Validated is an inspirational memoir about an ordinary woman who overcame extraordinary obstacles–abuse, homelessness, utter humiliation, and egregious acts by her husband–to put him away for 45 years, and go from broke and unemployable to self-made millionaire, to protect and provide for her six children as a single mother. 

Though the details of my story are different than yours, we’re all confronted with difficult challenges–and we must all choose to either deny them, acknowledge and surrender to them, or face and overcome them. I am sharing my story to help you find the courage and faith to believe that you, too, can take greater control of your future–and perhaps the future of your family–by becoming more of the person you were born to be.

As much as anyone, I understand emotional pain, the kind that wells up deep within your gut and works its way through your airways, pushing the oxygen out. The suffocating, debilitating, life-crushing kind that smothers self-esteem. It hasn’t been easy, but I’ve gotten better at recognizing, acknowledging, and easing that pain–to get to the place where I can truly love and be loved in return.