The ultimate story of empowerment.
What does it take to be a mother? Love, a bucket load of patience and the ability to provide for your children. (and a million other things)
Mercedes Michaels (39) a Perth based mother, recent ex-stripper, author, healer and empowerment coach. Found herself asking that same question. At the age of 28 she was married, living the high life in Dubai and had just adopted her beautiful baby girl from Ethiopia. Fast forward 18 months and she found herself back in Perth as a single mum with a toddler!
Mercedes began stripping again to provide for her daughter and still get to be present with her during the week. She did find herself subject to a lot of external and internal judgement. She was riddled with guilt, shame and anxiety. Trying to keep her dirty secret hidden from Mums at school, never feeling like she quite fit in with the ever so high standards of the mum cliques.
After years of beating herself up, living in half truths she had finally had enough. She realised that she was an amazing mother, that loved and cared for her child on every level and that this had no bearing on what she did as a job.
After this realisation and as part of her journey to self-acceptance she wrote a book The Soulful Stripper – Eat, Pray, Hustle now launching on audio). “I wanted to be truly who I am flaws and all, I want to give other mums permission to truly be who they are without fear of judgement, to scrap the old stereotypes and societal expectations”
Mercedes is a strong, empowered, intelligent woman, with a huge heart, that lives life full of integrity – she has travelled the world and spent much of it volunteering to help those less fortunate. She is a mother through the adoption of her beautiful daughter from Ethiopia (when she was 3 months old). She single handedly travelled the world with her when she was just 3 (now 11). Really breaking the stereotype of “stripper” or “mum”. “When I went to work and shared a little of my personal life my clients were shocked – they couldn’t wrap their head around it as it didn’t fit with their pigeon-holed view of women in the adult industry”
We all have our secrets, those parts we are scared to show through fear of abandonment/rejection. Her message here is to inspire mums to become empowered with who they are and to remind them they are not their mistakes, their flaws or what they do for a living. And that life really is too short not to be unapologetically YOU! She wasted too many anxiety ridden sleepless nights stressing about people finding her out and wants to save others that same pain.
When you truly love and accept yourself as you are then others do too. So this is an ode and celebration to all Mums out there, give yourself a break, you are doing a great job! Once you can love and accept yourself for who you truly are, your world changes and reflects that.
Key Facts:
The story of a woman moving from shame, guilt, anxiety to empwered and truly owning who she is – to inspire women to live their truths without fear of judgement.
