SHE RECOVERS Out Loud: My Magic Carpet Ride

Jane Pinto, First Crop Visionary & Founder

“To all of my sacred sisters, thank you for sharing your stories of recovery with me and for receiving mine. I am with you. This is my SHE RECOVERS Out Loud story.” – Jane Pinto

My name is Jane Pinto and on May 5, 2021, I celebrated 40 years in recovery. This is my SHE RECOVERS out loud story.

I am deeply grateful for each and every day of the past 40 years…the good, the bad, the ugly. These 40 years have been filled with joy, boundless love as well as the loss and tragedy that are part of being human. It has been a magic carpet ride in my continued journey of “becoming” with many highs and lows, failures and successes. I have experienced hard falls and resilient rises.

Forty years ago, I showed up at the doors of the Anorexia Nervosa’s Aid Society in Boston, Massachusetts. I had been struggling in silence with a terrible eating disorder for many years when I reached my bottom. I reached out to members of my family who were there for me then and have been every day since on my journey of becoming my highest self. I know that not everybody has the support of family and that I am deeply blessed.

Like many of you, I was so scared when I hit my bottom. I prayed for help and I was graced with just enough courage to begin. And begin again, And again and again. And yet, here I am, sharing my SHE RECOVERS out loud story with you.

I spent the first five years of recovery getting well, gaining a bit of strength every day. It wasn’t long before I realized that I also needed to deal with my drinking. I was 25 years old at this point and it was clear that alcohol was getting in the way of my life. I somehow knew that I would never become all I was created to become in service to our world if I kept dimming my light and wellness. My clean and sober sobriety date is February 22, 1987. I call it the greatest self-love day of my lifetime. I let go of alcohol and opened my heart and my life in ways I could never have imagined. Without this clarity, I never would have been able to face the truth of my childhood which has been the hardest aspect of my recovery but also inspired the growth that continues to free me.

My carpet ride continues to unfold, destination unknown but my recovery is the foundation of my path. I have a beautiful marriage, two wonderful children, family, friends, and community. I have reached out to many and always found loving hands and hearts when I do. I have been told what I needed to hear and some things that I did not want to hear. I have discovered a meaningful spiritual path and cultivated a daily practice to support me on that path. I have found joy and purpose in my professional career. And still, I continue to become.

The SHE RECOVERS Foundation entered my life through knowing and loving my sacred sister, Susan Carter, Executive Director of the Foundation. All of the SHE RECOVERS Intentions & Guiding Principles resonate deeply with me, and I love that the community exists for all of us. Community matters in recovery. I have sought and found healing on my own as well as in community, both inside and outside of twelve-step recovery and other programs. Recovery communities can support all of us searching for healing and sisterhood. We get well together.

One pathway that has added to my ‘WHoly Wellness’TM was incorporating hemp-derived CBD into my daily life. After motherhood and my graceful aging, sleep began to evade me. I tried countless remedies, none allowing for long-term relief or regenerative, renewing sleep. My co-founders and I started First Crop in 2019 with an intention of utilizing hemp as a source of regeneration…for the soil, for rural communities, for our planet, for our souls. As one who has chosen a clean and sober life, education and understanding was imperative for this journey. It was important to me to know that hemp-derived CBD is a natural, non-intoxicating compound that works with our body’s Endocannabinoid System to bring our body into harmony and balance. We partnered with experts to pair our hemp-derived CBD with active botanicals to maximize the natural therapeutic benefits. And through this, sleep returned to me.

I have been blessed with daily healing from many addictions and have traveled the “whale dive” journey to heal an incestuous childhood. With the unconditional love of my higher power (a benevolent universal source), my incredible and imperfect family, the help and devotion of many wholehearted medical experts. as well as precious sacred brothers and sisters in recovery all over the world, today my soul has hope, peace, and serenity. Life is not easy but I try to find beauty and understanding in even the hardest situations. That is the grace and gift of my magic carpet ride…the journey to my highest light.

I have come to understand that choosing to “be well” is an act of love…that caring for myself is a gift to all I love. Thank you for allowing me to share my SHE RECOVERS out loud story.

