Episode #44: Deep Connection and the HSP Journey to “Becoming” with Christine Passo

Highly sensitive people crave meaningful conversations and can feel drained by surface-level connections…finding the right spaces can transform your sense of belonging.

Welcome back to The Happy HSP Podcast. I’m your host Kimberly Marshall, and today I’m joined Chritine Passo. She’s the head of community and connection at Shareapy, and she specializes in helping people navigate emotional pain, resilience, and change through deep and meaningful connection.

If you’ve ever felt like you were surrounded by people but not truly “seen,” or you have the tendecy to feel exhausted by small talk and crave deeper conversations, then this episode is for you.

I hope you enjoy it!

Kim: Christine, thank you so much for joining me today. It’s great to see you.

Christine: Oh, it’s great to see you too. Thanks so much for having me.

Kim: Yeah, so my first question is about your own personal journey with sensitivity and how you found out and learned about the trait and what that was like for you.

Christine: I’ve listened to a lot of your other episodes and the other guests and how they’ve responded. And a lot of them have properly gone through an assessment or they’ve taken something online. And I confess to saying that I have not done that. And it’s not that I don’t believe that I’m an HSP or I think that I’m not. There’s no doubt in my mind that I am. I don’t need a computer to tell me, that’s for darn sure.

I grew up always feeling so darn sensitive and so different. And I know a lot of your other guests have said that. We were told we were too sensitive, don’t take things seriously. Why are we harboring on something for so long? Why are we getting emotional about something that others don’t think that we should? Why is it taking us so long to process a thought or to work something through?

And you know what? It’s like it really, like so many other HSPs put me in that part of life that made me feel like I didn’t belong. It made me feel like I wasn’t supposed to have feelings or that I wasn’t supposed to care deeply. And it was really, really hard growing up in that type of verbal environment. I grew up, my nickname is teen, so my first name is Christine and my nickname is Tine.

And so many people would call me “Sweet Tine” because I was always being extra sweet or saying those extra things or having those extra feelings. And I’m glad that they saw me for that. We didn’t understand. So, decades ago, what it really meant to be a high-functioning, emotional person, a highly sensitive person. And so just as I’ve grown up, I’m 55 now. I turned 55 two weeks ago to the date.

Kim: Happy birthday.

Christine: Oh, thank you so much.

It’s been such a relief and a release to appreciate and accept these traits in myself because I had to accept them. So even if I went online and got assessed, I’d be like, “Yeah, okay, well, that sounds right.” It’s like we go online, we look at our horoscope, all these different things.

But unless we know it, feel it and truly accept it, then it doesn’t really serve us purpose. And so getting older and accepting so many things about myself and my life and my relationships has been so nurturing and so beautiful and has opened the door for me to embrace being a highly sensitive person.

Kim: Yeah. Can you tell me a little bit about the things that you did have to accept? What came up for you when you did realize this, and what shifted?

Christine: Oh my gosh. So, I always felt really up until just a few years ago that I didn’t belong in so many places, that I would want to talk about all the deep stuff where a lot of other people just wanted to talk about surface stuff, just have a good time, just let loose. And I’m like, I need to let loose by talking about my week and how it felt and where I’m heading and where you were heading and where everybody else is heading. And so, I always felt like I didn’t belong and that was really hard.

Then I kind of bought into find your people. This has been a big thing for what, the last five years. Find your people, make sure you’re with your people. And I thought I was finding my people, and I was to some extent, but still I hadn’t quite found them yet.

And so, one of my biggest struggles overall has been realizing that each one of us is extremely unique. What you bring to the world, just you independently, me independently, if you have any siblings independently, best friends, coworkers. I mean, the whole kit and caboodle, we each bring something so incredibly unique. And if one of us maybe is a little tougher, what do they say? I’m a little rough around the edges, then great! We have to let them be that and be okay.

And if someone is going to be more sensitive or take longer to process emotions or really need to talk about those emotions, that’s okay. And so, I spent so many decades feeling like it wasn’t okay or that I was being ridiculous.

