We all have our falls and rises. Some of them are smaller, others are bigger.
Marnie Murphy’s life took her through a significant dive down, to later bring her back up. Murphy talked about the challenges and changes she went through at the Southeast Advocates for Employment (SEAE) annual general meeting on Sept. 19.
Murphy was born and raised in Estevan. For many years, she was married and was working for the South East Cornerstone Public School Division, but then her life took a sharp turn.
“When I was 30 years old I got divorced. This is where my life starts to take a windy road,” said Murphy.
Twelve years of work sapped all her energy, and family circumstances broke her spirit. After she got divorced she went into depression. Soon Murphy got into a different relationship, into drugs and had two children.
Her life was completely falling apart, so she went to Pine Grove, which is a women’s correctional centre in Prince Albert, for eight months.
“I wasn’t coming back. It was a whole lot of ... and not where I wanted to be again. As soon as I got home, everyone said, ‘Why go back to Estevan? Why don’t you just go somewhere else?’ I have three children ages 11, six and four, so I had three reasons to come back,” said Murphy.
But the return brought up all kinds of anxiety problems, and she didn’t want to get back to a “people job.”
“I was at the point where social assistance said you best go get a job. So my anxiety went out of control, and they sent me to (Southeast) Advocates for Employment,” said Murphy.
“Upon first arriving I was scared that they will force me to get a job … Coming in I just say that when I got in, everyone heard my story, and everyone would look down at me and just assume that I was somebody terrible. They didn’t look at me sideways at all.”
Even though she had a good reception, she still was worried that she would be forced to take a job she wouldn’t like. But it turned out that not that many changes were needed.
Upon coming to Advocates for Employment Murphy was already into furniture refinishing.
“We have a storage base and I clean them up. One of the storage bases was loaded with furniture, so we took this furniture, painted it and they sold like hotcakes. I was doing this and Advocates said to me, ‘Dude, you already have a job. Why are you trying to look for another job, when you already have a job? You have a business, you have clientele, you have orders coming, you have everything going in the right direction,’” remembered Murphy.
She said she just didn’t realize that she had the potential and positive outlook of herself to think that she was actually doing something good.
Southeast Advocates for Employment helped Murphy to get into a Facebook 2.0 course, which enhanced her business, named Phoenix Furniture.
“I called it Phoenix Furniture because … I kind of took my life from the ashes and built it up,” said Murphy. “Phoenix Furniture has been my saviour. It is not only a job, but it’s therapeutic I get to do what I love.”
She’s been refinishing and selling furniture since 2016. She is still learning and trying to keep up with her Facebook page, but she’s built her client base and is going quite steady now.
“This is how I’ve been supporting my family for the last three years. And honestly, if it wasn’t for going to Advocates, I don’t know where I would be,” said Murphy.
“After coming from those five years of my life where my whole life went downhill, it was really hard to build myself back up. Talking with Advocates, being involved with them, anything I had to do with them has been positive and they’re always pushing me in the right direction. That’s really how I started, I was pushed. And I needed it.”
Almost four years later her business is strong and growing. Her daughter and her niece also make some pieces through Phoenix Furniture for sale.
“It’s not just for me. This is benefiting a lot of people,” said Murphy.
Murphy also had someone come on painting for her last summer when she got busy with her kids who are involved in different extracurricular activities. Thus, not only she created a story of success for herself, but she is now starting to create jobs for others.
