I was raised by my parents until about 16 when I left. My darkest day was when I tried to tell someone about how I'd been sexually abused as a kid and they didn't believe me. It stung, but it also molded me into an advocate for others trying to speak out and who are not being heard.

I went to rehab twice but have been able to find true healing and a beautiful life in sobriety. I don't feel defined by it but I choose to share it out loud to help other people currently struggling.

It's easy to get lost in motherhood and forget who YOU are so I continue to work on that every day. Working in the fitness industry, I feel like I'm not good enough VERY OFTEN. I've only recently come to understand and appreciate that I am a BADASS.

The pain started in my early 20s and I didn't start recovering until my early 40s. I used to feel defined by my pain, in retrospect, I think it became a limiting belief for me. I've used mind-body, behavior based interventions to heal.

In junior high I was bullied quite a bit. I DON'T fit in. But my lack of desire to conform eventually became an asset. I am a storyteller. I create new stories for people so they can truly understand their potential.

Growing up in a predominately white town I’ve always been the only person that looked like me. It’s driven me to learn everything I can and to be the best at whatever job I’m doing in order to exceed the expectations people might have for me.

It's hard to come to terms with a cancer diagnosis but even more challenging to know I am BRCA 1 +, meaning I'm predisposed to an increased lifetime risk of breast and ovarian cancer. However, I strive to always see the good and take it one day at a time.

Sometimes I feel like an outsider for being divorced while my 3 sisters & brother are all happily married. My family is in Europe but I love visiting them each summer. My worst day was when I realized I could no longer trust the person I was married to.

I'd tell a 12 year old me that people can't love her in a healthy way if they don't love themselves. I'd tell her to love herself, to hold on to her dreams, and celebrate every little win along the way.

Being widowed at 34 gave me a vantage point on life many people don't have until they are in their seventies. I now appreciate all that life has to offer. I understand how little things in life truly are the BIG things. I love hard. I feel deeply. I believe in being good to others.

I was told I wasn't good enough, that I was not smart enough and not pretty enough. I was told I was fat and ugly and that no one would ever love me. But I've proved that I am loved, I am more than what they saw.

For the longest time I told myself I was unworthy and that I didn't deserve to be happy - I truly believed it. Now, I spend my time reversing those messages I've told myself.

I’ve held onto the old story that I’m always in danger and waiting for the other shoe to drop. I lived half of my life feeling this way for legitimate reasons, so it’s been a slow unwinding to know I can feel safe and not always be in fight or flight mode.

This should have been the end of my story but by God's grace it became my moment of awakening. If I'm honest with myself depression and anxiety have been around most of my life. But in the African American community there are a lot of stigmas attached to mental illness so it hasn't been easy to come to grips with over the years.

I was painfully shy and was teased. That adversity helped shape me into a deeply compassionate, helpful, empathetic person. I fear I won't continue the path of consciousness work I started - that I will "fall back asleep" in the world, and that my inner light will dim without having made an impactful difference for myself and those around me.

I used to live by the story that what I had to say wasn't important. My new story is that my thoughts and words matter.

After going through my worst experiences I've been given the gift of resilience. I use that gift to be there for others & to empower them as they go through their struggles.

I believe that my strength lies in the difficulties I've overcome. I love to discover who I am and to help other woman to do the same. I wish there was less suicide - more love, acceptance & mental health help out there.

10 years from now I hope to have a family with children and the most loving, supportive partner who I know I'm deserving of. I hope my career continues to evolve and that I'm fostering connection, travel, education and joy.

I fear people I love being taken away from me and that I could lose myself again. But my gift to the world is sharing my story and helping others to believe they are more than their circumstances.