Today, we're bringing you a conversation that will remind you why hope isn't just a pretty word, it's the thing that keeps us breathing when everything else says stop.
Our guest, Adriene Caldwell, survived foster care, abuse, homelessness, addiction, and multiple suicide attempts. She witnessed horrors before she was old enough to understand them. She lost the one person who protected her when she was just seven years old. And yet, here she is, thriving, writing, speaking, and offering the rest of us something precious: proof that your past doesn't get to decide your future.
Adriene's favorite word is hope. And after hearing her story, you'll understand why.
π This episode drops Thursday, December 18, 2025, at 3 AM ET
Adriene Caldwell: Foster Care, Abuse, Suicide Survival, and the Power of Hope
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Krista Dykes is the Founder and CEO of She Laughs Media, a boutique podcast booking and publicity agency dedicated to amplifying the voices of mission-driven entrepreneurs, artists, authors, and experts.
With media contacts spanning national outlets and local press, Krista and her team specialize in strategic, faith-rooted storytelling that connects clients with the audiences they are meant to serve. Founded on Proverbs 31:25, "She laughs at the time to come," She Laughs Media blends integrity, creativity, white-glove service, and serious media savvy to help clients build meaningful, lasting visibility.
This week's worksheet invites you to explore what survival really means, how small decisions shape your future, and where hope lives in your own story,even when it feels impossible to find.
π€ Episode Spotlight: Adriene's Story
Some people survive tragedy. Adriene survived a childhood that reads like a list of trigger warnings: sexual assault, drowning, emotional and physical abuse, extreme poverty, mental illness, homelessness, foster care that was worse than the streets, bulimia, addiction, pedophilia, death, suicide attempts, and incest.
By the time she was seven, Adriene had already witnessed the sexual assault of her best friend and watched a little girl drown. She knew, even then, that little girls aren't safe in this world.
Her grandmother was her protector, her shield, the one person who kept her safe from her mother's worsening schizophrenia and the chaos swirling around them. But when her grandmother died from an aneurysm, one that could have been prevented if she'd been able to afford her blood pressure medication, Adriene's world collapsed.
What followed were years of bouncing between relatives' homes, attending 13 different schools, becoming a master at surface-level friendships while keeping every painful truth locked inside. She learned to smile, to be chirpy, to deflect. She kept conversations about other people, never herself.
Eventually, Adriene found herself in foster care, a system that was supposed to save her but instead became another source of trauma. The abuse there was so severe that she ran away, preferring the streets to the so-called safety of state care.
And through it all, Adriene tried to leave this planet. Multiple times. She lost count of how many suicide attempts she made.
But something stopped her every time. And eventually, she had a revelation: she was here for a reason. She wouldn't be allowed to leave until she fulfilled whatever purpose she'd been given. There was no memo. No instruction manual. Just a quiet, stubborn knowing that her life meant something, even if she couldn't see it yet.
So she kept going. She got into college, part of the less than 3% of former foster youth who do. She found her way through the fog, one decision at a time. And now, she's the author of Life Outside the Lines, a raw, unflinching memoir that holds nothing back.
Adriene's message isn't about toxic positivity or pretending life is easy. It's about hope. Real, gritty, hard-won hope. The kind that says: where you are right now doesn't have to be where you stay forever. The decisions you make today shape your tomorrow. You have more power than you realize. And you can get to the other side of this.
When we asked Adriene for her favorite word, she didn't hesitate: "Hope."
Because hope isn't just a feeling for her. It's survival. It's the thing that kept her breathing when nothing else made sense. And it's what she's offering the rest of us now,proof that even the most broken stories can be rewritten.
At the heart of this conversation is a truth that challenges everything we've been taught about trauma and survival: being broken is not the same as being destroyed.
Adriene introduces us to the word "unbroken" in a way most of us have never considered. It doesn't mean undamaged or untouched by pain. It means wild, untamed, refusing to be trained into silence or submission. Think of a horse that won't be broken, that keeps its spirit no matter what tries to crush it. That's Adriene.
This episode reframes what survival actually looks like. It's not about bouncing back quickly or pretending the trauma didn't happen. Sometimes survival is just making it through today. Sometimes it's measured in the smallest decisions, choosing not to drink, going to one more class, holding onto one fragile reason to stay alive even when everything screams to let go.
Adriene also names something many survivors carry in silence: the revelation that the systems meant to protect you can become the very things that hurt you most. Foster care was supposed to save her. Instead, it became another layer of trauma so severe she chose the streets over state custody. And yet, even in that darkness, she kept moving forward.
What makes this conversation so powerful is Adriene's refusal to offer false hope. She's not saying life is easy or that everything works out. She's saying that where you are right now doesn't have to be where you stay forever. That the decisions you make today, even the tiny ones, shape your tomorrow. That you have more power than you realize, even when you feel completely powerless.
This conversation makes space for the hardest truth: sometimes staying alive is the bravest thing you'll ever do. And sometimes that's enough.
