1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,160 Welcome to Milestone Moments, the show where we explore the journeys that lead to success. 2 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:14,000 I'm Sheila Slick, your host and founder of Five Milestones. In every episode, we will bring you 3 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:21,520 insights from the minds of entrepreneurs, leaders, and experts who will share not just their expertise 4 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:27,440 but the milestone moments that have reshaped their journeys and led to significant achievements. 5 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:33,120 So if you're looking for motivation, you're in the right place. Subscribe now and discover the 6 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:42,480 milestones that mark the path to success. Hi, everybody. Thank you for joining us today 7 00:00:42,480 --> 00:00:50,000 in Milestone Moments in Business and Leadership. I'm Sheila Slick, your host. And today, my guest 8 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:57,600 is Leah Forney. She's a nine-time published author, a professional speaker, a visibility 9 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:06,560 activator, and a sexual assault thriver turned advocate and activist. Welcome to the show, Leah. 10 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:12,400 Thank you for having me, Sheila. Based on your impactful background and the objectives of your 11 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:22,400 podcast and your Save Me movement, I'd love for you to share with our audience the journey that 12 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:28,400 you went through from a sexual assault thriver to an advocate and founder of Save Me movement. 13 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:33,920 Could you share a little bit about that? Yeah, absolutely. So I was sexually assaulted January 14 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:43,040 27, 2013, a little over a decade ago. And it happened in my apartment in North Carolina. I 15 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:49,920 was new to the state of North Carolina. And how I came in contact with my perpetrator was he worked 16 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:55,440 at a car rental place. And so I had a little hootie and it happened to break down. And so I went to 17 00:01:55,440 --> 00:02:01,360 find me a, wanted to rent me a car. And when I couldn't rent me a car, he offered to drive me 18 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:08,160 home. So he kind of learned where I live. Well, he asked me to go on one date. I went on that one 19 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:14,320 date. And, you know, sometimes you meet somebody and you're like, something about them just does 20 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:19,040 not sit right with you. And so after that one date, I decided that I just didn't want to see him 21 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:26,000 anymore. But he didn't like that. He felt rejected. And so he actually began to stalk me. I didn't 22 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:31,200 know he stalked me. So the part of North Carolina that I was in, you can pretty much get anywhere 23 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:36,720 in the city in like 10, 15 minutes. So it was almost like everywhere I would show up, I would 24 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:42,640 see him. And so the day that he raped me on January 27th, I actually was home in my apartment and I 25 00:02:42,640 --> 00:02:48,400 had just got a phone call that a loved one had passed away. And soon as I hung up with that person 26 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:53,840 that called me, I ended up getting a call from him and he could tell that I was distraught and I was 27 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:59,440 upset. And so he kind of did this whole like, let me come over and check on you and comfort you type 28 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:04,720 thing. And against my better judgment, I said yes, but little did I know he was already sitting 29 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:10,400 outside my apartment. And so when he came in my house, what was supposed to be about comforting 30 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:15,040 actually turned into him telling me how he hated the fact that I rejected him and that he didn't 31 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:19,920 like that I rejected him. And so I kind of had this innate feeling that something was getting great 32 00:03:19,920 --> 00:03:25,520 to happen. I wasn't 100% sure what it was, but something in my gut was saying, you need to get 33 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:31,440 this person out of here. Danger, danger. It was kind of the feeling I had. And so I kind of started 34 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:38,640 to try to see what I could say to get him to leave and he wouldn't leave. And so finally, when I 35 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:43,440 thought that he was getting up to leave is when he grabbed me and sexually assaulted me right in my 36 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:52,560 room. And so after the sexual assault happened and he left, I immediately showered. And I know now 37 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:57,200 that that's probably the worst thing you can do because at that point in time, your body becomes 38 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:04,080 like evidence, right? To crime labs and everything. But I just wanted to get the feeling of him, 39 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:11,040 his touch, his scent, all of that off of me. And so I did not immediately report. And the reason why 40 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:16,320 is because I'm a woman of color. And the first thing I thought was who's going to believe me? 41 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:22,960 And what actually helped me to report was my spiritual parents, my mom and dad. They encouraged 42 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:28,240 me to report because they did this type of work in the community at the time. And so it took me 43 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:33,760 about two days. I finally reported. And when I did, I had a male detective come to my home and he 44 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:39,120 asked me five to seven times, Sheila, was I absolutely sure that I was raped? Because I went 45 