Shelly Dimitrijevic

Shelly Dimitrijevic’s professional and philanthropic activities have always focused on improving the lives of others. She began her nursing career at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis and went on to become a LifeFlight nurse specializing in neonatal, pediatric, and cardiovascular intensive care.

Shelly has been involved with numerous charities focusing on children and education including the Charlee and the Chocolate Factory gala, The Venus Orbit, Design For A Cure, Jackson Memorial, and Impact Oasis. In 2010 she founded the Lotus program, a program that focused on educating parents on the nutritional needs of children and basic child development. Shelly also served on the Frost Science Museum gala committee for 7 years before Co-Chairing the event in 2015.

After a diagnosis of Celiac disease and subsequently receiving Certification as a Nutritional Consultant, Shelly recognized that topically applied products have an effect on her Celiac Disease and overall health. She turned her focus to developing skincare that was free of toxic and hormone-disrupting ingredients.

Since she lost her only sibling in 2012 Shelly has been determined to find a way to contribute to the recovery community in a way that can make a great impact and ensure that others have the resources necessary when they are struggling.

Shelly’s substantial contributions to SHE RECOVERS of both time and resources have been instrumental and deeply appreciated.

Kirsten Newquist

As a result of being introduced to SHE RECOVERS through retreats and meet-ups, Kirsten will be starting her yoga teacher training in the fall. These retreats also led her to become more deeply involved with SHE RECOVERS in a volunteer capacity. Kirsten was instrumental in setting up some of the Foundation’s grassroots groups and currently volunteers her time helping SHE RECOVERS Foundation to design and implement the Volunteer Chapter Network.

Kirsten and her husband recently moved from Southern California to Roswell, Georgia to be closer to Kirsten’s sister and two young nieces. When she isn’t spending time being an aunt, you can find Kirsten hanging out with their rescue Labrador or exploring their new state.

Mary Beth O’Connor, BA, JD

BOARD MEMBER AT LARGE
she / her

In addition to being a board member, Mary Beth is a founding member of SHE RECOVERS Support for Legal Professionals and is active at the local level with SHE RECOVERS in the Bay Area. Mary Beth has been living a sober life in recovery since 1994. She has a history of trauma and abuse, from which she’s worked hard to recover as well. Six years into her recovery, Mary Beth attended Berkeley Law. She worked at a large firm in Silicon Valley, then litigated class actions for the federal government. In 2014 Mary Beth was appointed an Administrative Law Judge, from which she retired in 2020.

Mary Beth’s award-winning memoir, From Junkie to Judge: One Woman’s Triumph Over Trauma and Addiction, was published in 2023. She also writes opinion pieces, such as I Beat Addiction without God for the Wall Street Journal and I was a federal judge, and I support Safehouse. Here’s why for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Mary Beth advocates about multiple topics related to trauma, substance use disorder, and recovery. She has appeared on television, radio, and podcasts; speaks at conferences and other events; and trains judges, attorneys, and medical professionals.

Taryn Strong, RYT, CPRC

FOUNDER AND BOARD VICE-CHAIR
she / her

Taryn Strong is co-founder of the SHE RECOVERS® Foundation and a Certified Recovery Coach, Somatic Coach, and Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher. Her work is grounded in the belief that healing must include the body.

Through somatic practices, Taryn supports others in reconnecting with their bodies, releasing patterns shaped by trauma and survival, and expanding their capacity to feel embodied, present, and alive. This approach is deeply personal, rooted in her own recovery and reconnection after years of disconnection.

She is also a Certified Aromatherapist, AromaPsychologist, Botanical Perfumer, and Community Herbalist, with a deep respect for the emotional and psychological power of scent.

Teaching yoga since 2007, Taryn has hosted over 60 women’s recovery retreats, presented internationally, and co-taught with leading voices in the field of behavioral health. She currently leads the SHE RECOVERS Trauma-Informed Yoga Instructor Certification, SHE RECOVERS Embodiment Studio, and SHE RECOVERS Podcast.

Susan Carter

CEO
she / her

I am recovering from:
Alcohol use disorder, codependency, disordered eating.

The Identity-based group I belong to:
Chronic pain & auto-immune disorder, healthcare & allied professionals.

My personal definition of recovery:
My personal definition of recovery is the continual process of expanding my awareness to grow spiritually, mentally, and physically enhancing my life-long journey to wholeness.