π« A quote that stuck with us
"I realized I was put on this planet for a reason, and I would not be allowed to leave until I had fulfilled my purpose. There was no memo, so I didn't know what the purpose was. But I'm here for a reason." , Adriene Caldwell
ποΈ Real Talk from Us
"When Adriene said her favorite word is 'hope,' I had to pause the recording in my head for a second. After everything she survived, hope is still the word that matters most to her. That's not naΓ―ve. That's power." , G-Rex
"The way she redefined 'unbroken' hit me so hard. We spend so much time trying to appear undamaged, when what we really need is to stay wild, to refuse to let trauma train us into silence. That's the kind of strength I want." , Dirty Skittles
π Reflection Prompts to Sit With
β¨ What does "unbroken" mean to you? Are you wild and untamed, or have you been trained into silence?
β¨ Where in your life do you need to stop waiting for big leaps and start celebrating the half-inch progress?
β¨ If hope feels impossible right now, what would it look like to borrow someone else's hope until you can hold your own again?
β¨ What decision can you make today,no matter how small,that moves you toward a better tomorrow?
π± Gentle Reminder
You are not broken just because you've been hurt. You are not weak because you're still healing. And staying alive, even on the days when it feels impossible, is not giving up. It's the most courageous thing you can do. Your past does not get to write your future. You do.
π¨βπ« Meet Our Guest , Adriene Caldwell
Adriene Caldwell is the author of Life Outside the Lines, a raw and unflinching memoir that chronicles her journey from early childhood through her early twenties. During this time, she was either the witness to or the victim of the sexual assault of a young girl, the drowning death of another child, emotional and physical abuse, extreme poverty, mental illness, homelessness, horrifically abusive foster care, bulimia, drug and alcohol addiction, pedophilia, death, suicide, and incest.
Her book comes with trigger warnings because her story doesn't shy away from the truth. But it also comes with something else: hope.
Adriene is living proof that you can survive what most people can't even imagine. She's part of the less than 3% of former foster youth who attend college, defying statistics that say 20% of the US prison population was in foster care at one point.
She's not offering rainbows and sunshine. Life can be cruel, and she knows that better than most. What she is offering is hope,hope that the trauma will end, hope that the future will be different, hope that life can improve.
Her favorite word is "hope," and her least favorite word is one she won't say out loud but that represents all the pain she's endured.
Adriene's message is simple but powerful: where you are right now doesn't have to be where you stay forever. The decisions you make today affect your life tomorrow. You have more power over your life than you realize. And you can change things. You can take control.
She's here because she believes that if she can profoundly change even one person's life, it will have been worth it.
β¨ Being "unbroken" doesn't mean you're undamaged,it means your spirit is still wild, still yours, still untamed.
β¨ Sometimes survival is just about making it through today. And that's enough.
β¨ The decisions you make right now shape the life you'll live tomorrow. Start small. Start somewhere.
β¨ Hope isn't about pretending everything is fine. Hope is about believing things can be different, even when you can't see how yet.
β¨ You are here for a reason. Even if you don't know what it is yet, keep going. Your story isn't over.
β¨ If you can change one life,even your own,it's worth it.
πͺ Actionable Steps
1οΈβ£ Make one decision today that moves you toward a better tomorrow. It doesn't have to be big. Just one thing.
2οΈβ£ Find one person,a friend, a therapist, a hotline,and talk to them. You don't have to carry everything alone.
3οΈβ£ If you're in a dark place, hold onto one small reason to stay. Even if it's just curiosity about what might come next.
4οΈβ£ Read or listen to a story of survival. Let someone else's hope remind you that yours is still there, waiting.
5οΈβ£ Write down one thing you survived this week. Acknowledge it. You're still here, and that matters.
6οΈβ£ Share this episode with someone who needs to hear that their past doesn't get to write their ending.
π¬ Listener Engagement
What part of Adriene's story stayed with you?
Reply to this email or tag us on Instagram @grex_and_dirtyskittles with your favorite moment from the conversation.
We read every single message. You matter to us. π
β Subscribe, Rate & Review
If Adriene's story reminded you that survival is possible and hope is real, please take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review the show on your favorite platform.
Your reviews help new listeners find us and keep this community growing stronger.
Adriene's story isn't easy to hear. But it's necessary.
Because somewhere out there, someone is sitting in the same place she once was,believing there's no way out, no reason to stay, no hope left.
And they need to hear that she made it. That survival is possible. That the darkest moments don't have to be the final ones.
Adriene's favorite word is hope. And after hearing her story, we understand why. Hope isn't naive. Hope isn't blind. Hope is the refusal to let your past write your future. Hope is the decision to take one more step, even when you can't see where it leads.
Wherever you are today, whatever you're carrying, we want you to know: your story isn't over. The decisions you make today matter. You have more power than you realize. And you don't have to do this alone.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for listening. Thank you for choosing to stay, even on the days when it's hard.
We're so proud of you. And we're walking this messy, beautiful, unbroken journey right beside you.
With so much love,
G-Rex & Dirty Skittles
Changing the way we talk about mental health, one real convo at a time.
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G-Rex & Dirty Skittles
It's ok to be not ok, just make sure you're talking to someone
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