Current CLC student Ebony Steward recently published her first book, Facing the Mirror, an inspirational retelling of her struggles and how she overcame them and became the person she is today. Steward faced many serious challenges and hardships as a young girl and almost let them drag her down. But through her power and determination, she picked herself back up and now uplifts others young and old with the lessons she has learned.

Steward wants her readers to know that she is “very relatable, very down to earth.”

“I live life very transparently, very open,” she said. “I believe living transparently leaves room for other people to see your mistakes, see your flaws, and then be able to learn from them.”

 “You just get to a point in life where you really realize life is life. You can’t control it; you can’t stop it; all you can do is live through the particular circumstance or issue that you’re facing.”

The process of creating a book from scratch, especially one about your own life, is a huge undertaking. Steward shared, “It was a lot of long nights, early mornings, and it was not an easy process.”

“It was challenging at moments, but the outcome of it, having the product in hand, I cried because I was like, oh my god, it’s finally here,” she said.

Steward began writing her book due to an unexpected turn of events to make the most of her situation. 

“I was between 19 and 21, and I’d actually gotten fired from my job at Target, and I was devastated and distraught about it. So I gave myself that time to be sad. And then it was like God just dropped it in my head, and I just started writing”, she shared.

“Writing has always been a passion; it’s an outlet for me,” she said. “I like to write poetry. I write in my diary, just my thoughts, the day, how I’m feeling, and the book for me was therapy.”

The writing process had its ups and downs, and Steward explained that one of the biggest challenges was “having to recall it all. It’s a good thing and a bad thing. It was very therapeutic, but it was very emotional. Writing this book was emotional for me because I had to relive a lot of painful experiences and painful situations.”

But the pain did not overshadow the wonder of her book writing process. One of the best parts of publishing her book was “the accomplishment of it. I didn’t grow up feeling the smartest; I didn’t grow up feeling the prettiest. I didn’t grow up having the most esteem.”

In addition to producing Facing the Mirror, Steward also sought to expand the impact of her experiences. “Out of it came my organization, which I never thought that I would be a business owner,” she said. “And then it was proved to myself that I really could do anything that I put my mind to.”

“Knowing that this book would help young girls and help women in general not go down the path that I was headed down, or not make some of the same mistakes that I was making, is an accomplishment,” Steward explained. “I wanted this book to be able to impact anybody that picks it up and reads it. It’s not geared to one particular race; it’s not geared towards one particular person. It’s not geared towards one particular age. I feel like I’m called to like younger girls, but someone’s mom can pick the book up and read it and gain from it.”

Although Steward has accomplished so many amazing things, her work is nowhere near finished. 

“I am in the middle of rebranding myself, and I do have a mentorship program in an organization that is titled after the book, which is called Facing the Mirror.”

In addition to her program, she continues to write to inspire. 

“I’m constantly writing and figuring out ways to expand the business, to expand my brand,” she said.

Steward shared one final sentiment for her readers and anyone dealing with hardship.

“[The idea of] facing the mirror comes from being able to find the beauty in what you’re seeing in the mirror, no matter what color you are, no matter how tall, short, skinny, fat, whatever it may be. It’s about finding the beauty in you. And I want everybody to know that it’s okay to face the mirror.”