Meet Trish Steele | Founder of Safe Passage Heals & The Women of Steele

We had the good fortune of connecting with Trish Steele and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Trish, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?
My non-profit, Safe Passage, helps the world by bringing safety, peace, and self-sufficiency to women and children who are victims of domestic violence.

When someone comes to me, it’s usually because they or a loved one is trapped in an unsafe situation. The first thing we do is get them to safety; we have a whole protocol for removing them from dangerous homes and placing them in shelters where no one can find them. We’ve even helped women we found sleeping in their cars with their children, getting them off the streets and into a safe place.

But safety is just the beginning. The second piece is transformation, working on the mind and the emotions, because living in constant fear is no way to live, and fear leads to depression, drugs, and alcohol. We help them develop new ways of thinking, new skills, and a new path forward. And we have doctors and dentists on board (all pro bono) to repair the physical scars of abuse, because I don’t want these women walking around every day being reminded of what happened to them.

The final piece is joy. When women look back at how far they’ve come, that joy is real and healing. About 50% of the graduates from my program have gone on to become entrepreneurs and have written their own stories and books.
I’ve been keeping the doors of my nonprofit charity open for 35 years, and the program I developed for these women is the same kind of program I had to use for myself. My story is what built it, and their stories are what will help the next person in the same situation.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My work is rooted in my own story. Everything I do through Safe Passage comes from what I personally lived through as a little girl. I lost my father in an accident at age five and watched my mother become a widow at 21 with three children and no education. Six months after losing my father, I lost 70% of my hearing from a high fever and was placed in a school for deaf children, where I was bullied for not knowing sign language. Then my mother remarried, and I found myself in an abusive home. None of it was easy, and none of it was fair.
But what sets me apart is that I took all of that pain and built a platform from it. The program I developed for the women at Safe Passage is the same program I had to use for myself. I am not teaching anything I have not lived. That is what makes what I do different from others in this space.

What I am most proud of is that I have kept the doors of my nonprofit open for 35 years. About 50% of the women who have graduated from my program have gone on to become entrepreneurs and have written their own stories and books. We provide safety first by removing women and children from dangerous situations and placing them in shelters. Then we work on transformation by helping them rebuild their minds and emotions. Then comes joy, and that joy is real, and it is healing.

The biggest lesson I have learned along the way is to be careful who you surround yourself with. Early on, I let the money and fame of the wrong people pull me in the wrong direction, and it closed doors to people who genuinely needed my help. I learned that who you choose to have on your team matters more than almost anything else.

What I want the world to know is that no matter what you have been through, you are not a victim unless you choose to be. God gave me a choice, and I chose to be victorious. My name is Steele, and that name means strong, spiritual, and sensational living. That is not just my brand. That is my life.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my best friend came to visit me in Los Angeles, I would start by taking them to explore the entire coastline of California. There is nothing like breathing in that fresh air and soaking in the sunshine while taking in the natural beauty all around you. The coast alone could fill an entire trip.

I would also treat them to a spa day with me because self-care is something I believe in deeply. So many people become workaholics or get so caught up juggling jobs, kids, and finances that they forget to take care of themselves. I want everyone to learn how to slow down, smell the flowers, breathe some fresh air, and let their body be rejuvenated so it can do the next big thing on the list.

For dinner, I would take them to Mastro’s Steakhouse & Ocean Club. It is romantic, it has a piano bar, and I love music so that alone makes it special. The seafood salad is amazing, the steaks are incredible, and the portions are generous. But more than the food it is the atmosphere. Everyone there is completely present and relaxed and just indulging in the experience around them. It is the kind of place that really allows you to unwind and enjoy the moment.

For me a perfect week in Los Angeles is really about beauty, nature, good food, and genuine rest. Those are the things that fill you back up and remind you what life is really about.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My success truly stands on the shoulders of others who poured into me when I had nothing left to give myself.

My grandmother was my biggest mentor. When I was seven years old, going through the loss of my father, losing 70% of my hearing and being bullied at school, I went to her crying and asking what was wrong with me. She looked at me and said, “Patty, you are special.” Those three words carried me through every single challenge I have ever faced. To this day I can still feel her voice. She prayed for me daily and became more like a mother than a grandmother to me.

My best friend in high school was the second person who truly shaped who I am. She had such a positive mindset, and she would bring out my best gifts. She saw things in me I couldn’t see in myself, and she kept telling me I had a good attitude, natural talent and so many gifts to offer the world. She was the first person I ever told my full story to and in doing so I began to break free from the insecurities and shame that had been holding me back.

I also want to recognize the women I have partnered with along the way. Luisa Diaz helped build the Kindness is Cool® Movement, now celebrated in New York City on May 18 as “Kindness is Cool Day,” through the Luisa Diaz Foundation. Kesha Hearn runs a forgiveness coaching nonprofit, Hope in Hearts, that has set people free from bitterness and pain. Rosslyn Castro of Inspired Journal is helping women heal through writing and storytelling. These women continue to inspire me just as much as I hope to inspire them.

None of what I have built over 35 years would exist without these people who believed in me first.

Website: https://trishsteele.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialtrishsteele/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trish-steele-b836aa10/

Image Credits
Tresor Photography