A powerful personal testimony about surviving abuse and rebuilding life. This story explores the hidden struggles after leaving, the role of faith, and how storytelling becomes a healing tool for both the author and other survivors seeking understanding and support.
Influential Woman · Domestic violence survivor minister advocate artist author songwriter
Heather Early
Founder, Cherokee Rose Music & Motion
Nicholasville, KY 40356
1Year experience
1Article published
2Awards received
Her Story
About Heather
Heather Early is an ordained minister, author, songwriter, and domestic violence survivor advocate. She founded Cherokee Rose Music & Motion to share her experiences through music, storytelling, and content that helps survivors recognize abuse, rebuild their lives, and find hope. She speaks in churches about the warning signs of abuse and works to establish support funds for victims.
Heather shares her original music through her artist persona, Reine Rose. The voice is Heather’s, and the stories and songs come from her lived experiences and faith. AI creates only Reine’s visual image, with her appearance based on Heather before the abuse.
She is writing Rose Through the Thorns, a multi-season book series pairing each chapter with an original song. She currently offers Healing Under Fire, a nine-week, faith-based course supporting survivors in their healing and rebuilding.
Her faith-based web apps include Becoming Her, which encourages women in healing, reflection, and spiritual growth, and Higher Ground, which encourages men to grow in faith, accountability, and respectful relationships. She also offers a faith-based boundaries course that helps survivors understand boundaries, recognize their needs and limits, and set boundaries around their lives, relationships, and personal decisions.
Heather is pursuing certification as a faith advocate through Focus Ministries, with three classes remaining. Her vision includes expanding into a mobile ministry offering podcasts, shelter visits, and free courses. She also advocates for abuser registries and mandated counseling to strengthen accountability and address the root causes of violence. Her work is grounded in faith and a commitment to reminding survivors that their voices matter, their stories have value, and healing is possible.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Heather
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to God. His grace has sustained me, His strength carries me, and His guidance gives my work purpose. Through faith, I have found the courage to share my story and use my voice to help others. Everything I create is rooted in the hope He has given me.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I’ve received is to trust God, stay true to my purpose, and remember that my story can help someone else. I don’t have to have everything figured out to take the next faithful step.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Keep God at the center, know your worth, and stay true to your voice. Learn your craft, protect your work, and set boundaries around your time and personal story. You can help others without sharing every part of yourself. Seek mentors who respect you, and remember that your impact matters more than your follower count.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges I see is reaching survivors while overcoming the stigma, misinformation, and victim-blaming that can keep them silent. Funding is another challenge, especially when the goal is to keep support and education free.
The greatest opportunity is using music, storytelling, and digital tools to make faith-based encouragement and survivor education more accessible. I see an opportunity for churches to become better equipped to recognize abuse, support survivors, and promote accountability.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Faith, integrity, compassion, and accountability guide my life and my work. I believe in telling the truth, respecting boundaries, and treating people with dignity. As a survivor and advocate, I value using my voice responsibly, honoring each person’s choices, and offering hope without judgment. Above all, I want my work to reflect God’s love through meaningful action.
Her Content Hub
Articles by Heather
Leaving Was Only the Beginning: Finding My Voice After Domestic Violence
Finding strength and healing beyond the cycle of abuse through faith, support, and reclaiming your own voice.
While I was sharing my story, a man stood up and asked, “Didn’t you learn the first time?”
He was questioning why I had left one abusive relationship and later entered another. What he could not see was everything I was still carrying.
For 14 years, someone else controlled much of my life. Money, decisions, friendships, and everyday responsibilities became part of that control. Leaving did not immediately restore my confidence or teach me how to trust my own judgment again.
I was trying to build a life while still living in fear.
That is the part of my story I want people to understand. Walking away was a beginning. There was still so much I needed to learn about safety, boundaries, and who I was allowed to become.
After leaving, I continued working, going to school, raising my children, and showing up for the responsibilities in front of me. From the outside, that might have looked like moving on. Inside, I was often just trying to make it through another day.
For years, I knew how to fight for what mattered. Learning how to live without constantly preparing for the next battle has been harder than I expected.
My faith has sustained me through that uncertainty. I attribute my ability to keep going to God. There were seasons when I could not see what came next, but I kept praying and taking the next step I could manage.
Seeking help became part of that journey. Counseling gave me a place to speak honestly about experiences I had spent years trying to survive. I am still learning, and I want other women to know they do not have to reach some perfect version of healing before they deserve to be heard.
Music and storytelling have also given me a way to speak.
Through Cherokee Rose Music & Motion, I share my experiences through testimony, original songs, and faith-based education. My artist identity, Reine Rose, carries my voice and my story. Her visual appearance is created with AI and is based on how I looked before the abuse. The experiences behind the work are my own.
My work includes Healing Under Fire, a nine-week faith-based survivor course, along with the faith-based web apps Becoming Her and Higher Ground. I also offer a faith-based boundaries course to help survivors understand boundaries and practice making decisions about their own lives.
These projects grow out of questions I have faced myself: What do I need? What am I comfortable with? Can I say no without explaining away my reasons? What might my life look like if I had room to choose?
As a minister and advocate, I believe our response to someone’s story matters. When a woman tells us what she has endured, we have an opportunity to listen with care. We can ask what support she needs. We can respect her choices and make room for her to speak at her own pace.
The question that man asked stayed with me because it placed judgment where I needed understanding. Today, I use my voice to encourage a different response.
I am still learning to live beyond survival. I still have difficult days. But I have a voice, a purpose, and a story I can share on my own terms.
To the woman who is rebuilding: You deserve patience while you learn. You deserve support while you find your footing. Your life is worth caring for, including the parts you have not figured out yet.
You are not alone.
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