Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelia Stuart

Hi Kelia, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?

My perception after going through two abusive marriages, losing the father of my son to a senseless crime, and battling depression, anxiety, and PTSD was that “trauma ruined my dreams”. Everything I was faced with communicated that to me: Two failed marriages left me believing I was not worthy of being loved and cared for. The abuse left me always on edge, in fear, and wanting to be isolated from anyone or anything that tried to hurt me. Grief after losing a significant person in my life left me feeling abandoned. As a single mom, I often worried about how I would care for my children. These life events led to a life full of stress, anxiety, depression, and many PTSD episodes. This was not the life I had imagined for myself. I have always dreamed of being an attorney helping families, women, and children. I wanted to be deeply involved in helping my community heal from trauma yet here I was traumatized and unable to help anyone…including myself. I truly felt like my dreams of being who I felt God called me to be were ruined by trauma.

Growing up, I struggled with rejection, self-acceptance, and worthiness. I did not have many friends and was always the “last pick” in most things. As a young adult, I struggled trying to find my path. It was hard to find a place to fit in. I could not seem to find my tribe when it came to being around my peers. I tried college and failed. I tried marriage and felt like that was a better fit for me. In my mind, I felt like I was lucky. He was a nice guy, in college, we met in church, and he was funny. Seven months into the marriage, pregnant with my first son, my world grew dark as the mental, verbal, emotional, and physical abuse began. I quickly found myself in a place where I was a victim of domestic violence. The violence became so intense in that marriage to the point our son also became a victim of the same violence where he suffered eleven fractures at 10 weeks old at the hands of his father. This was a very tough time to get through. Every day I would think: How am I going to recover from this? Where do I start picking up all the broken pieces? What will the outcome of this court case be? Will we get justice? This abuse story was all over the news, the newspapers, and blogs. I had no idea how I was going to heal. I had reached a point where I got so sick of being ashamed and acting out from that shame. I wanted to be free and finally tell my story, even if I hadn’t completely healed from the pain. I wrote a book called “Words I Would Say to Her: From Abandoned to Loved”. In this book, I talk about my journey as a young woman, my experiences with different relationships in my life, and the many emotions that come with the many shifts of life. I even share the full story about the abuse that my son and I endured in that marriage and how we overcame the storm.

God has done a complete 360 in my life, and I am so grateful for the change. I now look at everything I went through as life lessons that served as stepping-stones to get me to where I am in life today. I have a career that I love in legal services. I have a family, and my children are healthy and thriving. I will graduate as a pre-law student in May of 2025. I have published three books that not only share my story but also give others the hope and inspiration they need to better their lives. I take pride in knowing that I have a lot of people who look up to me and admire my journey. I enjoy being an inspiration to others. I try to show up every day and exude light, peace, and happiness. I will attend law school to obtain my juris doctorate, and I plan to write more books in the future as my journey continues to unfold.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?

It has not been a smooth journey. There have been many twists and turns, hills and mountains and many times I found myself completely lost. When you are on a journey to discover anything about yourself, that in itself can be a difficult journey. This is why it is very important to have a divine connection with the Infinite because only in seeking God was I able to find my footing. I came to understand that what made my journey hard was that I struggled with low self-esteem and felt unworthy of having the life I dreamed of. I struggled with not having the confidence to go after what I truly wanted in life and found it hard to speak up for myself. I needed a complete mindset makeover but couldn’t quite figure out how to get where I needed to be. Journaling was the first step I took to try and figure things out. I knew that I had to bring order to my thoughts so that I could identify what the real issues were. Being able to write out what I was feeling and thinking helped me to pinpoint the exact challenges I had and provided me clarity on which direction I needed to go in seeking help to overcome the obstacle.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?

My career is in legal services. I work for an amazing corporation called Express Professional International as a Franchise Administration and Compliance Specialist. I truly enjoy working with others who seek to own their own business one day. I know that I have a special gift in bringing things to order and one of the things I ensure with all of my clients is that they have all of their legal business in order before they invest so much in opening a business. I am also in my senior year of college (Liberty University) obtaining my Pre-Law and Policy Degree. I will attend law school, obtain my law degree and one day open my consulting firm where I help families and businesses get past their legal challenges and bring order back to their lives.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://chaquettavibes.wordpress.com/?
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamkeliachaquetta?igsh=cGF0OWh2N3puZXQw&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/LXMa2tUEYSvHF7td/?mibextid=LQQJ4d