And so, that was really a lot of my struggle. And even in my family, growing up in my family and being told I’m too sensitive, that I just need to let it go. I need to move on. And I’m like, I don’t really know how to process what you’re saying because it’s not a matter of moving on. It’s a matter of understanding within myself how an action, how a behavior ... It’s like I’m studying everything all the time for myself to stay curious, to learn about others and to learn about how I feel about it.

It’s just, it’s so incredibly interesting, and it can be exhausting. That’s another thing I heard from a lot of your guests, which is it can be exhausting having this heavy emotion process really all the time, which is why we tend to need a lot of alone time, but it’s been really interesting.

And the last, I would say six months in particular has been very eye-opening for me, and I feel very thankful for that.

Kim: Yeah. Yeah. So much you said there, it just really struck a chord with me because we do, we hear that so much. You’re too sensitive. And I think at first we believe people. We’re like, “Oh, I should probably tone this down.” And then we’re not sharing ourselves completely and fully.

Christine: That’s right. So, what do we do? We isolate.

Kim: Exactly.

Christine: We isolate. And then people think that we’re ignoring them.

Kim: Yeah. I mean, can we win?

Christine: Yes, that’s right. We’re boring because we want to talk about emotions or feelings or just kind of get philosophical and deep and it’s like, where are you going with this? Come on, let’s just go play a game or something. And which to me, playing games, I’m like, no, please, not another game.

Kim: Yes. I’m so with you. I do. I feel bad sometimes because I always go there. Someone says something and then I have to bring up the philosophical why behind it. And it can feel like a bit much, but that’s what interests me. I don’t know what else to say about that.

Christine: Yeah. Oh, it’s so true. And then what’s so interesting, and I told my wife this for years because I still hadn’t quite figured it out. And I was like, we go to these events and yeah, I have a good time, but I also feel exhausted from being depleted from feeling empty because we, HSPs, because we do feel so much all the time, we need to be able to exercise that, which means talk about it, share about it, or listen deeply. And when we’re rejected from having that opportunity, it’s draining. It’s so incredibly interesting to really think about it and talk about it. And I don’t think people that aren’t HSPs, I think it’s really hard for them to understand because they’re like, “What? Why would it be draining to not dig deep? Isn’t it draining to dig deep?”

Kim: To dig deep. Right.

Christine: Yes.

Kim: No, it’s that point of connection. And it’s funny, you just connected something from me there because when we’re trying to have a deep conversation and someone kind of like doesn’t, you can tell when they don’t get it or they just kind of brush you off. I feel like, I don’t know if it’s the same for you, but for me, I click into listener mode. I’m like, okay, I know I can’t connect to these people very deeply. I’m going to listen an hold space. So, then you’re taking on everything that they have to say, knowing that what you say is going to fall on deaf ears, and that’s exhausting, right? It’s like where if you and I were in a room and we’re talking about the deep stuff, that’s energized and like you get me, we kind of vibe.

Christine: Yes, absolutely. It was so just interesting to me. Like I said, I love how people behave and their reactions and what they say, not because I may disagree or not disagree. It’s not about that. It’s just that I learn from them, and I’m constantly in research mode. So, an aunt of mine, I don’t know, like five months ago ... Actually, no, it was even longer than that. That just goes to show you how crazy time is. But she sent me a DM on Instant Messenger and she said, I really want to know more about the work you do when I was a practicing coach. And I explained, “Hey, listen, I really help people through the tough times and pull their feelings out that they aren’t aware of.” I mean, that’s the short of the long. And she wrote me back and she said, “That must be utterly exhausting for you.”

And Denise Morrison, who you had as a guest on a former episode, were really good friends. We live close by. And I remember telling her about it and we both laughed and we’re like, “That’s the juice though. That’s the good stuff that energizes us. That gives us hope and faith and excitement and motivation.

