Starter Girlz Podcast

From Domestic Abuse to “Bulletproof” (with Stephanie J Bond, Survivor & Advocate)

• Jennifer Loehding • Season 7 • Episode 100

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How do you rebuild your life after the unthinkable? In this episode of the Starter Girlz Podcast, Stephanie J Bond shares her powerful comeback story of how to overcome domestic abuse, survive financial abuse in marriage, and rise again with resilience and purpose.

Stephanie opens up about surviving an attempted murder-suicide by her husband of 22 years, who was shot while three of her four children were home. Her journey is not just about tragedy—it’s about resilience, transformation, and empowerment. From surviving physical injuries to uncovering years of hidden financial abuse, Stephanie reveals how she found the strength to rebuild her life, her finances, and her family.

What You’ll Learn:
✅ How Stephanie recovered after abuse and rebuilt her life against all odds
✅ Warning signs of financial abuse in marriage and how to recognize them early
✅ Abuse recovery tips from someone who turned tragedy into triumph
✅ How to find strength after trauma and use pain as fuel for growth
✅ Why resilience stories like Stephanie’s matter for breaking stigma
✅ Insights into relationship stories that reveal the hidden dynamics of control

🙌 This episode isn’t just a survivor story; it’s an empowerment journey. Stephanie’s path from near-death to building a new life with her four children is one of the most inspiring and motivational stories you’ll ever hear. Today, she advocates for domestic violence survivors, works with Genesis Women’s Shelter in Dallas, and is co-writing her book Bulletproof with her daughter.

Connect with Stephanie J Bond:
🌐 Website: https://www.StephanieJBond.com

📧 Email: sjbond2012@gmail.com

Connect with Starter Girlz Podcast:
🌐 Website: https://startergirlz.com/

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startergirlz/

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Subscribe to the Starter Girlz Podcast for more empowering conversations that will help you grow in business and life. Don’t forget to rate and review—your support helps us share more stories that inspire change.

Stephanie:

My husband of almost 22 years, my business partner, and the father of my four children, called me into the master bedroom and said there was something he wanted to discuss with me, but not in front of the children. I followed him down the long hallway to our master bedroom suite. And when he turned to face me, I realized there was a foreign object in the front pocket of his hooded sweatshirt. He pulled out a 45-caliber handgun, pushed me in the back corner of our walk-in closet, and shot me three times before turning the gun on himself when committing suicide. Three of the four children were home at the time. And um, high level, they saved my life.

Jennifer:

