09/29/2024
๐ALLOW ME TO REINTRODUCE MYSELF ๐
My name is Erica and I am on my 3rd Life. Everybody knows that LIFE be LIFEโn right? Well let me tell you my storyโฆ.
Imagine growing up an ONLY child, to a two parent household and ONE of your parents was a functioning addict. My mother worked HARD and A LOT, to overcompensate for some of her life choices. My father, a medaled firefighter ๐จ๐พโ๐, USED to mask his pain of hurt, death and not being loved the way he wanted to by HIS father. In their humanity, I was LOVED, cared for, put in private schools, dance classes, sports, you name it, to the BEST of their abilities. I was raised and cared for by my Nana and Aunt majority of the time because my parents worked so much. I thought I had it all. Until I went to college and found out my parents were splitting up๐, my mother was having strokes and shortly after that our familyโs backbone, Nana, passed away๐. I thought that was the end of the world! But it wasnโt! It just was the end to THAT life. My 1st life.
I mourned that life A LOT by disrespecting myself. Sleeping around in college, doing drugs, pimping lost young girls, scamming, transportingโฆ. I became POPPY. A nickname my father gave me. THIS was my 2nd life. I gave up things I use to love like DANCING. But I replaced that love with modeling and acting. I joined one of THEE dopest modeling troupes in the nation, FACES Modeling Troupe Inc. I transformed myself into this vixen. A force. But I was still doing things I had NO business doing. STILL pimping, still drugging, scamming, etc. I DID graduate from one of the BEST HBCUโs in the NATION, Florida A&M University ๐๐งก๐, with a ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐โ๐ ๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ท๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐จ๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. I wanted to go to Law School but I didnโt have a plan or money so I decided to move to Texas with my first love. I experienced my first taste of spiritual awakening (another story for another time)โจ. I moved back home shortly after that. When I arrived home, everything I knew in my 1st life had changed. My house was no longer my house. I had no where to go. My mother re-married and moved to Phoenix. My father was struggling and was homeless himself. I fell back on my grandparents (on Dadโs side) who showed me how to save money a little better and I purchased my first car. I moved in with my Aunt and her family after that, because I couldnโt sit still and Granny didnโt play that. My Auntie always helped me the best way she could. Shortly after that I met my first childโs father. Looking for an way out, no plan, just something new, I put ALL of my eggs into his basket. I got my first apartment, by myself, in Kansas and I ALLOWED him access to ALL OF ME. Shortly after that I became pregnant. He told me to quit my job and that he would take care of me. I had a little girl with a STRANGER. He was ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ and ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ abusive. Not really having a support system, I became depressed and insecure. My little cousin, who was the closest thing to a brother, was sentenced to 10 years FED time. I was diagnosed with Post Partum Depression. No one, not even my partner at the time believed me. While dealing with depression, having a new born, feeling insecure about having credentials but not being able to use them, while my partner was abusing and cheating on me, I was forced to work in the fast food industry. One day while I went to work, my childโs father moved all of MY stuff out of my apartment, INCLUDING my daughterโs stuff. I came home with a baby to NOTHING๐ญ. Shortly after that, I lost my apartment and me and my child became homeless. Me and babygirl moved out to Phoenix with my mom. While out there, my childโs father petitioned the courts to have me and my daughter extradited back to Kansas City. I lost custody of my daughter shortly after that and was forced to pay HIM child supportโ๏ธโ๏ธIโฆWASโฆSICKโ๏ธโ๏ธA LOT of my so-called friends stopped talking to me, people in my own family judged me and looked down on me. I lost A LOT of weight. People thought I was on hard drugs. I STRUGGLED. I had no support, but I did have a couple of friends/family that looked out for me during that time (Big s/o to Disa Alex, my cousin Samaiyah Dunlap, Carmita Collins, Latonya Barber, Elethra Boss-Frazier and even the Pelton Family) MOST of this time was a blur. I ran into my twin flame ๐ฅ and reconnected. I got back into the entertainment industry. I did ALOT of fashion shows, local movies and appearances to make ends meet. I have a couple of IMDb credits. I worked retail for a long time, slanging shoes for a fee on the side. But I was POPPINโ๏ธโ๏ธโ๏ธI had a bunch of ideas with NO PLANS, associates who were GATEKEEPERS, snakes๐ in my grass, people who only wanted to be around me because of the circles I was in, people who saw my light but didnโt want ME to be better than THEMโ๏ธโ๏ธ All while being loved back to my original weight. I thought THIS WAS ITโฆโ๏ธ IโM GOING TO PROVE EVERYONE WRONGโ๏ธโ๏ธAfter