Society & Culture
Today my conversation is with Carol Egan. Carol and I met online in a mastermind club. When she shared her story with me, I instantly thought of how courageous she was. It reminded me of the quote “Do you have the courage to bring forth the treasures that are hidden within you?” by Elizabeth Gilbert from her book, Big Magic. It All Just Fell Apart When Carol was just about to enter high school, her parents got a divorce. They had hidden any troubles they had from their children, so it came as a shock to Carol and her brothers. Her father then lost his job and crumbled to the point of moving to the YMCA and making it his home for a year. She knew she couldn’t cope with the pressures of the private school she was scheduled to attend so she went to public school. In less than a year, Carol became pregnant. She was sent to an unwed mother’s home in another town, the father denied paternity and Carol, at 18, had to become an instant adult. She Was Broken Just after delivering her baby, Carol watched Children’s Services take her baby away. She didn’t know who to be. She didn’t know how to fit everything that she was, into the situation she was in. All she knew was that her baby would grow up with her. After 3 months in a foster home, Carol got her son back. She got an apartment with money from her waitressing job and her son’s father came back into her life. Shortly after moving in, he started to beat her. When she couldn’t take any more, she got a state-provided mover to help her and her son escape into the night. Waking Up Carol went to school to become a hairdresser and worked to support herself and her son. Her mother gave Carol the family home to live in and everything was well, except for Carol’s health. She was seeing traditional doctors and specialists for her chronic anxiety, her urinary tract infections and her myriad of other health issues. One doctor told her that if she didn’t take the prescribed Xanax 3-times a day she would have panic attacks, which could lead to suicide. This woke her up. Carol knew she had to find someone to help her. She started seeing a natural doctor for her gut problems and she inquired about a college program for non-traditional women who wish to become students. Life has never asked Carol to step up in such a big way, until she became an entrepreneur. You will hear about that part of Carol’s journey on next week’s Straight Talk for a Curvy World Podcast. Send Me Your Questions and Your Stories You can share your comments, questions and feedback with me on the blog page of Annpeck.com or on social media @Iamannpeck. Send me a private email at ann@annpeck.com (I am the only one who reads it). If you would like to send in a voice recording, you can record a voice memo on your phone -including your name- and share your message with me.