Kim: Yeah, I’m so with you. It’s almost like a discovery process together. We’re out there, we do our own little research, we come together, we share, it takes us deeper and deeper and more interesting and more interesting. I feel like that’s just how we do things. We’re just so curious.

Christine: Yeah. And to do it any other way, there we go. Then we’re drained, we’re exhausted, we feel unheard, we feel unseen. We don’t know how to process things. I feel like I need to be home alone under a blanket with my dog on my lap. I mean, it’s so bizarre. Yeah, right?

Kim: You’re reminding me, I used to run a book club back in my more and more serious days when everything I did was like had to be perfect. And everyone wanted to get together and chat and drink. And in my mind, it was like a serious thing. We are going to dissect literature, ladies. And I remember at one point, no one was into the really deep stuff and the hard texts. And I literally had a tantrum. I was like, I freaked out because it wasn’t to my standards and expectations. We just hold ourselves, I think, to higher standards in some ways. And yeah, it’s just funny. It’s hard to find a lot of people that kind of see eye to eye.

Christine: It is. And so that was that part about finding your people, it can be really hard. And I think it’s another reason that HSPs, and maybe I’m just saying this about myself, why we don’t have a large amount of friends because we find the few that can go deep with us, and that’s all we need. I mean, it’s not that we don’t need other friends to have a good time with. They’re equally as important. They serve a different purpose in what we need in our lives, but certainly the ones that we can at any time, I mean, every time Denise and I get on the phone, we get right to it and I’ll be like, “Okay, I’ve been waiting to talk to you. Okay, you ready? Let’s dive in.” She’s like, “I was ready five minutes ago.”

Kim: Let’s do this. Yeah. The few people that really see you for who you are and what jazzes you up, there’s no better feeling than that than connecting with someone in that way.

Christine: It’s so true. It’s so true.

Kim: Yeah. Yeah. I’m so with you there. So, you mentioned coaching. Can you tell me a little bit about your work and what you do?

Christine: Yeah, sure. So, I currently am the head of community and connection at Shareapy. We are a peer support online platform where we’re not there to diagnose, we’re not clinicians, we’re not certified counselors, although we do have a facilitator who is a certified counselor, but we’re not there to go deep in that way. You don’t need a prescription, you don’t need a copay. We’re there to offer peer support through telling stories about our shared lived experiences.

I mean, to be as generic and maybe as understanding as possible, we’re basically a group of people that every time we get together, we say, “Me too.” And not in the sense of, This is what I’m doing to fix my life, and this is what I suggest you do to fix your life. It’s, Wow, you went through that? It must have been really difficult, or you’re still going through that.I’m here for you. You want to chat offline sometime? Great, but otherwise it’s like, I really resonate with that, and I’ve gone through this.

And so it’s like the way I like to explain the community, so of course we’re all virtual right now within Shareapy, but it’s like if you ever think about when you went to camp as a child or maybe you did some kind of a bonding event with people at work or your community, maybe you had a talking stick or a talking baton and whoever had the talking stick, they were sharing. They got to say whatever it was that they wanted to say. And usually they end up going kind of deep because they’re like, wow, nobody’s allowed to interrupt. Nobody’s allowed to raise their hand. It’s just your opportunity to share. And then when you’re done, the stick gets passed to the person to your left or their right, and they tell their story.

It’s just a series of telling stories through our shared lived experiences. And with that, the connections are so deep, and they’re immediate. There’s no need to build up trust or no need to really let your guard down. It happens immediately. And honestly, as a 55-year-old woman and kind of growing up as a Gen-Xer in that environment, it’s like, I’m home again. I’m home again where we can just come together and we might be in a get-together with an 83-year-old and a 22-year-old. It doesn’t matter. It’s all the same because we’re all just there to share our stories, and it’s unbelievable.

