Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Anquinette Rollins. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Anquinette, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you have a hero? What have you learned from them?

My hero is my mother, Alma Riley. Without her, I would not have the strength, knowledge, or clue to know what advocacy is and/or how to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. My mother taught me from an early age, when you see an injustice, and you say nothing “Silence is a form of agreement”, so when something negative happens and you said nothing to stop it, you are just as at fault as the person who did something wrong.

At the age of eighteen, my son who was 4 months at the time, was the victim of Shaken Baby Syndrome. My son was left severely handicapped, blind, and unable to swallow food. I even had a doctor tell me to “Let him die” because I would not want a child like that. My mother stepped in and showed me how to advocate and navigate the medical field, take care of my son to the best of my ability, and be the voice that he could not be for himself. Since then, advocacy and standing up for those voices that are not heard, has been something I always found myself doing, without me realizing it.
Fast forward to 2008, when I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, a Chronic Pain Illness that has no cure, which presents itself with unexplained widespread pain throughout the body, I found myself needing something that I had always been for someone else-someone to fight for me. At that time, minimum information was available to patients, and doctors had limited information to assist me with a better quality of life. After years of trying to find my way with Fibromyalgia, in 2018 I decided that I did not want anyone to deal with what I had been through: A lack of support, education, and assistance when navigating the Fibro World. So, I put my advocacy hat back on, and have been fighting for Fibromyalgia Warrior’s to have better education, viable treatment plans, better support from our medical community, and a better quality of life, ever since.

Anquinette, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I got into the Non-Profit industry, specifically to support those with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain. As a person who battles both, I wanted people to be able to get the needed resources to help them have a better quality of life, understand their illness, and be able to have a respectable relationship with their medical team when needed. When I was first diagnosed in 2008, there was limited information available, a lack of support from the medical community, and minimum support that a patient could find to help themselves.
I started, Freddy J’s Fibromyalgia Fighters, specifically, because I never wanted another person diagnosed with the illness to feel what I felt for years-alone.
From my advocacy, I personally encountered many people, who I call warriors, who just wanted to get their voices heard and feelings out regarding their journey with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain. So, I added the ‘Pretty In Pain Podcast’, to allow patients the chance to verbalize their journey with the illness.
People ask, why do I call them warriors? I call those battling Fibromyalgia & Chronic Pain warriors because: Only a warrior can fight pain from an invisible illness every day, without breaking down, and still get things done, at a pain level as high as a 10 on the pain scale.
I am most proud of the support I receive from the warriors across the world that I speak to and support daily. It brings me joy to help educate, guide, assist and listen to those who have faith that my organization will give them the tools needed to assist them with reaching the goal of having a better quality of life.
With so much excitement for the future, because advocates fighting the illness have banded together to further our agenda, I want everyone to know, until there is a cure or viable treatment plan for patients, our organization will be here on the front line fighting for those affected with Fibromyalgia until our mission is complete!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

In advocacy, many times the support you give and are needed for does not come within normal business hours. Because Fibromyalgia has a high percentage rate of patients who also have Anxiety and Depression because of the chronic pain patients deal with, I make it very clear to patients, that if you need me I am there, no matter what time it is. One time, a person I support through my organization reached out to me at 5:00am. She was severely depressed and was having a challenging time with finding the support in her area to get educated on Fibromyalgia and how to manage her Chronic Pain. After speaking and listening to her until I knew that businesses were open, I talked her into going to her local mental health office in her city, who helped her to get needed services in place. I also helped her to locate online and local groups that support those with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain. With that support, she was also able to find a better doctor who understood her medical needs. Because of the dedication of our organization to the patient, we were able to adequately help a patient in crisis who is now thriving very well with the services and assistance that were put in place and given to her.

How did you build your audience on social media?

For those who are just starting to build their social media presence, my advice to them is to: Understand your platform is for business so run it professionally and keep your personal social media separate, decide what platforms will best benefit your business and showcase your brand, expect to pay for some advertising, also educate yourself on your chosen platforms and prepare to work hard. I built my audience on social media by continuously uploading information people can use to help them with managing Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain. I do this by understanding my core audience, and what they want to know and see. Educating yourself on the platform you prefer is essential and do not worry about how many followers you have; it will come in time. Although it may seem time consuming, engaging your followers at the minimum 3-5 times a week no matter who you think is watching, helps you gain supporters and move through the algorithm of that platform organically and successfully. I personally engage each person who replies to what I put up, and I respect everyone’s opinion, even if it does not agree with mine. I also built my audience by understanding that everyone may not hit the like button, but they definitely take in the information you put out.

Contact Info:

• Other: For all of my social media’s they can go to my link tree: https://linktr.ee/freddyjsfibro