with Senamile Zungu
In this episode, Alice sits down with her best friend Senamile Zungu for the most personal conversation ever recorded on My Rejection Story. Sena opens up about what it took to unravel—and survive—after years of perfectionism, people-pleasing, and pushing through pain.
From two psychiatric hospitalizations to setting boundaries that cost her relationships, this is the story of what happens when a woman chooses herself for the very first time.
Together, Alice and Sena reflect on friendship, anger, grief, and the violent pressure to be everything to everyone. It’s a raw and unfiltered conversation about burnout, identity loss, and what it takes to reinvent your life from scratch.
This episode is about loving someone through the ugliest seasons of their life—and holding onto yourself when the world tells you to disappear.
In This Episode, We Cover:
Why burnout was just the symptom—and how much deeper the wound went
What people-pleasing costs you (and who you have to grieve to stop doing it)
What it’s like to survive a suicide attempt and still feel like a burden
The rage that comes when you finally stop self-abandoning
Why boundaries feel like betrayal—even when they’re saving your life
How it feels to lose family, faith, and career—and still want to try again
What it means to be witnessed in your full, messy, human self
This episode is about loving someone through the ugliest seasons of their life—and holding onto yourself when the world tells you to disappear.
Links & Resources:
🎧 Listen to Sena’s podcast, Colour-full
https://pod.link/1736137543
📘 Read: When The Body Says No by Dr. Gabor Maté
https://www.amazon.com/When-Body-Says-Understanding-Stress-Disease/dp/0470923350
📱 Follow Senamile on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/sena_zungu/
💼 Connect with Senamile on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/senamile-zungu-a8375627a/
Chapters:
00:00 The Friendship Behind the Mic
06:11 What Burnout Really Looked Like
10:42 Surviving Hospitalization—and the Shame That Follows
15:33 People-Pleasing and the Loss of Self
21:58 Rage, Religion, and Rejection
26:40 What Happens When You Start Saying No
32:14 Grieving Who You Used to Be
36:59 The Rebuild: Boundaries, Healing, and a New Kind of Success
41:46 How to Love Someone Who’s Falling Apart
47:18 Being Seen and Loved in the Middle of the Mess