Penny Marion faced profound challenges early in life - losing her father tragically, navigating a complex relationship with her mentally ill mother, and essentially raising herself and her siblings. Despite these hardships, she turned to education and reading to forge a better path for herself. After being diagnosed with complex PTSD, Penny made healing her full-time focus, leading to starting her own coaching business to empower others with her insights. Penny's story highlights the transformative power of post-traumatic growth and the importance of acknowledging one's own resilience, even when it doesn't feel apparent. Her journey demonstrates extraordinary resilience in overcoming trauma and using her experiences to help others on their own healing paths. This episode highlights the common pattern of trauma survivors repeatedly changing jobs due to trust issues with managers, and how recognizing these patterns can be a crucial step in the recovery process. Penny shares her personal journey of overcoming complex trauma and PTSD, and how it has shaped her career path as an entrepreneur. Penny describes the challenges of working in corporate environments where she felt unsafe and had to constantly "get out of dodge." Recognizing the patterns of her trauma response was a crucial step, leading her to seek out a trauma-informed therapist and reframe her goals and priorities. As a small business owner, Penny has found more control over her work-life balance, allowing her to prioritize her physical and mental health.