In palms joined closing,

Jane

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

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 for over 26 years. She also has a history of trauma and abuse, from which she’s worked hard to recover as well. 6 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. She recently retired, so she could devote her time to completing her writing and being more active in the recovery community.

She regularly speaks on behalf of LifeRing and develops relationships with organizations supportive of the multiple pathways approach. In August 2020, Mary Beth had an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal, I Beat Addiction without God, where she described building a personal recovery plan by combining ideas from LifeRing, Women for Sobriety, and Narcotics Anonymous. In November 2020 she had an op-ed published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, I was a federal judge, and I support Safehouse. Here’s why. She is currently working on a full-length memoir.

Taryn Strong

Taryn Strong is a founder of SHE RECOVERS® Foundation as well as a trauma-informed yoga instructor, recovery coach, aromatherapist, and herbalist (and daughter to Mama Dawn). Taryn has developed a unique yoga retreat program and led over 40 yoga for recovery retreats since 2012. She is also the host of the SHE RECOVERS Podcast and most recently created and taught the inaugural trauma-informed SHE RECOVERS Yoga Teacher Training Program. Operating from a trauma-informed lens and a firm believer in anti-oppressive practices, Taryn brings an empathic and invitational approach to healing - empowering women to find and follow individualized pathways and patchworks of recovery.

Taryn's courageous vulnerability and passion for recovering out-loud has made her an influential voice in the global recovery movement - smashing the stigma often associated with substance use and mental health issues. Taryn creates and lives with her beloved and two dogs within the ancestral and unceded traditional territory of the Hul’qumi’num and SENĆOŦEN speaking peoples (Saltspring Island).

Susan Carter

Susan is an architect of hope and healing with over 30 years of experience in providing executive-level leadership to heart-centered teams in the non-profit realm. Since joining SHE RECOVERS® Foundation as Executive Director in April 2020, Susan continues to weave her experience with her passion to help other women receive what she has been so graciously given – long-term recovery from substance use disorder, body image issues, codependency, perfectionism, and moral injury.

Susan’s work in the treatment industry quickly revealed how stigma kept women struggling with mental health issues and addiction from seeking help, and the lack of resources available to them once they did. Having served as a founding employee of Susan G. Komen for the Cure for 20 years, playing an integral role in creating the global grassroots movement that changed the way breast cancer is talked about and treated, she felt called to utilize that experience to do the same for women struggling with mental health and substance use disorders.

Celebrating more than 27 years of continuous sobriety, Susan is a Certified Peer Support Worker (CPSW) in the state of New Mexico to provide resources and peer support to those in or seeking recovery. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her fur family of four, Alex, Chaco, Bodhi, and Gracie.

Dawn Nickel

Dawn Nickel, Founder of SHE RECOVERS® Foundation, is a thought leader in the women's recovery sphere as well as an accomplished leader, dedicated researcher, and visionary in the recovery moment. She holds a Ph.D. in health care policy with extensive experience in researching and writing about women experiencing substance use disorders, mental health challenges, and intimate partner violence. Dawn started her own journey of recovery from a substance use disorder and domestic violence in 1987. She is also in recovery from anxiety, grief, trauma, overworking, and cancer. Dawn's tell-it-like-it-is wisdom has created a ripple effect where you will often hear her quotes "the shit you did is just the shit you did - it's not who you are" and "recovering from all the things" resonating throughout many recovery realms.

Currently working on her first book, Dawn is living proof that in a world where all women in or seeking recovery are celebrated, supported, and deemed essential to healthy communities - anything is possible. She is fondly referred to as Mama Dawn in the SHE RECOVERS Community and to her daughters Taryn and Ashley. Dawn lives, works, and plays with her beloved grandchildren on the traditional territories of the Lkwungen speaking peoples on Vancouver Island.

Nika is just one of more than 325,000 women in the She Recovers Community.

“Alcohol is what brought me into recovery but for me, it didn't tell the full story. That is why I love SHE RECOVERS so much. We don't just talk about our demons and the drugs and the alcohol, we talk about the real issues that led us to using those things in the first place.”— Nika

When she was ready to deal with her past traumas and what drove her to drink, SHE RECOVERS was there. Sadly an estimated 34 million women are suffering from mental health/substance use disorders.

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