My Story - Community - Intimate Moments
Hi! I’m Lori.
The Cards I Was Dealt
My ultra-religious mother couldn't force her rebellious, strong-willed daughter to "be good." By the time I was thirteen, she believed the devil possessed me. My overwhelmed father, desperate for peace, committed me to a mental institution. I was sixteen.
Pills of various colors, shapes, and sizes sank me into a medicated fog. But when the girl in the next room whose shock treatment had "failed" was threatened with a lobotomy, sheer terror sharpened my focus. I realized that I had a choice: stop swallowing the pills, fake it, and figure out how to escape.
I left with nothing but my smarts and a determination to build a life that no one else could control.
Struggles Overshadowed Success
I became one of the first female computer sales representatives in the country—at a time when women were supposed to be secretaries, teachers, or nurses. As a single mom with small children and barely a penny in the bank, I built JobBOSS Software into a nationally recognized, multi-million-dollar technology company.
I got lucky, sold the business, and retired at forty-nine.
The American Dream, right?
Then why did I feel bored, unfulfilled, and without purpose? I had allowed my business to define my self-worth. Without it, I felt empty and lost.
Time for therapy—lots of it.
Childhood abuse. Unsatisfying marriages. Self-abandonment. Difficulty saying no. Stuck in the rut of self-criticism.
The Water Bottle Moment
One incredibly hot day, deep in the Sahara Desert—about nine hours from anywhere—I noticed a thin little girl walking toward me carrying a baby on her hip. I assumed she wanted money. She didn't. She wanted my empty plastic water bottle.
Not the water. The bottle.
She knew that bottle could help her collect water, care for her sibling, maybe even survive. I gave her the bottle and walked on.
But she haunted my dreams. I started asking myself:
What if I could do something?
What if I could change this—even a little?
And then came the question that changed everything:
Why not me?
That question led me to South Omo Valley, Ethiopia—one of the most marginalized regions in the world. What began as a single question became more than a decade of work alongside communities seeking better access to water, health care, and education.
Over ten years, our team helped transform more than 100,000 lives. When civil war abruptly forced us to leave, I carried home both heartbreak and gratitude—not only for what we had accomplished, but for what I had learned.
The people of South Omo gave me a name: Wise Woman. It would take another decade before I felt worthy of it.
The Power of Reflection
Those nights in Ethiopia when the electricity failed—sitting in the dark with three flickering candles and nothing to do but think—I began to see the patterns beneath my own struggles.
The choices I had made.
The "supposed-tos" I had absorbed.
The myths and assumptions I had accepted as truth.
The coping mechanisms I had used to stay safely inside my comfort zone.
I began to wonder if struggles were actually signals—pointing toward fears, beliefs, and patterns I had never fully understood. Curiosity compelled me to keep digging.
Over time, I discovered that I could mine my struggles for gold—nuggets of wisdom hidden inside experiences I had spent years trying to avoid.
I developed the D.R.E.A.M. framework to help me put that wisdom into action.
Today I facilitate workshops and speak to groups navigating transitions, challenges, and uncertainty. I help people see patterns clearly so they can change outcomes and transform struggle into wisdom.
A Personal Note
I'm not a therapist and I'm not a guru.
I still use D.R.E.A.M. every day. It helps me figure things out.
If any part of my story sounds familiar—the achieving without feeling fulfilled, the self-abandonment, the need to be perfect to feel worthy, the fear of being exposed as inadequate, the sense that something essential is missing—welcome.
You're in the right place.
The struggles that once felt like burdens became some of my greatest teachers. My work now is helping others discover the wisdom hidden inside their own.
My Community -The Wise Women Sisterhood
I share reflections regularly and respond personally through the Wise Women Sisterhood—a Facebook community where women, regardless of age, converge to ignite their inner wisdom, navigate their distinct journeys, and turn their challenges into golden opportunities.
We’d love to get to know you.
Intimate Moments
Ten long years after my abrupt departure from Ethiopia, I returned.
I didn’t know what I would find – or how I would be received.
I wasn’t prepared for this joyous welcome from my friends, members of the Minogelti’s Women Cooperative.
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