When Hannah Blandford — founder of Faith Found Me, a company that encourages young moms — was asked to write her story for a collaboration project, she was all in. The book “The Other Side of The Trauma,” is an anthology written by eight women, all North Carolina natives, who are using their story to bring hope and healing to others.
“It’s a beauty-from-ashes book,” said Blandford, who now lives in Owensboro. “We all shared our stories of the trauma we endured and how we overcame it and are still overcoming it when triggers arise.”
As a first-time mom, Blandford learned firsthand the challenges that arise during the postpartum season. This led her to create positive affirmations on diaper stickers that would encourage new moms even as they did simple tasks such as diaper changes.
Looking back on her move to Owensboro, Blandford could never have guessed that her journey would lead her to author a piece of her story for the first time. From the book cover design to the words within the pages, a constant theme is finding hope.
“The cover is really creative and special because it shows a woman looking into the mirror at the positives she found in the midst of the negatives. We are all overcomers of the things of the past,” Blandford said.
As a mom of young children, finding the time to write was a challenge beyond reliving pieces of her past as she wrote about them.
“The hope in writing this book has been to change lives and guide whoever reads it to true healing. I found the time to write this chapter during the nights while my first baby was sleeping. It took about 2 years to really get it finished. I finished the final draft before I delivered my second baby in April of 2024,” Blandford said.
While Blandford’s contribution to “The Other Side of Trauma” includes a chapter dedicated to her personal experiences, her future plans include writing another book to dive more into her story.
“It was really hard walking back through my childhood trauma while I was walking through the current trauma, too. There was definitely something therapeutic within writing this. I remember being in a 2-week funk having to relive what happened,” Blandford said.
As far as takeaways, Blandford wants her audience to see that healing on the other side of trauma can be found by any individual — they just have to reach for it.
“I hope people take away from this book that God is faithful, and no matter what has happened in your life, I encourage you to share it because you never know who might need to hear it. The brave women who were a part of this book found their voices and are encouraging others to do the same,” Blandford said.
Blandford believes this book is helping to break the silence and display bravery.
“I beam with pride knowing that I’m helping my little girls find their voice. I hope and pray my girls show up just as bold and confident in Christ when trials come up in their lives,” Blandford said.
“The Other Side of Trauma” is available at faithfoundme.com.