So, before, to truly answer your question, that’s what I’ve been doing for the last six months. Before that, I opened a coaching practice and worked with clients virtually all over the world. But I noticed that, first of all, it’s really hard to maintain and grow a coaching business. It just is. And I’m not saying it can’t be done, it can, but I started noticing that I felt isolated in building a business by myself. I was trying to collaborate with other people to build together, but essentially, you’re bringing solo people together to build something on the side, but you’re still solo. And it just felt really isolating to me. And I realized that being a “we” instead of a “me” was something that I needed to do. And last year was really difficult. It was very, very hard. I went through deep depression, which I’m not ashamed or afraid to talk about. I’ve dealt with depression on and off my whole life, but last year was really tough, and that’s how I found Shareapy is I was looking for community that I could share with. And I was never, I’ve never been the kind of person that liked community sharing.

I was like, listen, it’s got to be one-on-one because I don’t trust the community, especially as an HSP. It’s like, there’s going to be someone in that group that’s going to be like, “Whatever. She’s flying off the handle. She’s too emotional.” So, I didn’t like group environments for that, but Shareapy was completely different, and I couldn’t believe it. So first I was a member, and I was attending the get-togethers and then realizing the power in the community and in peer support,

I was offered a position and here I am now. So, I’m not a practicing coach anymore. Instead, I’m a very fulfilled facilitator with Shareapy and also the head of community and connection.

Kim: Amazing. And just hearing you say that, I love the thought of it because there’s no expectation to fix, there’s no expectation to return the favor. You’re just sharing what’s on your heart and simply by witnessing other people’s experiences can heal something in you, it sounds like.

Christine: Oh my gosh, it’s amazing. I mean, I see a therapist once every three weeks, and that’s for one part. But what I get from Shareapy is completely different. It’s what keeps me going every day or every week. It’s that extra little something that lightens the load that makes me ... I always feel heard and seen, even as a facilitator, because you see, I’m not there to fix anybody. I’m not there to know all the answers.

Whether I’m showing up in my pajamas with my hair in a ponytail, maybe eyes even a little crusty from just needing to sleep in, or that I’ve taken a shower and I’ve done myself up, it’s come as you are. There’s no judgment. It doesn’t matter. We’re just people, and we just care. It’s unbelievable.

Kim: Wow. Yeah. It’s funny you said that because I was going to ask, because you mentioned, especially the last six months have been really powerful for you what that was. And it’s been this. It’s been this new role that you stepped into.

Christine: It has. It began with the depression. It began with realizing that even though I had all these tools in my tool belt as a coach, that I knew the right things to say to myself, that it wasn’t working. It wasn’t enough. Yoga, I was doing yoga every day. I was meditating every day, but it only took me so far because…those things are super important. I’m not saying that they’re not. So what I’m about to say is not to say, “Don’t do yoga. It’s not going to do anything for you.” Everything helps, but I needed to share. I needed to be in an environment where I could say, You know what? Today has started out ... Is it okay to say a bad word?

Kim: Oh my God, please.

Christine: Okay. For me to go into a get together and say, You know what? My day, it’s 8:00 AM. I feel shitty. I feel shitty. I want to get back in bed. I want to close the blinds, and I just want to snuggle with my dogs. That essentially is me every morning. This is my body, this is my brain, this is my heart, this is my soul. But then I get up, and I have a cup of coffee, and I start thinking about the day and I’m like, Damn, I’m super excited for what I’m going to do today. But to show up in these get-togethers and speak the truth instead of, “But it’s okay. I’m fine.” Because we end a bad feeling, an upset feeling with, “But it’s fine. I know I’m going to be fine.” Why do we do that? We don’t have to do that. And that’s what I love about Shareapy is that I can come in, anybody can come in, and be like, I’m not feeling it today. And almost every single time at the end of the hour-long get-together, everybody’s like, All right, what are we doing?

Let’s go conquer the world. So, it’s just life changing. Yeah.

