by Kimberly Fisher
I sat down with Kathy Tuccaro at The National Publicity Summit and I was struck by her charm and heartfelt conversation. Kathy, it turns out has quite an amazing story to tell.
For her day job, she drives the truck the size of a house up in the Northern Alberta Oil Sands and travels to places like Grenada & Barbados where she works with women’s shelters, juvenile detention centers and local schools giving free personal development classes and educating on child sexual abuse.
Unknown to most, 7 out of the 8 women at the shelter in Grenada can not read or write and the amount of child sexual abuse on that island is traumatizing.
Kathy has personally survived many, many sexual assaults including a child sexual abuse, drugged and raped by a photographer in Miami when she was modelling at 18 years old, gang raped at 19, years of domestic violence (strangled 3 times) multiple death threats, stalked for a year, lost everything I owned a few times, lost my 13 nursing career due to alcoholism and undealt issues, and ultimately ended up homeless 6 years ago at the age of 42 and on death’s door.
In a single moment of clarity, she made a decision and took the steps necessary to change my life.
Now 5 ½ years sober, drive the coolest truck in the world and the Author of Dream Big! Overcoming a Lifetime of Trauma & Abuse That Led to Dreams of Success.
Kimberly: What do you do?
Kathy: I drive the biggest truck in the world! It’s a 797 Caterpillar Heavy Hauler Truck that hauls over 400 tons of dirt/oil sand up in the Northern Canadian Oil Sands.
Kimberly: How did you get into your profession?
Kathy: I was a nurse for 13 years and due to a lifetime of untreated trauma and abuse, I was fired for alcohol abuse. I was 40 at the time and ultimately ended up homeless at the age of 42. I had lost all hope. After 7 days of being homeless, a fellow named “Toothless Joe” slapped me on the back and said, “This is the life! Live it! Love it!” That slap on the back knocked the fog out of my head and for the first time in a very long time, I saw clear. I replied, “This is NOT my life!” I stomped my foot and repeated it again.
In that moment I turned around and went to find the help I needed. I went to a year long women’s recovery program where I addressed all my deep rooted trauma from years of sexual abuse and domestic violence. Within the year I attended a career planning workshop where the aptitude tests said I was geared towards Heavy Equipment Operating. They suggested Women Building Futures, a non-profit that assists women get into the trades. The day I walked in, Imperial Oil was there sponsoring 16 women to possibly come drive Haul Truck in the Oil Sands. 170 women applied and only 16 were chosen; I was picked. They ended up hiring 11 out of the 16, and I was hired! That was 4 ½ years ago. This has been the best career choice ever! I love it!
Kimberly: What does a day in the life look like for you?
Kathy: I work 13 hour days for 10 days straight, followed by 10 days off. I do get a month paid vacation every year as well; it truly is the job lottery. I sit in my 400 ton truck all day, only getting off to fuel up or at our designated breaks. I haul dirt from the shovels (which are the size of ships) to the dump or to the crusher where the oil is extracted from the sand and sent to the plant for processing.
Many times due to weather, we have hours of downtime where we just sit and wait, so I use this precious time to my advantage. I wrote my first book ‘Dream Big” sitting in the 52,000 gallon water truck last year. I basically use my downtime as my office time where I plan workshops and various talks that I give on my days off.
Kimberly: You work with the women’s shelters, juvenile detention centers and local schools giving free personal development classes and educating on child sexual abuse. What is the inspiration behind your work?
Kathy: My inspiration comes from being sexually abused as a child, raped many times in life, being suicidal as a teenager and suffering years from domestic violence and being on the brink of death many times. In 2006, when I was sitting in a women’s shelter up in Whitehorse, Yukon, NWT, (and still working as a nurse at the local hospital) they provided a beautiful log house to stay in and they fed us well. They didn’t provide me with what I needed the most, which was an understanding of why I kept going back to the domestic violence and cruelty of my boyfriend at the time.
What I needed the most was to ultimately understand the reasons why I hated myself so much and why I thought I was so unworthy of anything good in life. They didn’t provide any insights what so ever that low self-esteem was a deep rooted problem in my life and thus affected all my choices and decisions. I did attend one class that they did offer where women from all over the Northern Yukon from various reserves showed up. I sat there and listened to the horror stories from the women of being tied up and dragged behind ski-doo’s for sport, and this sickened me. I made a decision right then and there that I was going to get out of the current mess I found myself in, and when I did, I was coming back to help them. I didn’t know at the time what I would do; all I knew was that these women needed more support because resources are scarce. Proceeds from my book Dream Big! will be going to implement personal development programs in Northern communities in the women’s shelters and youth centers. I am currently working on a Dream Big Workbook which will be available on my website as a download for those wishing to address whatever issues they have within themselves.
