By Reynaldo Mena
If there is something that can define Christine Escobar’s work, it is congruence. Her work, activism, and language all have a solid foundation: her life itself. Christine defines her purpose and mission in life: to empower women.
“I lived a very tough life. With a mother struggling to support the family and an absent father involved in bad things. I had to learn to overcome all those blows and have the faith that I could dictate the path of my life. No matter how difficult it was. That experience gives me the foundation to share with all women the possibility of changing our lives, we need to have determination and not give up,” says Escobar in an interview with Parriva.
Escobar is a mother, wife, business coach, therapist, and founder of Gracefully Fierce, an organization that offers support to women to empower themselves and change their habits and thoughts about traditional molds that could serve as obstacles to progress.
“I was fortunate enough to be able to overcome my experiences as a child and teenager. We were a very poor family. My father got involved with people that were into bad things. I think I visited all the state prisons when I went to visit him. My mom worked full-time, she had to manage to support us. We lived in hotels, ate as we could, and saw how to survive in the neighborhoods and schools. Those were very tough times,” says Escobar.
For Christine, the positive message is very important. Insist that the change is within us and believe that things can be changed. Despite having a difficult childhood, she set out to move forward, to change her life.
“I was surrounded by good people, but I didn’t have those people who could guide me in the right direction. I had to look for them,” she adds. From the age of 15, she started working. She wanted to attend a Catholic school and needed to earn money to pay the expenses.
“I had to be off the streets, take refuge in study, sports, and work. I wouldn’t be one of those teenagers involved in gangs. I wanted to do something with my life,” she says.
“I was surrounded by good people, but I didn’t have those people who could guide me in the right direction. I had to look for them,”
One of the things that surprises about Christine Escobar is her transparency. She doesn’t hold back anything, she’s not afraid to tell her difficult moments, things that would embarrass other people.
“Every story defines us,” she tells me. “The more we tell it, the stronger we feel.”
Adolescence was a very difficult stage in her life, it was exhausting. She went to school in the mornings, then worked in an ice cream parlor in the afternoons, and arrived home late at night to sleep.
“You get lost in adolescence. I was looking for the father figure, but he wasn’t there. My mom was there, but she was always working. I was looking for something, but the only thing I had clear was that I wanted to do something with my life. I was functioning on autopilot,” she says.
And on one of those days, Christine Escobar met a boy, felt loved, and became pregnant.
“I didn’t get married. I stayed with that boy for five years, but I decided I didn’t want to be his wife. He drank a lot. I told myself, ‘that’s not for me. I don’t need the drunk of the party in my life.'”
She never left school, finished her high school, and studied communication.
“I always thought about my children, what I wanted for them. I always tried to visualize the way I would shape my life with them, I looked for something positive for my future,” she adds.
They were going through a very complicated period. She had already had another child and was convinced that if she wanted to change her life, she had to enter a different circle, where she could meet new people and have the opportunity for new jobs.
And then she met the man who became her husband. At first, she had doubts. He didn’t come from the same roots as her and was a businessman.
“I thought he had nothing to do with me, but he was a great man, so I gave him a chance. I knew I had to open myself up to new possibilities,” she says.
He infected her with his love and commitment. He proposed that they work together in real estate and start a family.
“It was a different world. I went with him everywhere. But it was his business, not my interests. I spoke well and had the ability to relate to people, which fit well in that business,” she says. Her husband encouraged her to start her own organization. He believed in her.
“My life has made me connect with people. They know that what I communicate are not lies, verbal constructions that I use just to say them. They know that everything I say, I say because I have lived it. They feel me genuine,” she says.
Christine Escobar began her talks and workshops. Her experience as a therapist helped her in her work; she could understand what women were going through.
“I always try to instill in them not to feel alone, ashamed. They, like me, didn’t know where to go. But by finding ourselves in the same place, they knew they weren’t alone,” she adds.
Her work at Gracefully Fierce has made her feel more womanly, and that has helped her convey her philosophy: to empower women and give them high self-esteem.
People, even her family, are surprised by the way she talks, revealing things about her life that no one knows, without shame. “I’ve reached the point where in a conference, I showed my body in just panties and a bra. I wanted to tell them that we have to accept ourselves as we are. I don’t have a thin body, nor do I desire it. My body is what it is. I have to accept it. Women have many complexes about their bodies, and that causes many problems. There is a tendency, specially on social media, to make people feel bad about their appearance if they don’t meet certain social standards,” she says.
Christine Escobar: “For me it’s important to start my week with goals and rituals”