Welcome to the Starter Girls Podcast, your ultimate source of inspiration and empowerment. We're here to help women succeed in every area of their lives: career, money, relationships, and health and well-being. While celebrating the remarkable journeys of individuals from all walks of life who've achieved amazing things. Whether you're looking to supercharge your career, build financial independence, nurture meaningful relationships, or enhance your overall well-being, the Starter Girls Podcast is here to guide you. Join us as we explore the journeys of those who dare to dream big and achieve greatness. I'm your host, Jennifer Loading, and welcome to this episode. Welcome to another episode of the Starter Girls Podcast. I am your host, Jennifer Loading, and wherever you are tuning in today, we are so glad to have you. All right, so here we are, another episode of Starter Girls. Have another awesome guest on coming on the show today. And I want to open up with this. So on this episode today, we're going to be bringing you a story of resilience, faith, and fierce determination. It's about moving forward after heartbreak, rebuilding when everything seems lost, and choosing to rise in the face of unimaginable tragedy. And so I am so excited to bring this guest on here today. But before we get her on here, I do need to do a quick shout out to our sponsor. This episode is brought to you by Walt Mills Productions. Need to add excitement to your YouTube videos or some expert hands for editing? Look no further. Walt Mills is the solution you've been searching for. Walt is not only your go-to guy for spicing up content, he's the force behind a thriving film production company with numerous titles in the pipeline. Always on the lookout for raw talent. Walt is eager to collaborate on film and internet productions. With a background deeply rooted in entertainment and promotion, Walt Mills leverages years of skills to give you the spotlight you deserve. Want to learn more about Walt and his work? Head on over to Walt Mills Productions.net and let your content shine. All right. And with that, I do want to make a mention to head on over to startergirls.com. And why do you want to go over there? For three reasons. One, if you have missed an episode, it's a great place to get caught up. They're all there. You can also sign up for a community newsletter where you can stay in the know of what's coming up, all the episodes we've got going on, all that great stuff. And then lastly, if you are an entrepreneur, maybe you're in the thick of it, you're a budding new entrepreneur, excuse me, new entrepreneur, wherever you are right now, there is a fun two-minute quiz over there that I have created that will help you figure out what your number one subconscious block is that may be hindering your success. And I don't know if I've said this in a while, but the funny on that is that while in the midst of building that, I found out that my number one subconscious block is perfectionism. And so I heard a lot trying to build that quiz out. So go take it. It's a lot of fun and do whatever you need to do over there. And uh with that, we do want to get our guest on the show today. And so my guest, Stephanie Vaughn, is a survivor who has turned her personal story of triumph into a mission to inspire and empower others. From rebuilding her life and career to serving in leadership roles that impact her community, she continues to show what's possible with grit, grace, and perseverance. So, Stephanie, I want to say welcome to the Starter Girls show. I am so honored that you are here today, and I'm so excited to chat with you.

Stephanie:

Thank you. I'm honored to be here. So I really appreciate this opportunity.

Jennifer:

Yeah, this is gonna be great. And I know, as you mentioned, you know, you're you're trying to do some great things out there. You got such a uh your story. I I I mean, I want to dive into this because I've heard it, but I think today when the audience hears a story, they're gonna be so blown away by the fact that one, I'm getting chills even like I haven't even we haven't started yet. I'm already getting chills thinking about this story, this story of survivorship. But not only that, like what you have done in the aftermath of this, I think is so freaking remarkable, you and your children. And so um, I want to open this up. I want you to start us where you are with us. I mean, you can either take us where you are now or you can backpedal us. Either way, we're gonna get to where we need to go. But I want you to tell us a little bit about Stephanie and this journey to get you to where you are to this day.

Stephanie:

