Debra Lee May on Life, Lessons & Legacy

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Debra Lee May. Check out our conversation below.

Hi Debra Lee, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: What do you think others are secretly struggling with—but never say?
Unprocessed emotions. So many people—especially women—are walking around carrying years of suppressed anger, disappointment, shame, or resentment, thinking they’ve moved on from painful experiences when really, they’re just managing or masking it. They smile, function, and even succeed, but underneath there’s this weight they’ve learned to live with—both from personal experiences and from feeling powerless in a world that seems to be moving backward.
Their anger is completely valid— but they’re still carrying the weight. I know because I lived it for years. Discovering how to release it completely shifted my identity.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Debra Lee May, and I’ve discovered something powerful about healing: emotions like hurt, disappointment, shame, and anger get stored in our bodies, but you can use them to transform your experiences. When these emotions remain unprocessed, they keep you stuck and prevent you from living as your authentic self.

I spent years trying traditional approaches that helped temporarily, but the emotions always returned. Then I found that when I started writing my stories, I began seeing them from an entirely new perspective that more reflected who I’d become. This became RAGE WRITING™ – a specific method for releasing those stored emotions from your body and onto paper.

I just released my first workbook in the RAGE WRITING™ series. A step-by-step guide on how to release emotions while gaining deeper clarity of the experience and your path forward. What makes this different is that it’s a neuroscience-backed process that clears emotions from your nervous system. The transformation I’ve seen is profound – people stop masking their feelings and start living more as their true selves.

This method changed everything for me, and I wanted to share it with you.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
The weight of unexpressed emotions. When you’re busy managing your internal emotional chaos, you can’t truly connect with others. You show up guarded, reactive, or emotionally unavailable because you’re carrying so much heaviness. When you clear those stored emotions, it restores your connections and allows you to be genuinely present.

When you give yourself permission to write out your anger, shame, or disappointment without judgment, you start to shed the weight of unprocessed pain within you. Without this heaviness, you reclaim your power. When you’re no longer carrying unexpressed feelings, you can show up as who you actually are, rather than being defensive. That’s when real connection becomes possible again.

That’s exactly why I created RAGE WRITING—it’s a structured way to process buried emotions safely.

If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
You have everything within you that you need. Trust yourself. Your pain has purpose, and you have the power to process it in a way that makes you stronger and more authentic. Every detour—no matter how hard— leads to something better. Allow yourself to grow from your experiences, rather than holding onto them. Your anger is valid information – it redirects you and shows you what’s important and what matters. Your story isn’t over yet.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
I believe that releasing anger, hurt, shame, and other challenging emotions can profoundly alter the trajectory of your life and relationships. The ability to process these emotions and the growth that comes from them is freeing. It gives you an entirely new perspective on life. This belief drives everything I do – helping people discover that carrying emotional heaviness or resentment is holding them back from who they could become.

Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
The story that transformation doesn’t have an expiration date – whether you’re 25 or 65, you can release what’s weighing you down and become who you’re meant to be. When you write your stories, you start seeing yourself and your life more clearly, often with profound gratitude for the journey that brought you here. I hope that women walk away empowered to write their own new chapter.

I want to be remembered as someone who gave people permission to embody what their experiences taught them, so they can feel everything and live life fully.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
@Stephaniebartzphoto Headshot

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