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Posts by Gabriela Holt

Gabriela Holt is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC), Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach, speaker, and founder of Golden Hour Life Coaching. Drawing on nearly two decades of experience in counseling and human development, she helps individuals and organizations strengthen self-leadership, recognize what makes them uniquely powerful, and move forward with greater clarity, confidence, and intention. A domestic violence and breast cancer survivor, Gabriela believes our hardest chapters don't have to become our identity. They can illuminate what matters next. Site / LinkedIn / YouTube / Substack

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The Tattoo That Marks 13 Years of Healing After Abuse

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“When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.” ~Maya Angelou

In June 2011, I got a Facebook friend request from a guy I vaguely knew from college. We’d never dated, never even been close, but I knew him by reputation. Charming. Vain. The kind of guy who always had someone.

He’d just been hired to teach at my school, where I was about to start my fifth year as a counselor. He framed the request as wanting to connect as colleagues, so I accepted.

When school started that August, he made it a point to show …

I Stopped Trying to Be Chosen and Finally Found Love

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“You can’t perform your way into being loved. You can only reveal yourself and trust that the right person will love what they find.”

Finding the unmarked door, I stepped into a dimly lit room pulsing with that “Love Jones” energy. Neo-soul played low, red lighting cast shadows across faces, and the bass line vibrated through my chest. This was the kind of place where real conversations happened.

I was nursing a cocktail when he appeared beside me. Dark eyes, easy smile, the kind of presence that makes you sit up straighter. “What are you drinking?”

Within minutes, we’d moved …