Okay. Well, let's just get started at when my whole world imploded. Um, February 27th, 2010, my husband of almost 22 years, um, my business partner, um, and the father of my four children, called me into the master bedroom and said there was something he wanted to discuss with me, but not in front of the children. I followed him down the long hallway to our master bedroom suite. And when he turned to face me, I realized there was a foreign object in the front pocket of his hooded sweatshirt. He pulled out a 45-caliber handgun, pushed me in the back corner of our walk-in closet, and shot me three times before turning the gun on himself and committing suicide. Um three of the four children were home at the time. And um high level, they saved my life. At the time, the children, all of our children were 16, they were 14, they were nine, and they were six. The oldest was away at a basketball game. And it's just so funny that sometimes the most trivial decisions can alter the course of your entire life. I was prepared to take the children to his game that day. He was in like the regional tournament, and it was February, it was in Illinois, we have dicey weather, um, there was the threat of black ice. And so if you're not from the Midwest and you do not know what black ice is, it can be very treacherous and um the roads can be very slick. And I just at the last minute decided, you know what, there's going to be another game Monday night. We're gonna forgo this because we were at his game the night the night before, and stay home. And I again I didn't want to put the kids in the car and and um, you know, risk risk the weather. Um so I was home, three younger children were home, and this happened. Um when um I think I was very shocked because um my husband had had some mental mental health issues in the past, but I never thought he would hurt me. Um looking back, I lived in an abusive relationship. But from my upbringing, and I think our generation, I was raised to believe that if there wasn't physical bruises, there wasn't really hands-on incidents, that wasn't abuse. And so um as I've sort of as I started to process my life, my marriage, um, all that transpired during those 22 years of marriage, um, I realized that I was definitely a victim of emotional and financial abuse. Um about, you know, people would say, well, did he hit you? You know, was there that physical component? The physical component never manifested until three months before the shooting. That was the first time he had he had gotten physical with me. Um and interestingly enough, what prompted that was the fact that I went away for a long weekend and took $500 on a weekend excursion for my birthday without permission. And so just as I started like retracing the steps of how I got to be a victim of an attempted murder suicide, you know, I started to realize that it was the financial piece that was the controlling element. And then when could no longer control me with the finances, then it it built up to where there was a physical component and then ultimately, you know, the shooting. So um three of the kids were home at the time, they did not hear the gunfire, thankfully, they did hear my cries for help and um they saved my life. So my then 14-year-old son called 911 on the house phone, my then six-year-old came down to the bedroom area, called my name, and I said, Honey, try to find my cell phone because it had fallen during the scuffle. And um she saw this, she quickly found the cell phone. I said, Please don't look at anything, but can you bring that to me? She stepped over her dad's body and um gave me the cell phone called 911. So when I got to the hospital, um, I was later told that I had about a third of my blood in my body. Um let me let me go back to what the the where I was hit. So the first bullet, if this is my foot, the first bullet went in under my pinky toe and exited at the arch, arch of my foot. And I had a hole about the size of a quarter. For those of you that know firearms, the 45 caliber is a pretty, pretty big gun. Um the next bullet went in my right thigh, and it blew out about an inch and a half of my femur and grazed my femoral artery. The third bullet went in my right hip and exited my groin. Um what it was that second bullet that almost cost me my life. That that well, I remember after that first shot, my reaction was, oh my god, you just expletive shot me. I mean, I was just so dumbfounded that that had happened. Um the next thing I remember is that I fell face down, and um my face was literally buried in the carpet. And it took me a second to realize that I'd been shot a second time. And so I'm lying there trying to just process because it all happens so fast. And um the next thing I know is there was a I got shot a third time, and I don't remember the pain, but I remember like the the penetration of the bullet and it went in my right hip and exited my groin. I'm laying there very, very still and I hear him messing with the gun, and I am thinking the next bullet's gonna go in the back of my head. Instead, he put the gun in his mouth, fired, fell to the ground, and died next to me. So it was at that point, you know, I again I'm still trying to process everything that happened. This is like literally shocking. Our children are in the other end of the house. Yeah. And the first thing that I think about is how am I going to protect them from walking in on discovering two dead parents? And how am I gonna protect them from just the carnage? So I'm eternally grateful to my children. Um, it took about 20 minutes for the paramedics, the paramedics to get to us. We were in the back far corner of our house, and um we lived out in the country, and we had a driveway through the woods that was about a half a mile long. So, you know, it it took a minute for them to to get to us. Um they had the children leave before they came to where we lay to secure the scene. Um, I remember the police officer coming to to where we were, and the first thing he said was, put your hands up. And I said, I can't. My husband's dead, and I can't move, and I need, I'm in trouble. I need help. Um, no, I