We recently had the chance to connect with Ali Hallock and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Ali, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: When have you felt most loved—and did you believe you deserved it?
I felt most loved in the moments when I was at my absolute weakest… in the depths of chronic illness, when my body was failing me, when I couldn’t hide my fear, and when the version of myself I had always leaned on simply wasn’t there anymore. It was in those raw, unguarded spaces… hospital rooms, long nights, and days when simply existing took everything I had, that the people who truly cared about me showed up with tenderness, patience, and a steadiness I didn’t even know how to ask for. And if I’m honest, I didn’t always feel like I deserved that kind of love. I had spent so long being the strong one, the helper, the one putting on a fake armor of perfection, that receiving care felt unfamiliar, almost uncomfortable. But looking back, those moments taught me something that changed me: I didn’t have to earn love by being unbreakable. I was worthy of it simply because I existed, even when I was fragile, scared, and deeply human.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Ali Hallock, I am a wife to my high school sweetheart, Brian, and the mother of three beautiful and amazing children, Brody, Elle and Emmy. I’m also an author, chronic illness warrior, and advocate whose journey has been defined by resilience, grace, and an unwavering desire to find beauty in the hardest places. After being diagnosed with Lupus, EDS, a rare blood disorder, Non-CF Bronchiectasis, CVID, and other conditions, I have faced a series of unexpected health issues, some that have nearly taken my life and altered my world forever.
But, what could have broken me instead became the foundation of something powerful. The center of that has been sharing my story online and helping others who are walking a similar path, and writing a book with my family called Beautifully Broken: How I Found Beauty on My Journey with Chronic Illness. In it, we share the many perspectives of how chronic illness affects not only the patient, but the people around them. We share not only the struggles and difficulty, but the emotional, physical and mental transformation that came from them, finding light in pain, strength in vulnerability, and purpose through advocacy. Now, I’m getting ready to release my second book, Beautifully Unraveled. It’s my story of walking through a life-altering experience of Iatrogenic Botulism after receiving botox injections for migraines. Something I had done for nearly five years, took a frightening turn and almost took my life.
I hope by sharing my empathy and story, it will give hope to others living with invisible illnesses, reminding them that even in life’s most unpredictable storms, beauty and healing can still bloom.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
My high school sweetheart, and now husband, was the person who saw me clearly long before I could see myself.
After my divorce, when I was trying to stand on my own again and piece together the parts of me I had lost, he unexpectedly reentered my world with a simple Facebook friend request. I was fragile and unsure when we met up for frozen yogurt as friends, but it didn’t take long for something familiar and safe to spark between us. What began as a casual reconnection quickly turned into late-night conversations, whispered “I love you’s,” and falling asleep on the phone like two teenagers who never wanted the night to end.
What made him different was the way he handled my heart. He met every part of my story… the fears, the insecurities, the trauma, the tender places, with gentleness. He never saw my past as baggage. He never treated my wounds as something to fix. Instead, he reminded me that everything I had survived had shaped me into someone strong, rare, and deeply human… a “diamond in the rough,” he’d say, without hesitation.
He fell in love with me at my most vulnerable, at a time when I didn’t feel worthy of being loved at all. He created space for me to be honest and undone while never letting me feel alone in it. He gave me room to heal and rediscover myself, while also holding me steady and loving me without judgment. Day after day, he showed me, through actions and words, the kind of love I had always deserved but never believed I could have.
We are opposites in many ways, yet those differences have become the quiet strength of our relationship. We communicate openly, even when things are messy. We balance each other. We choose each other. And through it all, he has remained the same genuine, thoughtful, quietly romantic soul he has always been.
He saw the woman I was becoming long before I could recognize her myself, and loving him has helped me grow into her with confidence, softness, and gratitude.
What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
The defining wounds of my life have been the moments that shattered the version of myself I thought I had to be… the strong one, the caretaker, the girl who never broke, never needed help, never let her pain spill into anyone else’s world.
My divorce, the trauma from medical harm and botulism, the years of chronic illness, and the grief of losing pieces of my health and identity… those were the wounds that cut the deepest. Not because of the physical pain alone, but because they forced me to confront the parts of myself I had avoided: the fear of abandonment, the belief that I had to earn love through perfection, and the quiet ache of feeling misunderstood in my suffering.
Healing didn’t come in one moment. It came in layers, through truth-telling, through learning to trust my own body again, through compassion and support from my family and friends, and through the kind of love that never asked me to be anything other than human.
My deepest healing came when I finally allowed myself to be vulnerable. When I stopped pretending I was fine. When I grieved the version of me I lost. When I realized that survival had made me strong, but softness would make me whole again.
I’ve learned that wounds don’t fully disappear, they become part of our architecture. They teach us compassion, courage, boundaries, clarity, and resilience. They shape the way we love and the way we lead. And in my case, they’ve given me a voice. A purpose. A reason to advocate for others walking through the darkness I once lived in.
I healed not by going back to who I was, but by becoming someone new… someone stronger, softer, wiser, and more deeply connected to what truly matters.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
I think my closest friends would tell you that what matters most to me is love in its most honest and wholehearted form. They’d say I’m endlessly devoted to my family… to my husband who has walked through every storm with me, and to my children who are truly the center of my universe. They would say, I value vulnerability and real connection, and I’m the kind of person who wants people to feel safe telling the truth about their lives.
Because of the health battles and heartbreaks I’ve lived through, they’d tell you I’m driven by a desire to help others feel seen, understood, and less alone. They’d also say I’m deeply intentional in everything I do… from the way I speak to the way I love to the way I create a home. I’m always striving to build an atmosphere of peace, safety, and comfort, a place where the people I care about feel held, supported, and truly loved. Creating beauty and gentleness…. in my writing, my relationships, and the way I move through the world… is part of that intention.
At my core, I love big, I feel deeply, and I try to give my whole heart to the people and the life I cherish.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: When do you feel most at peace?
I feel most at peace in the moments when my life feels honest and unforced… when my body feels healthy and safe, my heart feels understood, and I’m no longer trying to be anything other than who I am. Peace finds me at home, in the spaces I’ve created with intention, where everything feels calm and grounded and my nervous system can finally exhale.
I feel it most when I’m next to my husband, even in the quiet moments when we aren’t saying anything at all. When we’re simply sitting together, sharing the same space, the same silence, the same breath. There’s something deeply grounding about being loved in a way that doesn’t require words, just presence. In those moments, I feel protected, chosen, and completely at ease.
I feel most at peace when I’m living authentically… when I allow myself to be fully seen and stop editing who I am to fit anyone else’s expectations. Leaving Mormonism was a turning point in that journey. Stepping away from a life defined by fear, rules, and rigid expectations finally gave me the freedom to follow my heart, trust my intuition, and live in alignment with my values instead of constantly questioning whether I was enough. It allowed me to choose authenticity over perfection and love over obligation.
That freedom also reshaped the relationships in my life. I’ve surrounded myself with friends and loved ones who meet me exactly where I am… people who support my growth, honor my boundaries, and love me as I am, not for who I used to be or who I was expected to become. Being held in relationships that feel safe, affirming, and real has been profoundly healing.
And I feel that same deep peace when I watch my children fully in their element…. doing what they love, being the kind, empathetic, incredible humans they are, offering compassion and light to a world that needs it. Watching them reminds me that love, when lived freely and honestly, has the power to heal far beyond ourselves.
In those quiet, ordinary, deeply meaningful moments… love beside me, authenticity guiding me, children becoming themselves, and nothing left to perform… that’s where my peace lives.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @alihallock
- Other: Tiktok: @alihallock
Image Credits
Samantha Luna Photography
