We recently had the chance to connect with Malaysia Harrell and have shared our conversation below.
Malaysia, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
Absolutely! I recently hosted the Align & Rise Retreat for veteran women and veteran spouses has been one of the proudest moments of my entire journey. To witness the vision come alive in such a profound way, women arriving burdened and leaving lighter, stronger, and connected was deeply moving.
There were moments that made me laugh with pure joy: spontaneous dancing in the living room, women cheering each other on during mindfulness exercises, the shared wonder at the lavender farm. But more than the laughter, it was the transformation that made me proud. Seeing veterans who rarely pour into themselves begin to rest, breathe, and receive reminded me that this work is not just impactful, it is necessary.
The retreat was a living testament to what can happen when healing, community, and intention meet.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Malaysia Harrell, a board-certified psychotherapist, spiritual transformation coach, veteran, author, award-winning entrepreneur and founder of Blissful Life Consulting and the Malaysia Harrell Foundation. My work lives at the intersection of clinical excellence and sacred restoration. Practically, I help high-achieving women, veterans, and leaders reclaim identity beyond titles, rebuild resilient inner lives, and design purpose-driven careers.
What makes our approach different is that we do not treat trauma as an interruption to success, we treat it as the very soil from which a deeper calling can grow. We blend evidence-based therapies, somatic and nervous system work, spiritual practices, and practical leadership frameworks, then translate them into tools for daily life and organizational culture. We design retreats, corporate wellness programs, one-on-one coaching, and signature workshops that welcome both the wound and the wisdom.
Ultimately, Blissful Life Consulting is less about performance and more about alignment, helping people move from surviving to thriving, from doing for worth to being from worth.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
One of the most defining moments of my life was the day I almost died, not from the illness alone, but from being unseen in a system that was supposed to protect me. I walked into the hospital in excruciating pain after returning from deployment, exhausted and fighting symptoms that kept getting dismissed. Instead of receiving the urgent medical care I needed, I was met with disbelief. A psychiatrist was called instead of a specialist. My pain was minimized. My voice was overlooked.
Hours later, I heard the word sepsis. Nurses rushed around me, alarms went off, and in that moment, life became both painfully fragile and fiercely sacred.
That experience changed me, not just because my body was failing, but because I realized how dangerous it is to be unseen. It taught me that survival isn’t just biological; it’s spiritual, emotional, and systemic. It opened my eyes to the silent battles so many women, especially women veterans, face when their pain is not taken seriously.
It also clarified my mission. Healing is no longer just my profession, it is my responsibility. I vowed that if I walked out of that hospital alive, I would use my voice, my training, and my testimony to advocate for those who feel invisible, unheard, or dismissed.
That near-death experience didn’t just reshape how I see the world,
it reshaped who I am in it.
What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
My defining wounds are layered: childhood abuse that taught me to armor up, the relentless demands of military life that taught me to perform at the cost of my soul, and a medical crisis after deployment that forced me face-to-face with my own fragility.
Healing began when I stopped treating survival strategies as permanent identities. I healed through therapy, somatic practice, honest community, spiritual surrender, and by turning my pain into purpose, founding spaces (retreats, programs, a foundation) where women can be seen, grieve, and be rebuilt.
The work is ongoing; healing for me is both daily discipline and sacred reclamation.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
I am deeply committed to one lifelong mission: transforming how we understand, honor, and heal the invisible wounds carried by women and veterans. This isn’t just a project, it’s a calling that sits at the core of everything I do.
For decades, I’ve watched people suffer silently behind polished titles, military uniforms, successful careers, and perfectly curated lives. I’ve watched women hold their breath through trauma, veterans navigate systems that don’t see them, and high-achievers crumble under the weight of expectations they were never meant to carry alone. I’ve lived those realities myself,the medical neglect, the trauma, the burnout, the pressure to be strong even while breaking internally.
So my long-term commitment is building spaces, programs, retreats, policies, foundations, conversations, communities, where healing is not a luxury, but a birthright. This is the heart of the Malaysia Harrell Foundation and the driving force behind Blissful Life Consulting. I’m committed to reshaping how we talk about wholeness, how we create support for those who serve, and how we empower women to return to themselves after life has stripped them down to their core.
I’m committed to this work until it becomes generational, until daughters grow up watching mothers who are whole and supported, until veterans receive care that sees their humanity, until mental and spiritual wellness is woven into the fabric of how we lead, live, and recover.
Whether it takes a decade or a lifetime, I will keep building, keep advocating, and keep creating pathways to healing,because when one person heals, entire communities rise.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. Have you ever gotten what you wanted, and found it did not satisfy you?
Absolutely, in fact, some of the biggest achievements of my life taught me that success without alignment is just another form of emptiness.
For years, I fought for the things I thought proved my worth: the titles, the medals, the leadership roles, the accomplishments that made people nod in approval. I checked every box. I excelled in the military. I built a respected career as a psychotherapist. I earned degrees, certifications, and accolades that looked incredible on paper.
And yet, behind closed doors, something in me was unraveling.
I remember moments when I should have felt proud,stepping into rooms I once prayed for, receiving the achievements I had worked tirelessly for,and instead feeling a quiet hollowness. I didn’t understand it at the time. I only knew that what I fought so hard to attain wasn’t filling the places in me that were still hurting.
It took my near-death experience,the sepsis, the medical neglect, the sudden collapse of my health,to realize that I had built a version of success that didn’t include me. I had become who the world needed, but not who my soul needed. I had achieved everything except peace.
Getting what I thought I wanted showed me that fulfillment does not come from accomplishments; it comes from alignment. From purpose. From truth.
Today, my joy comes from work that feels like a calling, not a performance. From creating spaces where women and veterans can breathe again. From leading with heart, not exhaustion. From living a life that honors who I truly am,not who I was taught to be.
So yes, I’ve had what I wanted… and it wasn’t until it failed to satisfy me that I finally discovered what my soul was actually longing for.
Contact Info:
- Website: www..malaysiaharrell.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/malaysiahharrell?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malaysia-h-harrell-a322b19b?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/15YFYAy18u/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@dreamlifemanifested?si=rEFyAh2EINGtztZk
Image Credits
Kim Amazing Photography
Media Expertzy
Veteran Led Podcast
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
