In this powerful conversation, Dr. Jessica DeJarnette — physician, startup co-founder, nervous system nerd, and wildly untamed human — shares her story of dismantling the life that looked perfect on paper: white coat, paycheck, purpose. But behind the scenes? Dissociation. Identity unraveling. A body screaming no more.

We talk about the trauma behind burnout (yes, we name it), the grief of letting go of status and stability, and the radical trust it takes to follow your body’s wisdom — even when the path ahead is foggy.

If you’ve ever found yourself resenting the very life you worked so hard to build — the business, the job, the family, the good girl persona — this one will crack something open.

Because the truth is, healing doesn’t always look graceful. Sometimes it looks like walking away from everything you thought would save you. And realizing the only map forward is the one your soul’s been holding all along.

00:00 – A Life That Looks Good, But Doesn’t Feel Right
We open with what so many high-achieving women feel but rarely say: “I built this... and I’m still not okay.”

06:49 – Emergency Medicine, Adrenaline, and the Breaking Point
Dr. Jess reflects on her early career in the ER and when the pace of saving lives started costing her own.

15:11 – “I Dissociated Through My 30s”
She names what many women in medicine feel but can’t admit: the survival state that became her baseline.

23:26 – From Inner Collapse to Inner Compass
A slow, terrifying unraveling — and how her intuition (plus a stranger in Alaska) helped her walk away.

33:28 – Nomad Life, Nervous Systems, and Building from Blank Page
Leaving behind the house, the job, the plan. How she rebuilt safety and identity without a blueprint.

44:01 – Why She Co-Founded a Trauma Healing Startup
A deep dive into why our systems can’t heal trauma — and what she’s doing instead.

59:13 – “I Want to Be a Forest Witch”
On redefining success, reclaiming wildness, and why she’s finally letting herself want what she wants.

Love what you hear? Itching to discover more from Dr. Jess?

Make sure you're following her on Instagram at @jessicadejarnette_md

If this episode speaks to you, hit subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a friend

Looking for more of where this came from?

Subscribe and watch full video episodes on Youtube

Follow Julie on Instagram @drjuliegranger for clips, bonus content, and updates throughout the week

Get a deeper dive on Sink and Swim topics by joining the email club

Find out more about Julie's coaching programs at her website

You left the job, the marriage, the religion, the profession.

You built the thing, became “the one to watch.”

You built it. They came. It worked. It succeeded.

You should feel free. Right?
But instead… you feel trapped. The victim of your own success.

In this solo episode, I share the raw, unfiltered story I usually only tell behind closed doors — of building a seven-figure business called Illuminate Freedom … that looked and felt like freedom at first but eventually, it felt like a cage.

I tell the story of mislabeling the early signals from my body.

Of realizing I’d shape-shifted into something “successful” that everyone I knew was clapping for, but no longer matched my Soul.

This is for the woman who’s been clapped for with lots of eyes on you — but doesn’t feel seen.

For the high-achiever who built something beautiful — and now wants to burn it down.

For the midlife luminaire who knows: you can’t swim in alignment until you let it sink.

Intro: The Unexpected Trap of Success (00:00)
Welcome to the story behind the story — the freedom you chase, and the cage you don’t see coming.

Midlife Awakening & the Dissonance Dilemma (04:53)
Why your body knows before your brain does — and how shame creeps in when your “dream life” doesn’t fit.

You Can’t Heal in a Container That Wasn’t Built for You (09:29)
Self-care isn’t always the answer — sometimes, it’s the cage.

When Coaching Becomes a Conformity Corset (17:53)
Leaving clinical life only to re-create the same dynamics in a new form.

The Reckoning: “This Isn’t It” (20:14)
The slow, quiet reckoning: your soul is no longer onboard.

Bridge Time & Reimagining the Next Chapter (29:46)
How I deconstructed a million-dollar business and created breathing room to find out who I really was.

People, Purpose, and Permission to Pause (35:35)
The deepest layer of the work: discovering who your people are now — and who you no longer need to perform for.

If you're feeling seen by this episode and interested in discovering more -- join me for my virtual Summer Soulstice gathering June 25 -- for the woman straddling two worlds. One world you know "is NOT it." ...and one world you can't quite see, touch, taste, or feel yet.

We'll help you sink in and find the grace and energy to navigate this liminal space -- all while harnessing the full bodied energy of summer to move with purpose and passion toward what's most soul aligned for you next.

June 25 | 5 PM ET | On Zoom

Tap here to read more about the Soulstice gathering and sign up to join us!

If this episode speaks to you, hit subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a friend

Looking for more of where this came from?

Subscribe and watch full video episodes on Youtube

Follow Julie on Instagram @drjuliegranger for clips, bonus content, and updates throughout the week

Get a deeper dive on Sink and Swim topics by joining the email club

Find out more about Julie's coaching programs at her website