Today we’d like to introduce you to Karli Yebba.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I live in Everett, MA. I am 24 years old. I am the middle child of 3. Growing up, I had a pretty good childhood. I attended catholic school from grades K-8. My brother, sister, and I always got what we wanted pretty much. My parents owned a house in Malden where we lived until I was 12 years old. In 2004, my world turned upside down. at 10 years old my mom and dad separated leaving my brother, sister, and I to live with my father. My mother had been having an affair and decided to leave not only my father, but her children as well. This part in my past has played a big role in the struggles I have and who I have become today in life. In this time period, my mother was diagnosed with Bipolar depression. Fast forward 6 months later, my parents decided to “work things out for us kids” as they would say. (things between them even to this day have never been the same.) At 12 years old, my mother had gotten into a financial hole and had to file bankruptcy, ultimately leaving no choice but to let the bank take the house, that is when we moved into a small 3-bedroom apartment in Everett.
In the years after, I started my freshman year in Everett high school, transitioning from catholic school to public school was a major shock for me, I missed a lot of school and honestly have no idea how I didn’t stay back at all. I never made any friends. I hated being in school when I actually was there. while everyone was at lunch with all the friends they knew I would have to look around for even one familiar face and sometimes even sit alone. My junior year I knew I wasn’t going to move up to a senior due to my absences and grades, I was failing. That year I begged my mother to sign me out and let me drop out. She could see the pain and worry in my eyes and she just knew that I couldn’t go on like that any longer. She took me that evening and that was the last time I stepped foot in that school. During the time of me dropping out I experienced my first ever panic attack, I thought I was dying and of course that made it worse. Over the course of that next year, it became worse and worse. My brother began using heroin, my father began drinking excessively, and I began seeing a therapist as well as a psychiatrist. The medicine was supposed to help deal with the panic and anxiety attacks, but truthfully, it did nothing for me. I stayed in a depression for years. I spent my days in my room. Along this time, the addiction from my brother and father became worse and my mother was completely oblivious to it. Day after day, I would find my brother asleep on the floor, sometimes even with the needle still near him. I began finding a need to take care of him as well as my dad, I saw the hurt in them and I knew I had to stop sulking in my own pittys and help someone else for a change. Over the years to come and many detox and rehab facilities later, addiction is still a struggle in my house.
Though today, I am happy to say my father is 1 year sober and my brother is 5 months sober. I got myself adjusted to learning that it’s not going to happen overnight and addiction is something that needs a lot of time and effort. One big important factor I have learned is you cannot make someone want help, they need to want it for themselves. October 2017 I learned how precious life is. My Auntie Debbie, a woman that I look at as a second mother to me and a role model was diagnosed with stage 2 pancreatic cancer. The process of finding out it was cancer and the immediate transition of chemotherapy and doctor appointments was very overwhelming for everyone in my family. This was very heartbreaking to me. My aunt has always been a very close person to me, someone who has never judged me and stuck by my side through all my mistakes and flaws. I couldn’t lose her. I knew what the worst outcome could be and I refused to let her give up and not fight it. Everyday, I stayed with her even for a few hours, I tried to do everything I could for her, especially through the emotional days. after this experience what most people do not know about cancer is the emotional trauma it leaves on the cancer patient. I’m happy to say my aunt is now being cancer free since having the tumor removed in April, but I know in my heart my aunt will never be the same again, the exhaustion and amount of worry she will always feel now has definitely scarred her. The journey may have caused a lot of pain and suffering to her, but sure am very happy to still have her around. Through this, my mother and I have gotten extremely close as well. She is my best friend. Without these 2 ladies in my life, I am not sure I would be the person I am today, and for that I am grateful.
Has it been a smooth road?
It definitely has not been a smooth road the journey definitely was a rough one. struggling with anxiety and depression has always been a big popsicle for me. There have been times where I was in a store and got overwhelmed very quickly and had to leave. All I can say is, if it hadn’t been for wanting to help others and put others needs before my own I don’t think I would’ve overcome the amount of anxiety I had. I still struggle to this day with it but putting others needs ahead of my own because I want to take the pain away that I see in others and try to make them happy. my advice to any other young women would be don’t give up. No matter how rough it can be and how bad it is, there’s always hope. Many times, I have thought about giving up, many times, I wanted to quit when life just wasn’t fair or easy, but always know that no matter what is going on in your life, there is hope and you do mean something. And your life means something.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into your business story. Tell us more about the business.
Right now, for work, I work as a bus Monitor for Children with special needs. I do love my job because I work with many different children and I can see all the different accomplishments they go through even being together with them for such a short period and a short ride. My job has opened my eyes to a lot of love. It has shown me my love for children and my need to want to help them grown and achieve even the littlest milestones.
Who do you look up to? How have they inspired you?
My biggest inspirations are my mother and aunt. Despite my mother’s faults and past mistakes, I do not let that define the kind of person she is. My mother would give her family her last dollar if we needed it. She has definitely not had it easy in her life, between losing her own mother at the young age of 16, having a troubled marriage and children who have not always made the right decisions. I think my mother has done the best she can for us plus some. My aunt has always been there for my family as long as I can remember. Being young, she always babysat or took us on day trips during summer vacation. She is a single mother to my older cousin. She is the best mother, aunt, sister, grandmother, and most importantly, a friend anyone could ever ask for. She has conquered every obstacle that life has thrown her way and I couldn’t be more proud and grateful to have someone like her in my life to look up to.
Contact Info:
- Email: karliyebba55@gmail.com
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