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:45,920 on one date with the guy. And again, that being berated, like I was in the wrong, heightened 46 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:51,680 heightened the feeling of like, I'm not going to be believed here. And so we proceeded to get him 47 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:56,160 to come to court for a restraining order. And my hope was to at least get a restraining order and 48 00:04:56,160 --> 00:05:02,480 go about my business. But on the day of court, I had a male judge literally tell me that he thought 49 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:08,320 I was a woman scorned and that he did not believe I was raped. And so I was left with the pieces of 50 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:14,080 my life and left with this trauma while I got to watch the guy that raped me walk out of the 51 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:20,240 courtroom. And so I broke down and I never forget that it was a male sheriff that turned around and 52 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:25,920 threatened to lock me out if I didn't get it together while I'm watching this happen. So I 53 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:30,160 had to make a decision. I was like, what are you going to do? What are you going to do with the 54 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:35,200 pieces of your life? And so I ended up going to counseling at the local rape crisis center and 55 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:39,760 really work on my healing. It was through counseling that I found the strength to finally 56 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:44,960 start speaking up about it. And so I first started talking about it a year after my assault 57 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:51,040 in 2014 was the first time I talked about it, April, 2014, at a take back the night. 58 00:05:51,040 --> 00:06:01,520 And so how saved me came into play was in February of 2018. I connected with a dear friend of mine, 59 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:08,000 Carmen, who has since passed away and she was a survivor as well. And we decided that we just 60 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:13,680 wanted to do something to like amplify voices of survivors. And so what we did originally 61 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:19,440 was we created some PSAs of just different survivors telling stories about their sexual 62 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:25,040 assault experience. And it just sparked this whole movement called save me. And so save me is an 63 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:31,040 acronym that stands for sexual assault advocacy for victims everywhere. And I'm happy to say that 64 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:36,400 I'm picking it back up. I kind of put it down for a little bit after Carmen died because her death 65 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:42,080 just like rocked me to my core. But I knew that in order to continue what we started and the legacy 66 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:48,320 that she left behind, I had to get back at it. And so save me is being rebirthed and revamped now. 67 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:55,120 And we're going to do bigger and better because it is our goal to really amplify the voices of 68 00:06:55,120 --> 00:07:00,640 survivors and victims of survivors of sexual assault everywhere. And so that's kind of how 69 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:07,840 it got started. Thank you for sharing that. I'm sorry you experienced such a traumatic experience. 70 00:07:07,840 --> 00:07:18,560 So you were able to heal and then a year later, find the strength to now become a public advocate 71 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:24,560 and find a way to help others. Yeah. Other than that, like, was there a turning point, 72 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:29,120 like something that just clicked in your head that said, you know, I'm done with the, you know, 73 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:34,480 the counseling and now I'm going to go out and make a difference and create this awareness, 74 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:40,800 you know, that just said I'm ready for it. Yeah. So I would say I started speaking up about it 75 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:47,680 a year after, but what really kicked it into high gear was actually in 2022, June of 2022, 76 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:53,440 that same police department who failed me the first time, they actually ended up calling me 77 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:59,360 and they called me because they had just now tested my rape kit nine years after I had been raped. 78 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:07,120 And so nine years, nine years. And when they called me, they were like, Hey, you know, 79 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:14,880 do you remember reporting a rape in 2013? You know, we tested your kid and there is DNA from 80 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:21,200 your perpetrator. What would you like to do? And when I got that call, I will be, I will be lying 81 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:28,000 if I said I wasn't shocked because I was totally like, what? But at the same time, it was kind of 82 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:34,000 this feeling of like, wait a minute, it took you nine years to do this. And what I discovered at 83 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:39,520 that time when I was having the phone call was that the laws in the state of North Carolina at 84 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:46,160 that time said that if you were raped by someone you knew, they didn't test the kit. And so as the 85 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:53,920 detective is explaining this to me, I said, well, that's stupid because statistically we know 53% 86 00:08:54,800 --> 00:09:00,800 of sexual assaults that happen, the person knows their perpetrator. The same, the bogeyman that we 87 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:06,640 believe were the person that's in bushes. Like this is somebody you know. And so when I got that call, 88 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:12,640 I prayed, I'm a very spiritual person. I was kind of like, okay, God, what am I supposed to do with 89 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:17,520 this information? Cause if it took nine years for me, I could only imagine how many more people are 90 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:22,160 waiting. And so what I did was I started researching and I discovered that here in the United States of 91 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:30,240 America, we have a horrible backlog of untested rape kits. Over 225,000 people rape kits have not 92 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:36,160 been tested. And so I had a conversation with a dear friend of mine who advocates for gun violence 93 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:40,800 and she was like, Leah, start partnering some of the organizations that are already doing the work 94 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:45,760 because they're always missing the survivor's voice. And so I did that. I started reaching out 95 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:51,760 and one of the federal coalitions in my state of Maryland reached back and was like, absolutely. 