IBA SUCCESS MAGAZINE Issue 4 Vol 3 | Page 22

Who Is Alyssa Hogan... In 2015 my entire life changed. I was arrested for 2nd degree murder of my husband and faced life in prison. Despite a degree in criminal justice and several years working in the social services field, I found myself in the last place I ever expected. For 12 years I endured a brutally violence relationship with my husband. No matter how many times or ways my husband sought to break my spirit and my body, I loved him and held desperately to my idea of the perfect family. And then the unthinkable happened. Thanks to my faith in God, in 2016 I was acquitted of all charges based on the “Stand Your Ground” law. Many began to ask how I recovered from such a major life setback and what was the secret to my happiness and success? I began sharing my testimony and using my experience to help others fix their lives. Through my tragedy, I found the will to coach women to make themselves a priority and end the cycle of mistreatment often from the hands of those who claim to love them most. Book Complimentary 30-minute Discovery Call: https:// alyssaahogan.com/book-alyssa/ In the blink of an eye my four children were fatherless and were on the brink of losing their mother to prison because I finally decided to fight back. I lost my job as a Pre-K teacher and became homeless. Though I thought it couldn’t get worse, I managed to keep the faith. I turned back to God. He had never failed me. Although I was a faithful servant, it didn’t stop me from questioning why had I gone through so much pain? I began to re-evaluate my past choices in life and discovered that I had repeated a pattern that happened in my childhood. I recalled witnessing the women around me devalue themselves and create fictitious love affairs with men who treated them poorly. The stories they told about the romance and care they received from these men stood in stark contrast to what we saw. I imagine that I was behaving similarly in my own marriage. Because headlines about me and the murder were everywhere, people on the street recognized my face. While out on bail, women began to approach me and tell me their stories and how they were praying for me. I began to research the cases of women in prison for the same charges. I wanted to know if others had seen warning signs. What were the statistics and were services available to help me and others in the community? Shockingly, I discovered the victims of domestic violence were typically re-victimized by their friends, family, society and the criminal justice system. We apparently have a personality trait that draws us to these situations and it cripples every aspect of our lives. And, if that weren’t bad enough, no matter my positivity, life continued to beat me down. Even without having been convicted, I was unable to obtain employment, housing or life insurance with pending charges and few friends were even willing to help. Alyssa Hogan is a speaker who motivates, inspires, challenges and transforms lives.  • Keynote Speaker • Domestic Violence Speaker • Rights Restoration Speaker 22 IBASuccessMagazine.com • Entrepreneurship Speaker • Motivational Speaker • Business Speaker • Leadership Speaker • Workshops •Conferences