Shortly before my NYC experience kicked in, I was leading a simple life. Simple in the sense that I was going to work, coming home, having dinner, washing up and repeating it all over again the next day. Yet in my heart I was bored, for I knew I was in a career I had no desire to be in. I feared I would be forever stuck in this place with no exit, unable to pursue a career that I loved and could be my future.
I took a chance and pushed the envelope, deciding that after all the family drama I had experienced, it was time I take what I heard learned from the negatives and turn them into a positive. I knew what I wanted could only be achieved by being in the Big Apple, and in November of 1999, I moved into Manhattan. I was scared, lonely and uncertain about who I was, and how I could get myself to a good place. Unlike most kids my age, I was taking life seriously, working in a family business pushing 50 hours a week, commuting back and forth to Long Island. The stress level was intense, but thankfully I knew how to release my anxiety and stress, both mentally and physically. My best friend and soul sister Blake deserves the biggest thank you of all. She showed me that I could survive personal sadness, and she pushed me to higher limits and brought laughter back into my life.
Now all I needed to worry about was my social life. I was so serious at times and afraid to lose things around me, that my free spirited risk taking was at a standstill. Until that one day I met a man in a yellow shirt who would change my life. He walked through a revolving door, and I wondered if he was a player, a model, or just a pretty boy. I felt butterflies. In just one year of living in NYC, I was finally feeling again! This man became my best friend instantly, my husband in 2003, the father of my two young kids, and my business partner at DASHA! That was the beginning of me being able to let my guard down and chip away at the heavy-duty wall I built to protect myself. I felt free again!
I am grateful for the unfortunate experiences I have overcome and I realize I am lucky to create my own destiny. Now, as we approach 2014, I look forward to celebrating my life in NYC with my two kids, alongside my husband, Dr. Darren Pollack. Every day I teach my kids things about life. The most important thing I show them is support and love. From my personal tragedy I have explained to them how lucky they are to have each other. My husband did not have my experiences. He had his own, and that’s what makes us work well together. We come from a place of just understanding. New York City is the place we call home.
As entrepreneurs, we realized there’s nowhere else we’d rather live with our kids than New York City. We have instant access to social environments, the arts, and charitable organizations. We live in a city that has taught me to be open-minded and playful again. I love that I have the opportunity to raise my children in a city where the lights never shut off, and yet you can you can feel the darkness, too.
DASHA wellness & spa is a luxury lifestyle brand and New York City-based wellness center created to offer a truly holistic approach to wellness. To learn more, visit dashawellness.com
