By Shevvy Malibu
To the casual observer Sharnika William seems to have it all together. She’s educated, holding multiple degrees in business and culinary arts from FSCJ & Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale respectively. We chat for awhile about her love of baking and her grandmother’s farm, she is animated, happy, her voice light. As a pastry chef at an upscale south beach hotel and the owner of her own dessert catering company, Cake Dreams of Miami, she’s definitely making #bossy moves. This is all true.
That’s not the entire story though, truth be told, Sharnika Williams is a domestic violence survivor who spent years in an violent relationship being brutally abused by her ex-wife.
Award winning baker, Williams moved from Jacksonville to Fort Lauderdale after being invited to study at the Culinary Institute. Six years ago she met her now ex through friends at a networking event. She tells they were happy in the beginning, describes the first few years as almost magical. But things took a turn for the worse when her ex, Mary’s (not her real name) father fell ill and sister passed away. Mary began drinking more, she lost her job. Arguments became more frequent and then turned to shouting matches. Those matches turned to pushing, shoving and quickly escalated to all out punches, kicks and being dragged around her apartment.
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