Ep. 80: From military grit, to Mama, to mercy & self-love w/Veteran & Empowerment Coach Dielle Luster

In this episode, I sit down with Army Veteran, Empowerment Coach, Host, & speaker Dielle Luster to talk about what it really looks like to walk through adversity with honesty, faith, and community. And we laugh...a lot! It's hard not to with Dielle's infectious energy.Follow Dielle on InstagramSubscribe to her YouTube channelFrom the discipline and “face it head on” mindset she learned in the military to the tenderness of mercy, vulnerability, and self-love, Dielle’s story is a powerful reminder that it’s okay to not be okay...and that we’re all worth the save.We talk about the messy middle seasons: separation, shifting identities, and learning to let go of control when life doesn’t follow the plan you had in your head. Dielle shares how prayer became less of a performance and more of a raw, ongoing conversation with God, and how experiencing God in simple, everyday moments changed the way she sees herself and others.We also dig into her transition into empowerment coaching - how her desire to help others heal grew out of her own battles with negative self-talk, emotional pain, and starting over. Writing becomes a form of therapy in this conversation: a way to process grief, name hard emotions, and begin the work of self-forgiveness and spiritual growth.If you’ve ever felt like you had to be “strong” all the time, this one is for you. Dielle’s story is a masterclass in military grit meets mercy, in learning to embrace vulnerability as strength, and in finding your people - the community that reminds you “you can’t quit” when everything in you wants to tap out.You’ll hear us talk about:Growing up in the military and how “run toward the fear” became a life lessonLife after service: identity shifts, separation, and learning who you are outside the uniformHow community and friendship hold you when relationships get complicatedWhy vulnerability is not weakness, and how it opens the door to real healingPrayer as a tool for emotional processing, not perfectionExperiencing God in the everyday, not just the “big” spiritual momentsThe difference between sacrifice and mercy in your spiritual journeyLetting go of control and trusting God’s plan when nothing makes senseHow empowerment coaching became a calling born from her own adversityUsing writing as therapy for emotional healing and self-discoveryThe hard but holy work of self-forgiveness and talking back to negative self-talkWhat it means to be “yoked with God” in real life, not just in theoryWhy everyone, no matter their past, is worth the save