Stephanie Coleman, professionally known as "StefMarie", is a 42-year-old 3x Author, Motivational Speaker, Career Development Coach, Mentor, Entrepreneur, Event Curator, Mental Health & Women Empowerment Advocate... So, how did she get here?

Before the well-known artist became StefMarie she was simply known as Stephanie, an introverted soul who at a point in time was not only shy but mute as a child. She suffered with severe low self-esteem, depression and anxiety which often affected not only her school work and activities but also her social life, more often than not she considered herself a loner. 

Although Stephanie loved to write notes and songs as a child It wasn't until 1997 that she discovered she the gift of poetry. Her first performance was in High School for black history month with the first poem she ever wrote "I am a beautiful black woman". From there she started performing at church, local & private events.

Although Stephanie performed locally and continued to write throughout her life it wasn't a consistent practice. From being in trade school, the military, transitioned to Islam and experienced abuse, then later found herself again and married with 2 kids... Poetry took a backseat on the priority list. Although she still wrote poetry every now and then for personal reasons or special occasions.  
 
Fast forward to 2018 Stephanie found herself feeling like that little girl again, low self-esteem, depressed and alone. Just a few years before she had gone through a divorce and suffered through losing several friends which hit her hard. Eventually all the stressors of life caught up to her and she began to lose her piece and eventually her mind as she was diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia.

As you can imagine this story alone is a lot to unveil. You can read the full story in her book "A Sound Mind" which details her mental health journey and how she made it over to the other side by the grace and mercy of God. She is currently medication free and now advocates to help others who may be struggling mentally.

Fast-Forward to 2020 after the pandemic, Stephanie finally had enough. From a dead end job and relationship, it was time to move forward to uncharted waters. She left a job she had for 14 years and an emotionally abusive relationship she was in for 5 years. Once she let go of the dead weight she found herself again, the rest is still being written!