Kimberly: What is your mission?
Kathy: My mission is to educate youth and women learn about who they really are without relying on other people’s opinions. Society says we are supposed to be this or that, but the reality is, if we can learn to find out who we really are deep inside and address the why we do what we do, it will change your perspective on life.
Self-esteem is the basis of all our decisions and affects everything we do, whether good or bad. I want to have people understand how their negative core beliefs about themselves is what attracts the problems they are having. That is how you break the cycle; change your core belief about who you are and your life will change for the better. You can’t learn to fly if you are a bird with a broken wing.
Kimberly: How do you ground yourself?
Kathy: I have a routine of daily contemplation or Spiritual Exercises as I call them where I focus for 20 min a day and go replenish my energy on the inner. My faith in God is everything to me. I also love to run as it releases stress, I love to be outside and it gives me a feeling of accomplishment.
Kimberly: What’s your life motto?
Kathy: Feel the Fear and do it Anyway!
Kimberly: Do you have a mantra?
Kathy: My mother taught me a word (mantra) when I was 14 that has helped me throughout all my trials and tribulations. Instead of singing AUM with your eyes closed, you sing HU, pronounced H-U-E. The HU can expand your awareness, help you experience divine love, heal a broken heart, offer solace during times of grief, and bring peace and calm. With your eyed closed, take a few deep breaths to relax. Then begin to sing HU in a long, drawn out sound HU–U-U-U-U-U-U-U. Take another breath, and sing HU again. Continue for up to twenty minute. Sing HU with a feeling of love, and it will gradually open up your heart to God.
Kimberly: What inspires you?
Kathy: The biggest inspiration I get is when I see people struggle through the stormy weather of life and pull out stronger than before on the other side. I have met hundreds and hundreds of people fighting their way through addiction, domestic violence issues, leaving prostitution and changing their lives, death of loved ones, overcoming illness, and all sorts of traumatic events in their lives. It is by far the most incredible event to witness how a completely broken human being can get back up and start again to succeed. The transformation is like that of a butterfly coming from a cocoon and I consider myself to be such a transformation. I am grateful for every single moment I have and use my time wisely by helping others recognize their own inner beauty.
Kimberly: What is the best advice you have ever been given?
Kathy: Negativity can only affect you if you’re on the same frequency. VIBRATE HIGHER
Kimberly: You have persevered through many hardships in life. What motivates you and keeps you going?
Kathy: When I was homeless for those 7 very long days, and in utter despair, a simple decision is what changed everything for me. Although I had absolutely nothing ( I was even robbed so had no identification either), I didn’t even have hope left as I had no money, my daughter wasn’t talking to me, I had lost my nursing career for good, I was 42 and had nothing left….talk about being depressed! I was so very tired of fighting for my life, but I knew that deep inside of me there was something greater that needed to be brought to the light of day. All I knew at that point is what I DIDN’T want; and that was to spend another minute in the company of “Toothless Joe” I knew that my story would NOT end homeless and drunk, so I made a committed decision that I would do whatever it took to change my life. And I did just that. Today I have almost 6 years sober, I drive the biggest truck in the world, I wrote a book, I travel internationally working with people who are hurting and I am making a difference in the lives of others.
An example of the difference is a woman who was desperate, hurt and angry down in Grenada, East Caribbean Islands. She was sitting in the women’s shelter in April 2017 when I gave a few classes on personal development. I went back in October 2017 and she was still sitting there, but this time she was wanting to learn to read better and get a job to support her 2 children. The government had built her a very small but new house, and she was going to be moving out on her own. The difference in that woman was night and day! It was such a beautiful thing to witness and I am glad I was able to inspire her to grow and change. Today she is working and going to school to better herself and she writes me often with updates. With proceeds from the book, I intend on building a women’s shelter/orphanage I Grenada as the need is great and I fell in love with the people as well as the island.
To learn more about Kathy: www.kathytuccaro.com
Leave a Reply