My Power Story

L2 in Atlanta, ‘97

Once there was a woman (31) who was in love, pregnant and in a chaotic, abusive relationship. She had a confrontational conversation (details later) with the man she was in love with, and the outcome was a 180° pivot to her life.

Now, to be clear, that wasn’t quick or easy. It wasn’t. It was the hardest thing she’d done in her life. She started over with nothing: no money, no job, no support system, and no concrete plan. She just knew that the abuse had to end, she needed a higher paying job and to end the chaos.

How? The plan evolved over years but the key elements: secure a job that covered her bills including childcare for her handicapped son, pivot into the tech industry by getting a college degree, and get the abusive partner completely out of her life.

Within 5 years, she’d ended the abusive relationship, gotten an entry level position in IT, secured childcare, restarted college and landed an internship with a Fortune 100 that would jettison her career.

Why am I sharing this? I’m hoping someone going through it will be inspired, as I was inspired by women who’ve overcome hardship. But also, I was asked to write this by someone who is challenging the way I think of myself. Instead of existing as the abuse victim, she’s asked me to remind myself of my gifts by writing this story.

Those gifts are intelligence, resilience, resourcefulness, drive, big thinking, strength, determination and creativity. I often refer to my pivot as if it happened to me accidentally. It, in fact, did not. I intentionally made it happen via the gifts that I’m now acknowledging and embracing.

That, is my power story.