What led me to SHE RECOVERS:
A desire to give back what I have been so graciously given that has led to an amazing life of sustained recovery and spiritual growth. I truly believe that every moment in my life has led me here. One of my favorite stories to share is how I came to find SHE RECOVERS – or rather, how they found me. In short, it involves a spark of curiosity over coffee and a remarkable moment at a SHE RECOVERS Conference that changed the trajectory of my life both professionally and spiritually. You can hear all about it here.

Why I love being a part of this team:
It brings me immense joy to work alongside such smart, passionate and committed colleagues and volunteers. I learn so much from them. Not a day goes by where I am not deeply inspired by this team and community.

Those that know me best might describe me as:
Tenacious, resourceful, and loving.

How these qualities show up in my everyday life:
Love is the foundation for all my thoughts and actions, I am resourceful when confronted with a challenge, and I am tenacious like a “dog with a bone” – I’ll never stop chasing the dream.

Something unique you may not already know about me:
I have four kidneys and a double bladder. I have vitiligo, an auto-immune disease that destroys or suppresses pigment producing cells on the skin.

Something I am most proud of is…
Launching a global nonprofit for women in or seeking recovery from all things.

Radical self-care look for me looks like:
Being mindful of ease and learning to pause. And, pampering myself with modalities that foster a healthy body, a clear mind, a pure spirit, and service to others.

What I wanted to be when I grew up:
An artist.

Something that is inspiring me right now:
Supporting people to find, create, and nurture a relationship with the God / Creator / Higher Power of their understanding.

The SHE RECOVERS Intention & Guiding Principle resonating the most with me right now is…
Connection is our sole (soul) purpose. We’re stronger together.

My favorite SHE RECOVERS resource is…
The SHE RECOVERS Together Online Group where connection, support, and empowerment is available 24 / 7.

SRF Blogs I’ve authored:
sherecovers.org/a-peek-behind-the-curtain/

Dawn Nickel, PhD, CPRC, SRCD

ACTING CEO, CO-FOUNDER & BOARD CHAIR

she / her

I am recovering from:
Substance use, trauma including sexual assault, intimate partner violence, codependency, anxiety, and workaholism.

The identity-based group(s) I am a part of:
Healthcare & allied professional, cancer survivor, mature woman.

My personal definition of recovery:
It changes often, but these days my definition of recovery is simply that recovery is a lifelong journey of healing. I think that not having a solid, static definition is a good thing. It opens the door to empower us all to create individualized and diverse definitions for our own recovery, and it’s a reminder that recovery differs across populations, cultures, and settings.

What led me to SHE RECOVERS:
Taryn and I talk about SHE RECOVERS being our ‘accidental movement.’ So not sure what led me here other than a true desire to create a connective, supportive, and empowering space for women to think / talk about and experience recovery.

Why I love being a part of this team:
I want to leave behind a legacy of hope for women in or seeking recovery.

Those that know me best might describe me as:
Grateful, curious, and a survivor.

How these qualities show up in my everyday life:
I believe that I pass recovery on to express my gratitude, and I call upon my curiosity to figure out what else I can do to support women in recovery. Oh, and I have survived a few near death experiences including surviving cancer.

Something unique you may not already know about me:
I really dislike cilantro.

Something I am most proud of:
My daughters, more than anything.

Radical self-care look for me looks like:
Rest, hanging with other women in recovery, walking in fresh air, reading novels, long hot baths, and sweet, milky tea.

What I wanted to be when I grew up:
An actress.

Something that is inspiring me right now:
The women working or volunteering to help grow SRF.

The SHE RECOVERS Intention & Guiding Principle resonating the most with me right now is…
We are all recovering from something. It all started there!

My favorite SHE RECOVERS resource is…
Definitely the SHE RECOVERS Together Online Gatherings – they are such an amazing display of everything that we are about. Volunteerism and support, vulnerability, celebration, and information.

A few of the SRF Blogs I’ve authored:
https://sherecovers.org/recovering-from-intimate-partner-violence/
https://sherecovers.org/dear-women-in-twelve-step-programs/
https://sherecovers.org/we-are-all-recovering-from-something/
https://sherecovers.org/when-your-mother-dies/
https://sherecovers.org/do-you-know-what-workaholism-looks-like/

On restarting the SHE RECOVERS Podcast

By Taryn Strong, Co-founder of the SHE RECOVERS Foundation

There was never a question about who I wanted as our first guest for the official relaunch of the SHE RECOVERS Podcast. It had to be Elena Brower.

