A Love Story.I did it till it hurt and recovered. The themes of my presentations revolve around alcohol, safer sex, HIV and body image. The underlying message is how to overcome some of the most difficult situations in life with grace, dignity and your humor in tact. I went from living in the streets at 15 to being honored with a PhD. but it's not the external accolades that define me. It is the fact then when I wake up in the morning I do not regret anything I did the night before, I'm not afraid if the police are going to show up today and I'm not praying for God to extinguish my soul immediately.

That is how I lived for the first half of my life. The second half was the journey of recovery and not just from substances but my own thinking. I learned if I spent too much time in my own head I was in a bad neighborhood. The lessons I learned gave me a foundation for life they include, forgiveness, service and love. My presentation style is how I live my life- with humor, honesty and compassion.

My talks are appropriate for conferences, colleges, women's groups and any audience that you feel would benefit from a personal story that demonstrates how to turn challenges into accomplishment, that choices, not circumstances, determine achievement and how to appreciate our differences instead of judging them.