I Am Not Supposed to Be Here: And that's exactly why I do what I do
“I was pregnant at 16.
Escaped an abusive relationship with a 3-month-old in my arms.
Divorced at 29 with four kids.
I am not supposed to be here.”
But I am. And I think that matters — not just for me, but for every woman reading this who has looked at her own life and wondered if it's too late, if she's too far behind, or if the things she's survived have somehow disqualified her from the life she actually wants.
They haven't. I'm proof of that. And this is my story.
Survival Was the Only Plan
When I got pregnant at 16, there was no vision board. No five-year plan. There was just — what do I do now? And the answer, for a long time, was survive.
When my friends were learning to drive at 16 — I spent it pregnant, being abused, giving birth, and then escaping with a 3-month-old in my arms, -all before my 17th birthday. It was a year of living hell.
At 20 I got married to a man nearly 11 years older. I had three more children, and by 29 I was divorced — a single mom of four starting completely over. No education. No work experience. All I knew was I didn't want to rely on my ex-husband for support.
Life didn't pause. It never does. So I didn't either.
"I worked multiple jobs — including driving a forklift at Lowe's — while putting myself through college in three years."
Not because it was easy. Not because I had help. Because I made a decision that my circumstances were not going to be my ceiling
Building a "Respectable" Life — and Still Feeling the Pull
Looking back I am not sure how I did it but I finished my Bachelor’s degree in a little less than three years. I became a teacher. Then a school administrator. From the outside, it looked like I had figured it out. Stable job. Respectable career. I even started a doctoral program because that's what you do when you're on that path.
But there was a voice that never went away.
There's more for you.
Not more in a flashy sense. More in a this isn't quite it sense. More freedom. More ownership. More alignment between who I was and how I was spending my days.
I found love again. Had my fifth baby at 39. And even in that full, beautiful, busy life — that pull didn't leave.
The Leap — and the Failure Nobody Talks About
So I left public education. I chose entrepreneurship.
And my first business didn't work out. I mean, why would a former English Teacher choose to open a math tutoring business? I knew I wanted to open a business, so a franchise seemed to make sense.
FAILURE!-That's the part people leave out of their success stories. The part where you bet on yourself and it doesn't pay off the way you thought it would. I know what that feels like — the doubt, the embarrassment, the quiet voice asking maybe this isn't for you after all.
I didn't listen to that voice. I pivoted.
I went into sales. After a a few successful sales years, my husband and I started investing in real estate — long-term and short-term rentals. We started building income in ways I had never experienced growing up. Real, tangible, generational wealth.
Clay, Quiet, and Waking Back Up
Then — in the middle of COVID, in the middle of a full life — I signed up for a ceramics class at my local community college.
It wasn't strategic. It was just something for me. A break from producing and managing and solving. A chance to create.
The last time I attended this community college, I was in full survival mode. I couldn’t even think of taking any classes that didn’t fit into my poverty exit plan.
This time was a little different, although the entire world was in survival mode, I wanted to do something for me, something enjoyable, something creative.
And somewhere between the clay and the quiet, something woke back up in me. A desire I'd been too busy to listen to. The feeling of building something from nothing — something that was mine.
"That's when entrepreneurship stopped feeling like a risk and started feeling like a calling."
Within two years of me taking that ceramics class, my son Chase and I opened Mud Hut Pottery Studio in my hometown, Riverside, CA. What started as an idea became a thriving business — one that's done nearly a million dollars in revenue and counting. A place where people don't just come to make pottery. They come to slow down, connect, and create. Mud Hut Pottery Studio has become Riverside’s premiere Creative Escape! I can’t tell you how much joy this space brings not only our family but countless others. This makes my heart fill with joy!
What I Know Now
Looking back, I can connect the dots. But living it? It was messy and uncertain and scary every single time.
What I know now is this:
Your past does not disqualify you from the future you want
Failure is not a stop sign — it's feedback
You don't need perfect conditions to move forward, you need a decision
The life you want is not reserved for other people — it's built, one choice at a time
I didn't arrive here because everything worked out. I got here because I kept going when it didn't.
Why I Coach
Today I coach women who feel that same pull — the one that says there's more for you. Women who are capable, driven, and stuck somewhere between where they are and where they know they could be.
I coach them because I've been every version of that woman. The scared one. The starting-over one. The one who failed and kept going anyway.
And I know what's on the other side.
If you’re reading this and thinking:
“I’ve waited too long.”
“I’ve made too many mistakes.”
“I don’t even know where to start.”
I want you to hear this clearly:
You are not behind.
You are not disqualified.
And it is not too late for you.
The question isn’t if you’re capable.
It’s whether you’re willing to take the first step.
Ready to Take That Step?
Join my free workshop — From Knowing to Doing — and let's figure out together exactly what's been stopping you and what your first real move is.
