A Contagious Smile Podcast · Victora Cuore; A Contagious Smile, Who Kicked First, Domestic Violence Survivor, Advocate, Motivational Coach, Special Needs, Abuse Support, Life Skill Classes, Special Needs Social Groups

Protecting Your Peace From Narcissists

·41 min·3 clips
She says the safest response is to stay calm, because raising your voice feeds escalation.
1. A Contagious Smile Podcast focuses on protecting your peace from narcissists while Victoria and Michael Solomon trade jokes and advice. 2. Victoria Solomon is the main speaker, Michael Solomon is her husband and co-host, and both connect the topic to domestic violence, survivor work, and family life. 3. The episode asks how someone living with a narcissist can take back control without feeding escalation. 4. Victoria says narcissists care more about what strangers think than what their immediate family thinks, and she uses the terms "black sheep" and "scapegoat" repeatedly. 5. She says narcissists wear a mask, then reveal their "true self" when the mask comes down inside the home. 6. She brings up her books, including "Narc Narc Who's There" and the prequel "Who Kicked First," and says the memoir and prequel use fictitious names while the rest of the text is "100% evidence." 7. Victoria says some Amazon reviews are written by fictitious names, and she treats that anonymity as part of the same behavior pattern she sees in narcissists. 8. She says people recognize her by repeated phrases such as "You have survived 100% of your worst days," which she calls her quote. 9. The conversation shifts to a recent threatening encounter while they were gathering belongings, and Michael says he jumped between Victoria and the other man. 10. Victoria says the incident mattered because young children were present and hearing threats, swearing, and yelling. 11. Michael argues that a husband should protect his wife, while Victoria says she could physically handle the man but that protection was his job. 12. Victoria says the safest response to an angry person is not to raise your voice, because matching their volume gives them more control. 13. She describes staying calm, saying "no" in a normal tone, and watching the other person storm off and slam a door. 14. Victoria says narcissists want others to "take the bait" and escalate, but she refuses to "stoop down and raise my voice." 15. The episode links verbal abuse to children copying what they hear and later treating their own partners or parents the same way. 16. Victoria says it can take time to leave a narcissistic situation because a person needs a safe place, trusted people, and protection for children and dogs. 17. The tone is conversational, messy, and argumentative, with jokes about boats, cheese ravioli, hearing aids, and "Old Yeller" woven through the serious points. 18. The format mixes domestic banter, survivor guidance, a book reading, and a long back-and-forth about narcissism, abuse, and accountability. 19. People dealing with narcissistic family dynamics, domestic abuse, or scapegoating will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners wanting a tightly edited, topic-focused show may skip the scattered banter.
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