Six years ago Ashley LeMieux and her husband got a phone call asking them to become parents of a six-year-old and a four-year-old. They weren’t looking to adopt or foster at the time, but they said yes, and their life became all about their new family. During the final stages of the adoption process they experienced an unexpected contested adoption, which meant that they spent over a year and a half in court fighting to keep their family together. In the end the kids were taken from them with 12 hours notice and Ashley and her husband were not even allowed to tell the kids they weren’t coming home. Ashley says the past two years have been filled with her trying to figure out how to find a life again after it was all taken away. She felt buried by pain for so long she couldn’t work out how to move forward, but her journey through that has ignited everything she’s doing now. To begin she started a morning routine that added purpose back into her day. She wanted to write a book about her experiences and, after 30 different publishers said no, she figured out that no one else’s opinion mattered and did it anyway. Her book, Born To Shine, shares stories, lessons, and practical tools to help women shine despite the darkness, to press forward one day at a time even when there is no end in sight, and to turn their most painful moments into their greatest teachers and signposts to true, deep, unassailable joy.

Question Highlights:

• How do you find closure when you couldn’t say goodbye to your kids?
• Was writing your book therapeutic?
• What should people do when they can’t see a way out of suffering?
• How can we believe in the significance of our story? 
• How do we bring divine ideas to life and have faith in them even when they’ve lost their excitement?

Guest Bio:

Ashley LeMieux is an author, sought-after public speaker, and wildly successful lifestyle influencer. She’s the founder of the online community, The Shine Project, where she creates resources and tools that have ignited a path of clarity and fulfillment for hundreds of thousands of women around the world. Through her fashion and lifestyle brand, Shop Ashley LeMieux, she empowers “Women Who Do” to show up confidently and courageously to their lives. She believes that you can turn your pain into your power.