96 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:57,680 Like, how can we work together? And so that's what led to the advocacy full time, because then I got 97 00:09:57,680 --> 00:10:03,040 the opportunity to like train law enforcement and to speak at attorney general's conference and 98 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:08,160 really get them to understand that not only are we dealing with people who have been violated 99 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:13,440 through sexual trauma, but now we have this other violation because you have not tested their rape 100 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:20,720 kits. And so that was the turning point that getting that call in 2022 to kind of rent made me 101 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:27,120 be like, okay, we need to take this up a notch and really be that voice for those who don't have the 102 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:31,120 courage to say it yet. Yes. Nine years. I mean, it surprised me when you said it. I was like, 103 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:37,440 did I hear it correctly? Nine years. So you're a professional speaker. You're an expert trainer. 104 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:44,000 You dedicate yourself to educating others and advocating for survivors of sexual assault. 105 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:49,680 Can you discuss some of the most significant impacts that the save me movement has achieved 106 00:10:49,680 --> 00:10:56,720 so far? Yeah. So I think the biggest thing is always just hearing from other survivors, 107 00:10:56,720 --> 00:11:04,000 how my story impacts them. I'm blessed to be able to have shared so many stages from, like I said, 108 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:10,480 law enforcement, attorney general, women of color conferences. I actually just landed a keynote for 109 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:17,360 a college in New York city this upcoming April. And I love the fact that I get to show them 110 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:23,600 that there is life after sexual assault. I think oftentimes what I have found in my work is that a 111 00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:30,560 lot of survivors feel stuck at the point of their trauma. And so when they see someone like me, 112 00:11:30,560 --> 00:11:35,760 who's moved through their trauma and has made it on the other side and now has a save me movement 113 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:41,840 and is speaking out and advocating, it gives them hope. And that's what I want more than anything. 114 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:47,120 I want that every time people hear my story, that they walk away with some hope that there's life 115 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:52,080 after, that you don't have to be bound by your trauma. And in fact, that you can actually 116 00:11:52,640 --> 00:11:57,200 get your power back. When I was sexually assaulted, January 27, 2013, that was three 117 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:03,120 days before my birthday. And so for a long time, I felt like I had this dark cloud. And so what I 118 00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:09,440 ended up doing was taking that day and reclaiming it. And now I call it my rebirth day. And so it 119 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:16,080 kicks off my birthday week. And so that's what I want survivors to do is figure out a way to 120 00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:21,280 reclaim your power and understand that you can redefine your sexual trauma. It does not have to 121 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:26,560 define you. And so that's some of the things that I would say Save Me has done and I've done that 122 00:12:26,560 --> 00:12:31,760 are just mirroring their to my heart. So what are some of the key challenges someone like you 123 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:37,760 faces trying to make that difference being that advocate? How do you overcome the challenges as 124 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:43,200 well, so that you can continue making a difference? I think for me, the biggest challenge that I face 125 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:48,000 a lot of times, especially with working with law enforcement is getting them to change their 126 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:54,320 mindset around why it's important to validate a survivor's experience. So one of the things that 127 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:59,600 I push for all the time is the importance of an apology. And for law enforcement, it can be very 128 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:05,200 hard to do because they feel like they are apologizing for personal reasons. And I have 129 00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:09,600 to get them to understand that I'm not asking you to make a personal apology. I'm asking you to 130 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:14,880 apologize on behalf of a system that failed these men and women, right? The fact that you have to 131 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:19,520 call them nine years later and say that we just tested your rape kit. The fact that you didn't 132 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:25,440 believe them in the beginning for whatever your biases or preconceived notions are. That is probably 133 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:30,880 the biggest challenge. I think the other challenges is we got laws on the books that need to change. 