Speaking

About Me

suiI am an internationally acclaimed, inspiring speaker, life coach, and No. 1 Amazon best-selling author of the compelling memoir, You Have Such a Pretty Face.  My painful journey to find peace and self-worth began with a 243-pound weight loss and included many dark moments of despair that eventually brought me to my knees. In a message that is particularly resonant in these trying times, I say, “When the world says, ‘Give up,’ Hope whispers, ‘Try it one more time.’”

I speak candidly about the numerous addictions I developed as a result of the unhealed trauma I suffered from a childhood riddled with sexual abuse. I dig into the correlated shame that strangled the hope out of my life. Those feelings of shame and powerlessness contributed to not only my initial weight gain, but the cross addictions I developed following my initial weight loss and 20-year successful maintenance of that loss.

I apply my vast therapeutic knowledge to the painful reality that weight loss doesn’t heal the trauma that contributed to the initial weight gain, nor does it systematically prevent the high likelihood that cross addictions can and may develop in patients who don’t acknowledge that trauma. Shame is the core of all addictions and I address that shame and the addictions I suffered. I provide not only professional insight into how crucial it is that we begin to address our inner pain, but also provide the compassion that can only be given from one who has walked the path and experienced the darkness herself. I acknowledge that without my strong faith in God, I wouldn’t be here today. A self-proclaimed, “Weapon against the darkness,” my message is clear: In spite of trauma and pain, peace and happiness do exist; healing and faith are the bridge that connect the two.

I graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree in sociology, a master’s degree in counseling, and am pursuing my doctoral degree in counseling and traumatology. I have been a licensed social worker for 31 years and am currently a Clinical Shift Supervisor on the National Suicide Hotline.

I can speak on a variety of topics including, trauma, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), suicide, weight loss, addictions, sexual abuse, motivation, and faith. I have spoken to large and small audiences both in person and virtually.