I understand they have to secure the scene, but we we were, I was in a very serious health crisis right at the moment. Um, they got the paramedics to me, and I remember everything. I remember what I was wearing, I remember them like cutting off my belt and my clothes to try to assess the severity of my wounds. I remember them putting me on the stretcher. I remember the pain. I've never had pain like that before. Um, I remember getting into the ambulance and I remember the sirens glaring as they're taking me to the um to the hospital. And I remember this overwhelming, surreal feeling that, oh my God, this is because of me. And I think there was a lot, there was a gravity of the seriousness when I'm hearing those sirens wail. So I got to the hospital, they assessed the seriousness of my wounds, and they took me right into surgery. And I can remember up until I remember them putting the mask on my face, and it couldn't come soon enough because the pain was like nothing I'd ever experienced, and I just needed some relief. Um I was in the hospital for a month. Um, a week of that I was in ICU, and I thought I was in ICU for about a day. So I have very little recollection of that part of the recovery. Um, once I was stabilized, I moved to a regular room and later had multiple surgeries, um, a titanium rod in my leg, pins in my foot. Um, the first surgery was a vein graft to repair the femoral artery. Um was in the hospital for about 30 days. I was released on a Thursday. On Friday, relatives came to town. On Saturday, we had my husband's wake, and on Sunday we had his funeral. Um I was then home and I went back to the home where the shooting occurred because that was just I was it was an open floor plan concept. I was in a wheelchair, it was just the most practical place for me to go. And I was not going to live in fear of going back to the place where the tragedy took place, right? I was going to face this head on. So we went back to the house. Um I was in a wheelchair for a month. I had physical therapy come out to the house to work with me. Um, I graduated to a walker, and then about a month after that, I graduated to a cane. Um, and I had a year of physical therapy to learn how to walk and regain balance and navigate stairs. So um my late husband and I had a business together. Like I earlier mentioned that we were partners in business. We had built a business where we were one of the largest landlords on the University of Illinois campus. And even from the hospital, I was trying to sign checks and keep the operations going. I mean, at one point we had a staff of about 40. We had about 1,200 beds, which was a pretty, pretty substantial company. And um we'd started this together when we were both college students. So as I'm trying to maintain some sense of normalcy with our staff employees and the running of the operations, there's a lot of surprises I'm discovering. One is, well, the main one was that our business was so over-leveraged, and there was um there were a lot of financial surprises. I think the first financial surprise was the fact that he had borrowed against $2 million of life insurance, leaving us with uh virtually nothing for college education for four children, right? Um I then discovered that he had a stock account that at one time had five million dollars in it, and he had day traded that down to about $60,000. He had not paid our property taxes for three years and didn't have a homestead exemption. So they were an exorbitant amount, and those property taxes had been rolled into the mortgage as he had refinanced, and he had taken my name off the note, so I had not signed off on any of this. And um how that happened, I'm not really sure, but that was what we discovered after um his death, and we were underwater on the house. Um there was a note on every car, there was um the the big part of our portfolio, he had refinanced that package and he had set this up in a corporation. Um the debt service, meaning our payments, were interest only, and the principal payments were going to start coming due like the June or July after his death. And there was no way we had cash flow uh to make those payments. So financially, uh we were death, you know, we had nothing. So um one of my big platforms is financial abuse. I'm a CPA, I graduated from the University of Illinois, which according to US News and World Report, is the number two accounting school in the country. Like I am a professional educated woman. I am not the person that one would think this should happen to, right? We always think it's not in my backyard. And this happened to me too. And so what I'm realizing in this journey of being transparent about my story is the professional educated woman that is so often blindsided, and it happens so much more frequently than you would think. And I also contend that it's the professional educated woman that's the least likely to ask for help because you know, I know better. How did this happen? How did I let this happen? Well, most times we don't let it happen to us. We things are happening. I mean, we I couldn't think fast enough to keep up with my husband and what he was doing. I couldn't outthink him, I couldn't outmaneuver him when it came to the strategy that he was putting together to create the mess that he created. And when your brain isn't wired that way, you know, you're already at a deficit, right? So we can we can go into any of these rabbit holes, anyone that that you'd like to. So um we had nothing, and um the whole town, the whole community knew our family. I mean, we were just sort of a walking billboard of a salacious story every time we set foot in town. Um, so in August 1 of 2012, I moved to Dallas and um didn't have a job, didn't have a house. Um, my parents actually bought my house for me because I really didn't have an option. Um, as I mean, as far as I really didn't have a nest egg or anything to find a place to live, but we knew we wanted to start over. And so we moved here, you know, 13 years ago and uh rebuilt a life. So, and Dallas has been very good to us. I've been very happy in Texas. So here you are. Here you are.

