here - The Corporate Ninja

The Power of the Platform - Speakers on Life
Then, on June 12th, 1994, my sister – Nicole Brown
Simpson - was murdered. My pain was indescribable
and overwhelming. For the next ten years, I worked
in corporate America. In September of 2004, I was
engaged to be married when - just four days before
the ceremony – my fiancé cancelled our wedding.
That loss triggered an emotional tailspin. I became
self-destructive and so clinically depressed that I
could not get out of bed. I was paralyzed – spiritually
and mentally.
I was magnificently angry. I drank too much and selfmedicated.
I was a ticking time bomb of confusion,
grief, devastation, and negative emotions. Finally,
at a family gathering a few weeks later, I exploded.
Every emotion I’d ever suppressed in my entire
life came spilling out violently. I lashed out at my
loved ones, devastating some of the most important
people in my life.
Later, alone in my bedroom, I held pills in my
trembling hand. I wanted the pain to end. Yet,
somewhere deep inside me, I realized that I didn’t
want to die. I could sense that I was here for a
greater good. It was at that moment that my sister
Dominique entered my room. I told her, “Get me
away from here.” The next morning, she helped me
to take my first step toward healing: acknowledging
my inability to cope and wanting to get help.
I was admitted to the Behavioral Health Department
in Laguna Beach, California, where I was an
inpatient for 10 days and then an outpatient for
two months. From that one-time experience, I
learned how much mental illness affects everyone
in a family. My mother asked, “Do I have to watch
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