Like many of us, Ronalda Sullivan started with a dream for the future. She could picture a happy marriage, adorable children, and time to travel worldwide. As a young woman, Ronalda enlisted in the Air Force and spent time overseas. Things got even better when she met and married her husband. “We had this big, beautiful wedding. I married Prince Charming.” They had three children,  a daughter born in Turkey and a son and daughter born in the Netherlands. Her vision of what her life would look like was right on track, but sometimes life has other plans. 

At the age of two, Ronalda’s son was diagnosed with non-speaking autism. It shocked the family, and she worried about how the world would treat him. After seeing that his needs weren’t being met at school, Ronalda fought to get him the education he deserved. “I told the school that he needed to go where he could be taught based on his differing abilities.” Finally, she enrolled him at the Kennedy Krieger School of Autism in Baltimore, an hour's bus ride from their home. “It's disheartening that it is so difficult for these individuals to get exactly what they deserve. Why is it a fight?”

After 22 years, her marriage ended. The divorce was a messy ordeal but ultimately necessary for her family's happiness. “It’s difficult to imagine that happiness and peace can result from saying no to a relationship that's no longer working.” But now Ronalda was a single mom with three teenagers at home. As she struggled to make ends meet, the bills kept piling up. “I found myself having to file bankruptcy. I didn’t know what that would mean for raising three children.” Life seemed to get even worse when the bank repossessed her car. “I watched the tow truck hitch my vehicle up and wondered if it would leave my neighborhood before my children got off the school bus. Would they see?”

As time passed, Ronalda began to have a different perspective. As a mother of a son with a disability, she learned to reimagine a whole new life for herself and her family. “My dreams look different. They're not the same anymore. I want to start empowering and inspiring women through my story.”  

With the encouragement of her friends and family, she stepped into the world of entrepreneurship. She opened her business, Dream Differently ®, where she coaches and mentors women in navigating challenges and transforming their lives. She’s now an international speaker and author. For Ronalda, her life is much better than she ever imagined. “If you can just embrace what your life looks like right now and reimagine your reality. That's what it means to dream differently.”