We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Laani Ford. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Laani below.
Laani , we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
When I was very young I thought I had to be brave and strong to get through the tumultuous environment I was raised in. I’ve had many curveballs thrown at me in life and I’ve learned to be resilient. I learned if I don’t brush myself off I will never be able to see the fruit of my labor. I’ve worked so hard throughout my life to build the life I dream of and if I stop dreaming I know I’ll never see it.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am an abuse survivor and writer.I create content online sharing my story about abuse. I was in an abusive marriage which fell apart due to infidelity. In 2020 I found myself having to grapple with a global pandemic and the loss of my marriage. My former husband was the worship leader at the church when I found out he was in a relationship with a guy he met in college. I was obviously devastated and went to the church for support. Unfortunately, I did not find support. Instead I was met with lies, blame, and the truth pushed far under the rug. I was extremely afraid to talk about what had happened to me but I wanted to encourage others so I began sharing my journey. I feel extremely fortunate to be able to share and I receive frequent messages of others telling their story and expressing how mine has helped them. That’s what gets me excited. That’s why I do what I do.
I am currently in the process of releasing my first book that I like to call a “memoir-ish” as it is loosely based on my story. It’s wild but funny, all while navigating through religious trauma, patriarchy and misogyny. It comes out early 2025.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Three qualities that I think were essential are resilience, belief in yourself, and the humility to ask for help. Going through abuse, divorce, and religious trauma is difficult. It’s important to keep going even if it looks too hard. It WILL get better. Believe in yourself. You have so much to offer the world. You are more capable than you could ever imagine and finally, ask for help. A lot of times we can become so independent as we build our resilience against hard times. But it’s in those times we need to lean on others to help us through.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I would love to partner with other folks in the creative space. Folks who are advocates, writers, those who are deconstructing their faith and just creatives in general. I love to collaborate and find so much value learning from others. They can find me on instagram and TikTok or they can email me at laani.ford.com
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Laaniford.com
- Instagram: @laani..ford
- Other: TikTok @laani.ford
Image Credits
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