My Story

Divorce doesn't come from one thing. Ours came from years of substance abuse that wasn't mine to fix, money we couldn't agree on, and communication that broke down instead of working through things. Then came the affair, and his denial when I confronted him. Choosing to leave took everything I had. But I chose it anyway.

I was relieved. I was scared. And I'll be honest, I was a little naive about what came next.

My children were 9, 7, and 3 years old. I had spent nine years as a stay-at-home mom. And the world I was stepping back into was the middle of the 2008 recession.

Everything fell on me. Running the household. The school pickups, the doctor's visits, the homework, the broken things, and the bills that didn't stop coming. And somewhere in between all of that rewriting a resume after nine years at home, relearning how to interview, and searching for work in one of the worst job markets in a generation. Almost a year before a paycheck came.

Within a year of our divorce he moved to another state and everything shifted in ways I hadn't imagined. Suddenly I was navigating holidays, schedules and parenting time with him and a woman who was a stranger to me. There was no roadmap for doing that gracefully. When he did show up it was often unannounced, inconsistent and disruptive. The children's care when in his custody fell short of what they deserved. Every boundary crossed, every agreement violated, every concern I had about my kids' well-being, and the burden of addressing it fell entirely on me. The phone calls, the documentation, the legal fees. All of it.

He made everything harder than it needed to be. And I had to find a way to protect my children, hold my boundaries, and keep moving forward without losing myself in the fight.

I didn't have the luxury of falling apart. But I also refused to just survive. I decided to build something.

I had the great fortune of meeting a life coach during those early years. Someone who helped me find my voice, who partnered with me and showed me that clarity could be a compass when nothing else made sense. That experience changed everything. It's also why I do what I do today.

I didn't call it a method then. I just knew I needed a North Star. Something to filter every decision through when I was too exhausted to think straight. So I set some intentions and let them guide everything.

Nearly 1 in 4 children in America are being raised in a single parent household more than anywhere else in the world. And yet single mothers are among the most resilient, resourceful and determined people on the planet.

Whether you are parenting solo, navigating shared custody, or somewhere in between, you know what it means to carry more than your share. To be the one who holds it all together even on the days when you're running on empty.

We know the statistics people love to quote at us. We know the gossip, the judgment, the stereotypes that follow us and the unsolicited opinions about what our kids will or won't become.

We don't need another reminder of what could go wrong.

What we need is someone in our corner who has lived it and proof that not only can we survive this, we can build something extraordinary from it.

We are not a statistic. We are the ones doing the hard, powerful work of raising the next generation on intention, on love, and on sheer determination.

Today, I have two kids through college. One now in medical school and the other gainfully employed. My youngest is a senior, set to graduate in 2027. I built a career as an Executive Assistant that created the stability and flexibility to show up as the parent I wanted to be. My finances are steady instead of a source of dread. My life is organized and calm where it used to be chaos. I have close, honest relationships with all three of my kids. And somewhere along the way I even found room for mahjong nights, golf, books and pickleball. The kind of small joys that used to feel impossible to make time for.

Every hard mile back there in the mirror? It's part of how I got here.

And now, after 18 years of living this method, I get to do the thing that lights me up most. As a Certified Professional Coach through the International Association of Professional Recovery Coaches, I walk alongside other single moms and show them that transformation is not only possible, it’s yours to create when you lead with intention.

That's the alchemy. Not pretending the struggle wasn't real, but transforming it into something that moves you forward.