Coffee With E
Welcome to Coffee with E—where great conversations meet inspiration! ☕✨
This podcast is for dreamers, go-getters, and those on a journey of self-growth. Whether you’re building a business, navigating relationships, or working on your mindset, you’ll find motivation, wisdom, and real-life stories to help you level up.
Each week, we dive into topics like self-worth, mental well-being, wealth-building, leadership, and entrepreneurship—always with a mix of honesty, luxury, and a little fun. If you love deep conversations, personal growth, and a good cup of coffee, this is the podcast for you!
Join me, Erica Rawls, and my guests as we keep it real, inspire action, and remind you that anything is possible if you’re willing to do the work. Subscribe now and let’s dream big together! ☕✨
Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe!
📌 Follow this link and let's get social--->
📧 For inquiries and collaborations, email us at: customercare@ericarawls.com
Coffee With E
You Don’t Look Like What You’ve Survived
This episode is personal. I am opening up about my journey as a domestic violence survivor and how that experience inspired me to create The Phoenix Foundation, launching October 24.
Before I became the woman you see today, I was in a relationship that nearly broke me. It took courage, healing, and time to rebuild my life. Years later, that story became the inspiration for The Phoenix Foundation, a way to help others rebuild after they have found safety.
The Phoenix Foundation is not a place to call for a safe space. It is for survivors who are ready to begin again, with support like down payment and closing cost assistance to start their next chapter.
I also share why talking about domestic violence is not “airing dirty laundry.” It is how we burn down the silence and bring change.
In This Episode, I Share:
•My journey from survivor to advocate
•How my experience inspired The Phoenix Foundation
•The different types of abuse including physical, mental, and financial
•Why breaking the silence saves lives
•How survivors can rebuild after finding safety
💜 The Phoenix Foundation launches October 24.
Visit https://www.phoenixfoundationcc.com/ to learn more, donate, or attend our launch event.
🔗 Sponsored by:
TOCH Construction: https://www.tochconstruction.com/
Allstate Insurance – Rob Shaw: https://agents.allstate.com/robert-shaw-harrisburg-pa.html
Chavis Law Firm: https://www.chavislawfirm.com/
Dirty Dog Hauling: https://dirtydoghauling.com/
💼 Powered by The Erica Rawls Team: https://ericarawls.com/
#CoffeeWithE #PhoenixFoundation #DomesticViolenceAwareness #BreakTheSilence #SurvivorStories #HealingJourney #FaithAfterTrauma #WomenInLeadership #EmpowerSurvivors #NonprofitWork
Follow Us for More Inspiration:
📸 Instagram: @erica.rawls
🎥 YouTube: Erica Rawls
📧 For inquiries and collaborations: customercare@ericarawls.com
✨ Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe to stay updated with our latest episodes!
Hey you! We have a special Coffee With E episode. Today we're going to talk about a topic that a lot of people like to avoid, and that's domestic violence. And the reason why is because beginning October 24th, we are opening doors wide open on a brand new foundation that I am the owner and founder of called the Phoenix Foundation. Now, the reason why we're going to talk about domestic violence is because I wanted to share with you why this passion project, if you will, has come to fruition. Because I do not look like what I've been through. I too am a domestic violence survivor. Now, before you start spewing rumors or anything out there in the streets, I need to make something specifically clear. The husband that I'm married to had nothing to do with the domestication or the violence that I suffered in the past. Actually, he has shown me and helped me to actually evolve into the woman that I am and to allow someone to love me, and he loves me unconditionally. So with his permission and my children's permission, I am bringing you my story this afternoon or this morning or this evening, whenever you are listening to this. Today's roast is tearing down a myth that talking about domestic violence is simply airing your dirty laundry. I challenge you, that is not the case. By talking about it in a safe space is actually going to help change things. So sometimes our roast is simply about burning down the silence. It's okay to talk about it as long as you're going to actually change the outcome. So before I was married and actually had my first child, I actually was in a relationship that did not serve me well. However, with blinders on and rose-colored glasses, I felt as though that this relationship was going to be for the rest of my life, the person that I had a relationship with, I thought was going to be my forever person. Come to find out that was not the case. One day I had an incident where I literally brought my son over to the property or to their home and we were eating a Chinese food. For whatever reason, I had made a trigger statement that allowed him to feel as though he had to be physically aggressive towards me. So I need to go back for one second. There were signs that this potential action could occur. However, I chose to avoid them. You know what I'm talking about. Anyone that has suffered from domestic violence, you just shake it off like, um, you know, they were just angry. Oh, they had a bad day. You do whatever you can to just resolve in your mind that that was not truly who they are. So I'm taking you to what you would say the um iceberg of the relationship just to speed up this story, because I think this is the most climatic part and also the most important