If you had met me before I got sober, you would have thought I had the perfect life. I was a high-powered vice president at a Fortune 500 company, living in a beautiful home with my husband and two young children. From the outside, I seemed to have everything together–but inside, I was enslaved by prescription pills and alcohol. No one knew the real me or the struggle I was hiding behind a carefully crafted mask of success.

Things reached a breaking point when my husband said he couldn’t continue to live on the roller coaster of my substance use disorder and he threatened to leave and take our children. I was angry and defensive, but I couldn’t stand the idea of losing my children. So I went to find my own divorce attorney–who told me I needed to get sober.

Sobriety transformed my entire life. Meeting other people and hearing their stories, I realized that I wasn’t as alone as I thought. I thought there was something uniquely wrong with me, that my insides didn’t match my outside. Sobriety has allowed me to drop the mask. Now, what you see on the outside is also what’s on the inside.

In the first month of my sobriety, my sponsor took me to Nexus Family Recovery Center to share my story with the women there. My initial reaction was to wonder what I had to say that could possibly be valuable to these women. I don’t know anything about sobriety. I haven’t even been doing this for 30 days. My sponsor gently pointed out that my story and my journey would be more recognizable to these other women than her 20 years of sobriety. There is a time in early sobriety when you don’t think you can go 20 minutes or 20 days, let alone 20 years.

I started my own clothing brand, Avara, in 2018, after getting sober. One of the things that was important to me as a business owner was that I could use my platform to help others. Nexus was a natural connection for me. The life-saving work that they are doing and the way they support mothers and children is so important. It’s why I am so proud to be part of #StrongLikeAMother.

As women, we tend to put everyone else first. But to be #StrongLikeAMother, especially in getting sober, you have to put yourself first. You have to be vulnerable and honest. You have to admit that you cannot care for others to the detriment of yourself. It’s not easy, but it’s necessary and it’s so worth it.

My recovery has become my North Star. If I go to bed sober, it was a successful day. What once seemed like the worst thing that could ever happen to me has become the best thing, leading me to a life of purpose and service. Your support of Nexus Family Recovery Center helps mothers and families on that same journey.