134 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:37,040 We have laws on the books that need to change. Here in the state of Maryland, I was blessed to 135 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:43,440 be able to help get some laws changed in April of last year for just being able to remove things 136 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:48,800 like marriage being a defense to a sex crime. For 75 plus years, that was a law in the state of 137 00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:54,720 Maryland where if you were married and your husband or your spouse sexually assaulted you, 138 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:59,520 they could get away with it because they felt like you were married. Well, that's an antiquated law 139 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:04,080 because that tells me that we still think that people are property, right? And so that's a 140 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:09,600 challenge when you have to go to these states and you have to basically challenge their laws and be 141 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:15,600 like, why is that even still on the books? There are still some states that don't even have a 142 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:22,960 clearly defined consent law. So it's like they see sexual trauma as, oh, did they force you? 143 00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:29,360 Well, if I just said no, whether there was force or not, it's still considered sexual assault. And 144 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:36,000 so those are some big challenges that I push for all the time is how do we change these laws? How 145 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:41,360 do we get law enforcement on board with, you have to acknowledge that there was a wrongdoing that 146 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:47,360 were done to these survivors that you have come in contact with. And so I would say that's the two 147 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:53,120 biggest ones. How I choose to overcome is being mindful that I'm doing this for the survivor. 148 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:59,120 So while I'm up against the politics and I'm up against the red tape, when it comes to this work, 149 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:05,200 my goal is to be the voice for the survivor. And so I keep that in the forefront of my mind, 150 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:10,480 even when it gets frustrating to remind myself that you're doing this for other survivors like 151 00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:17,760 you who have yet to find the courage to tell their story. That empathy is key to being a great leader. 152 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:25,200 So thank you for sharing their voice. So if any of our listeners are survivors and they're 153 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:34,000 looking for ways to heal, to thrive, or looking for support, or looking to contribute to this cause, 154 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:41,040 what advice can you offer? Yeah. So I always tell people who want to get into this type of work, 155 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:47,040 one, make sure you do your own healing, right? So go to counseling. I'm big on counseling. 156 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:53,200 For those who have a faith in a higher power, like I always tell people you don't have to choose. 157 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:57,360 I'm a Christian. I believe in God. And I always tell people I've never felt like I had to choose 158 00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:03,120 between therapy and my belief in God. I feel like they go hand in hand, but I also was 159 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:07,840 to highlight the importance of doing your own inner work and making sure you're ready. Because 160 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:13,120 one thing about sexual assault, especially as an advocate, is that you're going to be hearing these 161 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:18,000 stories and they can become triggering. And so you want to make sure that you've done the work on the 162 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:23,520 inside to be able to stand and hear these testimonies and these stories and not be retraumatized. 163 00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:29,920 I would also say have a good self-care regimen. Take care of you. And you know, I do this full time 164 00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:35,040 and sometimes I have like what I like to call do nothing days, where I just unplug. Like don't call 165 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:41,680 me, don't text me, don't nothing. I just need to decompress because it's a lot. So definitely have 166 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:45,920 a self-care regimen. And if you really want to get into advocacy, start partnering with the 167 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:50,640 organizations that are local to you. Like reach out and tell them, hey, I'm a survivor. That's 168 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:55,440 exactly what I did. I was like, hey, I'm a survivor. Would love an opportunity to meet with you and see 169 00:16:55,440 --> 00:17:02,080 how we can do this together. That is what's missing from the work that they're doing, because we have 170 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:06,640 all the statistics. We can talk about it from a political perspective, but very rarely do they get 171 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:11,920 survivors who are healed enough to be like, how can I work with you? How can I partner with you? 172 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:16,400 So those are like the three things that I would say here and say is like get involved on your 173 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:22,640 local level, your state level, the community, and don't be afraid to like share your story. 