This is my truth, this was my journey, this is my story.
Because of years of physical, mental, verbal, and spousal sexual abuse, I decided after witnessing domestic violence amongst couples in the military during my deployment to Iraq that I would finally have the strength and the courage to tell my story; especially after many female soldiers were being kidnapped from walking to the shower trailer; bear-hugged and raped and left naked; not knowing what had happened to them; other than they had passed out and once they had come to themselves, only to discover, they were lying naked and exposed.
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Because of the built-up anger, I had been subjected to from the hands of my former abuser and the sexual violations I received while in Iraq; as well as, what I witnessed it took me years to be able to sit down and calmly write my story about my experiences; about domestic violence; without crying, and how much I was subjected to the harsh violence of being choked; grabbed; pushed to the floor; dragged and thrown out the house, and left standing topless with only my bra and a pair of jeans, banging on the front door for my children father to let me in (during the cold winter month of Illinois)...So after I'd written my first book, "Scarred, But Not Broken" (about a Single Mom who was deployed to Iraq) and, although I'd spoken a lot about my experiences in Iraq, I did share some parts of my personal domestic violence experiences since some of the abuse I witnessed at Ft. Hood, triggered some emotional feelings from me while waiting to be deployed to Iraq. However, I did go more into depth when I published my third book, "Silent Victims, Domestic Violence Does Not Discriminate:"
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Nonetheless, the way Domestic Violence LLC evolved from Domestic Violence Inc was, my initial intention from the start was to just "pay it forward", by just hosting yearly charitable events for friends and families to attend and hear speakers from around the metroplex; as well as nationwide, as they would provide educational awareness about domestic violence and speak about the current statistical data, and how domestic violence is more prevalent today than ever before, and its impact; but, more importantly, the effects it has on the family dynamics. Well, I knew I had to come up with some name for myself; since I was not, and I did not want to be affiliated nor mistakenly associated with any non-profit 501C organizations. With that said, I decided to come up with the name "Domestic Violence Inc". Consequently, I was very new to what I was doing, and it never was about making money; but it was about bringing in donors who would support the cause to raise money for the local shelters who were needing funding that were housing individuals and families in need from their abusers. Also, every year I would choose a recipient from the North / Central Texas areas to be the recipient(s) of that year, as the collected charitable funds would be counted and given to that chosen facility in front of the guests at the event. Everything we did (and still do) is transparent; as transparency is the key to truth and honesty!!!
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Well, I continued with hosting my semi-formal gala charitable events for five successful years until I ran into a friend of my father's at a local post office, whom I use to babysit their boys when I was in high school; so many many years ago. We exchanged our meet and greet, and as I left the post office I was steaming. Yes, you know when you have a vision for something, a baby of yours; "Metaphorically" speaking, and you think so highly of it, and someone comes along and because they don't see your vision for your baby, or because they don't know how to articulate the right words to say, they tend to come off sounding condescending; a know it all; passive-aggressive? Well, that is the vibe I received from her. Nevertheless, this was a very valuable, spiritual, and inspiring teaching moment, because at this moment I had my mother on my right side of my shoulder speaking to me in my ear saying positive things, like: "Aah Aah Aah; No No No. You know what you need to do; so, don't just stand there go do your research, and do what you know you need to do." Then I had another negative birdie on my left shoulder speaking in my ear saying, "girrrrrrl, you're going let her talk to you like that, I would tell her to go and...." I had to tune out that negative energy quick fast and in a hurry. LOL
The rest is history, LOL. I decided to make this official.
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After all, it is what I love to do, as God has blessed me to be a Blessing and a Voice for others; most importantly, to be the Catalyst for change and to Pay it Forward!
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