🌷The Girl I Used to Be

Before Catherine Unmuted ever existed… there was a little girl named Ryan.

Ryan was sunshine.
She was creative, bubbly, curious, and full of wonder. Her laughter filled rooms. Her imagination painted worlds that didn’t yet exist. She wrote songs, danced in mirrors, and believed the world was safe. Her eyes sparkled with a mix of innocence and possibility — the kind of light only a child who hasn’t yet been dimmed can carry.

But somewhere between ages five and thirteen… that light began to flicker.

When the World Shifted

It didn’t happen all at once — it started quietly. Subtle changes. Shadows that crept in where safety used to live.
The world that was once filled with art and giggles suddenly demanded that she grow up too fast.
There were things she experienced — things no little girl should ever have to process — and yet, she did. Alone.

By thirteen, she wasn’t just trying to survive what had happened to her… she was trying to silence the noise it left behind. The shame. The confusion. The feeling that her voice didn’t matter, or worse, that it wasn’t safe to use it.

That’s the part of my story that most people never saw — the moment when I started to shrink. When I started to disconnect from the parts of myself that felt too loud, too emotional, too much.

The Quiet Years

I became good at being okay.
I smiled. I performed. I showed up. But deep down, I was building walls around my heart, teaching myself to stay quiet to stay safe.
That silence followed me into adulthood — into relationships, into motherhood, into moments where I should’ve spoken up but didn’t.

It wasn’t until years later, standing in front of my own reflection, that I realized the woman staring back at me had spent decades trying to find the voice that little girl lost.

And that’s where the healing began.

Reclaiming My Voice

Unmuted didn’t start as a brand. It started as a whisper — a prayer, really.
A desire to stop hiding behind my pain and start transforming it.
To tell the truth — not for sympathy, but for freedom.
Because healing isn’t about pretending it never happened. It’s about letting the light back in where the wounds once lived.

Every blog post, every podcast episode, every piece of art I share now… is me honoring that little girl.
The one who went quiet too soon.
The one who’s finally being heard.

So when you read my words or listen to my voice, know this — it all began with Ryan, a joyful little girl who forgot her song for a while, but found her melody again… one truth at a time.

💌 To the Little Girl Inside You

If you’re reading this and you recognize that little girl in yourself — the one who had to grow up too fast, who learned to smile through pain, who dimmed her light just to feel safe — I want you to know this:

You are not broken.
You are not too late.
And your voice still matters.

Maybe your healing doesn’t look loud or public or polished. Maybe it’s quiet. Maybe it’s messy. Maybe it’s just starting. That’s okay. The very act of choosing yourself — of remembering your truth — is healing.

So, today, I invite you to sit with her — the younger you.
Ask her what she needs.
Listen to what she’s been waiting to say.
And when you’re ready…
Write her a letter.

Because healing begins the moment we decide to stop whispering our pain and start speaking our truth — unapologetically, courageously, and unmuted.