Jennifer:

I want to say something because for for our audience, you know, tuning in and listening to this for the first time, they're probably thinking, okay, how are you like sitting through this and like first of all, you're telling this story, and I'm sitting here listening to this, I'm getting chills as you said this, but you and I have talked. We I I got to hear this story once before, so I could process it a little bit after hearing it. So I knew the story coming into this because I imagine for somebody hearing for you know this in the for the first time, they're going, wow, and and and to be able to sit here on the other side of this and tell this story with you know such clarity and and and to be able to just tell it, I think I it's a remarkable thing. And I I just want to, you know, like I said, the first time I met you, commend you because I I cannot imagine going through something this devastating. And and I mean, I feel like I've done hard things, but this is just hard. This is hard. And uh, but but I think it's I I I love what you're doing. I love what you're doing now in the aftermath of this and the life you've created, and you know, and the fact that you and your children have been able to, I mean, even you know, like the story about your daughter doing the pageantry and your kids, I mean, the amazingness that they're creating in the aftermath of this, that is huge, Stephanie. And so I want to commend you as a mom and a friend and a survivor.

Stephanie:

Thank you.

Jennifer:

It's just it's a it's an amazing story. I mean, I I just I just yeah, wow.

Stephanie:

I will say, um, my sharing my story today is very different than what it would have been five, 10 years ago. Yeah. Um we have been very blessed. I am so tremendously thankful for where we all are today. Um and I never could have envisioned the life that we have. Um and I try very hard not to take anything for granted. I know that I should have died. There are people that die every day of injuries far less severe than mine. And for some reason, my life was spared. And I don't take that lightly. And I think I've been on a constant quest of trying to figure out what my purpose in life is, given that I'm here like talking to you all today. Um, I'm very involved with Genesis, Women's Shelter and Support in Dallas. Um, as an advocate, advocate, as this, you know, um, I've had leadership roles with our women's alliance, which for anybody here in that's listening, um, it's an amazing organization. Um and Jan Langbein, I have to give a shout out to because she is like my hero and a trailblazer, and there's no other women's shelter like this in the country that provides the services that that she has, you know, that she does through Genesis. So I feel very honored to be affiliated with an organization like that. Um, you know, life isn't perfect. I mean, we all have hiccups, we all have bad days, but I'm still here and I'm still fighting. And um, you know, I'm very, I'm very, very thankful. Uh, one of the things that I've always worried and prayed and stressed out about were my children, you know, because I think statistically I read somewhere that if a ch if a parent commits suicide, a child has a much higher percentage of repeating that, like 25-30%. So I have four, right? So, and I'm an accountant, so you do the math. Like, I'm really worried that one of my children is just not going to be okay. And right now they all are. They've all carved a very different, unique path for themselves. And for that alone, I mean, I'm I'll be eternally grateful. You know, my my oldest is in social media and business development marketing. I'm too old to understand that lane. So, you know, my second is um graduated from Kentucky and is a mechanical engineer and works with in technical sales, is married to a CPA, and I love them both dearly. My third finished four years in the Navy and works in Virginia and is a Moy Thai national champion in a league that I don't understand anything about this. And then my daughter is a senior at Alabama and um majoring in finance and sports media and will be back in Dallas next year, competed for Miss Texas, in earner rookie year, got second runner-up. Um I'm very proud of them because this is it's one of the one of the messages that I try to share is that we always think of the victim. Like people think of me as the one that was hurt, the one that got shot, the one that had to struggle and survive. Right. But there's a domino effect to everybody else that's in that family and and all the friends, right? My mother came and lived with us for months to make sure my kids could get to school, have safety, security, keep their routines in place as much as possible while I was in the hospital in recovery. Um, she she gave up her life for six months to be with us. Um, you know, I've already talked about the children. And you've got, you know, there's there's all these, there's the administrators at my children's school having to be there to support my kids, but also having to navigate this horrific story to all the other parents, to all the other other children. Um the far-reaching effects of domestic violence is monumental. And I don't think that I think that that's an overlooked piece of this whole puzzle.

