Today we’d like to introduce you to J.C. Destini.
Hi J.C. , thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story didn’t start with writing. It started with surviving.
Before I ever understood healing, I understood hurt. I grew up carrying wounds too heavy for a child, too complicated for a teenager, and too unspoken for a young woman who learned early that silence was the safest way to survive.
I was the girl who held everything together for everyone else. The girl who got used to being strong because no one asked if she was okay. The girl who learned to swallow emotions, hide pain behind responsibility, and pretend she wasn’t breaking. From rape, domestic violence, father on crack, staring down a gun, and nearly loosing to mental health this is who I was.
Underneath all that strength was a child who never got to just be.
Writing became the first place I ever told the truth, not the truth I showed the world, but the truth I whispered to myself when no one was listening. Every poem was a cry, a prayer, or a confession I didn’t feel safe saying aloud.
I never planned to become an author. I planned to survive quietly, until surviving wasn’t enough anymore, I wanted to live.
I wrote Ink After the Flame: Letters to the Girl Who Survived not as an author, but as a woman finally ready to face the child inside her. That book came from the ashes from everything I buried, forgave, and rose above. I didn’t write it to be strong; I wrote it to be honest.
When women told me, “You wrote the words I’ve been holding,” I realized my story wasn’t just mine. It was a bridge for every girl who survived unseen, for every woman still carrying her past in silence.
That’s why I founded Healing Through Ink, a nonprofit grounded in the belief that writing can save lives and give survivors a voice. I work with shelters, youth programs, and justice-involved girls because I see myself in them. And I want them to know healing is not just possible , it’s theirs.
My second book, My Name Is Survival, is the story I once thought I’d never share the generational wounds, the spiritual battles, the moments I didn’t think I’d make it through, and the rebirth that came after choosing not to let my past become my prison.
Today, I’m an author, a mentor, and a woman who refuses to apologize for her resilience. But none of this came easy. I had to survive myself. I had to choose healing, even when it hurt. I had to become the woman I needed when I was younger.
My story is still unfolding, still being written, still being healed. But if sharing it helps even one person feel less alone, then every flame I walked through was worth it.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
If I must be honest hiding behind the pen and pain for years was terrifying. My road has been anything but smooth, but every rough place shaped the woman I am today.
There were times in my life where I was surviving more than living. I carried childhood trauma that I didn’t have the language for, navigated abandonment, toxic relationships, depression, and moments where I didn’t recognize myself at all. Healing wasn’t handed to me; I had to fight for it in the dark.
One of my biggest struggles was learning to break patterns I grew up inside of, patterns of silence, self-neglect, and always being the strong one even when I was falling apart. I had to unlearn the belief that my pain didn’t matter. I had to learn how to give myself the compassion I freely gave to everyone else.
Another challenge was stepping into my calling publicly. Sharing my story has been healing, but it has also been vulnerable. Writing Ink After the Flame and My Name Is Survival forced me to revisit places I once ran from. But in that process, I realized that strength isn’t pretending everything is fine, it’s telling the truth and still choosing to rise.
Building Healing Through Ink came with obstacles too still learning the nonprofit world, gaining trust from youth programs, and showing up consistently even when I doubted myself. But each door that opened reminded me why I started: because there are girls and women who need someone to speak the language of healing in a way they can feel.
No, my road hasn’t been smooth, but every struggle became a chapter in the story I’m now strong enough to tell.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m an author, creative, and the founder of Healing Through Ink, a nonprofit dedicated to helping women and youth process trauma through writing and storytelling. My work lives at the crossroad of healing, creativity, and emotional truth.
As an author, I specialize in turning real-life pain into purpose-driven literature. My writing blends poetry, memoir, and emotional storytelling in a way that speaks directly to the inner child and the hidden version of ourselves we don’t always show the world. My books, Ink After the Flame and My Name Is Survival, are known for their raw honesty, spiritual grounding, and the way they make readers feel seen, understood, and less alone.
What I’m most proud of is that my work doesn’t stop on the page. Through Healing Through Ink, I bring journaling workshops and storytelling sessions to shelters, group homes, and juvenile justice programs. I specialize in helping girls and women, especially those who have experienced trauma find their voice again. I teach them that their story matters, their pain has a place, and their healing is possible. Its not easy but I love it.
What sets me apart is the way I create from a safe place of lived experience. I don’t write or mentor from theory I write from the fire I had to walk through. I know what it feels like to grow up unseen, to rebuild from nothing, to struggle silently, and to rise anyway. I’m proud that my books and programs have become safe spaces.
I’m proud that survivors tell me, “You put my feelings into words.” I’m proud that young girls trust me with the parts of themselves they never shared.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
For me, success has never been about numbers, money, or popularity.
Success is about impact, healing, and becoming the woman I needed when I was younger.
I define success by the moments where my work helps someone feel less alone, when a girl in a group home writes her first journal entry without fear, or when a woman in a shelter tells me she finally believes she can heal.
Success is when my story gives someone else permission to speak theirs.
It’s also deeply internal for me. Success looks like breaking cycles I grew up inside of, choosing peace over chaos, and choosing myself without any guilt. It’s being able to stand in my truth without shame and share my journey in a way that lifts others.
If I can use my pain to guide someone else toward purpose… if my words can reach a heart that needed them… if one life is touched because I decided to rise instead of stay silent then guess what?
That is success to me.
Pricing:
- 13.95
- 17.95
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.inkbydestini.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inkbydestini/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577401352211
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@jcdestini
