Ep. 69 - Reclaiming Your Power: Purity Culture, Guru Dynamics & Learning to Trust Yourself with Katie Stone

What happens when the place that helps you find your power also becomes a place where you give it away? Hollywood screenwriter Katie Stone joins Alexis Artin for a deeply personal conversation about purity culture, religious trauma, body autonomy, guru dynamics and their shared experiences inside S Factor. Katie opens up about growing up in evangelical Christianity in the South, how obedience shaped her relationship with her body and sexuality, and why a women's pole dancing practice initially felt like coming home. Together, they explore the freedom and belonging they found, the dependence on teacher approval they later recognized, and why genuine transformation can make harmful dynamics harder to see. Alexis reflects on her experience as a creative director and master teacher trainer, the postpartum mental health crisis that exposed cracks in her support system, and the difficulty of leaving a community tied to her income, friendships and purpose.  ***"If you're an adult woman moving in the world, you have to make your own choices because if you don't someone else will do it for you." — Katie Stone*** \----- 00:00 — Welcome to Look At Me Now 01:03 — Meet Katie Stone 03:09 — Religious Trauma & Growing Up in Purity Culture 06:08 — Questioning Virginity, Purity & Control 09:30 — When a Childhood Crush Becomes a Message From God 11:34 — Finding Pole Dancing After College 13:12 — Reclaiming Her Body, Intuition & Sexuality 15:24 — Why We Outsource Our Power 16:42 — Overachievement, Obedience & People-Pleasing 18:10 — Naming S Factor & Its Origin Story 22:19 — Alexis's First Class & Permission to Feel Good 24:12 — Finding a Place Where Your Body Belongs 25:10 — The Dance That Changed Alexis's Perspective 27:37 — Katie's First Experience Inside the Studio 29:51 — Guru Mythology & Writing About the Retreats 32:20 — Why a Higher Mission Makes Leaving Complicated 34:44 — Erotic Archetypes & Permission to Feel Anger 36:34 — The Physical & Emotional Journey Through the Practice 39:29 — Teacher Worship & Dependence on Feedback 41:01 — Performance, Vulnerability & the External Gaze 44:00 — Katie Steps Away & Begins Therapy 45:16 — Leadership, Identity & Teacher Burnout 49:37 — Alexis Reflects on The Hollywood Reporter Article 50:35 — Postpartum Struggles & a Breaking Point 55:16 — Resigning & Losing Community 59:29 — Race, Dissent & the Organization's Reckoning 1:03:31 — Why Leaving Meant Rebuilding a Whole Life 1:06:25 — Making Sense of the Experience After Leaving 1:08:35 — Therapy, Grief & Reclaiming Your Choices 1:10:35 — Boundaries, Consent & Choosing to Walk Away 1:14:53 — The Retreat Experience That Changed Alexis's Mind 1:17:55 — You Can Say I'm Done 1:19:01 — Trusting Yourself & Reclaiming Your Inner Compass 1:20:07 — Speaking Publicly, Turning 40 & Helping Other Women \----- Follow Katie Stone @katiejstone91 Follow Alexis @alexis\_artin Learn more at AlexisArtin.com Save 50% on any SoulSway experience with code LAMN50 This is an Operation Podcast production