Today we’d like to introduce you to Crystal Brooks.
Hi Crystal, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I was born in Washington, DC. and raised in P.G. County MD. I am the daughter of the First Black Female Officer on Capitol Hill and my father was a forklift operator who battled a debilitating drug addiction. I was the typical loving, caring little girl. Growing up with both of my parents in the home and one older brother (12 years apart). To the outside world, things looked great, but things took a shift at the age of 5 for me. I was molested/raped by a family member and from there life just kept happening to me. I was caught in a world of law and lawlessness and instead of reaching out for help, I honestly fell silent. Being a survivor of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse at an early age, was grounds to derail me from pursuing my purpose. Let’s be honest, do we know what our purpose is at such a young age? I didn’t understand this concept until I got older. I had to gain the strength to choose myself which helped me overcome trauma. By doing this it helped propel me into my destiny to help others.
Where I am today, living & walking in my purpose by sharing my testimony with the world via my first book, “When Silence is Misunderstood; Finding a Lifestyle of Abundance after Abuse.” The walk that I am on is a true faith walk. I walked away from my Fulltime job almost a year ago to pursue my purpose with full clear direction from God. The lives that I am impacting are truly amazing to witness and I am excited to see more lives changed due to my obedience in trusting God.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No, not at all. From all the things I have gone through, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse was tough. The road was never easy for me. I just made it look good, meaning I was great at hiding and masking what was truly going on because I felt silenced or that I didn’t matter fully. So much was taken from me at such a young age. I never really felt I had a voice. I did however try to make people see the value in me even though I didn’t see or know my worth.
This only led me to more heartache and pain because I put myself on the backburner throughout my entire life whether jobs, relationships, and some friendships. If you don’t heal the little girl or little boy inside, it will always show up as we grow up. I eventually chose myself and learned the power of self-love and self-acceptance.
As you know, we’re big fans of Love You More Inc & Love You More Legacy. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
“Love You More Inc.®” is a 501c3 women’s empowerment nonprofit organization. We are 6 1/2 years old, and we service teen girls and adult women in the community by providing services such as our 12 week “Promise to Self -Mentorship Program” and workshops that include our 4 core programs that are held quarterly. My organization is all about teaching self-love and self-worth while providing a safe space for teens and women to share their stories, getting the help they need, and feel encouraged and empowered. Something I wish I had growing up. We had our first in-person event in April of 2022 since the pandemic began, “Dainty Debutante Tea Party” where we taught the girls all things etiquette. The beautiful former Ms. Maryland came and helped in this effort. She taught the young ladies the fundamentals of etiquette. We adults looked at ourselves and realized we need a class of our own! Also, every year we have our holiday giveback where we feed families in need for Thanksgiving and provide Christmas gifts and essentials for the winter for families in need. Everything about Love You More Inc® has been grassroots efforts. We strive to reach communities that are often forgotten about.
“Love You More Legacy™, LLC. is my coaching business. I am Certified as a Master Forgiveness, Life, and Mindset coach. I am also a speaker, Best-Selling Author “When Silence is Misunderstood” and Host of my own podcast “Process the Purpose™” which will be available soon on all major podcast platforms.
What sets me apart from others in both businesses is that I am coming from a place of experiencing the things that I offer. For example, some people create certain businesses and teach from a space of what they learned in classes. I am teaching/speaking from my heart, experience, certifications, and what God leads me to do. By me sharing my journey, women and men have been experiencing breakthroughs. Truthfully, people just need to know that they are not alone and there is hope on the other side. When you approach at a human level, more breakthroughs will happen. For this reason, I am often called Mentor/Coach Extraordinaire!
I am most proud to see the women and now men come to me after I speak or share my story on various platforms of how much I have impacted their lives. By me just being my genuine self. In today’s time, people tend to look to the right, left and social media to see what others are doing. I focus on what’s ahead of me and not put myself in the comparison game. That is the killer of all things authentic about YOU!
The main things I want the readers to know about my services/offers and brands are the following:
- It’s okay to give yourself grace and forgiveness
2. It’s okay to LOVE YOU MORE!
3. Someone else’s breakthrough is tied to your obedience.
All of these things are tied into the “Love You More” umbrella and what we teach, serve and do!
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
True Happiness is one of the keys to feeling fulfilled, but with that a lot of us have our happiness tied into other people. When this happens, we forget about what truly makes us happy. I like to ask this self-reflective question, “Outside of kids, family and others what makes YOU happy?” If you don’t know that answer, I challenge you to look within and start the work to finding you. This means letting go of some past hurt and pain and/or identifying where you dimmed your light to let others shine.
What makes me happy is knowing that I am healed and whole! I get to wake up every day and walk in my purpose for myself and others. Outside of myself what makes me happy are my 3 beautiful children, my husband, and my mom. They have all been supportive and it feels good to know that I am breaking generational curses and generational strongholds. Lastly, seeing all the seeds I planted in the ground, watered with my tears are now making a difference in the world/community! I started Love You More Inc® 6 1/2 years ago. People said we wouldn’t make it past a year, but here we are. Grassroots efforts and we’re making a difference. My struggle and pain all had a purpose- So now I am at a place of peace and happiness to be able to share and help those in need begin the process of healing.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.loveyoumoreinc.com; www.lymlegacy.com
- Instagram: @iamcrystalbrooks; @loveyoumoreinc
- Facebook: @iamcrystalbrooks; @loveyoumoreinc
