In this interview, Bernadette explains the Shedding the Bitch™ project, which aims to help people discard the angst, negative attitudes, and limiting belief systems that hold them back. She clarifies that the "B‑word" is not about literal bitchiness but about the internal negative narratives that arise from experiences such as long‑term corporate pressure, illness, menopause, relationship struggles, or workplace dynamics. Bernadette shares concrete examples—cancer survivorship, menopause challenges, and men’s corporate behavior—to illustrate how individuals have transformed these obstacles into personal growth. She outlines what she is looking for in story submissions: truthful, honest, and vulnerable accounts where contributors "throw themselves under the bus" to educate others, often with a comedic touch. Finally, she describes the benefits of sharing a story: potential publication, the chance to help others avoid similar pitfalls, and the opportunity to leverage the narrative into coaching services or other products, creating a win‑win for both the storyteller and the broader community.
Chapters
Hi everyone.
Hi Bernadette, can you please tell me what Shedding the Bitch is all about?
Haha, let's see. Shedding the Bitch is really about getting rid of all the angst, attitudes, and negative belief systems that individuals, men and women, young and old, have in their life. It just really speaks to the fact that until people have really strong, confident, bold, and audacious mindsets, are they able to really pursue the goals and the objectives that they have for themselves.
Now, what do you mean when you say the big B word?
The bitch word? It really isn't only about whether or not someone is a bitch in the typical sense that we look at that. My story is the fact that I was one in corporate for a very, very long time. I just treated people somewhat nasty and curt and abrupt, and would love to say it was high expectations that I had of people, but it was, it was more than that. But yet at the same time, I have people that really come to me about the fact that it is the negative belief systems that they have for themselves, the, the angst that they carry around about themselves, their capabilities, their talents, and their passions that prevent them from really pursuing what it is that they want to pursue.
Now, what are some examples of how men and women have been able to shed their own bitch?
Well, I've had a number of people come up to me and they've said, well, Bernadette, I deal with this when I had cancer. I, you know, until I was so angry and so bitter and so upset about having cancer, and yet that was holding me back from really being able to be a survivor. So until I was able to be more positive and more optimistic and believe in myself that I could kick this issue, was I able to get over it? And then eventually I did. You can also relate it to menopause. People, women, suffer really hard mentally and psychologically about the fact that they're going through that life change. It could be about relationships, it could be about men and the way, you know, men handle themselves in the corporate environment, business environment, or in their social life. The subjects actually go on and on about where people have angst or attitudes or negative belief systems that are holding them back from realizing their true potential.
So what would you say you're looking for in the stories people will submit to you?
I'm looking for truth. I'm looking for honesty. I'm looking for the fact that people like myself are willing to kind of throw themselves under the bus in order to help and educate and inform, even in a comedic sense, other people about what their life experiences were, short or long term, in regards to their bitch, and then what they were able to do in order to overcome that, that B-word, so to speak.
In conclusion, what benefit is it to someone to actually share their story?
Well, of course, we all would love to be published, right? I mean, we would all love to have our names on a book or inside a book. But at the same time, I think it's really about the fact that, like like myself, I had something inside of me that I needed to tell the world and share with the world and educate the world about. And I really wanted to help other people not do what I did and yet succeed as gloriously as they can succeed. So I really think that if someone really has a story to tell, is wanting to share with other people, gain, you know, the ability to help other people, but at the same time they could even take their story and turn it into, you know, their own coaching services and their own other products that they care to. And so there's great benefits all around in regards to that.
