About Me

Hi, I'm Kayla.

For most of my life, I was taught to stay quiet and keep family matters private. Then I realized that staying quiet was costing me everything and that my story might be exactly what someone else needed to hear.

I'm a trauma survivor, author, podcast host, and community builder. At 19, I went no contact with my mother after years of navigating a childhood that taught me survival before it taught me anything else. That decision opened the door to 14 years of doing the real work: processing, writing, breaking cycles, and figuring out who I actually was underneath all of it.

In 2025, I published my debut memoir, I Was Once the Girl in the Red House, ten years in the making, and proof that the stories we're told to keep quiet are often the ones most worth telling.

What I've learned is this: writing didn't heal me. Processing did. Writing was just the container I used to get there, and it changed everything.

That realization is the foundation of everything I do now.

Beyond the Red House is the community I built for trauma survivors who are still in the messy middle. Not the ones who have it figured out, the ones who are still in it, still carrying it, still trying to find their footing. People who need somewhere to land that doesn't require them to pretend to be okay.

Inside you'll find community, teaching, writing prompts, and self-paced courses for $25/month, no contracts, no pressure. Learn More

The Beyond the Red House Podcast is where I have real conversations about trauma, processing, breaking cycles, and finding your voice, including the parts nobody talks about. Listen Now

What I believe:

• Your story matters exactly as it is right now

• Processing is the mechanism; writing is one way in, but not the only way

• Breaking cycles starts with one person, and that person is allowed to be you

• You don't have to be further along than you are to belong somewhere safe

You belong here. 💛