My story
Born with a voice.
I grew up in New Jersey with my parents and my siblings. We were an immigrant family, so the plan was simple: hard work and education get you ahead. Money was scarce. Confidence was not. I had high self-esteem and a certainty that I could do whatever I wanted.
My grandmother was the first person to ever tell me I had a good singing voice. She planted the idea that I had talent. It never left.
Then life handed me a mop.
I graduated high school with honors and distinction. Then, instead of performing on Broadway, I landed a dishwashing job at a luncheonette, and I celebrated it. It became my identity and my livelihood.
Hotel front desk came next. Then bartending. I excelled at every one of them. But somewhere in there I learned that certain things were just not meant for me, and I adopted a limited mindset.
The spark.
In 2006, The Secret was everywhere, the book and the film. The idea that I create my life by what I think took root in my mind. What if that were true? What would I change?
There were a lot of blocks to work through in my mind and my beliefs. But I never gave up that thought.
The proof.
In early 2009 I committed to exercise and proper diet, every day. In five months I lost 50 pounds. I looked different, I felt energetic, I felt beautiful. And for the first time, I gave myself credit for a dream I made happen.
That was the first time I understood that what I do, what I think, what I say and what I feel actually matter.
The work.
Mentors with the Mankind Project. A lot of internal work. It helped me understand how strong I am, mentally and emotionally, and it gave a name to something I always had: a fifth sense for what people feel.
Now.
I see life through fluorescent glasses, and I lend them out. Messy on purpose. Delulu with a plan. I'm unconventional and non-traditional, and I'm done waiting for permission. So I'm giving it out instead.
