#50: The Mormon Missionary Who Became a Real Housewife | Heather Gay

Heather Gay, star of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City and author of Bad Mormon, tells Michael why she left the Mormon faith, what that decision cost, and how she rebuilt a sense of self and community. They also discussed her role on the show, and: (00:00) Preview (00:46) Why Heather left her faith (03:01) The choice that changed her life (05:35) Why she stayed Mormon for so long (11:15) The cost of trying to be perfect (15:52) Finding belonging after leaving a faith (22:00) Why most people live a double life (24:30) When reinvention works and when it fails (30:20) The stages of leaving a high-demand group (33:41) Finding a new community (38:36) Sales lessons from her Mormon mission (43:48) Choosing to be on Real Housewives despite pushback (50:10) Writing fiction: Eternal Glow (52:28) A Housewives rapid fire: takes on Jen, Lisa, and Meredith (57:47) Why the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City resonates Get Heather's book, Bad Mormon: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Bad-Mormon/Heather-Gay/9781982199548 Sponsors: MacroFactor: Try MacroFactor free for 14 days in the Apple or Android app store with code TWOPCT. Visit Two Percent, the #1 health and wellness Substack newsletter: https://www.twopct.com Follow Michael: https://twitter.com/Michael_Easter https://instagram.com/michael_easter/ https://linkedin.com/in/michael-easter-b208848/ https://www.facebook.com/twopct https://tiktok.com/@michael_easter6 Host: Michael Easter Executive Producer: Robbie Hiser Music: The Heater Manager Graphics: Jackie Philips Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices