Cults to Consciousness: Shelise Ann Sola on Post-Mormon Podcast Life (Part 1)

A Little Bit Culty

Sarah Edmondson & Anthony “Nippy” Ames

Education, Society & Culture

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 5 January 2026

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the first part of our conversation, artist, podcaster, and former Mormon Shelise Ann Sola joins us to talk about growing up in a devout Latter-day Saint (LDS) family. She internalized “perfect girl” expectations and slowly deconstructed the high-demand beliefs that shaped her identity and relationships. Shelise shares how modesty culture, purity messaging, temple worthiness interviews, and the LDS obsession with eternal marriage impacted her mental health, sexuality, and sense of self, and how leaving the church meant losing community, certainty, and family approval all at once.

We also got into her creative life after Mormonism, why she started talking publicly about high-control religion and religious trauma, and how she now uses humor, art, and storytelling to help other ex-Mormons and faith-questioners feel less alone while they untangle what was spiritual from what was spiritual abuse.

Follow Shelise’s podcast, Cults to Consciousness, on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, and Shelise at sheliseannsola.com and on Instagram @sheliseann.

Also…let it be known that:

The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.

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CREDITS:

Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames

Production Partner: Citizens of Sound

Co-Creator: Jess Tardy

Audio production: Will Retherford

Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore

Writer: Sandra Nomoto

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Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This holiday season has already been a little bit stressful. We went away for Thanksgiving and I had to go back to Vancouver for a last-minute family thing. And between that travel and figuring out what my kids want for Christmas and hosting and holiday band concerts and last-minute plans, let's be honest, money stress. It's really easy to lose track of where your cash is actually going. That's why we've been using Monarch. Rated Wall Street Journal's best budgeting app of 2025, Monarch is an all-in-one
0:25.6	personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in a clean dashboard on your
0:30.4	phone or laptop. Right now, I'm keeping an eye on our holiday spending category so we don't start
0:35.2	the new year with a debt hangover. Monarch lets you link
0:38.1	everything, checking, investments, retirement, even property value so you can see your true net worth
0:42.5	and stay on top of your year-end priorities. Nippy and I use it for quick weekly money check-ins,
0:47.6	which has made financial conversations way easier and far less stressful. Thank you, Monarch.
0:53.0	Ignoring your finances completely can get expensive fast.
0:56.1	If you don't pay attention, you might miss chances to save more, invest smarter, or move closer to big
1:00.1	goals. One of ours is buying a home in the next year, so we got to get on top of it. And Monarch keeps you
1:05.3	informed, even in the chaos of the holidays. Don't let financial opportunities slip through the cracks.
1:10.2	Use code culty at monarch.com
1:11.9	in your browser for half off your first year. That's 50% off your first year at monarch.com
1:17.3	with code culty. Happy holidays. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be
1:23.1	considered legal, medical, or mental health advice. The views and opinions expressed do not
1:27.4	necessarily reflect the official policy apposition of the podcast and are not intended to considered legal, medical, or mental health advice. The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily
1:27.9	reflect the official policy or position of the podcast and are not intended to malign any religion,
1:32.7	group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone, or anything.
1:47.8	I'm Sarah Edmondson. And I'm Sarah Edmondson.
1:50.9	And I'm Anthony Nippy Ames, and this is a little bit culty. We woke up from a cult, and that journey was captured in The Vow on HBO and in my memoir, Scarred.
1:56.3	Now, in this podcast, we break down the shame and secrets that make these experiences so destructive with
2:01.2	honest conversations on how seemingly benign groups can cross into the cult of us, and how to
	...

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