How Other People's Words Almost Destroyed Me

How Other People's Words Almost Destroyed Me

From Trandescendant by Trandescendant Podcast

April 27, 2026 · 28 min · Season 4 · Episode 34

About this episode

Stef Vachon shares his journey of overcoming the shame and anxiety caused by bullying after coming out as a professional figure skater.

What if the voice telling you you're not good enough isn't even yours? Professional figure skater, Stef Vachon came out at 18 and thought the hard part was over. But years of bullying had already buried themselves so deep that freedom didn't feel like freedom. He walked away from his greatest passion and spent decades lost in anxiety, carrying shame that was never his to carry. Joe and Rya sit down with the host of the Together Moving Forward podcast to hear how he finally traced that shame b...

People in this episode

Hosts: Joe, Rya

Guest: Stef Vachon

Topics covered

  • bullying
  • mental health
  • self-acceptance
  • anxiety
  • figure skating

Keywords

  • bullying
  • anxiety
  • shame
  • figure skating
  • self-acceptance
  • mental health

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Together Moving Forward

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