Meet Devin Polite

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Devin Polite. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Devin below.

Hi Devin, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.

I overcame imposter syndrome when I survived a rare and aggressive cancer. I had always kept a positive outlook on life. Enjoying the small things; beautiful sunsets, the sound of the waves crashing at the beach, the smell of rain coming or just the warm air on a summer night. Even though I have always felt intelligent, athletic and overall, well balanced. All my life, I would tend to purposefully fall into the background so as not to be seen or noticed. I struggled with masking during social interactions and would end up just doing what I thought I needed to do in order to fit in, to be “normal”. Being the type of person who takes action and doesn’t like to make excuses for why I am unable to do things, I’ve tended to just figure things out on my own. I just never knew how strong and resilient I truly was. I never actually had to prove it.

Then I was diagnosed with cancer. Gray Zone Lymphoma. Most people have never heard of this cancer; at the time I was diagnosed there were less than 100 known cases in the entire country. My oncologist told me he had never even treated this type of cancer before. This nearly broke me, it really shook me to my core. My children were 5 and 8 at the time & I still had so much to teach them, so many lessons to teach and so many events to attend. I had imagined them at my funeral saying their final goodbyes and I just knew I couldn’t leave them like that. I didn’t want them to have to tell the story of how their dad died of cancer. To live their life wondering what could have been. So, it was time for me to prove to them and to myself who I truly was. I am a fighter, I am a warrior, and I can figure it out just like I always had done before. This time it was for real, for all the marbles.

During my initial work up process I had completely lost my ability to speak. One of the tumors beneath my sternum had grown large enough to crush my vagus nerve. This nerve affects many body functions, including the vocal cords. So, one of my vocal cords had become completely paralyzed. This meant that I had no voice to speak. Any time we eat or drink the vocal cords normally pinch together so that your trachea can be closed and you can swallow food down to your esophagus. But since one of my vocal cords was stuck open, my trachea was constantly open. I literally had to learn to eat and drink again because food and water would go down my trachea whenever I would eat or drink. I didn’t let any of these things deter me though.

I knew that even if cancer was going to kill me, I wasn’t going to let it break me. I showed up to all of my appointments with a positive outlook. I stayed calm, cool and relaxed throughout the entire process. I had a major thoracotomy surgery as my biopsy. During the aggressive chemo treatments, I had to stay in the hospital for 5-6 days at a time every 3 weeks, I had to show up to the oncology clinic between chemo treatments for bloodwork and maintenance injections to keep my white blood cells up. Through all of that I never wavered. The doctors and nurses were so impressed with my outlook and my resilience. In those moments, something changed in me. It was no longer me masking and pretending to be strong. I WAS STRONG.

I would hear of people complaining of little things in life, normal things that most people complain about. I would think to myself, if only they knew that their life could be in jeopardy at any moment. Life could throw them into the fight of their life and here they are complaining about the little things. Meanwhile I just wanted to be healthy again. I knew in those moments, WHEN I survive cancer, I am going to do all of the things I wanted to do. I am going to start working out regularly, taking care of my mental and physical health, I am going to really enjoy my second chance at life and never make any excuses when things go wrong. These things are all a part of life; the good, the bad and the ugly. I knew from that moment I would rather live through the hard parts than to not live at all. I had a message to share. Because I know that anyone can have this type of strength, most people just don’t know how strong they truly are. That’s why I created the Trauma Saves brand. Because the trauma that I went through literally saved my life. It showed me that I am way stronger than I think and that I can survive anything life throws my way. But it’s not just me, it’s all of us. I want everyone to know that no matter what you go through, as long as you’re alive, things CAN get better. You just have to work at it. Believe in yourself and see things through. Don’t give up when life gets hard, keep pushing, keep fighting. Trust me when I say it’s worth it! Your loved ones will be so glad you did. Your future self is depending on you, no matter where you are right now you need to make yourself proud. Do the hard things and fight for a better life.

Trauma Saved My Life. It showed me how strong and resilient I truly am. The trauma that you’re going through, or the trauma that you’ve been through can do the same thing for you. If you let it. No excuses, no feeling sorry for yourself. Let that pain be your power, turn your trauma into triumph. I am here to help anyone in need. You can do it!

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

Trauma Saves was built through pain and struggle. Something that we all go through. We all have a lot more strength than we give ourselves credit for and I want to shine a light on that. When I was diagnosed with cancer, I had no choice but to be strong and I proved that when we have our backs against the wall that we can survive anything.

There are people out there struggling with illness, addiction, mental health crises, abusive relationships and severe injuries\accidents. However, these things don’t have to define us. They can be the catalyst to the best version of ourselves. Trauma is unfortunately something that just about all of us have to go through. Rather than feeling victimized by life or by uninformed choices that we made in the past, we can use those moments of trauma to really turn things around.

Trauma Saved My Life; I really mean that. If it wasn’t for the traumatic experience of nearly losing my life to a rare cancer, I am not sure I would be the man that I am today. I can now use my story to help inspire others. From losing over 100 pounds while getting into better shape to becoming a professional boxer (my debut fight is in July 2025). All of these things came AFTER the trauma for me. I could’ve let it beat me up and tear me down. But I used those moments of pain, and they became my power. I want everyone to know that they too can use their trauma, use the power that you developed from those moments and let those be the foundation for the best version of you that ever existed.

I now have a podcast series on YouTube channel (Trauma Saves) called Trama Saved My Life where I talk to other survivors of trauma. People who have used those heartbreaking moments to become stronger. Allowing them to share their stories and share their journey. From doubt to destiny. Stepping into our purpose and helping others find their strength. It’s so amazing to connect with other likeminded people. The more people hear these stories, the more they will realize they can also build from their pain and trauma. That’s what it’s all about for me.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Self Belief – Knowing that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. Not that things will always work out the way that you want them to. But the more you work towards a goal and work at improving, the better the chances are that you will achieve. Don’t quit until you reach your goals.

Resilience – Even when things don’t go your way, shake it off and keep going. Things are bound to go wrong in life. That doesn’t mean that’s the end of it. It’s just the natural course of life. The ups and downs are what make life such a wild ride. Don’t only focus on the ups, the downs are there for a reason. They’re there to teach you things, but you have to be open and receptive to the lessons.

Confidence – Confidence comes from doing the hard things. Most people look for shortcuts and always want to take the easy way out. Take the long route, put in the work and do the stuff that scares the hell out of you. When you make it to the other side you will realize that you had what it takes all along. People lack confidence because they’re unwilling to test themselves in real life. When you survive those tests, you build confidence naturally.

Tell us what your ideal client would be like?

My ideal client is someone who is hardworking and consistent. These qualities seem so rare nowadays. I wish everyone would show up consistently and just work hard. If they did, we would see so many more happy and confident people walking around.

The problem is most people make excuses for why they can’t do things. I prefer people who find reasons why they CAN do something.

Be open minded, realize that you will always have more to learn and then work hard at learning those things.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/traumasaves/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TraumaSaves
• Other: https://buymeacoffee.com/traumasaves

Image Credits

Jenny Alas
Sam Carrillo