Last Updated on September 12, 2025 by Jacqualyn

Finding my why has never been a neat line on a timeline. Instead, it’s been a winding adventure, threaded with love, loss, and redemption. Life, after all, is an expedition filled with unexpected detours—and every twist has challenged me to examine what truly fuels my soul.

Early Roots – All Part of Finding My Why

Abundance, Heritage, and Hidden Struggle

I grew up in southeast Louisiana, part of a large, loud, and loving Italian family that overflowed with tradition. My father ran a thriving business, and my mother worked diligently beside him. As a result, my sisters and I had access to private schooling, paid college tuition, and even our very own cars before high school graduation. On the outside, life sparkled with abundance.

But underneath that shine, quiet storms were brewing.

I would later discover that my father silently battled depression—an illness rarely discussed in those days. On May 26, 1986, just weeks before meeting his first grandchild—my son Joey—he ended his life. He never got to hold the baby boy who would bear his name. I never got to tell him that surprise. I never got to say, “Daddy, I named him after you.”

That moment became a permanent tear in the fabric of my story. One that would take years to unravel and even longer to understand.

Health Crisis and Personal Collapse

Then, life flipped the script.

At fifty, I was diagnosed with Avascular Necrosis—my hip had completely died. Within three months, I endured three surgeries and a full replacement. I joked that I had become a modern-day “hippie,” but the truth was, I was unraveling.

While I was healing physically, life around me was breaking. My beloved mother lost her battle with Alzheimer’s. My thirty-year marriage ended. Half of my retirement savings disappeared. Everything I had used to define myself—wife, daughter, mother, career woman—felt like it was crumbling at once.

And I didn’t cope well.

Vodka became my daily anesthetic. For nearly four years, I functioned on autopilot: originating & closing loans by day, drowning in pain by night. Depression wrapped around me like a familiar shadow, and suicidal thoughts began whispering the same tragic script my father had followed decades before.

But even in the darkest nights, grace has a way of breaking through.

One crisp morning, I dropped to my knees on the bathroom floor. With tears soaking into the tile, I cried out to God: “I don’t want to die. I just don’t know how to live like this anymore.” That desperate prayer marked the beginning of a faith-led transformation that would reshape everything. Everything that started me on the path of finding my why.

Counseling replaced cocktails. Gratitude journaling replaced grief. Small habits became lifelines. And for the first time in years, I began to believe that something beautiful might still be waiting for me on the other side of the wreckage.

Rediscovering Purpose-Driven Living – Through Finding My Why (Plan B) & Faith-Led Transformation

As I healed, a new question began to rise: What now?

Corporate life had always felt secure—until it didn’t. Between health scares and heartache, I knew I couldn’t bank my future on a system that could so easily collapse. I needed a Plan B (Finding My Why). One that aligned with my values, offered freedom, and let me wake up with purpose.

That’s when I stumbled into the world of professional affiliate marketing. At first, I was skeptical. But then I met people—mentors—who were doing extraordinary things. These weren’t flashy influencers or overnight millionaires. They were real people, building real income from home, using their gifts to uplift others.

I leaned in. I studied like it was oxygen. I applied every lesson. My background in mortgage banking, public speaking, and relationship-building translated beautifully to this new arena. I found myself teaching others to monetize their skills, cheerleading first-time marketers, and celebrating their wins like they were my own.

Bit by bit, a new version of me was emerging—rooted in service leadership, driven by vision, and committed to purpose-driven living.

And you know what? That “Plan B” (Finding My Why) started lighting up the parts of my soul I didn’t even realize had gone dim. I realized that overcoming adversity doesn’t always mean bouncing back—it means building forward with intention. It means turning your pain into a platform.

Building A Career While Raising A Family

Even as the storms of life swirled around me, I never stopped showing up for the people I loved. I poured myself into my career and spent over forty years in mortgage banking—rising through the ranks, training teams, and helping families find the homes where their stories would begin. Behind every loan file was a life, and I always treated it that way.

At the same time, I was raising two remarkable young men. Joey, my son and my heart. And John, my bonus son through marriage, who brought a new kind of joy into my life. Later, I became “Jac Jac” to two beautiful grandchildren—John’s children—who filled our world with laughter and fresh perspective.

In the wake of divorce and personal reinvention, I met Michael. A partner who shows up daily with gentleness, strength, and the kind of quiet support that anchors a woman rebuilding her wings. He is my person, my encourager, and the steady whisper of hope when shadows try to return.

Together, we share our home—and our hearts—with our beloved Miss Prada. She’s more than a dog. She’s our four-legged miracle, a survivor with her journey of healing, and a daily reminder that resilience wears fur and wags its tail. Her story is for another day, but it’s coming, and it is going to knock your socks off.

This chapter of my life—the one rooted in faith, family, and forward motion—has taught me that women reinventing themselves after 50 are not just starting over. We’re finally becoming who we were meant to be. And that is a great thing!

Faith, Growth & Forward Momentum

Today, I’m sixty-four years young, forty-five pounds lighter, and more alive than ever. I’ve built a life that blends my corporate roots with a flourishing online business—proof that faith-led transformation can create new purpose at any age.

Every time I help a client launch their first ad or celebrate a single mom making her first affiliate sale, I feel my father smiling down. I believe he knows—his baby girl didn’t just survive. She thrived!

Michael and I carve out travel dates to visit Joey and the grandkids, investing in legacy through quality time. Miss Prada walks proudly beside us (well, actually she rides in her stroller) on our daily strolls, reminding me that healing isn’t just mental or emotional—it’s physical and spiritual too.

I anchor my days with three guiding principles:

• Prayer: I start with scripture and speak to God before I speak to the world.
• Personal Growth: I journal daily, feed my mind with leadership podcasts, and embrace lifelong learning.
• Purpose-Driven Living: I show up. I serve. I pour out what was once poured into me.

This is my rhythm now. And this is what “finding my why” looks like in real time.

Looking Ahead: Golden Years, My Way

As I look to the future, I see it clearly: passport stamps, porch swings, family dinners, and stories passed around a table like heirlooms.

I intend to globe-trot with Michael, sip espresso in cobblestoned piazzas, and spoil the grandkids every chance I get. I want to laugh more. Breathe slower. Say “yes” to adventure and “no” to anything that doesn’t serve joy or purpose.

But more than anything, I want to keep cheering from the sidelines as my clients rise.

There’s nothing more fulfilling than watching someone—especially a woman—step into her calling. Whether it’s closing their first affiliate sale, launching a new brand, or simply rediscovering their spark, I live for those moments. That’s the legacy I want to leave behind.

So I’ll keep refining my skills, building alliances, and amplifying voices that deserve to be heard. I’ll continue honoring my journey by helping others rise from theirs.

Because Finding My Why wasn’t a one-time epiphany.
It was a continual unveiling—a dance between pain and purpose, between heartbreak and hope.

In the end, my “why” turned tragedy into testimony…
Scarcity into service…
And victimhood into victory.

And that, my friend, is a journey worth traveling. ⚜️

I hope you enjoyed reading my story as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Because truth be told—this is my story, and I’m not just sticking to it…
I’m owning every beautifully messy, soul-stirring bit of it. 💁‍♀️💛