The Phoenix

Juli Marie is a 35-year-old mother with two daughters, ages 6 and 10 who relocated to Maricopa, Arizona from Milwaukee, Wisconsin in July 2016. She has been a Special Education Teacher for the past eleven years. She received her Master’s Degree in School Administration from National Louis University in Illinois. Juli considers this workbook a precious pearl that was not only birthed during a global pandemic, however during a time where the police injustices against African Americans came to a head, the daily marches and cry for equality, the need for

change against systematic racism and not to mention during her trials of beginning a dating relationship and figuring out herself along the way.

During this time, it provided her the opportunity to uncover her ugly truth about herself and why she was vibrating at a lower mental capacity when it came to personal aspects in her life. In so many ways, Juli Marie is thankful for the first half of 2020, as it got a chance to sit her down and reflect on her insecurities. During this time, Juli’s beautiful cousin Jessica presented her with an opportunity. Together, they started a women’s only

empowerment Facebook group entitled “The Real & The Raw”, where they focused on having Zoom discussions about Dating, Married, and Divorced Life of women, along with Self Love conversations. Juli Marie desperately tried to present things in a “Real” type of way to their members in the group, however, she still felt that women needed an additional outlet to help see themselves and understand why they function the way that they do.

With the help of close friends, it was a tough pill to swallow that Juli Marie indeed was her worst enemy. She frequently self-sabotaged her creative thoughts and ideas, relationships, and opportunities. Even questioned the existence of this very book. One day in May, Juli had a heartfelt discussion with some very close women in her life about her destructive mental behavior, and from that day on, she knew she needed a change. She began writing down things about herself, both good and bad. She wrote down some crucial characteristics, challenges, her strengths, her aspirations, pretty much anything you could think of. She did little exercises that helped open her eyes to realize that she was staring her biggest supporter in the mirror...these exercises in turn birthed The Phoenix: A Women’s Roadmap to Identify Self. Welcome to this life-changing experience.