Aside from being a certified life coach, I went through my own drastic transformation.

I was in an abusive marriage and didn’t even realize it. For 10 years, I was a victim of my husband’s verbal, emotional, psychological and financial abuse. Then, one day, as I was walking away from an argument, he came from behind and choked me. Once his abuse turned physical, I knew I had to leave.

But I was petrified. A decade of psychological torture had taken its toll on me. I was emotionally and physically weak. I didn’t know how I could get through what certainly was going to be a long, difficult battle. I didn’t know how I’d be able to care for our three small children and co-parent with a bitter and vindictive (and dangerous) ex-husband. But I knew I had to figure it out — fast. So I started doing some research.

I learned everything I could about health and wellness, about money management, about the laws around divorce and about the narcissistic personality disorder that was responsible for my husband’s abusive behavior.