Read our inspirational interview with Gonzalez:

My name is Angelica Gonzalez. My birthday is June 10, 1992. I have three younger siblings: my sister, Dayana, from my mother’s side, my brother, Samuel, and little sister Camila from my father’s side. I graduated from Rasmussen College in May of 2020 with a medical billing and coding degree. I’ve been attending College of Central Florida since August of 2020. I started going to school for registered nursing and after four semesters of passing all my prereqs (making it on the Dean’s list at CF), I realized my passion for child psychology. I recently changed my major and plan on graduating this December 2022 with an A.A. in Psychology from CF. After that, I plan on going to the University of Central Florida for my Bachelor’s in Child Psychology. On February 5, 2022, I married a wonderful and kind man named Carlos M. Lopez, who has become one of my best friends. I love to work out at Zone Health and Fitness in Ocala. Books that have changed my life so far have been Power Vs. Force by Dr. Hawkins, The Inner Work by Mat and Ash and Women Who Love Too Much by Robin Norwood. I enjoy each day and live my Vivri lifestyle to its fullest potential. I am a network marketing executive for Vivri, a company that promotes healthy lifestyle changes and was one of the major contributors to my transformation. I feel like every day is a new opportunity to learn and to continue to become a better version of ourselves.

Going back to the beginning, where did you grow up and what was your childhood like?

For the first years of my life, I grew up in Cali, Colombia—a beautiful city with a rich culture.
When I was six years old, I moved to the USA with my family. I’ve lived in Ocala, FL since I was eight and attended Saddlewood Elementary, Osceola Middle and Forest High School. My early childhood was normal and filled with memories of my grandmother, who stayed with Dayana and me at the house while my mother worked. I loved to rollerblade, ride my bike, write poems and music lyrics, the beach and warm weather. 

Three years ago, you started a new journey to transform your life—mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. What put you in that mindset, to head in a positive direction?

I would say that my past struggles and the fact that I hit rock bottom put me in the mindset of starting a new journey, because there was only one way to go and that was up.

If you’re open to sharing, were there certain things in your past that contributed to your struggles?

I am a person who experienced sexual abuse at a young age, twelve to be exact, and shortly after the consequences were detrimental to my mental and emotional well-being. Hormonal issues, PTSD, anxiety, depression, hypothyroidism (mood swings), low self-esteem, obesity, and anger issues arose from this traumatic event.

You’ve battled anxiety, depression, obesity, hormone imbalances and trauma throughout your life. Even one of those issues would be tough for any one person. Do you face each one with a different approach?

Yes. As I grew older, my focus shifted to becoming a better person each day. My issues surfaced, and I took charge of every single one. For example, a certain level of anxiety is normal for any human being, and I manage my anxiety through different techniques such as: working out regularly at the gym, yoga, meditation, breath work, journaling, and prayer. As for the depression, with time I grew to understand I was mentally stuck on my past traumas and therefore needed to heal and move forward to the present moment. I haven’t battled depression since 2019. I overcame it as I lost weight and practiced forgiving myself and others. It took me a long time to understand what it means to forgive. I always wondered how I could forgive someone who chose to hurt me. But after a lot of soul-searching, I realized forgiveness isn’t about accepting or excusing their behavior. It’s about letting it go and preventing their behavior from destroying your heart. I was in fact morbidly obese at the age of 21 until I was 27. I got introduced to VIVRi Lifestyle by a best friend named Alejandra Arango, and these magical products helped me with my nutritional goals. I call them magical products, but to be realistic, the magic was always inside of me. I did put in sweat, tears, hard work, self-discipline and a lot of hours working on myself to achieve my physical goals. My hypothyroidism was the major cause of my mood swings and hormonal imbalances. With my newfound healthy lifestyle, I overcame it completely and no longer need to take medication for my thyroid. I believe there are many things we can heal from, and I can tell you from my own experience I’ve healed from depression, hypothyroidism, anger issues and even prevented diabetes. At one point in my life, I was 225lbs and my entire blood panel was off.

You’re obviously disciplined, a trait not everyone has. Do you have a daily routine you stick to?

I put an alarm every day to get up before 8a.m. I meditate for fifteen minutes before looking at my cell. When I first open my eyes, my mind wants to do what every mind does—go back and remember my issues from the day before or even traumas from my past, so I start every day by saying “thank you, God” because I am alive and start listing off why I’m grateful. That usually does the trick to get into my meditation. Also, I hum in cases where I need to concentrate. I go to the gym Monday—Friday, usually in the mornings to weight train and do cardio. I love to start my days with a bottle of water with pineapple and strawberries. I put an alarm so that 45 minutes before I go to sleep, I’m in bed without a phone and reading for the remainder of that time.

What are your dreams and aspirations? 

Those have taken a very beautiful shift—from taking four semesters of registered nursing pre-rex to wanting to be a child psychologist. My past experience and my love for children and my passion for working with the mind has really led me to believe that I will be a great therapist. I aspire to get my Master’s in Psychology within the next four years.

Where do you see yourself in five years? 

I see myself with my own practice, bringing a new perspective to child psychology. I see myself transforming lives by working with children who have experienced trauma by preventing them from having a mental disorder in their adolescence or adulthood. I also see myself living near the beach because I do enjoy the ocean very much. I see myself very successful not only in my career but also my marriage, parenthood, life and all of my interpersonal relationships. I see myself enjoying the present moment and having quality time with the people who value me and love me for everything that I’ve faced head-on and who I became after. I also see myself with more wisdom attained by the experiences that I will live for the next five years, and I see myself learning something new from everyone every day until the day I die.