Season 2, Episode 4: Lauren Stevens- Finding Her Inner Joy & Worth

Lauren Stevens is a single mom, business owner, survivor, and badass. She took a huge leap of faith and quit her job, divorced her abuser, sold her home, and put everything she had into building Joy Worthy Co. Joy Worthy is an event rental space and creative workshop where she hosts paint pours, cooking classes, charcuterie making, holiday themed events, birthday parties, and more! She wanted a place where people can come together to feel JOY and express their artistic side. In a world filled with so much hate, she wanted people to know there is still joy to be found.

Lauren’s story is one that many of you may relate to. She grew up in a small Southern town, deep in a rigid Christianity, moved away from home, fell in love looking for that romcom love story, only to find that the pink flags she thought she saw were red and she needed to get away. She got married fast to fill a court obligation to be able to take in two young girls who needed a home. She put aside her voice in her head telling her he may not be the one and leaped into what she hoped was her fairytale.

The red flags appeared, the abuse started, until one day it went too far and her inner beast woke up and she took her child and left and never looked back. You’ll hear more about what happened, how religion played a role in her story and her abuse, and how she became the Boss Babe that she is now!

We hope you enjoy this story as much as we did. It’s a unique experience to watch your friend’s story unfold and then get to hear her tell it years later. I had the unique experience of hearing her open up about what she wanted from her friends during her journey and realizing I spent my time as a cheerleader instead of a honest friend who sees the flags and doesn’t speak up. Just like in her romcoms, there’s always the friend that supports no matter what and doesn’t learn to speak up and share her thoughts until it’s too late! My bestie and I have a phrase we use whenever the other one is sharing, and we have an opinion to chime in or if we are the one sharing and want that opinion ourselves- BBH- Brutal Bestie Honesty. We ask each other, are you here for BBH or not? Are you ready to hear something you probably don’t want to hear, but NEED to hear? Not everyone is, so asking if they want BBH first, gives them the chance to say no and just vent without fear of reality being thrown in their face.

Let us know what you think of Lauren’s story! Can you relate to the romcom love gone bad that so many Millennials and Gen X have been programmed to find?