I was bankrupt at 30 from funding my cocaine habit now I earn over $13,000 a month – New York Post

Sam Evans was just 23 years old when she was offered her first line of cocaine at the funeral of a friend who had died from a drugs overdose.

Having been through a heartbreaking abortion, suffered horrendous bullying and in mourning, Sam was at an all-time low so she said yes.

Within six weeks, the now 42-year-old was taking cocaine every day, spending hundreds each week. Her weight dropped from 147 pounds to 112 pounds, and she was signed off work.

It sparked a spiral of addiction that saw Sam, from London, forced to declare herself bankrupt aged 30 after getting into $54,109 of debt to fund her habit.

Now, Sam has turned her life around, earning up to $13,527 a month as a life coach helping others overcome adversity, and she has written a new book The Cognitive Switch.

Taking drugs was a cry for help that no one could hear. I was unhappy and had been since I was little. I was desperately seeking love, Sam said.

It led me into toxic relationships, and because of the way I was behaving, no job I had lasted more than 18 months.

But through the work Ive done on myself with coaching and therapy in the past five years, I believe what I go through Igrowthrough to help other people. That I needed to go through the pain, come out the other end, and show people how they can do it too.

Sam grew up in East London in a predominately white British area, in a strict Indian family with her two younger sisters.

She felt as though she didnt fit in at school, and was bullied by classmates who racially abused her. At seven, she remembers praying to god to take her back.

I didnt fit in because I didnt look the same. Other kids would tell me I was dirty because of my skin color.

My parents were very strict, so I didnt feel as though I could breathe without getting into trouble. It was the same at secondary school. I tried desperately to fit in, but friends would disappear quickly.

At 15, Sam had had enough of living at home when her parents divorced, so she went to live with her grandparents nearby, who allowed her to get a part-time job in Topshop.

But Sam would spend every penny on clothes and became addicted, hiding her haul in her wardrobe.

I loved the new outfits and little tops, but I wasnt allowed to wear them.

After completing her GCSEs and A-levels, Sam studied an art foundation course, then a massage course, but she left both without finishing.

At 18, and teetotal, she started socializing and met her then-boyfriend, falling pregnant when she was 20.

I didnt know what to do, so I had an abortion. Id only told my ex, so he came with me to the clinic. When I came round after the procedure, I was screaming at him to leave me alone.

I split up with him and felt numb. Abortion was frowned upon by my family, but I eventually told my mom and she was really supportive, but I was deeply heartbroken at what Id done.

Within the next year, Sam was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, just as she was going to launch her own business, a retail store selling womens clothes.

Then, at aged 23, one of Sams friends died of an accidental drugs overdose. And her world came crashing down.

I was offered cocaine at his funeral. At first I said no. But I was at an all-time low, and Id never let go after having an abortion. When I had a taste of cocaine I thought this is amazing, it numbed my pain.

Within six weeks, Id been signed off from work, my weight dropped. I was addicted.

I was doing a gram a day at $67 a day. I started borrowing money from friends, taking out loans and maxing credit cards to fund my clothes and drug habit. I was spiraling out of control.

Working in the financial industry as a PA in London, Sam started going out clubbing.

At first, she would spend $676 a night, buying everyone drinks and drugs so she felt in control.

Sam would also spend $1,352 per month on clothes, opting for designer brands such as D&G, Versace and Prada.

I just didnt care about myself. I ended up rowing with my real friends who wanted me to stop taking drugs and found other people who wanted to take cocaine.

Id get out of my head. Sometimes Id just go off on my own, jump in a taxi and go dancing, even though I could barely stand up. Im so grateful nothing happened to me.

I had no sense of responsibility, and all my jobs were on short-term contracts, so Id either get sacked or the contract would come to an end and they wouldnt ask me to stay.

Sam ignored her increasing debts, which were racking up interest every month.

By the age of 25,Sam was $54,109 in debt. So she took out an Individual Voluntary Arrangement with a company who called her over the phone and started paying off $574 a month.

But her partying continued, and at 27, she met her ex-boyfriend, and she began to shut out her friends and family.

I pushed for us to move in with each other, despite friends warning me he was a bad influence. Wed stay at home doing cocaine, sometimes staying up for days.

People were calling me a junkie. You can see in photos how dark and sad my eyes were. I was a wreck.

This carried on until I was 29. Then we split up, and I was devastated. I found out he hadnt been paying the rent, so I had to pay the arrears.

I then had a call to say my IVA had been conning me, so none of my debt had gone away. That money I had paid every month for five years just disappeared.

I then lost my 30,000-a-year ($40,000) job at a bank and had an emotional breakdown. I hit rock bottom.

Sam managed to pick herself back up, but it took seven months to find a new job because of her bad credit rating.

Aged 30, she started working at the Bank of America, moving into a new flat and she cut down the amount of drugs she was taking, but she was still addicted.

The following year, at work, Sam met her now-husband Barry, now 45, and it was love at first sight after a whirlwind romance, Barry proposed to Sam on her 31st birthday in 2011.

Having found someone who gave Sam the security she longed for, she quit her drug habit overnight. She found a different high in life.

We had moved into his house in South East London, and I was pregnant with our first child when Barry got down on one knee, and I said yes straight away.

Sam suffered postnatal depression after Joshua, now nine was born and decided to quit her banking career to become a Montessori teacher.

After welcoming their second child, Micah, in 2013, Sam started to work in network marketing, which introduced her to positive affirmations and the benefits they had on her mindset.

This led her to the world of coaching, and in 2018, she started to work with therapists and mentors to peel off a layer at a time.

It was a really emotional time I would cry a lot during these sessions as all the negative emotions from my past would come to the surface.

I got to the root cause of why I had turned to drugs and had become addicted to buying clothes.

In 2018, Sam who is now a qualified Emotional Quotient Practitioner and Hypnotherapy coach set up her own businessSam Evans Global,where she helps clients through personal crises and meet their professional goals.

I help people who feel stuck and like theyre going round in a vicious cycle and no matter how hard they push themselves they feel like theyre going backwards.

I rewire their thinking, to forgive the past so they can achieve what they want, whether thats in a relationship, in a business or as a parent.

Through one-on-one and group sessions, Sams business has soared, with her earnings topping $13,558 a month.

Sam charges $2,700 a month for her one-to-one program, and offers these or group sessions, which vary from $405 to $1,600pp per month. Her clients are based in the UK and the US.

On top of this, she also earns money from book royalties, her practitioner courses and training other coaches.

She has written about her experiences and coaching techniques in a new book calledThe Cognitive Switch: Turn off self-sabotage and turn on self-empowerment like a flick of a switch.

Ive shared these powerful tools to allow readers to take ownership themselves. I tell them how to do it, and guide them through the process, and they know that Ive been where they are.

The book put every single piece of information in my brain together. It was like everything I had been through had led to this point.

I now feel aligned and now feel content. I understand why I went through everything that I did. I now know my purpose, more than ever, and I now know that my purpose is definitely bigger than me.

This story originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced here with permission.

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I was bankrupt at 30 from funding my cocaine habit now I earn over $13,000 a month - New York Post