My Story

Born and raised in a small town called St. Augustine, FL, until about age 18 I was convinced I knew everything there was to know about life. I was raised an only child in a two parent home where both parents were hard working. I had decent grades, great friends, was considerably popular, had a boyfriend and a car, so life seemed great. However, I had little ambition to do more, no accountability, and had no goals after high school.

On paper, I looked great. I knew how to be average and maintain but by the age of 17, I was recovering from my 3rd arrest. I would reach 4 arrests before it was all said and done. I wasn’t out to harm others, be destructive, or be labeled some misbehaved juvenile……I was just misled. I favored making friends and playing follow the leader. If doing something stupid was cool because someone cool wanted to do it, I was on board. I favored popularity, fitting in, and making a name for myself over all things. This included skipping school, getting into fights, stealing, drinking underage, and flunking classes to name a few.

What most people won’t understand, is those arrests and poor choices were NOT who I was. I just lacked accountability and the skills to make sound decisions. I was on the fast track to know where until I met my mentor. I took cover with most of the locals on afternoons and weekends inside a small recreation center that was run by this amazing woman. It was years of knowing her before she began to ask questions about where I was attending college and my career plans. The deeper she dug into my life, the quicker I realized I was going no where with my future. College was never on my radar nor my families.

I moved in with her at age 18, and she became a full time mentor to me. She’d spend the next few years helping me get into a four year university, scolding me for everything I was doing wrong, and lecturing me for everything I wasn’t doing enough of. Every time I reached a new goal, I thought I would make her proud enough to say something like, “Your amazing, now you’ve made it!” She knew a college degree wasn’t just it, my journey to greatness would consists of more failures than successes.

My mentor went on to spend roughly 8 years helping me keep my head above water in what I call, “My Stranded Phase.” An entire 8 year spread when my goals changed like the wind, I didn’t understand purpose or true happiness, and self-love was a concept beyond my brain capacity. My relationships were always verbally or physically abusive. Every time I got a promotion I would self-sabotage things because I didn’t know how to be happy or live without problems. I thought I was a victim for a while because anytime something good happened, something terrible would follow. I had trouble getting opportunities due to my arrest record and couldn’t move for opportunities because I was always in a financial crisis. During my journey to becoming independent I moved home twice and failed my first graduate school attempt. It took therapy, calls with my mentor weekly, and constant failure to realize my problems were much deeper than my poor decision making skills and bad habits.

However, these days I am proof that on the other side of your “stranded phase” is the best version of yourself. I am NOT perfect, but I have learned chipping away at becoming the best version of myself daily is the ultimate goal. Being transparent and vulnerable about my numerous mistakes is what I have to offer others and I have created this podcast to provide a platform for others to do the same. Knowing your place in life right now, that its part of the journey, and that it’s all a right of passage to live and appreciate the life you deserve is key. Every successful person has overcome some adversity, I just want you to know there is greatness on the other side.