Elena Bower & Taryn Strong Featured in a podcast

Elena has been part of the fabric of SHE RECOVERS, not just as a public voice, but as a true supporter, friend, and mentor.

Funny story…when I started teaching yoga I put Elena on a vision board I created. I had only experienced her online classes (she lived in NYC and I live in Canada). I was so inspired by her authenticity and gift for teaching, and I hoped that maybe one day I could also travel the world to teach! Well, you can imagine how awe struck I was when Elena privately began her recovery journey and reached out to me. A friendship was born and we have since collaborated on yoga, our passion for aromatherapy, recovery, and most recently boy moms. I also still pinch myself everyday that I do, in fact, travel the world to teach yoga.

When we hosted our first recovery conference, SHE RECOVERS in New York City in 2017, Elena showed up in big ways behind the scenes, as well as on the stage—she shared her beautiful spoken word poem, “Rituals of Recovery”. Her generosity, encouragement, and belief in our mission mattered more to us than she likely knows, and we are forever grateful. She is also, quite simply, an extraordinary woman in recovery.

We invited Elena for this relaunch because she embodies what SHE RECOVERS has always stood for: recovery that is honest and expansive. In redefining recovery, we have broadened its scope beyond addiction to include healing from mental health issues, trauma, substance use, and other life challenges. It’s the kind of inclusive recovery that addresses grief, imperfection, service, spirituality, and deep self-inquiry.

A Conversation Rooted in Truth

This episode is a conversation—honest, layered, and deeply human—between two women who understand recovery as a journey.

In this episode, Elena recovers out loud about experiences that are often minimized, misunderstood, or hidden:

Cannabis dependency — and the quiet self-abandonment loop that kept her stuck
Tobacco addiction — and what was really underneath the habit
Shame — how hiding fragments us, and how repair restores us
Grief — not as something to get over but something we learn to move with

Elena shares openly about the years she spent pretending she was empowered and happy, while privately battling addiction, judgment, and secrecy. She speaks candidly about the moment she stopped hiding and the simple, powerful practices that helped her reclaim trust with herself.

Elena Brower Podcast Episode 77 SHE RECOVERS

From Self-Abandonment to Self-Empathy

One of the most powerful threads in this conversation is Elena’s relationship with self-empathy — including the phrase she returns to again and again: “How human of me.”

It’s a practice that interrupts shame, softens self-judgment, and invites compassion where punishment used to live.

We also talk about:

Replacing addictive rituals with generative ones
Meditation as a recovery practice (even when sitting feels hard)
Service, volunteering, and why being of use keeps us close to our own recovery
Why recovery ultimately gives us everything our substances promised us…continually

This conversation is an invitation to anyone who is:

Quietly questioning their relationship with a substance or behavior
Navigating grief beneath their coping strategies
Tired of hiding
Longing for a recovery that feels spacious, human, and real

Elena’s book, Hold Nothing, weaves through the episode as both a touchstone and a mirror; it reminds us that recovery is not about holding it all together, but about learning when and how to let go.

Listen In

If you’ve ever thought, “It’s not that bad,” or if you’ve ever felt ashamed of what you reach for to get through the day, or if you’ve ever wondered whether there’s another way…This episode is for you.

Listen to our relaunch episode with Elena Brower wherever you get your podcasts. You don’t have to recover alone.

LISTEN NOW

About Taryn Strong, RYT, CPRC, SRCD

Co-founder of SHE RECOVERS Foundation | SHE RECOVERS Coach | Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher | Aromatherapist

Taryn Strong is co-founder of the SHE RECOVERS Foundation and a certified recovery coach, somatic coach, and trauma-informed yoga teacher. She is also a certified aromatherapist, aromapsychologist, botanical perfumer, and community herbalist, with a deep respect for the emotional and psychological power of scent.

Teaching yoga since 2007, Taryn has hosted over 60 women’s recovery retreats, presented internationally, and co-taught with leading voices in behavioral health. Her work is grounded in the belief that healing must include the body. Through somatic practices, Taryn supports others in reconnecting with their bodies, releasing patterns shaped by trauma and survival, and expanding their capacity to feel embodied, present, and alive. This approach is deeply personal, rooted in her own recovery and reconnection after years of disconnection.

She currently leads the SHE RECOVERS Trauma-Informed Yoga Instructor Certification, SHE RECOVERS Embodiment Studio (soon to come), and is a host of the SHE RECOVERS Podcast.

Shelly Dimitrijevic

Kirsten Newquist