The Team
Karen Messina
Karen Messina is a Life Strategies and Stress Management Coach, along with being an Advocate for all survivors of any kind. She has been advocating for women survivors of abuse for 20+ years. She started off as a court advocate, helping women navigate the very intimidating court system. She is also a survivor of domestic abuse. Karen has completed a trauma informed training with Mastin Kipp, who is a best selling author and creator of Functional Life Coaching. She has also completed the MVP certified program – Mentors in Violence Prevention, by Jackson Katz. Currently, Karen has a coaching practice focused on women who have moved passed the unhealthy or abusive relationship, but that are still suffering with past emotional wounds. Her passion is to give women their power and control back so they can live the life they deserve.
Founder
Azelene Williams
Co-Founder
Azelene is an accredited social worker, counsellor, author, international keynote speaker and confidence mindset resilience coach who combines professional expertise with powerful lived experience to deliver powerful, trauma-informed presentations.
For more than a decade, she has worked across mental health, trauma, addiction recovery, domestic and family violence prevention, and youth wellbeing, reaching more than 300,000 people through schools, corporate events, professional development training, and community outreach.
A woman who has rebuilt her life from the ground up more than once, Azelene speaks with raw honesty, warmth, and authenticity about resilience, fear, healing, and what it means to finally stop proving yourself — and start living.
Her keynote, Rave To The Grave: How to Stop Proving Yourself and Start Living Like You Mean It, inspires audiences to stop performing confidence and start building it from the inside out through courage, connection, movement, and purpose-driven living.
Theresa Schmidtman
Co-Founder and Active Member
Theresa is an Independent Beauty Consultant with Mary Kay. Through this journey that is Mary Kay, God brought her from a place of anger and resentment from her first marriage. One that was both physically and emotionally abusive to a place of heart forgiveness and healing.To walking in an intimate relationship with Him. To becoming a domestic violence advocate sharing her own story passionately, boldly to give hope to others. There is hope for a bolder, braver more courageous you with a voice so loud, no one can ever take it from you again!
Wadzanayi Mutema
Co-Founder
Wadzy is a Business Consultant, passionate about helping Women with start-ups or turning their home hobbies into profitable businesses. With an interest in Women telling their stories through their passions, Wadzy has managed to get several women to gain independence from difficult circumstances through business. Though not a domestic abuse survivor herself she advocates on the matter to give others hope. Her mantra is to be optimistic and daring to take back your power so that you heal and can live your life to the fullest.
Alexis Taylor
Co-Founder
Alexis has a Masters in Counseling
~BS in Psychology
~Certified Christian Counselor ~International Life coach
~Adult Community Supervision Officer for 26 years. and a women of faith with Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). I desire to help women, especially women of faith, to know who they are and how to deal with their emotional triggers from past and/or recent traumas and abuse to live their life anew in their God given purpose. It is my goal in The Movement to speak to women to let them know that despite their past they are amazing and God absolutely has a plan for thier lives. When we release the words from our mouths that have been stuck and trapped on our belly behind the padlock of fear is when change happens and control is given back to you. It's like the caterpillar transforming to a beautiful butterfly...out of something that started out not so pretty comes what the creator always knew was within...a beautiful butterfly ready share it's beauty with the world. I am and you are wonderfully made! Speak your truth and be free!
Tekeisha Wade
Co-Founder
Dr. TeKeisha Wade (Founder: Open Arms Connection LLC, Empower HIM Coaching, & Soul Care Xperience Academy), a Global Speaker, Certified Life Coach & Christian Counselor, #1 Best-Selling Author, & Founder/Editor-In-Chief of H.E. Magazine and S.H.E. Magazine. Her work is dedicated to empowering men and women to achieve their full potential and inspiring them to become advocates, change-makers, and leaders in their communities. In her practice, she is led by a vision of creating a high-quality coaching/counseling session that is relevant, thought-provoking, and rooted in inclusivity and diversity.
Sara Smith
Co-Founder and Active Member
Passionate about us all being able to live our lives to the fullest and being grateful for everyday, I strive to be a leader and the support to those searching for betterment. Whether your path is to overcome childhood trauma or heal from abuse, we need to hold each other up and build community. In my years as a technology leader, I have built teams of talented, strong and career minded IT graduates and enthusiasts. This has allowed me to be a part of their growth and in return they provided me with a broadening of my skill sets. We do not spend enough time celebrating all we have accomplished to get us to this place in life. Wake up, sip your coffee and throw some confetti - WE HAVE MADE IT! While we have so much more ahead of us because I truly believe the best it yet to come, we are amazing, the world is vast and WE are here to provide something special. Having experienced domestic violence, I leaned in to the trauma and transformed. I took my life back in 2012 with the help of amazing women in my community and never looked back. Now I have my sights on combatting sexual harassment, women’s inequality and the laws surrounding women’s issues.