Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Chavez.
Hi Katie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in central MN out in the country. I was homeschooled and raised Christian. I struggled a lot as a teen with low self-esteem and thinking very poorly of myself. I was depressed and wanted to not live anymore.
Due to thinking I was not smart enough for college, I attended a Christian gap year program in east Texas and ended up staying there for three years, being involved and working in different capacities. It was there that my desire to help people was solidified. I knew I wanted to help, I just didn’t know how because I wasn’t interested in therapy or counseling.
I came home in Aug 2011 and shortly after met and fell in love with someone I had no business falling in love with. A year into our relationship I became pregnant, and we decided on abortion together. That didn’t change our relationship though and I continued with this partner for six more years.
Until finally, I had enough. I decided to move and get away from this person as well as start my life over in pursuing my dream of being a life coach.
I moved to Dallas November of 2018 and never looked back. I launched my coaching practice in March of 2017 but took it with me and became certified with The Life Coach School in January of this year.
Now I coach women post-abortion to love and appreciate the life they have rather than regret the one they lost.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Of course not.
One major struggle was being in a relationship I wanted but was “forbidden fruit.” The guilt of that ate me alive. I’ve learned not to live in secrecy because it wears away your identity. It’s hard to live two lives and I hated it but felt trapped. Breakups are one of the hardest things we can go through I believe. I cried every day for a year after leaving my partner and moving a thousand miles away from home.
Going through an abortion and living in the aftermath was something I never could have imagined it would be.
It was a struggle and a risk to move across the country. I didn’t have the money I needed, but did it anyway. Borrowing from my parents, I didn’t even have a job when I got here. It was scary and stressful to say the least. But it worked out. Crazy.
Owning my story and being brave and bold to share it has been such a huge opportunity for growth. Being an entrepreneur brings its own struggles. IYKYK. Money struggles, self-identity struggles, marriage struggles, but it’s all part of the game of life.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I am a life coach and I help women deal with the emotions that follow having an abortion. They are not something I think we could have planned or anticipated. It’s one thing to know what’s coming; it’s another to experience it. Emotions can be so painful, and we will do anything to minimize the pain. Even self-harm and neglect. I help women feel their emotions and look at the thoughts behind them so we can work with them instead of against them. I help women own their decision, their story rather than live in guilt and shame of it. Many women are doing what I did, living in fear and lies because of what others might think of you.
I might be a unique mix that may seem counterintuitive to post-abortive work. I’m a Christian, but I am both pro-life pro-choice. I believe in a bigger picture that I can’t interfere with. If you are meant to have an abortion, I can’t stop you. I can be here for you afterward with open arms and no judgment. As a coach, I help you find your desired outcome. That’s not something I can decide for you. My opinions and biases are set aside in our partnership.
I think my brand speaks of hope and optimism. I love bright colors and laugh on my own podcast (Abundant After Abortion). Deep pain does not need to end in living in deep gloom. You can be happy again. You can be “better” for it if you want it.
I work with my clients for six months, meeting for an hour each week to discuss their thoughts and create a life they love again; a life of healing and abundance, whether that be emotionally, financially, physically, it all counts.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Growing up, I was outgoing and adventurous. I was young before there was internet, so I was not connected on social platforms until late high school. So, our entertainment was making mazes through waist-high grass, driving ATVs around our 40 acres, snowmobiling in the wintertime, and building treeforts in trees as well as on the ground.
I had an older brother, younger brother, and we have the youngest, our little sister.
I was also very artistic and wanted to try every crafting medium you could imagine. Winters can be long in Minnesota, so I needed variety to keep my sanity.
I also had an intensive surgery to reconstruct my hip socket at the age of 11. This got me into physical therapy afterward where I had to learn to walk again and continue with exercises to gain my strength back. I would attribute this to my journey through fitness; loving exercise today. I became certified as a personal trainer and will be doing my first bikini competition in August of 2024. I love health and was and still am a nut for it.
I love to laugh and be crazy. Growing up, we loved to yell and scream outside at God knows what but our love for being loud and rambunctious definitely came in the house with us during the long winter months.
I did take about ten years of piano lessons. Sadly, I am a bit out of practice today, but I loved playing classical piano in my younger years and might get back into it one day.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bio.site/Abundantafterabortion
- Instagram: @katie.rtblifecoaching
- Facebook: facebook.com/katiechaz
- Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/abundant-after-abortion/id1668433236
