Drug addict who was once homeless at just 16 turns life around for son and starts business
A Sydney woman has revealed how she turned her life around from being addicted to drugs and living on the streets.
Shani Taylor, 39, was 16 when she was thrown out of her family home and began to use drugs to cope with her “unstable and chaotic” home life, The Sun reported.
She would either sleep on the streets or couch-surf but when she was in her 20s and gave birth to her son, Oscar, she decided to turn her life around.
Now, she runs a business consultancy firm called Open To Grace, where she provides coaching for businesses to grow and develop.
This business is worth seven figures, despite Shani never finishing high school.
She managed to get a job in recruitment, worked her way up into a management role and even studied sociologically at university, which prompted her to ditch the drugs.
She finished her degree in two years – instead of three – before starting a postgraduate degree and even taking a coure on how to start a business.
“All the trauma of 28 years and all of the growth, I couldn’t see myself going back and working for someone else and clocking on and being in an office environment,” she told 7Life.
After starting the business, she began working 18 hours a day, seven days a week but admits that the gruelling shifts were worth it in the end.
She now has a completely different life from the one she imagined having at 16.
“Almost everything else in my life was put on hold so I could fully immerse myself in creating my life the way I wanted it,” she said.
She revealed that in the first 30 days of business, she raked in a massive five-figure paycheck and now three years later, the business is worth seven figures.
“Now, I have more money than I’ve ever had before, more time freedom than I’ve ever had, and a business that serves people all around the world,” she said.
