We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful D’author Nicole. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with D’Author below.

Hi D’Author, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

After years of hiding behind my physical and emotional scars, I wrote a memoir to share my story in hopes of encouraging others who may believe they are not “good enough”, to live the life they were born into. In my book, I acknowledge the many years I hid from being myself because I failed to accept my imperfections. It took a long time for me to realize that life is not perfect and I am not perfect, with or without my scars.

Oftentimes, people carry their traumatic childhood experiences into adulthood. I am a wife, a mother of two, and was almost age 50 when I decided to no longer allow my physical and emotional scars to dictate my life. I wrote the memoir, ConcealHER No More, to help myself and others heal from past traumas beyond our control.

People are “finding” themselves within the pages of my book. I have received many testimonials from individuals sharing that they have experienced something similar that made them realize some type of healing needs to take place. These testimonials remind me that I am not alone! The logic behind the idea of telling my story was to be vulnerable to help myself and others. People need encouragement to know it is okay to be themselves and seek positive ways to cope with situations that have held them back from living life to its fullest. This was a problem for me and I chose to take control and find a solution. The approach to writing my story for many to read was somewhat unique, considering I am not a celebrity and I was choosing to put my private thoughts and experiences in writing for the masses. However, when I thought about interviewing other women and having them include their stories of feeling “less than”, this act made me truly feel empowered; simply because I was providing a platform for others to share their stories.

D’Author, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I grew tired of hiding myself! I was not allowing myself to connect with others for fear of what they would think about me if they saw my scar. I was not open to going places and having as much fun without thinking about how different I am or how different I look. I felt as if each day, month, and year that passed, I found myself creating a large cocoon that kept me closed off from many experiences and people.
Writing my memoir, ConcealHer No More, gave me a sense of freedom. I began to live while focusing on the positive things such as being alive, being able to share my story to help others, and simply being ME. Once I allowed my “walls of protection” to come down, the air was easier to take in. I began to see myself and life in a different light, a light that had been dimmed from traumatic experiences that I allowed to control my thoughts for years.
I am most proud of beginning the ConcealHer No More project, completing it, and being brave enough to share it with others. Emotional and physical scars can take over our lives, if we allow them to do so. It takes courage to fight back while recognizing that everyone has a story to tell. Each of us have emotional and/or physical scars. The beauty is in how we choose to deal with our scars that allow us to be free.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Vulnerability has helped me build my reputation within the market of being a self-published author. As an author of a memoir, I made the commitment to not only being open but remaining open to everyone I speak to about my book. ConcealHer No More is not just a memoir, it is my life and a promise to myself to no longer hide from who I am and who I believe I was created to be.
I have been invited to speak at conferences, participate in interviews (podcast and other platforms) and I believe that others trust what I am saying. People understand my story and the struggles I have gone through. I have a reputation of being honest about my experiences and feelings of sadness and joy. This memoir has saved me from spiraling down into a place I may otherwise not have been able to return.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to learn is that no one is perfect and people will always find flaws in others. The truth is, these type of people are hurting inside and are not willing to be brave enough to take the necessary steps to heal. The phrase “hurt people hurt people” has taught me the truth. Many of the stories I share in ConcealHer No More, highlight the shallow and empty thoughts of others. I had to learn that the opinions of others are not to be taken so personally, to the point that I allow them to interfere with who I am or what I think about myself. My thoughts of me are more important than what someone else has to say. No one knows the extent of my emotional and physical scars and I refuse to give anyone power over me, to make me believe that being imperfect is a “bad” thing.
I also learned that we all feel and think differently, the way I process and deal with my emotional and physical scars may not be the same as how someone else would handle their scars. There is not a wrong or right way to heal, the goal is to “just heal” and be a better version of myself as I go through the process, while assisting others to do the same. I want each of us to simply, “Be You and Grow”.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: d_authornicole
• Facebook: D’Author Nicole