Hey guys, this is Lisa Bilieu and get ready for an inspiring, super freaking insightful episode of Women of Impact that is all about how to actually change your life, not pretend, but actually change your life. So you're always moving towards a life with more purpose and freaking confidence that's actually authentic to you. And so today's guest is sharing a step-by-step road map that she's taught to thousands of women to do just that Mahalmi and yes, that's right. It's Dr. Sonia. Dr. Sonia is a retired US Army major and Combat of veteran a mother of three and went from outer bankruptcy and divorce to owning and building her eight Ficker business and she breaks down how she went from the battlefield to the boardroom. Guys, this episode is full of specific tactics and tips and takeaways to actually elevate your life. So you can make sure, my homie, you can make sure that you are never holding yourself back and always working on being the warrior woman that you want to be. And this episode is about how to

take that action. So without further ado, I'm ashamed. I'm embarrassed, empty, depleted, neglected. But can you give back up? No, not can you. Will you? Are you willing to? Get back up. You feel pregnant at the age of 15 years old, but you got back up and didn't let that define you. Yes. At age 17, you were heart-breakingly raped and left for dead in a field. But you got back up and didn't let that define you. Yeah. You got divorced after 21 years of marriage, leaving you broke with no house, no home, no car. And you just kept getting back up and not letting it define you. So for anyone listening right now, who just feels that powerless, how do they actually take their power back like you did? Getting back up, I didn't have any other option, right? If I did make some decisions to overcome having a child, being strapped to a table and having a baby, or 17 years old, where your whole life life changes because you're going through rape and trauma and those things and not knowing if you're going to make it out alive and even going and being married 18 years, majority of your life. And now you got to pretty much start back over with children shall I add. And so it wasn't there was no retreat going back. If I didn't make a decision to have a better life, surely I was going to die. And I honestly, for years thought I was a dead woman walking this earth. Just on the inside, just not feeling fulfilled, not feeling like I'm not a manup or being seen or being heard. And honestly, felt like no one would understand what I was going through. Can I be honest with you? Yes. So you said you didn't really have a choice. Yeah. Fortunate, you did have a choice. And so many people don't take the path that you took. So many people, unfortunately, do commit suicide. Yes. So many people do stay in that depth of despair for the rest of their lives. Because the unfortunate or fortunate, whichever way you want to sit, there is that choice. And there's a choice of settle for exactly the hand your dealt, of freaking get back up and fight on the battlefield just like you did, whether the battlefield is your life, your heart, the actual war. Yes. So I would love for you to take me back to those moments. Like what is it do you think that kept propelling you forward?

So in fact, if you don't mind taking me even to the first time,

your 15 years old you said that you were trapped to a table. Talk me through that and I would love to really pull out the empowerment of how on earth you didn't let that define you. Well, you know, I had a strong mother there. I'm gonna use the word strong and I'll explain later the difference between strong and powerful women.

And I remember my mom being there,

she said, we're gonna be okay.

She always said, we, we're gonna be okay

and being the youngest of them. I'm going to use the word strong and I'll explain later the difference between strong and powerful women. And I remember my mom being there, she said, we're going to be okay.

She always said, we're going to be okay.

And being the youngest of 12, I didn't have an option.

I didn't have a choice.

The only choice I knew was to fight through this.

Be resilient is the word we use today.

I would say be more of having endurance to go through a thing and come out on the other side. Not strong, but powerful,

because there's a difference.

And being a strong woman, I believe a strong woman and some women have a very hard time when I say this strong means we're just surviving. Survival, you get to a place even at 15 surviving, 17 being in the wrong place at the wrong time. You're surviving. But what happens when you make a decision, not a choice to actually just thrive.

What does thriving look like?

And it's totally different from being just strong and surviving and being powerful and thriving. And so I only had that option. For me, it was either do something different, make a decision to survive, slash thrive, or I was going to die. And I've been so close to death so many times that I never wanna go back there. And so being 15, 17, or even been in the military, and a combat zone. When I talk about US, I'm talking about it, I rag, you see things flying over your head, you're hearing incoming on the big voice. And so that's what my life has been like. And when women ask, what are the things

that got you over?

One, I did not want to die in either situation. I may have felt like it or said it, but I didn't really want to die. Do we really? Even the times where I was going to take my own life. Because I didn't know I had any other options at that moment. And then when the time where I really said,

you know, I'm done with this life, this is too hard.

I don't wanna do it and I thought about,

...