Finding Your Voice
How Simply Refusing to Give Up Can Change Lives
The Influence of Simply Keeping Going
For a long time, I never thought of myself as an “influential woman.”
I was simply a woman doing what needed to be done.
I worked. I took care of people and animals. I built a business. I faced setbacks, started over, figured things out, and kept moving forward—even on the days when I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it through the next one.
But somewhere along the way, I realized something important: sometimes influence isn’t about how many people know your name. It’s about the lives you touch along the way.
Animals have always been a huge part of my life. They have taught me some of the greatest lessons I know about patience, trust, forgiveness, and resilience. Through my work as a professional groomer, I’ve had the privilege of working with animals that other people sometimes struggle to understand—dogs with behavioral issues, fear, anxiety, aggression, or difficult grooming histories.
I’ve learned that sometimes an animal doesn’t need someone to give up on them.
They just need someone willing to understand them.
And, honestly, people aren’t always that different.
I’ve built my business through years of hard work, determination, and a whole lot of figuring things out as I went. There wasn’t always a perfect plan. There weren’t always easy answers. There were times when life knocked me down harder than I ever expected.
But I’ve learned that being strong doesn’t mean you never fall apart.
Being strong means you get back up.
There have been seasons of my life when I questioned myself. Times when I wondered whether all the hard work was worth it. Times when circumstances made me feel like I was starting all over again.
And yet, here I am.
Still standing.
Still working.
Still learning.
Still dreaming.
Still caring.
That’s the part of my story I want other women to hear.
You don’t have to have everything figured out before you begin. You don’t have to be the richest person in the room, the most educated person in the room, or the person with the biggest following.
You just have to be willing to believe that your voice matters.
Your experiences matter.
Your failures matter.
Your scars matter.
And the things you’ve survived can become the very things that allow you to help someone else survive theirs.
I’ve also learned that there is tremendous power in being exactly who you are. I’m not perfect, and I’m not going to pretend that I am. I’m stubborn, outspoken, fiercely loyal, and sometimes probably a little too brutally honest. But I care deeply, and I’ve learned not to apologize for that.
The world doesn’t need more women trying to become someone else.
It needs women who are willing to stand in their own truth.
So, if you’re reading this and you’re struggling right now, I want you to hear this from me:
Don’t count yourself out.
Maybe your life didn’t turn out the way you imagined.
Maybe you’re starting over.
Maybe you’re older than you thought you’d be when you finally pursued your dream.
Maybe you’ve made mistakes.
Maybe you’ve lost people, opportunities, money, confidence, or direction.
That doesn’t mean your story is over.
Sometimes the chapter you’re embarrassed about becomes the chapter that gives you the wisdom to help someone else.
And sometimes the woman you become after everything you’ve been through is far stronger than the woman you thought you needed to be in the first place.
I don’t know exactly where my own story is going from here.
But I know this:
I’m not finished.
And neither are you.
If sharing my story gives even one woman the courage to get back up, try again, start that business, leave behind what is hurting her, believe in herself, or simply make it through one more difficult day, then maybe I am influential after all.
Not because I have all the answers.
But because I kept going.
And sometimes, showing someone that it’s possible to keep going is the most powerful influence of all.
