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“I met Valerie Rivas when I signed up for her class back in 2021. I was in a very broken season and needed direction. Valerie welcomed me with a warm heart and mentored me through that tough time. I gained the tools and resources to finally leave the abusive relationship I had been in. Now, I work alongside Valerie to bring those same tools and resources to individuals like myself.”

— Shannon

Friends,

I'd like to take this opportunity to share with you my story and how life coaching with Valerie has changed my life and taught me how to manage myself differently. First, I would like to give God all the glory. Because if God and Jesus were not at the center of my world I would still be stuck on the merry go round.

All of us are damaged by the world and people we love. This is true for people of all social classes, gender, race etc.

My story, I am 57 years old. I grew up with a mother and step dad. I never knew my real dad. My biological dad and mother divorced when I was only 2. For reasons unknown to me still today. I do have a brother, we are biological brother and sister. When I was about 3, my mother met a man and married, it was about a 3 month courting process. My mother became pregnant with my sister who is 4 years younger than me.

Memories of my childhood are emotionally disturbing. My step dad when home, he was a fireman, he constantly was yelling at us (me and my brother) screaming at us calling us vulgar names. I remember a conversation my step dad had with my mother; I overheard him telling her we, me and my brother, were worthless and would never amount to anything. I grew up in a home where there was no love for me. But I got to see my sister loved in every way emotionally and treated differently better. When I was 6 years old a neighbor would sexually abuse me. It took me until I was in my fifties to be able to talk about it. I never told my mother because I lived with the idea that I was invisible and unloved.

I don't want to get too far in the weeds of my life, but I want to share as much as I can so everyone reading this can see there's hope, always Hope.

As I moved into my teenage years I struggled with my identity. I had no confidence at all and I felt bad about me, unworthy and unloved. When I think back, several instances stick out in my mind. One in particular, | played softball and was an all-star player. One year a coach asked me do your parents ever come to your games he said do they know how good of a player you are? I remember feeling embarrassed when I told him my mom just drops me off.

My mom and step dad fought terribly. Several times throughout my teenage years my step dad had slapped me in the face because my nervousness shows on my face in the form of a smirk he called it. When I was able, I went to work at the exact age was fifteen and a half, we altered my work permit so l could work. And thank goodness we did. It happened when I was almost 17, my mother and step dad were getting a divorce. My mother was a homemaker and never worked. More changes for me, I left school and went to work full time. It was a complete role reversal. The only job my mother could get was as a waitress at night. I took over the house bills, managed our finances and my mom basically had a nervous breakdown. At the age of almost 17 l became an adult, my childhood was completely gone.

This is going to be the short version of what happened for the next almost 30 years. I need to get to the good stuff.

I married at 21 and had 2 daughters. Our marriage lasted 19 years. The man I married was a good man but had a problem with infidelity. More trauma. And I had a terrible miscarriage I was 4 months pregnant. One of my beautiful daughters struggles with mental health problems. She turned to drugs. Yes, I had the ability to put her into rehab 3 times. And she got pregnant at 17. So, I took on the responsibility of my grandson helping with him. My daughter and grandson lived with me for 5 years, my daughter has fully recovered.

One day I woke up and said I don't want to be alone. I was already in my fifties and damaged by life. So, I did what we people do joined the dating sites and started dating it was horrible now that I look back. Keep in mind many years had gone by for me to be exact 16 | had been single and alone. I wanted to be married so badly. I had a man message me on Facebook, we had been friends for almost a year. We went out and eventually got married. Over all I dated him for almost 2 years and was married to him for almost 9 months, we are now divorced.

Prior to us marrying there was an incident of him cheating on me and many suspicious situations. You know | let him tell me it was a mistake. He was completely caught. The reason I allowed this treatment was because I did not know my value and worth. I did not know how much God loved me and my value in Christ. I had a life time of trauma that I had not dealt with until I met Valerie. Until I met Valerie I did not even know where to start.

This is the good stuff, I chose Valerie to be my life coach because she is a woman of high integrity and morale character. She is supportive, kind and compassionate at the same time. But let me make one thing clear you will get honesty and the truth from Valerie.

2023 has been one of the best years of my life. And Valerie helped me get there. Again I am going to give God al the Glory for both of us. Valerie has al the knowledge and skills to help you get where you want to go with your life plan. I wanted to be free of all this heart ache and pain so badly. The first visit I met with Valerie we talked for almost 2 hours.

The most amazing thing about Valerie is her patience with you. I believe there were times we met I must have stated the same thing over and over. Valerie was so kind to me and loved me through it.

My life plan was well organized and thought through each week. I met with Valerie every week for several months. We would discuss tasks that I needed to do writing in my journal every morning, reading a book. Over the months that Valerie life coached me I did many things to overcome the person that my foundation had built me to be. I realized that my life plan would be a success if I took full ownership of it and put the work into it. Sometimes it takes baby steps to get where you want to be.

Today I am kind to myself. Today I have self-love that I didn't have before. Today I know my value and worth. Today I know that someday I will get married again in Gods timing not mine.

Friends,

This is the end of my story and I sincerely thank Valerie for being a part of my life to guide me and coach me through the challenges and changes. Never give up there is always Hope.

God bless you friends