About
What you should know.....
I grew up without my biological mom, living with my father and stepmom. It was around the age of 5 that I was removed from her care. She was unable to take care of me due to a severe drug addiction that only worsened over the years, which was painful for me. When my father found out about this, I was suddenly thrust into a new family. For many years, even into my adulthood, I was embarrassed and ashamed of my mother's addiction and kept this hidden from the world. It was very difficult as a young girl knowing that your mother, the one that is supposed to love you unconditionally, be there for you and keep you safe could care less about you.
I had a good life growing up, by all accounts, attending private school, and I had everything I ever wanted – except my mother. I was a very high achiever at school with good grades; I was a superstar athlete, winning awards and many accolades as a result of my passion and drive for being the best I could be. I was driven by my desire to prove to myself that I could be anything I wanted to be and accomplish anything I set my mind to and that I was special, even though I was broken because I did not have my mother in my life. I set out to make sure I outdid everyone and outshine my peers. I was confident, bold, and was always the first to step up and take the lead. I always knew that I “was a natural-born leader" and believed I could achieve everything I set my sights on.
This trend continued after school and into my professional career. I was ambitious and extremely driven. I had a natural flair for leading people, building teams, and driving unbeatable performance results. I climbed the corporate ladder with stealth speed and was promoted quickly to bigger and better roles with extensive responsibility. Any projects and challenges I excelled at and anything I touched turned to gold, earning me the name "the golden girl." I ran multiple teams and juggled many business projects, and the compensation was equally impressive. I was proud, accomplished and proved once again, that I could and would be capable of exceeded any expectations or challenges that I was held responsible for, and most importantly, I validated that with dedication, passion and relentless drive. I could do and be anything I wanted to be!
In my early twenties, I met my husband and married at the age of 25. It felt like the right time to fit this new piece into my life. Work was always my #1 priority, and having a family was not on my agenda. My husband, on the other hand, desperately wanted a family, and after 10 years of marriage gave me what I called "an ultimatum." I relented and along came our daughter. This beautiful baby girl rocked my world, and now I had three very different roles. How could I be a 'boss babe,' 'super mom' and 'loving wife'? How would I continue to be a successful businesswoman with all of the added responsibility of now being a mom? Good responsibility, indeed; however, it was a lot for me to handle. I started to resent my husband for wanting me to fit into a picture he had of what our lives should look like - a "suburban family." I loved being a mother to our daughter, but I didn’t love how chaotic my life became. I was overwhelmed and on over-load 24-7 and could barely keep my head above water, let alone invest any time into self-care or our relationship.
The cracks in our marriage started to grow bigger and bigger by the day under the excessive stress of trying to be the breadwinner and super mom! I had my priorities; I called it my "bubble," which consisted of my work & my daughter. My husband, however, was not inside my bubble, and therefore, our marriage was neglected. I was not taking care of myself, my weight was out of control, and my marriage was in constant turmoil, and I grew unhappier by the day. I literally learned to function on minimal sleep every night and went back at it the next day for another 20 hours! I would run out the house in the morning after making my daughter breakfast while putting on my stilettos on the way to my car, then applying my make-up while driving to work for a day packed full of highly intense workload, a million critical deadlines and managing over 200 employees at one point. I was like a machine. I was a train wreck waiting to happen, a ticking time bomb ready at any moment to explode. Literally!!
When my daughter was 5, I remember coming home one night after another long day, and she said, "Mommy, daddy doesn't like you", I was flabbergasted, to say the least. I couldn't believe this incredible little human at the ripe age of 5 was able to pick up on the toxic relationship she was now a part of. I asked her why she thought that, and her reply to me was, "when you come home, he changes and isn’t happy or nice to you." This was no surprise to me and was not new news, but the fact that my daughter was picking up on it made me feel horrible inside, and things continued on a downward spiral with no definite end in sight. We muddled along for another 5 years until finally, something had to give (I will save that for another time). I was broken inside, but I never let the world see this. I was overweight, overworked, and to add insult to injury, I was diagnosed with melanoma cancer and had to have surgery to stay alive. And now I had to deal with a divorce. I started drinking vodka, to help me cope with what was happening in my life. I walked away from the marriage with my clothes; giving him almost everything, including the family home. I didn't want the added pressure of fighting it out when I was under so much stress. I was confident and secure in my position, and I knew I could recreate a new home for my daughter and me, and so this is what I did. We agreed to co-parent, which added a new kind of stress to my life. I had to find some way to decompress and started yoga and looking at my inner game while I rebuilt my new life.
I knew right then and there I needed to get my life back on track and focus on getting myself mentally, physically & spiritually healthy again. I could no longer work around the clock, and that I could no longer sacrifice myself or subject my family to this type of lifestyle. I could no longer sell my soul and my life...if I didn't do something now - I was going to self-destruct. I booked myself into therapy the next week to try and start to figure out how my life somehow spiraled so out of control. I seriously needed to get myself healthy again or I was going to be no use to anyone and most importantly myself! I had to evaluate EVERYTHING in my life and ask myself some tough questions! One day sitting in silence, I asked myself the most profound question of all. "Was I truly living my life purpose and did I know what it was?" I wanted to be the 'rock-star' that my daughter was proud of! I no longer wanted to be the mom who was always running against the clock and feeling frazzled and on overload, all the time, not to mention I would work until the earlier morning hours just to make sure I could spend quality time with my precious daughter.
After many sleepless nights and countless days of reflecting and being brutally honest with my reality, I finally came to terms with my life and the chaotic world I was living in and knew I had to make a change. If I didn't start taking care of me...the people around me would suffer. I didn't need to prove anything anymore, and I didn't need to “be in overdrive" to feel like I was successful. I am grateful for my journey and l the man of my dreams, my other half and he supports me on this incredible new expansion of myself, and he is one of the main reasons I decided to take start this new chapter.
I have worked on myself, transformed my life, and have made peace with my past. I have since committed to dedicate the rest of my professional journey to my true life purpose. I am passionate & committed to helping other career-driven professionals, supermoms and women who want to take control of their lives as confident, empowered and independent who can have it all. YES, you too can have an abundantly healthy life and financially rewarding career, be a Rockstar Mom and a Wonder Woman Wife!!
Since then, I’ve worked with many private clients, spoken in front of countless groups. My fiancé and I bought our dream home where we happily co-parent our two children. My daughter now has a bonus dad, and I now have a bonus son. I am truly living my best life and enjoying every moment, and I am now able to be my true and authentic self as an empowerment life coach and mindset mentor to women around the world.
I created Mindset Mastery for Rockstar Women – 90 Days to Energize your Mind, Regain your Confidence & Reclaim your Health, Wealth and Independence system ™- a series of 9 important steps every woman needs to apply to live your best life in record time.
Rock Your Life,
XOXO
Lisa Marie