Kim: That sounds like it because I think to your point, letting it land where it’s real, not sugarcoating things or ... I think, and I’m guilty of this too, this whole high vibe movement, making things seem like everything’s okay when it’s not. You have to acknowledge when things do feel shitty. And it sounds like when you’re able to share that with a bunch of other people who are just being real and letting each other just talk it out, there’s just something to that where it’s like, we’re here, we’re being witnessed in our imperfection and our real emotion, and it’s still okay. Yeah, there’s this whole thing about our society. We feel like we have to make everything sound like it’s perfect all the time when it doesn’t have to be that way. It’s not always the case.

Christine: That’s right, because it doesn’t make us feel any better to say, But I’m okay. It’s going to be fine.

Kim: False.

Christine: It’s our way of making other people not feel uncomfortable with sitting in the muck with us.

Kim: Yes.

Christine: It really is because a lot of people don’t like it. They’re uncomfortable, which is why this community has meant so much to me. I mean, personally in my own life and now professionally to scale Shareapy and to watch it grow, knowing how incredibly important it is to our entire world to just tap in and be real. Honestly, it has been such a key figure in me walking this depression journey. It really, truly has. Obviously, I can’t say enough about it. And it’s interesting. It’s like I want to promote it because I work for Shareapy, but more so I want people to know that there is a place they can go. There’s a community that they can tap into almost every day of the week and walk away feeling, Holy crap, this is magic.

Kim: I love that you share that too. It’s like not only the promotion part because it’s like you believe in it and you’ve seen it work. It’s like, I can sense that in you. It’s like, yeah, you work there, but there’s a reason you’re so excited to be there and work for them because you’re seeing the effect that it has. But it also sounds like it touches such an important part of what I believe our society needs to figure out is how to get in touch with our feelings and emotions, because we’ve been told from a young age with the too sensitive thing that emotions are bad and you must be even-keeled all the time. And it’s like, no, they tell us so much about what’s going on in our lives. If we could work with them instead of suppressing them, we would be completely different human beings.

Christine: No, you’re so right. And that’s where the acceptance part comes in, right? It’s about accepting ourselves for having those feelings, and not even the part about giving permission. This is another thing. It kind of drives me a little crazy that we say, as coaches or coaches say to us or people out there, give yourself permission to take a day, give yourself permission. I don’t need to give myself permission. I just need to accept this is what I need. Permission means somebody’s dominating a situation, somebody’s dominating a feeling. We don’t need to do that, right? Accept that this is who we are. We are highly sensitive people. And you know what? Please tell me I’m too sensitive because you know what? AndI’m like, you’re damn right I am. That’s why I’m so special.

Kim: Yeah. Do it now that I accept and love myself and that part about me because I promise it’s not going to be pretty. I will say something back. Yeah.

Christine: That’s right. And there will be something within us that knows when we have found someone who gets us. They may or may not be an HSP as well, but they’ll understand us and they’ll accept us and grab onto those people. I have best friends that I’ve been friends with since we were 13 years of age and there’s never been a single part of me that I’ve had to explain, ever. And so those are the people that are going to get you, whether they’re HSP or not. Again, it doesn’t matter. It’s them letting us be who we are and that will help us accept ourselves too and fall in love with ourselves.

Kim: Yeah. I’m so with you. I know. And it feels so good to be at this point. I feel like when we’re not at this point, it’s like we’re constantly second-guessing ourselves, we’re searching, we’re trying to figure out what’s going to make us happy. When it’s like you get to a certain point where you do love yourself and you do accept your sensitivity and you know what you need and you don’t have to get anyone’s permission. It’s just such a different feeling. It’s like this powerful feeling that I don’t have to explain myself.

You can have whatever thoughts you want about me. I know what works for me, and I know what makes my heart filled with joy and that’s what I’m following because I have had friends that don’t like what I’m doing with my podcast, don’t like what I’m doing with my coaching work.

And it’s not even hurtful. It’s just like I can’t have that in my life because I need people who support me in this, who see what I’m doing. It means so much to me. I’m not just giving it up because you think it’s weird, like you don’t understand it, and then you don’t understand me. So yeah. 

