YOU either remain a victim, or become a victor.

This is the advice serial entrepreneur, motivational speaker and domestic violence survivor Rachael Darlene "Ms Overdo" Nedd had for people who are struggling with navigating and overcoming life’s hardships.

Nedd is set to embark on her latest and most ambitious endeavour yet – hosting a motivational seminar, Go Seek Your Light – where she intends to share her story and give her patrons all the tools they need to empower them to find and maximise their God-given purpose.

“I grew up seeing my mummy try to make ends meet and I knew there must be some way to crack the code. A lot of us become stuck. We blame negative circumstances and that’s the only reason we are not successful. But I think in spite of your circumstances, you can be successful.”

Now, at the helm of three successful businesses – Darlene’s hair and cosmetics store, Glow Up TT and Ms Overdo Clothing Store – which employs 13 people, She commands a combined social media presence of almost 40,000 followers believes she has indeed cracked the code.

And, the 35-year-old plans to bare it all at her upcoming seminar – revealing her childhood trauma, business failures, and the physical abuse she endured from the man she loved, all of which she credits as a catalyst for her becoming the woman she is today.

With her story, Nedd hopes to motivate others to realise that they too can do the very same.

Hardship from young

Nedd had an early introduction to what she described as a very hard life growing up with her then 15-year-old mother whom she said at that time, was ill-equipped to handle the daunting responsibility that is motherhood, especially with no help from her father and little support from family.

“From young I knew hardship. When she got pregnant my grandmother kicked her out and we went to live by an aunt. But it doesn’t matter where you go to live when your house is not home…Especially since not everybody is filled with the love of God.”

Nedd recalled living in over 13 apartments and attending four primary schools over the years. Her mother eventually got a stable job as a police officer but with no father in the picture, was forced to be absent from home a lot working to provide for them both.

This, she said, prompted her to grow up fast.

“With mum not there I had to cook, wash, learn to get myself dressed, lock up the house etc. I grew really quick. I had a lot of experience at a young age.”

Yearning for her father to play an active role in her life Nedd said she was left with abandonment issues.

“He would say he is coming for me and I would pack my bag and he would never show up. So, it left me with a lot of abandonment issues. I used to feel unwanted and unloved a lot! Mummy was trying to make ends meet and my dad was not there.”

Nedd credited her mother with giving her the drive to succeed, saying, “I got introduced to business at a young age. I used to sell on the pavement with my