Debbie Isaacs
“If I could only look at myself in the mirror when I brush my teeth.”
“This morning when I woke up I recognized my ceiling.”
“Today I got dressed for me, to be myself.”
Hearing these statements was all it took; my life was forever changed. It was 2009 and, working as a television producer, I was sitting in a Las Vegas courtroom listening to a group of women who were coming out of trauma with the intent of telling their stories. I listened to women from all races, ages and economic backgrounds struggling to reclaim their self-identity; and in that moment I realized that I shared that same struggle. That was my story and so many other women’s story. I left that courtroom knowing my purpose wasn’t to tell their stories, it was to change their stories.
I developed the I AM Series to let the women know that they have value regardless of their past. I brought community around them, so they felt safe, and knew people cared and that they mattered to all of us. The women responded so strongly to the love they received that I knew I needed to find other organizations who were rehabilitating women and bring them the I AM Series and that same encouragement.
Now we are reaching out and asking businesses to join us on this journey to change their economics by creating a career path for these women, not just a job. And the final part of this story and the vision for the future is to build businesses where these women can rise up from their past and transform Pain into Power; the power of financial independence.
It’s a daunting task as these women don’t have perfect resumes, or years of job experience; but as UNSHAKEABLE we will not let this be a deterrent; instead we are called to create the opportunities, to deliver financial independence, because if we don’t change their economics, we don’t change their future.
