Letter from the Editor...
Shake off the past and embrace the future!
There is no better time like the present to fully step into being you.
Business or your life, either way, it’s just time to take the leap. I recently found myself basically living a
lie. I realized I was hiding who I really was and really only letting people take small peeks into my life,
my business and everything in between.
I was hiding behind the women I am now and ignoring the person I once was. Literally. We all have a
past and it’s perfectly acceptable to let people see that. We should never be embarrassed or lose sleep
over the epic landscape we have covered in our lives. We should look back at our brave souls and con-
gratulate them for doing the incredibly hard things.
I’ve spent years being embarrassed, guilty and even full of shame for choices I made when I was 18, 19
and 20. I have literally lived with almost 15 years of guilt. I felt embarrassed for being in a relationship
that ended and having a baby at 20. I was so angry at myself. I was angry at myself for even allowing
myself to ever have been in a relationship where I was treated so poorly. I carried it like a heavy anchor.
That anchor almost sunk the entire ship.
I blamed myself and I felt like everyone around me looked at me like a failure. “Can you believe she did
that”? or “Did you hear what Sam did”! I was certain that everyone was looking at me with total shock,
awe and disgust. It has taken over a decade to realize they never were.
If you have carried around this kind of guilt, like I did, I want you to free yourself from it. You need to
look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself that you are so strong. Look at all you have done. I learned
that these past lessons should be worn like badges of honor and not dirty laundry that we hide. Other
people are out there waiting for you to break free.
I know hundreds of men and women who carry boxes of past experiences around with turmoil. It’s time
that we liberated ourselves and proudly screamed “I FUCKING DID THAT”! It was me…
I’m the one who figured out how to feed, clothe and put a roof over my head and raise a beautiful daugh-
ter. If everything had been handed to me, I would have never learned to stand up for myself. I would
never be able to call people out on their BS if I had been handed a golden spoon. Never!
Don’t hide in the dark and live a lie. Don’t pretend like you didn’t crawl through broken glass to stand on
top of the hill. The journey is full of pride and bravery. It’s a story to be written, not shoved down into the
dark places of our hearts. Light it up and let it flow.
Once I realized that the shame and agony was only hurting those around me, mostly me, I felt free. Like
I was floating on a cloud. I mean look at all that cool shit I did. It might not be pretty, but I did it. You
did it. We all did it.
It’s time for you to step up.
3
xo,
a
h
t
n
a
Sam