Christine: Right. That’s right. And you know what? You said something that really struck a chord with me because certainly when I became a coach and I had my coaching business and I was on social media, I mean, I was going ... When you tap into yourself, you start truly becoming who you are where the people that knew you before that are like, I don’t know who you are anymore. I don’t know if I like you. I don’t identify with you. Why don’t you go back to being who you are?

But meanwhile, you were performing that whole time, you were wearing that mask, you were being who they expected you to be and not who you are truly. And when you finally do tap into that like you have and people come back to you with an opinion or they say, I don’t like that, or this and that.

Well, people don’t get to have an opinion about the way you live your life. I don’t get to have an opinion about the way other people live their life. It’s not my business. Either I support them because I see them for who they are and who they continue to evolve to become. It’s not my place. So, people that are going to have that opinion or say they don’t like it or that you’re different, it’s like, okay, well, really, you just wrote yourself out of the journey I’m on, and that too is okay.

Kim: Yeah. You don’t get to come, and it’s not a judgment. And I do understand because people who do know you for a long time, when they see you changing, I almost sense it makes them sad that they don’t know you anymore. You’re changing. But in my mind, it’s like, no, I’m just becoming more comfortable in who I actually am.

Christine: Well, and see, this is the thing that’s interesting is I think the people that really accept us for who we are, because just look at the changes we go through in life. We go to college, we make college friends that are different from our high school friends, and then maybe we find a partner, maybe we get married, and then we’re close with their family, and everything opens up. Maybe we have kids.

All that time we are changing, we are becoming somebody different, and either people can change with us, whether it’s our career or our marriage status, our social lifestyle, our political lifestyle, any of those things. But when they stop allowing you to be who you are and who you continue, they are judging, and it means they no longer have control over who you are. And that really is a big part of it.

It’s a lot of people, and it’s not saying anything bad about them. Maybe it’s how they grew up, right? It’s how they think the right way it is to live in life. But the best way we can ever be is to just let people be who they are. And if we can’t let them do that, then we separate, and that’s okay.

Kim: Yeah. Yeah. It’s like, let me be me. I’ll let you be you. Yeah. And if we grow apart, we grow apart, but I’m not staying here to make you comfortable.

Christine: That’s right. And I’m not going to change or be the person that you think I am when I know who I feel better being.

Kim: Yeah. Yeah. I think that’s one of the scariest parts of stepping into who you are because you do shift. Everything shifts. And I’m kind of at that stage where a lot of people I’ve been close to have been falling away, and now I’m meeting new kind of friends and things like that, but it’s not easy. But the feeling of standing in your power, in your sovereignty, knowing who you are, it’s just like all that commotion, all that second-guessing is gone. I just go about my day. I just do my thing because I know what I want. I know what I need to do. And it’s freeing in a way.

So, when it comes to your high sensitivity, what would you say you struggle with?

Christine: I knew you were going to ask this question, and I would say that it’s more at this point in my life “struggled” with, and it was finding my people. It was knowing that I was in a safe place to always share the deep side of me. And I found that in Shareapy, honest to God. These people live all over the world and I don’t go out to coffee with them because they don’t live near me, but I don’t need to because all that matters is I found people who aren’t afraid to start at “go” and share what they’re really feeling, whether they’re battling addiction and they’ve been clean for a really long time, or they’re navigating a challenging family relationship, or they really want to celebrate with people who respect and appreciate what they’re going through when other people in their life don’t. It’s that safe space all the time, and those are my people.

So, at this point, and since finding Shareapy, I can say that it’s not something I struggle with anymore. So, hopefully Shareapy is around forever because that’s where I found my people. And it’s interesting because I have a social media page and I have a LinkedIn page, and every time I tell people about Shareapy, there has never been one person that’s like, I don’t see that working. That doesn’t sound like it’s beneficial. Every single person says, We need this. I need this. We are alone. We’re not opening up. We’re isolating. 

Kim: Yes. 

Christine: But not as many people have, I think, and I’m just going to throw out this word, the confidence, the trust in themselves to try something new. We’re tired, right? We don’t want to get on another Zoom. We don’t want to try another community. And so, we’re missing out on those opportunities to be connected to our people, the right people.

