Almost everything is multisided – including the occurrences that give us pain. So, we asked some of the most enlightened folks in the community to share how they have harnessed their pain to help rather than hurt them.
Malika Daniels
I experienced a traumatic pregnancy loss at five months with my daughter, and it was the hardest pain I’ve ever faced. What made it even more difficult was that it wasn’t the type of loss people openly talk about. For a while, I carried that grief quietly, but eventually I found the courage to share my story publicly. Read more>>
Corina Bryant
I stopped hiding my pain and started using it as power in 2018, when I decided to start my business. At the time, I was going through a divorce that completely changed my life, it was one of the darkest periods I’ve ever faced. But instead of letting that pain break me, I turned it into fuel. Read more>>
Destini Taylor
I stopped hiding my pain the day I realized silence was costing me more than speaking ever could. For years, I thought holding it all in made me strong, but it only kept me invisible—even to myself. The turning point came when I put my truth on paper for the first time. Read more>>
Angelic Muhammad
This is a big one. There are so many individuals living in pain without realizing they can use that pain as power. I was one of them. In fact, many people don’t even recognize that they’re in pain. When you drag weight around for so long, the heaviness becomes normal. And when more is added, you barely notice. Read more>>
Ash Serrano
I stopped every time I walked into a room and decided not to shrink. Every time I raised my voice, instead of swallowing it. Every time I made something honest, knowing it might make someone uncomfortable, I did it anyway. For a long time, I learned to perform. Code-switch. Stay likable. Play the part. Read more>>
Briana Dargan
Turning 30 was the moment everything began to shift. It was like a quiet but powerful activation, one that made me more conscious of who I was, where I had been, and where I was going. For most of my life, I carried pain in silence. I masked it with strength, with smiles, with pushing through. Read more>>
Erica Mitchell
The moment that I acted on bringing Tech Women of ATL to life is when I stopped hiding my pain and started using it as power. I had a hard time finding my way after my technical education, but once I did, I had an even harder time adjusting to my work environment. Read more>>
Dewy Ventura
I stopped hiding my pain when I realized I could use it to help others. I could let the light within me shine. So many people around me that were hurting and far from God. But I had tasted God in prison he sat with me during my 10 year bid and comforted me and purified my heart. Read more>>
Leah Bernath
When I stopped treating pain like the villain to run from and started seeing it as my greatest teacher, everything changed. Instead of avoiding it, I got wildy curious. And that curiosity cracked open doors I never knew were there—leading to new insights, unexpected growth, and some pretty amazing shifts in my life. Read more>>
Bonita Jalane Canady
I stopped hiding my pain and started using it as power the moment I realized silence wasn’t protecting me—it was suffocating me. That shift really happened during the process of creating Kept Kissing Frogs. I was tired of shrinking myself to make others comfortable, tired of pretending I was okay just to keep pushing forward. Read more>>
Perlizbeth De Leon
When I decided to divorce my ex-husband of a decade. I began to see how many toxic patterns we had accepted as normal. Whether rooted in childhood trauma, unhealed experiences, or our shared inability to grow together — we had built a relationship around habits that quietly eroded us. Read more>>
Lester Greene
I use my pain in my acting work. It is the only way that I address my pain. Acting is my therapy and I know it. Knowing is everything… I just received an email from someone who said that she was moved to tears by my performance in the movie “Father May I.” For me, impacting others is why I exist. Read more>>
