Imagine you are 14 years old and popular among your peers, but life’s events take a nasty turn and in a short time you become the target of bullying.
Bullying to Believing
This is the moving story Molly Burke shared with women entrepreneurs at the Company of Women conference in May 2017.
Doctors discovered Molly Burke had a rare eye disease, Retinitis Pigmentosa when she was four years old and would eventually lead to complete vision loss. By the time she was 13 her sight was severely restricted and by 14 she was blind. Molly Burke’s whole life was plunged into darkness as she became the target of bullying amongst her peers in high school.
Transferring to a high school for the blind didn’t stop the bullying either. At this point, Molly was at the lowest of the low, feeling depressed and suicidal, but she is a fighter and found her inner strength. In an ‘aha’ moment sitting in the doctor’s office with a sore throat, she realized that when she withdrew from the world she lost her voice and being “Molly”. Happiness, she discovered, is reaching out to others and finding your own inner strength driven by passion and purpose. Determined to overcome the stigmatism of being “different”, she enrolled into a high school for sighted students in Grade 11. With help, she was able to integrate back into a regular school.
In each new class, with a newfound purposeful and powerful voice, she addressed her fellow classmates full on:
“Hey, I’m Molly. I like shopping. I like boys. I like parties. I can’t see, and I’m in your class, so please leave this seat empty for me.”
Since graduation, Molly continues to be an inspiring voice motivating thousands.
Molly Burke shares with women entrepreneurs some thoughts from her journey.
Accepting and Loving Yourself
Accept what is, so you can move on
You cannot give what you don’t have any more
Be Real and True to Your Core
Be Authentic and Real
Use Your Life Lessons to Help others by telling your life journey
Molly Burke is now Molly Burke (Inc.) a motivational speaker who talks to corporations, non-profits, and schools with powerful messages from her life’s journey.
She is a YouTube influencer, and a brand spokesperson for Dove in their 2017 International advertising campaign.
She is also a spokesperson for Special K’s initiative “Girls Up”, to inspire confidence in young women by telling her powerful story of overcoming depression.
Fabulous Fempreneurship is an organization empowering, supporting and mentoring women entrepreneurs. Founded by Elaine Slatter of XL Consulting Group, this global organization aims to mentor hundreds of women entrepreneurs to successful business outcomes. Check out our free mentor program here.