Jennifer:

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Well, and with October coming up and it being, you know, you mentioned before, you know, is it's domestic violence abuse month. And so um, I, you know, you're in a in a great place now where you can share this story and have create this impact, right? And so, um, but I'm with you on that. I think no matter what we do, whether it be that or anything, we have a far-reaching impact on everybody around us. And that's the thing when you get into you know situations where you have something like this, yeah, it's not just about the person who commits the or does the perpetrator you know, perpetrating on somebody and then the person they do, it's all the people around and the commits are partially the you know, the the the getting the the brunt of this, right? And so that's why I said I think this story is so it's a tragedy, you know, that you had to go through this, but I think you're finding your purpose and your calling. And I think that when I hear you say that, I'm like, I know what it is. It's to do with talk about this, it is to make a difference in the lives of other women who are going through these hard things. Because yes, I've known people in these situations. I mean, I know people right now, and when women are in these situations, you're right, they're afraid to seek help. They don't understand why they're in that position, and they stay in it because they're they've got kids involved and there's finances, and what do they do? And is it are they gonna be in harm's way? You know, are their kids gonna be in harm's way? I mean, I you know, I haven't been in particularly in that situation. I was in a in a mild, I I don't, I hate to, I hate to like minimize abuse because I'm like you. I think that we all we try to justify if it's not this bad or this bad, it's not really, but um, I was in a brief marriage in my early late teens, early twenties. I was only in that marriage like three years, and that was kind of an abusive relationship. And thankfully I never had any children. I got out of that because I knew that um it ended up being a financial situation where I found out he had a bunch of arrear taxes, and I finally my mom called me. She, my mother was also an accountant, and she She called me and said, you know, he owes about $5,000. Now keep in mind, we were 20. $5,000 to a 20-year-old is a big difference than when you're in your 50s or 30s, you know. We were broke. I was working full-time, going to school. He was doing drugs and not bringing home a paycheck. And so there's that. So when somebody says to you you're 5,000 in arrears, you panic. And so I put had to put a restraining order on him because he was he was stalking me and he was threatening me and threatening to do bodily harm to me. And and it got for a while there, it got uh pretty crazy. And then it just got where I just got really mean about it. I got mad because I started gaining my confidence and my, you know, my control back. And I started just get becoming the other way. But my point to that is that oftentimes, yes, I think that women do get in those situations and they think, why am I in this? You know, like how did this even happen? You know, and so I think that's your, I feel like that's your purpose is to speak into this.

Stephanie:

