What
it Took
to Be Free

BY MARSHA HEBERT
Eat For Life by Marsha

SEPTEMBER 7, 2026

I wanted my daughter to be free.
And I wanted myself to be free too.

That thought stayed with me for a long time, long before I fully understood what it would take to get there.

 

Learning to Take Care of Myself Early

I came to Canada from Jamaica when I was 12, with my twin sister. We left our mom to live with our dad.

But things didn’t unfold the way we expected. One day, he told us we were moving to a smaller home. Then suddenly, he left. No warning. No conversation. Just gone.

By the time I was 16, I had made a decision. I left home. My sister followed.

I told her, you finish school—I’ll take care of us. So I did. I got an apartment. I worked full-time at a buffet restaurant. I figured it out as I went.

 

Surviving What No One Talks About

At 18, I met my daughter’s father. I didn’t know what I was walking into.

He was abusive. And at that time, no one was really talking about domestic violence, not in a way that helped you understand what to do or how to leave.

People didn’t know how to respond.
I didn’t know how to respond.
So I stayed.
For 11 years.

I went to school. I went to work. I showed up every day, and no one knew what was happening behind the scenes. I wanted more children, but I lost a pregnancy because of the stress. And still, I kept going.

I stayed positive. I kept loving life. I kept believing something better was possible.

Until one day, I reached a point where I couldn’t stay anymore. I was scared.
But I left.

I cried and cried and cried.
And then I got up.

 

What Freedom Really Means

For a long time, I didn’t fully understand my own body.

When I came to Canada, I didn’t know I was anemic. I didn’t know I had the symptoms of celiac disease. I was dealing with IBS, depression, anger, acne, so many things that didn’t make sense to me. And I carried shame because I didn’t understand why I felt the way I did. I didn’t have anyone to talk to about
it.

When I finally got answers, everything shifted. It felt like a weight lifted.

For the first time, I could make choices that actually supported how I wanted to feel. That was another kind of freedom.

 

 Building Something for Us

I never set out thinking, I’m going to be an entrepreneur. But I’ve always been someone who takes action.

If there’s a problem, I find a solution. If something needs to change, I move. And I always wanted more, for myself, and for my daughter.

I became a single mother to a daughter with special needs. No matter what kind of day I had at work, I still had to come home and be fully there for her. That responsibility shaped everything.

When the pandemic hit, I made another decision. I was going to give this everything. I got out of debt. I saved my money. And I started building my business.

 

What I’m Most Proud Of

People might expect me to say I’m most proud of the business.
Or the growth.
Or the book.

And I am proud of those things. But what matters most to me is something else.

Paying off my debt.
Creating independence.
Not relying on anyone else for my stability.

Because I’ve lived the other side of that. I’ve seen how financial control can be used against you. I wanted something different.

I wanted freedom. For my daughter to be free to be who she is. And for me to be free too.

 

What Keeps Me Going

I’ve always believed in being happy. In finding something to be thankful for. No matter what’s happening.

That doesn’t mean life is easy.

It means I choose how I show up inside of it. I’m motivated. I take action. I don’t stop easily. If something isn’t working, I find another way.

That’s who I am.

 

What I Believe Now

We don’t always get to choose what happens to us. But we do get to choose what we do with it.

For me, that has meant choosing to keep going.
Choosing to build something better.
Choosing to create a life that feels different from what I came through.

Because freedom isn’t something you wait for.

It’s something you work toward.