Meet Norma-Jean

I feel like I'm a Beautiful Disaster because life has definitely thrown me a batch of curve balls and seen what I was going to do with them. I have been through just about everything that you can think of, and yet still somehow still I'm sitting here today writing these words and grateful to be alive today. My outlook on life not long ago was not so good, until I started wearing my first BD sweatshirt which was from the Angel line and gave me a feeling of wearing armor and giving strength to fight anything out in front of me. And just that I did, and that is what I feel makes me a Beautiful Disaster.

2)Why do you identify with the Beautiful Disaster brand?

I identify with the brand because it is a tribe of strong women who are just living their lives the best they can, with life and the curve balls that it throws at every turn. I also identify with the brand because it builds up women with positivity and reinforcement, and that is something that I so badly need in my life. I know that what I have been through has made me a strong person, but in reality I'm a shaking little girl who needs help standing up some days and Beautiful Disaster brand helps me do that when I can't do that for myself.

3)What has life been like for you?

Life for me has been pure hell from the time I was born, all the way up to the age of 17 of nothing but one type of abuse or another. Ranging from physical, mental, verbal to even the unthinkable of a child sexual abuse. Childhood for me was lived in a state of constant fear, and dreading feeling of a beating about to happen. I really didn't have a childhood due to the abuse, I was forced to grow up very early on. What really shook my childhood was when I was 13 and my only brother got hit and killed by a motor home on a local highway, it just so happened to be April Fool's so I thought it was a joke...no joke it was a reality and I just wanted to die for years and still do on occasion from missing my brother so much. Beautiful Disaster brand helps gives me the strength to keep going on, even and especially on the days when I feel like I can't do it on my own and I need help.

4)What happened to turn it around?

Eight years ago I was in my last abusive relationship and one day I had just gotten into another fight with my boyfriend at the time, and it got escalated and I just had enough and walked out never looked back. I had friends go pack up my things, and I went and stayed in a homeless shelter for a few months until I moved into my apartment I'm in now. In that time I got into recovery, and just celebrated 8 years in November. What really happened is I took back control of my life. I got tired of men having control of my life in one way or another, and took a stand and control. If I didn't I was going to die.

5)What is your life like now?

My life now is so full and rich I don't even know what to do with it at times, and by far I'm not used to it all compared to what I grow up with. Today my life is filled with positivity and happiness, and with people that are going to be helpful not harmful. Today I have contact with my oldest daughter again, when I thought that would never happen. My mental health is more stable than it has been in the last three years, and I'm doing everything I need to in order to keep it that way rather than cutting corners. Today I have a small business that started out as a coping skill, and people are starting to respond positively to it and encouraging me to keep going with it. Today I want to live life, and and I want to make a difference with those I touch around me.

6)What is your favorite item from Beautiful Disaster and why?

My favorite item from Beautiful Disaster would have to be my purple You Don't Know My Story hoodie. It is my favorite partly because it is my favorite color of purple, and I love the way that it fits and makes me feel like being hugged. I really like it because when I put it on, I feel like I'm putting on a piece of my armor and I'm getting that much closer to going out and facing the world once more. Thank you Beautiful Disaster for being my armor

Norma-Jean Pachal