174 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:28,320 Because what I have found is that every time I tell my story, somebody else gets permission to 175 00:17:28,320 --> 00:17:33,360 tell theirs and they get encouraged to tell theirs. And that's what matters to me is once the 176 00:17:33,360 --> 00:17:38,240 libraries reach out and say, thank you. Thank you for saying that because that's me. 177 00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:44,000 And thank you for sharing your story here, because I believe that sometimes it just, you know, takes 178 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:49,600 one person to make, you know, that difference or to motivate you to push you out of that comfort 179 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:56,160 zone to be able to take that next step. So if we're able to help today, just, you know, one person 180 00:17:56,160 --> 00:18:02,480 that may be a victim of this or looking, you know, for their inner voice to become an advocate, to 181 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:09,920 make that difference. And I think, you know, we did a good deed here today. So you shared five 182 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:17,920 actionable steps to support survivors, lighting the way, listening without judgment, educating 183 00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:27,520 ourselves, offering practical support, encourage professional help, and respect boundaries. We can 184 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:33,520 help anyone with PTSD or with a trauma with those five actionable steps. 185 00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:40,320 Yeah, yeah, especially I think, especially to the listening without judgment. And I say that because 186 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:45,840 people want to be able to share that they've been through something, but their biggest fear is not 187 00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:53,040 being believed or being judged. Right. So I think it's very important that we create safe spaces 188 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:58,800 physically, but also we are emotionally safe spaces for people. Now, one of the things I will say, 189 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:04,160 and I'll add to that is, it's going to be important when supporting survivors that you assess your own 190 00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:10,000 capacity, right? Because again, you're dealing with somebody's trauma. And so you want to make sure 191 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:18,480 that you are equipped to handle it. And so if you know that you're someone that may not be the type 192 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:24,480 that can listen without judgment, or maybe you struggle to support, that's okay. But it's 193 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:30,080 important to be honest about that. Because the last thing you want is a survivor of sexual assault 194 00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:36,560 or any trauma to open up to you about what they're experiencing and not get the support that they're 195 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:43,120 looking for. So those are some great ways to start supporting, but also definitely being mindful of 196 00:19:43,120 --> 00:19:49,120 your own capacity and whether or not you are that person that can support them. So my show is called 197 00:19:49,120 --> 00:19:58,800 milestone moments. What is your next milestone? Oh my God, that is such a good question. You know what, 198 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:06,080 I am open to the way God wants to move in my life in this season. I think if I could pick 199 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:10,560 something that's the next milestone, I'm getting ready to film my first documentary on childhood 200 00:20:10,560 --> 00:20:19,120 sexual abuse. Whoa. Yeah. And so that is happening in April of this year. And so I'm super excited 201 00:20:19,120 --> 00:20:25,520 about it because again, this is what I hoped for is that I get to create platforms and get to create 202 00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:31,040 a space where we start to have the conversation. And that's really what I want more than anything 203 00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:38,160 is not just to encourage and survivors, but to really create a space where we can just have the 204 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:45,120 conversation and stop hiding behind what so many of us are dealing with. So how can we follow that 205 00:20:45,120 --> 00:20:51,360 journey and where can we find you? Yeah. So you can find me on social media. I'm on all the platforms 206 00:20:51,360 --> 00:20:57,520 as Leah M Forney. I would definitely say follow me on social media so you can follow that journey. 207 00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:04,400 I post tons of content so they will be able to see me doing behind the scenes and all that. 208 00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:10,960 And it is our hope to get this film out this year and do some screenings. So definitely 209 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:17,280 social media will be where I announce it first. You can always email me at info at Leah M Forney.com. 210 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:24,240 I'm sure I'll put something on the website as well once it's out, but yeah, I'm super excited to film 211 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:30,800 it. And I'm excited for the six courageous men and women survivors who are going to tell their story. 212 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:37,680 Before I let you go, what one piece of advice we've gone through a lot today, 213 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:43,120 would you like to leave our audience with so that they take action? 214 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:50,080 Yeah. So I think my piece of advice that I want to leave some of your audience with is something 215 00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:55,840 that I live by and that is whatever it is that you're called to do in this life, do it afraid. 216 00:21:56,480 --> 00:22:02,640 I think a lot of times we let fear stop us. And I tell people all the time, I'm fearful or I'm 217 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:08,640 nervous to do a lot of the things that I do. But it's something about doing it scared that shows 218 00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:13,360 you that you have everything in you to be as successful as you want to be in this lifetime. 219 00:22:13,360 --> 00:22:19,280 So don't let fear stop you. Don't let doubt stop you. Like whatever it is that you desire to do, 220 00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:27,040 do it and do it with the fear. Thank you so much for being on our show. This has been a very 221 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:33,360 insightful conversation. And once again, I hope that by sharing your message, we're able to help 222 00:22:33,360 --> 00:22:49,840 at least one person out there. Thank you for having me Sheila.