So, I’m so grateful to say that that’s not a struggle for me anymore because it’s been hard. It’s been hard, a really freaking hard life feeling like I was walking around and talking to people every day that weren’t my people.

Kim: Yeah. And again, this group, this Shareapy sounds like such a unique way that I don’t hear about a lot. It’s usually one-on-one. It’s usually or coaching where they’re teaching, where they’re coaching you through. It sounds more free.

Christine: It is. And I love that you said that because a lot of people say, Well, you guys have a lot of competition with Headspace and Talkspace and ShareWell and a lot of other of these organizations that either are offering some sort of peer support, but perhaps they’re super dialed in on maybe addiction or something specific where we do have topic themed get togethers, but our signature get together that’s called listen, think, and share, the facilitator brings a topic every time we meet. 

So, we never know, which is awesome because at the end you’re like, I had no idea that that’s been weighing on me, and now I’m lighter because of it. So, we’re not there to diagnose. We’re not there to set you up with a one-on-one therapist. We’re not there to say, let’s go meet for coffee. We’re there all the time to say, let’s have a peer group conversation.

We’re basically reinviting community and connection in the world. I mean, that’s it.

Kim: Yeah. And one more point on that because community is so important today, especially I feel like we all feel so isolated. Everything’s online. We don’t share in a way. We’re constantly looking for connection without having that deeper connection. And that’s what we all need right now. We need more connection.

Christine: And there you go. So, you’re like all the rest of the people that say, Wow, Shareapy sounds amazing. And I think because we’re also in that stage of social media and Zoom and virtual stuff that we’re like, I don’t want virtual anymore. I want in-person. But then we go in person, and we feel empty because those aren’t our people. It’s like, well, if we’re back in person and we went out to dinner, and I mean, it was nice, but still lacking that connection and ability to truly be ourselves. And I will say this, and this is super important, just like everybody else, I’ve been doing Zoom meetings, and even before that, I was doing Skype meetings with clients that I had that lived in other countries. So, I’ve been doing this for a long time. And I know when I’m Zoom tired, the Zoom fatigue is real, but when I leave a Shareapy get together, I feel like I just left a warm family room.

So, it’s totally different. And I’m going to send you a link. I think I would love for you to come and join us and share with us. Yes. Yeah. I’m going to send you a link. It’s a friends and family link and it gets you in. And oh my gosh, I know you would love it so much.

Kim: Yeah. It sounds like the quality of connection is different. It’s just a different level. Thanks. I’m totally going to come crash your group.

Christine: Yay. Oh my God, please do. You’re going to be like, Oh my God, I want to come to all of them. Because I mean, it’s like there’s no reason not to. It’s that boost that we need.

Kim: Yeah. And then what do you love about high sensitivity? What do you enjoy about your trait?

Christine: And again, I’m at that point that I can just so fully embrace it and be like, damn it, I wish ... I’m not one of those people that wants to write a letter to my younger self and be like, Oh, don’t worry about this. Because my younger self is going to be like, F you, I’m struggling and suffering right now. Good for the older you. I am decades away from being you. So no, I need you to meet me where I am. But what was the question again?

Kim: What you enjoy about the trait. 

Christine: I am so grateful for recognizing and accepting that I am a highly sensitive person. It 100% makes me who I am. It has shaped me into having the career that feels right, that is driving me with so much ambition, so much care, so much love. That was something when I worked in corporations…the love was always missing for me, and I wasn’t necessarily looking for a family. I just wanted people to give a shit. And I finally found a career and have been. First, I had to really give a shit about me being a highly sensitive person. And then that led me to finding a career that I gave a strong shit about.

Kim: That needs to change with the whole corporate atmosphere and bring your whole self, but not your feelings, which is all of ourself.

Christine: And it’s everything we put into our work every day.

