Today we’d like to introduce you to Marilyn Gregory.
Hi Marilyn, 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?
Breaking the Cycle: How Defining Love Healed Me—and Became My Calling
By Marilyn Gregory
My story began in Coosa, Georgia, when I was a little girl watching something no child should ever have to witness.
Day after day, year after year, I watched my father physically, verbally, and emotionally abuse my mother—until she finally found the strength to leave. As a child, my emotions were complicated. I loved my father and desperately wanted his love in return. At the same time, I felt angry with my mother for staying as long as she did. I promised myself that I would never allow a man to put his hands on me.
Unfortunately, that promise did not become my reality.
Longing for love—from a father who was incapable of giving it and from a mother who was searching for love herself—I married the first man who gave me serious attention. Looking back, I can say this plainly: I married my father.
We lived in his hometown, a small town where he was well known and I was the outsider. Over time, I lost myself. For more than 25 years, I was known primarily as Randy’s wife and Keauna and Randi’s mother. At the time, I told myself I was okay with that. It was a distraction. If I was defined by someone else, I didn’t have to confront the question of who I really was.
After 25 years in a loveless and abusive marriage, I finally found the courage to leave.
Years later, when my daughters asked me why I stayed so long, my stomach dropped. I remembered the frustration and disappointment I once felt toward my own mother—and in that moment, I realized the generational curse had continued through me. I had been so sure I would never allow myself to be in that situation.
After leaving my marriage, I found myself back in the dating world—and it was nothing like I remembered. I moved from relationship to relationship, still searching for the love I had longed for as a child, a teenager, and a wife.
Then one moment changed everything. After telling a man I was dating that I loved him, he asked me a simple question:
“What is your definition of love?” I was stunned. I had no answer. And if we are honest, many of us don’t.
We use the word love freely, yet we struggle to articulate what it actually means to us. That realization forced me to stop, reflect, and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I had to define love for myself—because no one had ever shown me or taught me what healthy love looked like.
That moment became the foundation of my book, I Am Adam’s Rib: What You Should Know About You Before Saying I Do.
I came to understand that the only way we heal as individuals—and as a society—is by breaking generational curses and restoring the family unit. And that restoration must begin within. We must understand what love means to us and what a healthy relationship looks like for us.
That definition will not be the same for everyone—and it shouldn’t be, because we all give and receive love differently. However, hitching your wagon to someone whose definition of love is fundamentally different from yours can lead to years of confusion, pain, and self-betrayal.
After all, how will you recognize love if you cannot articulate it? As I reflected on my journey, I remembered a vision I had as a teenage girl—standing in the kitchen of our apartment, seeing myself before a crowd of thousands, speaking. At the time, I didn’t know the subject. Now I do.
God has called me to speak on the importance of healthy relationships and the breaking of generational curses. That calling led me to become a certified Relationship Coach, an ordained minister, a Chaplain, and a wedding Officiant. I am currently completing a premarital workbook to accompany my book, “I Am Adams Rib; What You Should Know About You Before Saying, I Do” along with my second book, I Am Ezer Kenegdo (Helpmeet), and an Officiant Guide designed to help other Officiants with their business.
Today, I stand fully in my purpose—as an Author, Keynote Speaker, Ordained Minister, Chaplain, and Relationship Coach—helping individuals and couples discover themselves before committing to one another. Because healing starts with self-awareness. And breaking generational curses begins with one brave decision at a time.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My greatest obstacle has not been circumstance, opportunity, or even fear—it has been myself.
After years of being told that I was nothing and would never amount to anything, those words took root. Even after leaving abuse and stepping into freedom, the internal narrative remained. It is difficult to believe that God would choose to use you when your past has been marked by pain—especially in the very area where you feel like you failed the most.
For a long time, I wrestled with the idea that my story disqualified me rather than prepared me. I questioned how I could be called to speak on love, marriage, and healthy relationships when my own marriage had been broken. What I am learning, however, is that God does not waste experiences. What felt like failure was actually formation.
