Breaking Free and Healing

Breaking Free and Healthy: My 20-Year Battle with Addiction is the truth of my life, from childhood through the age of thirty-three, told as clearly as I can tell it. It begins where one chapter of my life ended: the day I walked out of the Virginia Beach Jail and unknowingly stepped into a new kind of freedom. I didn't understand then what I was stepping into, only that something in me had finally surrendered. I was ready... ready to listen to learn and learn to listen. Ready to hear the guidance of a God of my understanding, and ready to accept help from people who had walked this path before me.

I am grateful to have survived long enough to write these pages. I am grateful for every lesson, every failure, and every small miracle that carried me to this moment. And above all, I am grateful that I can now share the goodness of God revealed through even my darkest trials.    - Paulette Dash Edwards

Breaking Free: My 20-Year Battle with Addiction is Paulette Dash Edwards' testimony of survival, redemption, and purpose-a story written to remind readers that no matter how deep the struggle, freedom is possible, and a new legacy can be built.

Paulette Dash Edwards is a master hairstylist, barber, cosmetologist, and instructor with more than 30 years of experience in the beauty industry. A woman in long-term recovery who openly shares her journey to bring hope to those struggling with addiction, Paulette currently serves as a sponsor, walking alongside others as they pursue freedom and restoration.

A gifted professional and entrepreneur, Paulette has owned and operated her own salon for decades, mentoring countless stylists and barbers, many of whom have gone on to open successful salons and barbershops under her guidance. She is also a member of the Black Chamber of Commerce, an active volunteer in her community, and a proud mother of three living daughters, a grandmother of eight, and a great-grandmother of two.