When this happened to me, I was like, people like me don't get shot by their husbands. Yeah. I'm going to my class reunion. I'm not going to tell you which one it is, but I'm going to my class reunion this Saturday. And I can guarantee you, I was never going to be voted, most likely to be shot by her husband in college or in high school. That was not me, right? And so I think I felt so alone. And I felt like, again, just sort of this walking freak show in our community, because people always want to find a reason why. I mean, his family, they blamed me for a lot of things. And that's, you know, neither here nor there. People are hurting. So they want to know, they want to justify or try to rationalize the hurt. And so, you know, we always want somebody to blame. So whatever. But it was, I thought, God, this I am pre-show. When I moved to Dallas, um, let me back up. So the shooting was at four o'clock on a Saturday afternoon. We were on the five o'clock news. That's how big of a deal this was in our town. And I think because of that, I never shied away from talking about it. Um, because our story was so public from the get-go. It was just, yeah, I just put it out there. And then I felt like I could control the narrative. I never felt like people well it I got my power back, right? If I vomit my story out there, then I'm controlling the fact that people aren't behind my back saying, Did you know what happened to her? So that was, I guess, uh, one of the ways I tried to regain my power by just owning my truth publicly. So that transferred to when we moved to Dallas. And so as I would share my story, in every corporate position I had moving here, I had a woman say this happened to me too. And the statistic is that one in three women in Texas suffer from intimate partner violence, one in four nationwide. And I didn't believe that for a really long time because I thought, yeah, that can't be true. That's like just too many people, right? But as I have shared, and I've had women that come up to me and share their journey or their story. And again, it might not be their current partner, but it's somebody from their past. I believe it now. I really believe it, and it's shocking. And and again, we have this not in my backyard syndrome, but it's it's really around us. It's it's shocking. And I'm and I always go back to the fact that it is 2025. We teach our children in kindergarten, on the playground, how to behave, not to hit their friends, not to touch other people, how to be respectful. And then when we, you know, fast forward to adult life and relationship life, some of those messages don't, they just didn't stick. And we have a societal, really a societal problem today. Um, in preparing for this podcast, I did a little bit of research on like the economic impact. This is a trillion-dollar problem with our society in our society. And it's it's um and I think once people realize the economic impact of that, it might really make a difference in how people perceive it. I think it would help take the stigma away, it would help shun, it would help get rid of the um just the negative connotations of domestic violence as a societal problem, but also empower survivors as well. I think there's like a there's a statistic out there that there's like $8.3 billion in lost revenue in in the workplace. And there's a stat out there that says that um the number of missed work days that are attributed to intimate partner violence equates to like 30,000 jobs. I mean, the numbers are staggering out there. So, you know, hopefully as I keep talking and doing these podcasts, maybe I'll reach the right person and we can make some real change here.

Jennifer:

Yeah, yeah. And I I would love to know, you know, going forward, Stephanie, like, you know, obviously the big, you know, the big vision is here is to create more impact. But, you know, what is your work until I know you're doing more public trying to do more public speaking now and you're getting these leadership roles. And what does this look like for you going forward?

Stephanie:

You know, I um I'm I'm a fierce advocate, and that's not going away. I'm open to speaking engagements. I've done a fair amount of of those, and it's a very full, it's very fulfilling, right? Um I think when what I've realized is when I walk up on stage and um again, I'm not really the poster child for somebody, you know, attempted murder suicide, somebody being shot by their husband. Um, I think it's impactful. I think when I can talk about the detail of the financial abuse to professional women who may be in a marriage or in a relationship where um they know something's off, but they can't really pinpoint it. Hopefully a light bulb goes off and they can start connecting the dots and figuring out how to navigate their life going forward. Um, so the public speaking thing is very important to me. Um, I'm also do some one-on-one coaching, um, especially in the financial abuse arena, um, mostly related to understanding your own financial situation and how to rebuild, how to um regain your economic footing. Um that is actually becoming such a big space as we understand it more. And one of the things, you know, it's it yes, it's controlling all the economic resources, but it's also can be preventing you from getting a job.

Jennifer:

Yeah.

Stephanie:

Um, or sabotaging your your career. Um, there were certainly incidents of that in my marriage. Um, so so that type of advocacy is very important to me. Um, I'm writing and I'm working on a book. My daughter and I have a publisher, and we are finishing that up. Hopefully that'll come out in 2026, and the title will be bulletproof. So and it'll be um the story of our family in alternating viewpoints from me as the spouse and a six-year-old child trying to navigate um, you know, everything that happened to our family and how we've rebuilt.

Jennifer:

