Rhonda Sciortino

Rhonda Sciortino is a speaker, author, successful survivor of childhood abuse, and a national child advocate. Today, she helps kids and families in her roles as the national spokesperson for Safe Families For Children, Royal Family Kids, Vanguard University's Global Center For Women And Justice, and as the National Champion for the LOVE IS ACTION COMMUNITY INITIATIVE.

Rhonda Sciortino was abandoned as a very young child, and became a ward of the court until she emancipated at 16. Except for a brief time with a wonderful foster family, those first 16 years were spent in the custody of a mentally ill man and alcoholic woman–her grandparents.

When Rhonda was eight years old, the little shack where she lived was destroyed by fire. They had no insurance, and for months they were homeless. Rhonda vividly recalls wearing the same filthy sundress and flimsy dimestore flipflops to school day after day for months after that fire.

At age 15 Rhonda decided to seek emancipation. One of the prerequisites was that Rhonda have a job, so she went to work for the first person who would hire her–an insurance agent. When her employer explained the concept of insurance, Rhonda was flabbergasted. “You mean someone would have paid for our house to be rebuilt AND given us money for clothes and a place to sleep?”

Rhonda learned everything she could about insurance. Despite being denied again and again, Rhonda repeatedly petitioned the Insurance Commissioner to allow her to sit for the insurance agent exam even though she wasn’t yet 18. An exception was finally granted, and Rhonda became California’s youngest licensed insurance agent at 17.

At the age of 27, Rhonda’s passion for good child welfare providers and appropriate insurance intersected. She committed herself to protecting people and organizations that protect children. She had personally experienced excellent foster care during her short time with a foster family, and she knew the shame of homelessness as a result of inadequate insurance. Rhonda quit her job and started her own retail insurance agency which was dedicated to protecting and defending the good people and organizations that care for abused children. A few years later, she opened a national brokerage which helped insurance brokers all over the US protect the child welfare organizations in their areas.

In 2008, Rhonda sold Child Welfare Insurance Services to Markel Insurance Company. After serving for several years as their National Child Welfare Specialist, Rhonda left to serve as the chairperson of Successful Survivors Foundation, a non profit organization dedicated to helping survivors of trauma mine the lessons out of their adverse experiences, and use those "assets" to create personal and professional success.

I’m so excited for you to connect with Rhonda, check out her work, initiatives, and heart, and follow along as she continues to make an incredible impact on the lives of others, and make the world a better place through the power of love in action.

I'd love it if you'd introduce yourself, what you do, and what you're working on.

I am Rhonda Sciortino, a speaker, author, successful survivor of childhood abuse, and a national child advocate. I emancipated from the child welfare system when I was 16. I built and sold two successful businesses that protected and defended the good people and organizations that care for children who have been abused. And I’m now working on the big, hairy, audacious goal of my life, which is to help launch the LOVE IS ACTION COMMUNITY INITIATIVE in communities throughout the US.

The Love Is Action Community Initiative brings together stakeholders in communities to each do their “no big deal” which could be a very big deal to the recipient of their kindness. This initiative has been very successful in Orange County, CA for over ten years. We know that it helps reduce addiction, child sex trafficking, depression, suicide, domestic violence, and more.

How did you get started?

A small business owner gave me a chance when I was 15 years old. Neither he nor I knew that he was launching a 40 year career in insurance and risk management. I became the youngest licensed insurance broker in CA when I was 17. I quit my job and started my own company when I was 27. My insurance organizations were the only ones in the US founded solely to protect the good people and organizations that care for abused children. We were able to change the way child welfare organizations are rated, and saved tens of millions of dollars for them. I told both of those companies to launch the Successful Survivors Foundation and to share my messages of hope, resilience, and faith with people who need them most.

What inspired the work that you're doing?

The people who helped me along the way showed me that there was a better way to live, and that there was good inside me that I wasn’t yet able to see. Each of the people who changed the trajectory of my life did what they would consider “no big deal,” but their actions were game-changing for me. I want to encourage others to do what they can to help the people within their influence. That’s how the world is changed—through kind actions delivered in the context of relationship.

What is your biggest passion? Do you feel like you're living your passion and purpose?

I am definitely fulfilling my purpose. I feel so strongly about finding and fulfilling the purpose for which each of us was born and perfectly matched, that I created a program to help people find it. It’s called YOUR REAL SUCCESS. It walks participants through the process I went through to find my purpose and to enjoy the five facets of real success which are, GOOD RELATIONSHIPS, GOOD HEALTH (because we’re not stressed out all the time), PEACE, JOY, and FINANCIAL PROSPERITY to do what we were created to do.

What is your joy blueprint? What lights you up, brings you joy, and makes you feel the most alive?

The thing that makes me feel most vibrant and alive is when I’m on stage, the lights go on, and the mic goes hot, and I get to let loose with the messages that have been entrusted to me.

How do you live intentionally? Are there tools/resources/practices that you rely on to help you stay mindful and grounded?

I start every day with a meeting with Jesus. He is the CEO of Me, Inc. My very simple process is to PRAY. LISTEN. ACT. REPEAT. My M.O. in life is to find what works and go with that. This works.

What would your younger self think about what you're doing now?

My younger self would pass out in shock or dismiss it as complete fantasy! I’m naturally an off-the-chart introvert. If someone would have told me that I would be speaking to people packed into filled football stadiums, I would have told them to put down the crack pipe and pull their lives together.

Do you have a go-to mantra or affirmation?

God works ALL things together for good for those who follow Him. Not just the things we understand. Not just the things that make logical sense. But ALL things, including the most painful things. If we pray, listen, act, and repeat, He will work even the ugliest things together for our good. THIS is why I encourage people to mine the lessons out of all they’ve been through. The lessons include the character traits, coping mechanisms, and learned abilities that we acquire through adversity. These things are highly valuable and transferable into the workplace.

What is your biggest dream?

To eradicate social isolation from which the societal ills of domestic violence, child abuse, child sex trafficking, addiction, suicide and more emanate by helping to implement the Love Is Action Community Initiative.

To learn more about Rhonda and her work you can connect with her on her website www.rhonda.org and on Twitter @rhondasciortino Instagram @rhondasciortino and Facebook @rhondasciortino.

You can learn more about Love Is Action Community Initiative, which provides free downloadable materials for anyone in any community to launch this grass-roots initiative. It also provides a list of proven effective programs, ministries, and resources that are ready and willing to help replicate their programs in communities that need their programs; and their first campaign Stop Child Sex Trafficking, the website provides free sharable graphics and videos that equip people to identify the five most common signs of trafficking and the one action to take to stop it. Videos of national thought leaders in this area answer commonly asked questions including, “why do my buy sex with children?; as well as the Successful Survivors Foundation, a non-profit educational organization which provides free videos designed to improve relationships before disaster, and more; Successful Survivors Speaker Bureau provides professional, powerful speakers who make events substantive and successful; Your Real Success helps participants mine the lessons out of what they’ve been through and use those lessons to find and fulfill their unique purpose, which is their REAL SUCCESS! This website provides information on the YOUR REAL SUCCESS program that can be accessed on an individual or small group basis, in person, via Zoom or FaceTime or in an immersion, retreat-type setting; and click here for her relationship videos.

Joy Corner is an interview-style blog series brought to you by Seek The Joy Podcast. Our mission continues to be a desire to share your stories, truths, joys and inspiration in your words. We invite you to join our corner, and share your joys, passions, and moments of inspiration as we continue to seek the joy, together. Join this series here

Rhonda Sciortino - Speaker, National Child Advocate, Author, “Love Is Action”