Raised on Dysfunction, Dressed as Tradition

Born into survival mode, Maz Alexander spent decades navigating emotional neglect, sexual abuse, religious manipulation, and toxic cultural norms masked as “tradition.” From being told she should’ve been aborted to being sent to Jamaica and left with strangers, Maz’s story is one of inherited trauma — and radical reclamation.

In this episode, we dismantle the myths of strength, silence, and “just how it is,” and explore what true healing looks like when you rewrite the rules for yourself.

• The danger of mistaking dysfunction for culture
• How faith-based control can deepen trauma
• Why “forgive and forget” keeps survivors in bondage
• The lifelong cost of being the “strong one”
• How Maz used travel, creativity, and humor to heal
• Building safety, boundaries, and self-acceptance as rebellion

🎙️ What We Talk About:

• Growing up unwanted and unloved — yet expected to perform perfection
• Surviving childhood sexual abuse and being disbelieved
• Narcissistic parenting, emotional starvation, and lifelong people-pleasing
• The cult disguised as a Pentecostal church — and the spiritual abuse that followed
• Breaking generational silence and rejecting blind loyalty
• The myth of the “strong Black woman” and how it keeps us stuck
• Leticia’s 3 Phases to Exit Survival Mode in action:
• Self-Awareness: naming generational survival patterns and inherited roles
• Reprogramming: rebuilding identity beyond “obedience” and “resilience”
• Reinvention: living with boundaries, softness, and radical self-permission

🔑 Key Takeaways:“I was born into survival mode — and I refused to die there.”“Culture isn’t a shield. Sometimes, it’s the wound.”“We can’t heal in the same environments that hurt us.”“Forgiveness without accountability is spiritual manipulation.”
🙌 Why This Episode Matters:

Too many women mistake coping for culture. We inherit silence, normalize struggle, and call pain “resilience.”

This conversation shatters the generational scripts that keep Black women performing strength while dying inside. Maz gives language to the trauma we were told to “just deal with” — and shows what true freedom looks like when you stop surviving and start unlearning.

💬 Connect with Ma:

• Instagram: @ma.transformationalcoaching
• LinkedIn: Maz Alexander
• Book: Arise, Kintsugi Queens

🔗 Resources & Links:

• 💣 Download the Survival Mode Exit Blueprint
• 👉🏾 Join the Survival Mode Exodus Membership
• 🎧 Subscribe to Survival Mode Disrupted: The Podcast on YouTube
• ✍🏾 Subscribe to Survival Mode Disrupted: The Newsletter on LinkedIn
• 💬 Book a 1:1 Session with Leticia
• 📖 Order