One of my greatest lessons has been learning to get out of my own way—quieting the voices of doubt and allowing God’s voice to be louder than my history. Healing required me to challenge the lies I had believed about myself and replace them with truth.
Another unexpected challenge was embracing the identity of a writer. I never saw myself as one. Writing was never the plan—it was simply obedience. I wrote because I had something to say and because someone else needed to hear it. Over time, I realized that purpose often shows up disguised as discomfort, and calling does not always arrive wrapped in confidence.
Today, I understand that my limitations were never a barrier to God’s plan—they were the very doorway through which it would be revealed.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
My work lives at the intersection of self-discovery, faith, and intentional relationships.
At its core, my brand is built on one foundational belief:
Healthy relationships begin with self-awareness.
Through my book, I Am Adam’s Rib: What You Should Know About You Before Saying I Do, and my growing officiating and relationship coaching practice, I help individuals and couples do the inner work before making lifelong commitments. I specialize in guiding people to define love for themselves, identify unhealthy patterns, and break generational cycles that quietly shape how we choose partners, communicate, and show up in relationships.
I am an Author, Relationship Coach, Wedding Officiant, Ordained Minister, and Chaplain. While many professionals focus solely on the wedding day or relationship repair after damage is done, my work centers on preparation, prevention, and purpose. My officiating services go far beyond ceremony scripting. Every couple I work with is invited into intentional conversations about expectations, communication, conflict, roles, and emotional safety. My coaching practice extends that work to individuals and couples who want healing, clarity, and alignment—whether they are dating, engaged, married, or simply learning themselves.
What truly sets my brand apart is authenticity. I do not teach from theory alone—I teach from experience, reflection, and redemption. I openly acknowledge that I did not grow up with a healthy model of love, and I did not enter marriage equipped with the tools I now provide to others. That honesty creates trust. Clients know they are not being judged; they are being guided.
Another distinction is that I do not offer a one-size-fits-all definition of love or marriage. I believe love is deeply personal, and conflict often arises when two people enter a relationship without understanding their own needs, values, and boundaries. My work helps people articulate those truths before they bind themselves to someone else.
What I am most proud of is that my brand gives people language—language for feelings they have never been able to name, patterns they have never been able to identify, and questions they were never encouraged to ask.
I am also proud of the premarital workbook I am completing, which expands on the principles in I Am Adam’s Rib and provides practical tools, reflection exercises, and guided conversations couples can return to long after the wedding day. Alongside that, I am developing my second book, I Am Ezer Kenegdo (Helpmeet), and an Officiant Guide designed to elevate the role of officiants from ceremonial facilitators to covenant-centered guides.
I want readers to know that my brand is not about perfection—it is about preparation.
It is about helping people pause, reflect, and heal before making promises that shape generations. Whether someone is seeking love, preparing for marriage, or trying to understand why their relationships keep following the same painful patterns, my work offers clarity, compassion, and practical guidance.
Ultimately, my mission is simple: To help individuals and couples enter relationships whole—so love becomes a choice, not a wound.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was shy, fairly smart, and often lonely—even in a small apartment shared with four sisters and a brother. Looking back, I realize I formed stronger relationships with boys than with girls. At the time, I didn’t think much of it. What feels ironic now is that many of my conversations with my male friends centered around their relationships with their girlfriends. I listened. I asked questions. I tried to understand. In hindsight, I smile at the realization that I had been doing relationship coaching long before I had a name for it. I’ve also always been a people watcher. I studied how people interacted, what made them tick, what their angles were, and why they believed what they believed. I asked a lot of questions—sometimes too many. At one point, I even wanted to be an attorney, drawn to the pursuit of truth, clarity, and understanding. My only interest was figuring out life. I never got into sports, the only extracurricular activity I remember doing was Girl Scouts
Image Credits
Paul Posey (Neg2Pos Photography)