living with everybody and they mama, I FINALLY got my own spot and I became pregnant again. This was my 2nd chanceโ๏ธโ๏ธ I had a WONDERFUL pregnancy and I gave birth to a healthy baby boy. I was in BLISSโจ Six months after I had my son I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Sjrogrens disease. I couldnโt pick my baby up, hold him or do his hair due to my joints eroding and degenerating. I was in so much pain. I was seeing a Specialist who just didnโt believe my pain levels, they said โI was too young to be going thru thisโ. I wasnโt being treated medically and I wasnโt being treated properly. At that time I worked under the City Clerk as her Deputy. I loved my career. Slowly but surely my mobility began being effected. Not only was I not able to pick my baby up but I wasnโt able to carry him after awhile. To top this ALL OFF, I found out my partner fathered another child in the midst of my offset๐. After awhile I wasnโt able to wear certain shoes, I wasnโt able to model anymore. In the middle of filming a short film, I had to stop filming because I wasnโt able to wear my shoes or walk. NOBODY understood. I was being ridiculed at work because of how I walked. I was using a cane and I eventually ended up in a walker. Everyone thought I was exaggerating. Later on I found out I had Necrosis of my hip joint. Meaning my hip bone was dying and there was no cartilage (cushion) between bones. I was bone on bone. You could literally hear๐๐พ me coming๐ฉ. I was turning down offers, left and right, appearances, auditions, etc. I WAS HURT and hurting (LITERALLY). Thatโs when I noticed the SHIFT. GOD was trying to take me somewhere else and I was so busy hurting from a ๐ท๐ณ๐ฌ๐ป๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐จ of things I couldn't seeโ๏ธI RESISTED ๐
๐พโโ๏ธ. Still tried to model, setting up shoots and canceling them, scheduling auditions and not showing up. Being casted in films off the strength of my relationships and not being able to film. My reputation in the industry was SHOT. Shortly after that my father passed away and I found him. We were living with him at the time due to my declining health. Iโve never walked in on a dead body before so this was traumatizing. WITH ALL IF THIS I had to grieve, plan a funeral, take care of my fatherโs assets, still work, pay child support, grieve my relationship as I once knew it, and find a surgeon who was willing to work on my hip despite my age. This went on for an ENTIRE YEAR. Six months after my father died, my Granny (Dadโs mom) passed away of a broken heart. I lost ALL CONNECTION to that side of the family for the most part. Then one day I seen my cousin Ki Jordan post about making some money. I was tied up in Probate court and my pockets was feeling it. What do I have to lose, rightโ So I inquired and I met Sommer Coffer. She introduced me to the world of taxes. I couldnโt ask for a better mentor for me. In the past, I cringed at the word โmentorโ because I thought I knew everything and what I didnโt know I could find out. But sometimes having someone to just WATCH will take you a long way. She literally changed my life by just believing that I could do something that I had NO previous knowledge in. She ALWAYS answered my call or got back to me. The training was amazingโ๏ธIt motivated me to go back to school and to move forward because between grief AND pain, I was STUCK. While studying to get my PTIN from the IRS and some other credits, I was approved for my hip replacement. I started my first year as a Tax Professional last year and with little to no money, or advertisement, I made about 5K in 30 days. This was good for me โ๏ธ I was recovering from my surgery and it dusted off my confidence that I left on the shelf.
Now, this is my 2nd year with First Choice Taxes &โ More ,and my 3rd Life๐๐พ, and I am CONFIDENT that I can help ๐จ๐ป ๐ณ๐ฌ๐จ๐บ๐ป 100 people get their ๐ด๐จ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ด๐ผ๐ด refund. If the Lord says the same, I WILL open up my own Service Bureau in the coming year(s). File with someone who is CONSTANTLY CONTINUING EDUCATION๐ช๐พ. Some Tax Professionals and/or Accountants stop learning once they get their degree or certification. Not me๐ช๐พI take CPA classes YEAR ROUND. I am constantly reading, taking trainings, earning credits &more. I like to think of it as my SUPERPOWER ๐ฆธ๐ฝโโ๏ธLET ME HELP YOUโ๏ธโ๏ธ THIS YEAR, I am specializing in small businesses with an ๐๐๐๐๐ผ๐๐๐ on people in the ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐and ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ Industries (i.e. Rappers, Singers, Musicians, DJs, Producers, Photographers, Designers, Models, Actors, Hairstylists, Barbers, MUAs, Lash Techs, Nail Techs, etc) because I KNOW what it takes and what itโs like to be in that industry. MY PASSION is using my BIGGEST asset, which is my BRAIN ๐ง , to help other people like me SUCCEED in WHATEVER it is they are doing in lifeโ๏ธ๐๐พ I am HERE to be of SERVICE to you, whether it is Tax Preparation, Notary Services, or Spiritual Life Coaching๐ซถ๐พ๐ค
Book a FREE consult TODAY ๐๐พ https://calendly.com/esdobbs85/10min or CALL/TEXT 913-207-3724
