Never Give Up On Your Dreams

Simone Pond is an award-winning USA Today bestselling author of dystopian fiction and urban fantasy. As a young girl, she loved writing in her journal and making up stories, though it took several years before she published her first novel. Since then she hasn’t looked back. Pond currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their Boston Terrier. 

As a young girl, Simone felt overwhelmed with hopelessness, starting from the age of twelve when she realized her father was a drug addict and was selling drugs from our house. Her severely depressed mother locked herself in her room for about a year, while Simone muddled her way through puberty. She wanted to disappear. The shame was too heavy. She lived in the constant fear of her family being arrested.  She watched her father fading away before her eyes and at one point wished him dead.  

In rebellion she became an alcoholic who was severely depressed and manic. Simone went through two divorces which left her suicidal. This devastating event was the pivot point in her life when she made the decision to take control, get help and she turned her entire life around.  Now, she has a passion to help other young women who may be going through similar circumstances. 

Hope is the Only Thing Between You and the Abyss

Kathleen Pooler spent the first 18 years of her life in a loving, supportive family. The next 25 years were engulfed in the abyss of two abusive marriages. Pooler rescued herself and is now dedicated to helping other women (and men) do the same.

She hopes to help others find their inner strength through sharing her hard-earned lessons in her new memoir.  In addition to dealing with her two failed marriages, she was diagnosed with cancer and her son was abusing drugs.

Hope is often the only thing between you and the abyss

She sums up her message in these seven tips:

A loving family, solid career and a strong faith foundation do not guarantee a problem-free life.

We all have everything we need within, but we need to claim and honor our own inner strength to get the life we want and deserve.

Abuse, in any form, is harmful. Emotional abuse may not cause direct physical harm, but it can be damaging to your mind and your spirit.

The very things you think are holding you back from having the life you want can serve to help you find your way to freedom.

Hope matters, even when all seems hopeless in the moment.

Give yourself permission to GRIEVE!

Nothing can rescue you until...

 you decide to rescue yourself

Exchanging Hurt for Hope

Exchanging hurt for hope is Dr. Sheryl Giesbrecht’s focus—a message she shares with audiences as a radio personality, author of three books, and a speaker. A dynamic teacher and motivating leader, Sheryl has endured many changes and challenges. She has overcome drug addictions, cancer, and even widowhood and shares her story in her book, Get Back Up.

Her latest book, Experiencing God Through His Names, answers the question: What's in a name?  Names are more than groups of letters that represent a person or identify objects.  Names are powerful.  A person's character and destiny can be influenced by his or her name.  When it comes to God, His attributes and personality support His unique and distinct names.

In her interview, Sheryl walked us through those difficult years of her drug addiction, hopelessness, loneliness and trying desperately to be accepted by her peers.  She also shares her remarkable story of recovery from cancer in her bone marrow and the loss of her husband who was killed in a motorcycle accident that she witnessed.