straight to the sources podcast

I was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and the only child to my mother and father. Both sides of my family lived in Kentucky and Tennessee as a child in Kentucky. I was extremely close to both sides of my extended family, and all the traditions enjoyed within our family. For example, I studied ballet and even had the honor of touring with the Winter Park Ballet Company. I also played tennis. My father had a racket in my hand as soon as I could lift one, and by the age of 5 to 6, I had been training and writing English dressage. My father and his sister were the push behind my training and riding competitions, and given I was enrolled in pre-collegiate private schooling and always worked extremely hard to remain at the top of my class, I was offered a ray of opportunities, including the sailing team debate sports and cheerleading. My father‘s family lived in Nashville, Tennessee, and we were raised there. My paternal grandfather, whom I am named after, was a man I’ve always admired. It would seem my future was extremely promising from the word go. This is the topic to touch on here because I come from an astute and established family heritage. Still, one should never be distracted by extravagance or what some might even call privilege. In reality, as wonderful as it must look from the outside in, money and clout are merely a glamorized filter.

Right after my 13th birthday, I was taken away from my father by my mother and thrown in a warehouse, and told I would not be seeing my father again. This warehouse was in “Straight Incorporated.” The reason this happened was because my mother used me as a pawn for her vendetta against my father. I copped out on a Saturday. I was there for 18 months, about a year and a half.

Afterward, I was on the streets for a little more than a month before finding my father. I did not thrive, but I did survive. Every moment I wanted to give up, I would imagine my father standing in front of me and me running into his arms. 

As previously stated, my academic journey before Straight Inc. had been pre-collegiate schooling. I was at the top of my class, on the principal’s list, a straight-A student, and was highly involved in extracurriculars. I made a deal with my father. After everything I had seen, I no longer wanted to be on the pre-colligative route; I wanted to make changes because a child who enters the facility never leaves it. My life was changed forever because of the horrors I had seen and experienced.

After graduating high school, I took a gap year and then chose to pursue a major in psychology with a minor in art therapy. After much introspection, I wanted to be part of a field helping others; however, I didn’t want to become a crutch for the patients I worked with. I wanted to empower them and provide them with the tools they could use to help work through their problems in a time of need. Within the years of my education, I found healing myself through art, spirituality, and communication with others.

Following that, I was graciously chosen to help curate the bohemian art gallery, which houses a plethora of outstanding artists within the community. 

I traveled quite a lot prior to settling down and was surprised and blessed to be chosen to bring beautiful lives into this world. My daughters are my reason for doing everything I’ve done and everything I will continue to do. They are the loves of my life.

As a survivor, as a parent, and as a humanitarian, it is impossible to hold knowledge of crimes against humanity in this case without acting or raising my voice for many years throughout my life; I volunteered and advocated for human rights for many different causes. However, this is too close to home, knowing there is a child out there experiencing the same levels of abuse, which has been lied to the North Korean POW camp torture as stated in front of the US Senate. I will continue to use my voice to fight and power and educate without fear to end the suffering of any human so cruel, tainted, and taken advantage of for any profit by any government, including our own. There is nothing I would not do to better another life, so they never know pain or trauma to this extent.