Kim: You can have a work environment that is based in humanity. I’m so done with all the cold, transactional thing. It’s just, it’s not for us.  

Christine: Well, you know what? That’s why what you do is so important. Your podcast is so important. People are going to be listening to your podcast that you will never meet, that you will never hear from, that you will never even know listen to it, and you’re changing their world and you might even be changing the next business that they start. So, this is how we do it, and you’re doing an awesome job.

Kim: Really appreciate that. It means a lot. So what advice do you have for HSPs who may be struggling with their trait? What would you say?

Christine: I love that. And that would be as you can and at your own pace, accept that your feelings matter, that you’ve earned them, and that if others out there aren’t willing to accept them, then try to find the people that do and spend more of your time doing that because it’s hard. It’s hard to be an HSP, especially I would say 30 and younger when most people are telling you you’re too sensitive, buck up, toughen up, whatever those types of what sound like derogatory words, instead hear them as superpowers, hear them as the gifts that you were given, that we were given to be those very extra special people because we need the rough riding people. Okay, we do. And we also need the HSPs. And so you are needed, you are loved, and we need you. We need you.

Kim: Yeah. We can’t be the highly sensitive, can’t be steamrolled by the go-getter all the time. We all have our voice, and we need to take it.

Christine: Yes.

Kim: Amazing. Well, thank you so much for joining me today. I really enjoyed our conversation.

Christine: Yes, I know. Me too. I feel like all jazzed up, and I love that we’re recording this on a Friday, regardless of when you publish this, that it’s Friday afternoon and this is such a great way for me to walk into my weekend. Thank you so much.

Kim: Where can people follow along on your journey? Where can they find you?

Christine: So, they can find me. I have an Instagram account that is my full name, ChristinePasso_supportcoach, and really that’s the best way. I post a lot of content for Shareapy, and so I also recommend that anybody who really identifies with me and what I’ve said to also follow Shareapy. That’s just Shareapy on Instagram, and also Facebook. And I also have a LinkedIn page, and so does Shareapy. So, come join us. I mean, heck, reach out to me. I’ll send you a friends and family link to get in for free for a certain amount of time. I mean, just come join us so you can feel seen and heard and know that you belong.

Kim: Amazing. Awesome. Well, thank you for the work that you’re doing and again, for joining me today. It was such a pleasure.

Christine: Oh, thank you so much. And please keep doing what you’re doing.

Thank you so much for listening in on my conversation with Christine. I hope it reminds you that if you’re craving deeper and more meaningful connection in your life, it’s something you should honor. Don’t be afraid to lean into different experiences…and remember that, as HSPs, we often connect more deeply with fewer people, so it can take a while to find your tribe.

Until next time. Take care.

About Christine Passo:

After 20 years in sales, Christine felt called to focus on what mattered most to her: connection. In 2022, she shifted her work to support people through emotional pain, resilience, and meaningful change.

As Head of Community & Connection at Shareapy, she combines her background in social work, four coaching certifications, and years of collaboration to walk alongside individuals navigating loss, overwhelm, growth, and the desire to feel understood.

She believes healing happens in connection—and that no one should have to go through life’s hardest moments alone.

Follow along on Christine’s journey:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christinepasso_supportcoach/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-passo-665a70a/

Shareapy: https://www.shareapy.com

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About Kimberly:

Kimberly Marshall is an ICF-certified Energy and Intuition coach for highly sensitive people (HSPs) and host of The Happy HSP Podcast. After 20 years in the publishing industry working for companies like Time Inc., Monster.com, and W. W. Norton, she left her corporate career to pursue work that better suited her HSP needs. She now helps HSPs reconnect with their intuition, energy, and soul’s purpose so they can live gentle, heart-centered lives in alignment with who they truly are.

Through her work, Kimberly hopes to shed more light on the reality of living with high sensitivity and inspire more HSPs to embrace their empathetic, loving, and gentle natures.

• Hosted/produced by Kimberly Marshall

• Edited by Fonzie Try Media

• Artwork by Tara Corola