I can't wait to read that. You need to get that out. I want to read, I want to see, I want to hear, I like because I've heard your story, I want to hear your daughters. I want to hear her viewpoint from this. I really I want to read this. You guys gotta get it out because I know there are gonna be people who want to read this book. I I'm just yeah, this story is such a wild thing to me. Like I said, the first time I heard it, and I didn't want to say, you know, because some of the people that are gonna be tuning into this are just gonna be hearing this and they're probably gonna be like, okay, now I gotta go look up Stephanie to see who this person is. Because I remember the day you walked into the coffee shop. I would have never looked at you and thought this happened to you. I mean, you there's nothing about you, the way your your presence, your your everything, nothing. In fact, I don't know who it was that even asked me. They were like, Does she have like any injury? I said, if she does, I wouldn't have even known because she walked in the room. I would have never even thought that. Your energy, all of it, when you came in that room, and and for our audience, we were connected through a mutual friend, and we had no idea why we were even being connected until we sat down, and then I told her, told you, you know, Stephanie, a little bit about my story, which is a completely different story. And then Stephanie started to we figured it out why Stephanie and I were supposed to meet. And so um you're just a remarkable person in that it's clear to me that the the the fight, the tenacity, the fighting to to be here, you know, there's something about that, the grit, the grace and all of that, just you've got that fighter spirit. And that's why I said I love these stories, is not because you had to go through it, it's because you've shown us what it's like to persist with grace and grit in the midst of something really heavy. You know what I mean? And so somebody listening to this, no matter where they are in their life, whether they're going through something, you know, a domestic violence type situation, or maybe it's just something they feel is really, really hard. You've given people permission to say, I can fight and survive, right? We all deserve a second chance.

Stephanie:

We all deserve a second chance.

Jennifer:

Uh Steffi, I love what do you so I want to sum this up with this. What do you want people to know about you?

Stephanie:

Um I think what I want people to know about me is that yes, I'm tremendously thankful. I am very blessed, and I want to share that with the world. I want to help people, I want to help survivors. Um I am, I will, I will even give people my email address. And I am open to conversation, I'm open to opportunities. Um, my email is sjbond2012 at gmail. That's my personal email. Um, please reach out to me. Um if you think that my story can be impactful, if you think that my story can help you, if you need um just to have um a shoulder to you know, somebody to talk to, especially if it's in the financial realm of rebuilding your life. Um I am not a therapist. I will throw that disclaimer out there, but as somebody that lived it, walked it, and has done the work, I am your girl.

Jennifer:

Amen, sister.

Stephanie:

You are definitely.

Jennifer:

I say that every day. I would much rather take advice from somebody who's walked the shoes ahead of me.

Stephanie:

I I'm a big believer in that one of the one of the reasons this is such a personal mission for me is that I think women walk in shame. You know, we've we've talked a little bit about that, you know, um already. But if women knew how many people have been in their shoes, how many survivors there really are, how many of us can be connected to one another, there would be this incredibly powerful tribe of people that could support one another, empower one another, and walk in the second chapter of their life with grace, power, and pride. Absolutely.

Jennifer:

Well, I think that's your calling, Miss Stephanie. That's what it is. You are the voice and the and the leader behind all this. I want to command you, and we will make sure too when we get all the show notes together, we'll get your email in there. Is there a website that you have set up for everything? Because your book's gonna be coming out so they know where to go.

Stephanie:

So Stephaniejbond.com. So my middle initial is always in there, Stephanie J. Bond. You can also find me on TikTok. Um, I do TikToks about my story and um little snippets about rebuilding your life. Um, and I'm also on Instagram. Awesome, Stephanie.

Jennifer:

Well, I'm glad to know you. You are you're an awesome human being, and I'm I'm grateful that you have that you stuck there and hung in there and were a fighter and um you're making a difference in the world. So I want to tell you thank you for that. Thank you so much.

Stephanie:

I really appreciate this opportunity, and I hope it helps somebody. Yeah, it's been great.

Jennifer:

All right, for our audience, this yes, this we were letting Stephanie have this episode today because there's some stories that don't need a whole lot of Jennifer input in them. That they this is one of those right here. And so we hope that you know found this episode both inspiring and informative. And of course, if you did, share it, comment, do whatever you need to do to help us move this around and allow other people to listen to it. And as I always say, in order to live the extraordinary, you must start, and every start begins with a decision. You guys take care, be safe, be kind to one another, and we will see you next time.

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Jennifer Loehding

Host
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Stephanie J Bond

Guest