The Full Story
About
Missions & Visions have a great purpose, but actions are where differences are made. As a motivational/keynote speaker, my goal is to tour the schools of our nation, talking real talk about suicide and the aftermath, in hopes of preventing that thought process. I want to continue my talks with the first responders, giving them actions steps through their tough calls. With our military, so very close to my heart, I want to give peace in their minds from the PTSD they unfortunately bring home.
I choose to live this life of giving hope to others because I wanted to give up on life after my 16 year old son died by suicide. As a parent, by far the hardest thing to do was to live after his death. Through the years, I have learned hard lessons, fought the numbness, and understood that his story gives hope to others. I share my daily life, intimate thoughts & moments that occur after the tragedy. I transparently speak on my stumbles in coping mechanisms and how those short-term behaviors really do not help in the grief recovery journey. The hardest lesson as a parent was to look back and see all the things I could have done differently. I always say, the woulda, coulda, & shoulda's will kill you if you do not take an active role in your recovery in grief. You will not hear me say healing, because we never truly "heal" from a broken heart. We learn to live with our new one.
Mission
To give the understanding to our youth in their darkest moment, a permanent decision is not the answer to a temporary problem. I plan to break barriers about the stigmas of suicide and how we can foster the idea of giving parents guidance on having the hard conversations with their children. I want to give hope to those who have given up on life because the mental pain seems too great. I work towards in creating a community that offers hope in reducing the number of suicides. To show that no matter how painful the past, the future can hold light and laughter once more.
Vision
To create safe spaces within our schools, allowing the kids to have growth in understanding of their emotions, giving them tools to equip themselves with healthy outlets and creating a peer-to-peer accountability with each other. To bring Breaking Barriers in every community addressing the need for having open and honest conversations about suicide and its impact on our communities. For our men, not to be in survival mode 24/7, allowing them to feel acceptance in the normalcy of showing and talking about their emotions.
