Welcome. I’m so glad you’re here.

I’m Leslie Nease — a Life & Faith Transitions Coach, writer, podcaster, and someone who has lived through more transitions than I can count. If there’s one thing I understand deeply, it’s what it feels like when the ground beneath you shifts.

For over a decade, I served in public ministry. My faith wasn’t just something I believed, it was my identity, my work, my community, my everything. But in 2016, I began asking hard questions about the things I had been taught… and the things I was teaching. What started as curiosity slowly became deconstruction.

I didn’t speak publicly about that journey until 2023. It felt sacred and deeply personal. I needed space to listen, to grieve, to wrestle, and to untangle belief from fear. I didn’t want to perform certainty while doing the painful work of unlearning. Those quiet years were some of the hardest of my life and also some of the most transformative. In the stillness, I found myself again. Maybe for the first time.

That journey led to my book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian, released October 22, 2024. It also inspired the podcast Honoring the Journey, which I began in January 2024 with my friend Karen Shock. Our heart was simple: create conversations that break down walls of judgment and fear while honoring journeys from those deconstructing faith, those of different religions, cultures, and backgrounds, and those who simply see the world differently. Karen has since moved on, and I now continue the podcast solo, and I’m truly loving this new chapter.

I believe much of the division in our world exists because we stop listening. We decide who someone is before we ever hear their story. I’m committed to doing the opposite.

Transitions have shaped my life from the very beginning. My parents divorced when I was young. My mom later married a wonderful military man, and we moved frequently. This taught me to adapt, rebuild, and begin again. The longest I ever lived in one place growing up was four years in Okinawa, Japan, where I spent my high school years.

As an adult, I married young, had children young, and continued moving often for my husband’s career. New cities. New churches. New communities. New identities. Over and over again.

Change has always been part of my story.

And while transition can grow you, it can also exhaust you. It can shake your confidence, your sense of belonging, and even your trust in yourself.

Leaving religion was the most painful transition of all. I was taught not to trust my heart or my emotions — only what certain teachers and interpretations told me was “truth.” When I stepped outside of that system, I remember thinking, How do I ever trust myself again?

If you’ve felt that, I see you.

Through years of questioning, grieving, and rebuilding, I’ve found peace. I’ve learned to trust myself again. I still love God. I still pray. My faith is still everything to me — it just looks different now. I no longer live inside religious walls, but I strive to live like Jesus: loving people well, choosing kindness, calling out injustice, and making sure everyone feels seen and included without conditions.

Some of you may know me from other chapters of my life. Maybe you knew me as a Christian radio host, speaker, writer, or even as “Sister Christian” on Survivor: China in 2007 (yes, someone actually voted me out using that name!). My identity has evolved since those days, but my heart for people hasn’t.

Today, I help others navigate life and faith transitions with honesty, courage, and compassion. Whether you’re questioning beliefs, shifting identities, grieving community, or simply standing at the edge of something new, you don’t have to walk it alone.

Your journey is sacred.
It is beautiful.
And it deserves to be honored.

— Leslie