About Me

If you have ever suffered from depression; If you have ever felt like you are broken in some way; If you have ever struggled with your issues in silence, for fear of being judged; If you have unhealed pain or trauma from your past; If you have ever thought that you didn’t think that you could go on anymore; If you ever have not been able to love yourself – I can relate.

I’ve never been very good at introducing myself so please bear with me. My name is Carl T. Kraley. I’m often asked why I include my middle initial so I’ll just get ahead of that question now. I was named after both of my grandfathers and wanted to still honor my father’s father Thomas without going by both names. I’m a father of two ferociously strong headed children, the very best combination of my wife and myself, but perhaps not the most convenient personalities to exude as 4 and 6 year olds. I’m married to my wife, Kate, a loyal teammate and beacon of support, and despite leaving cabinet doors open and never restocking toilet paper, she’s still the person I am happy to share my life with. My family means the world to me — the family I came from and the family I made. As a West Michigan transplant in Central Ohio, I’m grateful for the life I’ve built here, but will never forget where I came from and who helped me along the way.

I have struggled with mental health issues, most notably bouts of depression, since early childhood. Almost all of the darkest, most difficult battles that I fought were hidden from everyone – my parents, my siblings, my close friends, and eventually my wife. I never talked about any of my issues. I struggled in silence. I struggled alone. I lived that way for decades, and that strategy seemed to work for me. Until it didn’t.

2015 started out as a great year for me. A promotion at work, a new car, buying our dream home and welcoming our second child into the world. But then “it” happened. Shortly after moving into our new home, I was brought to my knees by a nervous breakdown and a subsequent bout of deep depression. The breakdown and depression stemmed from a lifetime of hiding my issues and not working through any of the pain and trauma I had endured. The weight of it all was too much for me to continue to carry anymore. I decided that was enough. I was done suffering in silence…well, for the most part. I opened up to my wife and what I had been struggling with. I really had no choice. I couldn’t hide it anymore. I was an absolute wreck and she deserved to know why. With her unconditional support, I decided to do whatever it took to get better, not just for myself, but for her, and for our kids. That path led me to therapy, meditation, self discovery, and the world of personal development.

The journey that I have been on since 2015 is a story of how extraordinary change can happen from healing the pain of your past and pursuing personal growth. I have also come to understand how powerful the right mindset is when faced with challenges and difficulties in life. I have lived an extraordinary life, not in terms of accomplishments and accolades, but in having to overcome tremendous adversity and trauma time and time again. In looking back on my life, I realized that I wouldn’t have made it through those failures and tough times without the right mentality.

During my journey I have been open and vulnerable with my wife and my therapist, but I still hid it from everyone else. Now I’m sharing my journey and how I’ve accomplished change and healing, in hopes that others can find the courage to start their own journey and maybe use some of the things that worked for me. Life is too amazing to just exist as a shadow of yourself. The reward for putting in the work to be the best version of myself has been more than anything that I could have imagined and I want more than anything for others to feel the unique happiness that comes with it.