Collena Doctor

Know what you are worth. Self worth and self-love are powerful ammunition.

Those are words of encouragement from Collena to her daughters but especially girls and young women as they traverse this life.

I was made aware of Collena or ‘Lena’ for short by an unidentified person in my blog email messages. We’ve never officially met but she agreed to my sharing parts of her story with those who will read.

This young woman is a mother of two, a wife, an author, Motivational Speaker, Self Worth Coach, Christian and an all round positive human.

Preface

She didn’t necessarily have it easy while growing up. There was, for sure, no silver or golden spoon in her mouth.

Collena describes her childhood as “interesting” as her primary environments were volatile communities in Kingston, Jamaica. Her father was not around much.

She was hit by a car while she was at the primary level of education. Though her injuries were not life threatening, she took that experience as a lesson in life.

– when life knocks you down, you get back up and keep moving, even if you have to change your location. Just keep moving –

Books

For as long as she can remember, Collena has always loved books. She loved reading them, collecting them and sharing them.

Readers are leaders!

I constantly repeat those words to my 5 year old daughter, Collena says.

“Reading is so important because it is the foundation of excelling at anything in life – any subject, and career field. I did extremely well in school only because I read a lot. So I guess it was inevitable that I would write a book huh” – Collena Doctor

Lena acknowledges that her life story is not unique in the Jamaican landscape. However, she wanted to pen her story and use it as a catalyst to help others.

Oops I Broke A Nail: Dig Yourself Free From Past Hurt, Discover Your True Self-Worth is an auto-biography of sorts that targets teenage and adolescent girls. It details the early years of Collena’s life, most of her mistakes with friends, family and the opposite sex. It also covers her wayward beliefs.

Although I am still young and still have a great deal left to accomplish, I wrote this book because there were some very important lessons I learned as a teenager that I wanted to share with other young women, especially about the love of God.

Collena gave her life to God at the age of sixteen and “it literally changed my life” she says. In the book she uses stories and examples from her own experiences and ties them back into the word of God. “This is done to show others how relatable the Bible is” says Lena. She told me that she used to wonder if God was a big bully waiting until we mess up to punish us.

“When I learned the truth and saw how it freed me, I just wanted to share it with as many people as possible.”

The book was published in December 2018 by Dayelight Publishers.

Worthy Girls

Raised by a single mother, Collena was surrounded by love and learned how to be strong because of the impression her mom made on her.

My humble beginnings definitely shaped me into the woman I am. Because we grew up with an absentee father and a mother who worked so hard to take care of our needs, I’ve become a fighter who doesn’t take no for an answer.

I count every blessing that I have today fully aware that there was a time when I didn’t have much. I value education and family because of my upbringing and became very ambitious because of it.

With her mother and life experiences as the perfect driving forces in her life, Collena makes an impact in the lives of girls and young women through her Self Worth coaching known as the Worthy Girl Workshop.

I didn’t dig deeper but I imagine that for a chunk of her life, Lena didn’t feel as though she was worthy of much – even with a mother as strong and powerful as hers.

After surrendering to God, she committed herself to being a positive figure to girls who are probably going through what she endured as a child.

Mom Life and Impressions

I asked Collena about her children and the lessons she wants them to learn. This is what she had to say:

I have two daughters and I know its not a coincidence that I’m a mom of girls, seeing that my book and my Coaching program on Self-Worth – The Worthy Girl Workshop – are all targeted towards girls.

The lesson I wish to leave with my daughters is the same one that I have been teaching to all my adopted daughters long before I had my own. It is to know what you are worth. Self worth and self-love are powerful ammunition.

I want them to know that they are not defined by other people’s points of view, but only by what God says about them. I want them to get to know their Creator – God. Only the person who creates the invention can tell you why it was created, how it was created and for what purpose it was created.

For Future

In the next five years I hope to have published another book or two! I have some goals I want to accomplish academically like completing my MBA, and on the verge of launching my business.