part. However, please know that there were other small indications throughout this relationship that if I would have listened to those or saw those red flags, I probably would not have experienced the things that I have experienced. So going back to the Chinese, we were sitting down having our Chinese food, and whatever reason, I don't know what was said. There was a conversation that triggered the outrage. Flipped the Chinese food up into the air. Next thing I know, don't know what happened. I'm on the floor. So I'm going to grab my son. Okay, this is crazy. How am I getting here? All of these things I'm thinking over an innocent conversation, what I thought was an innocent conversation, um, has made this person explode. So the first course of defense was to save and protect my son. Where is my son? Where is he at? Well, he's back into the bedroom. So I would say he was around eight months old or maybe a little older or so, and I tried to grab him. While I'm grabbing him, I'm actually getting physically abused by my abuser. The whole time I'm thinking, oh my gosh, I have to save my child. The only course of defense that I had was making sure that he was safe. Beat me if you will, but you're not gonna hurt my child. Oh my gosh, what was I thinking? All I know is something inside of him. I'm gonna say it was my guardian angel, my son's guardian angel, made him stop. I do believe in that moment I was in a flight or flight situation, but I could not because I was being beat up so bad. For the life of me, and I believe I'm the type of person that compartmentalizes things, but for the life of me, I don't know how I got from that situation or that area to what I do remember is my parents' house. I do remember the cops knocking on the door, so I don't know if there was enough noise that the neighbors actually came and they, you know, called the police. I don't know, y'all. I'm being honest, because it was blocked out. The reason for this story is I am a domestic violence survivor, and no one on this earth deserves to say those words. So it's because of this, I believe that anyone that's in a domestic violence situation, please get to a safe space. You deserve better because, and if you have a child, your children deserve better as well. Because there's no person on earth that is worth their manhood is going to lay a finger on you if they truly are a man. A coward does not deserve to be loved. Someone that actually has the audacity to take your life away or threaten your life or allow you to live in fear does not deserve to be with you. You are better than that. So I am pleading with you, if you're watching this video, get to a safe space. Get to a safe space as soon as you possibly can. Do not look back. Take your children, if you have children, and run as soon as possible. Because you deserve a better life for you and your child. That's the reason why we created the Phoenix Foundation, is because a story is similar to that. For people who had the courage to walk away from their abuser and find a safe space. You cannot call the Phoenix Foundation if you're looking for a safe space. That's not what we're here for. It's after you actually find that safe space and you're comfortable enough and you're now ready to make another financial contribution or need financial contribution and donations in order for you to start a better life. That's when you come to us. That's what the Phoenix Foundation is for. So if this message resonated with you and you're looking for that, starting October 24th, we're going to be able to help you. Just reach out to us. And for those that are looking to partner and would like to be able to donate or collaborate in such a way, reach out to us because we're looking for people to actually help. And if you're interested, I would love to invite you to our opening event, which is going to be October 24th, 7 to 8th. And we can give you more information in the description. So again, this is not your normal podcast episode that you can expect from Coffee with E, but I think it was one that was warranted to make you aware of what we have to come. You do not have to look like where you've been through. I am actually a testimony to that, and I'm rooting for you because you did not deserve to have anyone to lay your hands on you. Now let's talk about the different types of abuse too. Now we say that. Mine was physical. Some people's may be mental. You know, that gaslighting? That is a thing. Some may be in a situation where it's financial. You can't spend a dollar without having someone control exactly what you spend, or you don't have any money, you're not attached to the bank accounts, or um, you can't um purchase anything without having permission. That's not a relationship. That's literally control, and that's financial abuse. Or someone keeps telling you you're ugly, no one wants you, you better be glad that you're with me, you'd be nothing without me. That's mental abuse. You have no friends, your kids even hate you. Some abusers go to the point where they're actually turning the children against the wife or their partner. That is not a healthy relationship. And you know it. You just need the courage and you need someone, maybe a second opinion, or maybe this message here today to get you to understand that you are not in a good place. You can survive without that person. Your perpetrator, they need you more than you need them. I can guarantee you that. So get the courage and get to a safe space. And once you get to that safe space, call the Phoenix Foundation because we would nothing more than give you the down payment and closing cost assistance that you need to get a new home.
