Hi gals and guys, my name is Yemi Penn. I am not one for labels as I feel we are and can be whoever we want to be. I typically describe myself as an Engineer by profession, an entrepreneur by passion, and mindset transformation coach by mission.

At the heart of it all, I am a champion for the ‘seeming’ underdog, the ones who feel they have no voice.

‘Did I Choose My Trauma?’ is a  heavy, confronting question, however, it is an empowering one that puts the baton in your hands on how you can ultimately heal from your trauma.

My ability to dissociate from painful events only became visible to me in my 30’s and this was because I had done a sterling job of burying my pain, in burying this pain, my voice was lost.

65% of Australians experience trauma at some stage of their lives.

70% of adults in the U.S have experienced some type of traumatic event at least once in their lives. That’s 223.4 million people.

Around 1 in 3 adults in England report having experienced at least one traumatic event.

Trauma isn’t isolated to a country, a community or a culture. Its impact is everywhere.

Having experienced child sexual abuse at the hands of my uncle at the age of 7 years old was traumatic enough, finding out two decades later that he was still abusing his power; I heard my higher self softly say to me, ‘this is why you speak.’

Looking at the stats, it isn’t a case of if we will experience trauma, it is a case of when and how we will meet and heal it. Everything we suppress tends to find its way to the surface unless we deal with it, and if we don’t we pass it on to further generations.

In speaking of our unresolved trauma, could we release some of the power it holds over us, could it allow us to not just free ourselves but others to come? Could we be kinder to each other if we knew more?

When I stopped long enough to eradicate the ‘noise’, my journey truly began. It involved talking about my trauma in a way that acknowledged the pain but didn’t encourage the suffering. It made me delve into my relationship style which was clearly avoidant. I went through a period of self-reflection. Tapping into my spirituality gave me the tools to heal and see light in the darkness.

What if there was a purpose behind my experiences?

In my lowest of lows, I had to ask myself the question ‘Did I choose my trauma?’ Not on a physical plane but on a spiritual one?

Now, stay with me here. As an engineer, I like to exercise the logical, analytical side of my brain. However, I also acknowledge the spiritual being in me that queries the potential soul contract I signed before I embarked on this life.

Spirituality, however you define it, gives us a higher consciousness; observing ourselves and knowing that there is so much more to what seems to be in front of us.

What if there was a purpose behind my life experiences, good and bad?

What if our greatest tragedy becomes our greatest gift to humanity? Not from the pain we experienced but from the resolving of that pain?  Can we then face our trauma in a new way?

These are big questions and the drive to find these answers and heal the pain so many of us continue to face not only individually but as a collective whole has made me insatiable.

Did I Choose My Trauma? is not about just me taking my power back, it’s about all of us taking our power back. It’s a journey of exploration to find the light within the darkness.

I believe our dreams choose us, not the other way around. Most of my life I had been afraid to use my voice, now I’ve found another reason why it’s so important. And not just my voice, but the voices of so many others.

In an incredibly short space of time, a team of creatives manifested around me and the beginnings of a documentary was born.

But the vision is so much more than that.

What we have created has only just skimmed the surface. There are so many more topics to explore and depths to unravel.

I want to interview people from different cultures all around the world, from the indigenous, the ancient to the modern. I believe our ancestors have so much knowledge and wisdom we have yet to tap into and combining this with modern science and psychotherapy could give us a new roadmap for change.

So here I am, pouring my passion into this project to see people rise. I’ve invested my personal finances to water this seed so it can sprout because I truly believe that we all have the power within us to transform our pain and heal our wounds.

Imagine the beings we would become once we learn how to rise from the ashes of our trauma. Just thinking about it gets me excited!

All roads have led me here. Nothing has felt so right! Did I Choose My Trauma will change how we perceive trauma and the path to healing.

Can we do this? 100% YES! I’m ready to GO and take this to the next level; I just need your help with the bus fare 🙂

So, please make a contribution, whether it is large or small it doesn’t matter, what matters is that you have played YOUR role in creating global change. Let’s do this together!

Love,

Yemi x

P.S You can also contribute by:

•  sharing this Kickstarter page on your social media pages. 
•  Share our campaign with bloggers, journalists and businesses that share our values worldwide 

We appreciate all support!!!

If we reach our target of $150,000 it will give us the financial boost we need to take the next step a feature length documentary that will form the pilot episode of a more in-depth, culturally diverse, life – changing documentary series.

Next steps will include:

·  Filming the first pilot episode in Australia. Due to COVID restrictions and the desire to get this documentary out into this world, the first location of filming will be in Australia, where we are currently based. Learning more about how the indigenous cultures and more modern medicine deals with and heals trauma

·  Other voices – We want to hear more stories of those who have transformed their trauma.  I will share more about me losing my power and voice as 7 year old Yemi to learning how to heal and reclaim my power back. I will share my journey from having the inability to speak and the belief that no one would ever hear me to speaking confidently about my story on a world stage, transmuting pain to power so you may too.

·  The documentary will explore how unhealed trauma can impact not only individuals but communities and generations, and what we can do to heal and transform our pain so we don’t pass it on to future generations.

·  We will also explore topics such as the impact of trauma in both childhood and adulthood, how men deal with trauma and how we can open the conversation, generational trauma, forgiveness, how different cultures deal with and heal trauma and the purpose of pain in our lives.

·   Other contributors of the documentary will be inspiring, thought leaders, including healers, psychotherapists and psychologists.

The long term yet immediate goal, is to hit every corner of the world, to reach remote and accessible cultures and communities. To speak to elders past and present as well as the young souls who ‘know’. I want us to collectively bring together a rich, diverse pool of voices with different perspectives. I want us to dive deep and I want us to take this as far as we can go.

If we hit our magic $150,000 target we can start in Australia and create a worthy pilot episode we can use to obtain more funding from sponsors including the bigger media giants like Netflix, OWN and SBS .

Then we can reach the rest of the world. But we need your help to do this.

Kickstarter is a funding platform dedicated to making creative projects possible with direct support. When you back our project, you’re saying that you want this documentary to be made. We have chosen Kickstarter because it is designed to make a pledge as convenient as possible.

Here’s how it works: We set a funding goal. Our supporters make pledges. If we reach our goal, your pledge will be processed by Kickstarter, and we can start filming. If we don’t reach our goal, our supporters will not be charged for their pledge. It’s all or nothing. For example, our target is $150,000. If we reach $125,000 we get nothing. 

We must reach the $150k target to make this documentary dream a reality. So please understand that whatever your donation is, it goes a long way, not just monetarily but the backing of love and support goes a very long way regardless of whether your contribution is small or big, it doesn’t matter, we invite you to  play your part in making the world a better place