The Power of Support | Andrea Sasha Ortiz | TEDxUNT
Andrea Sasha Ortiz details that immediate post-revival health crises necessitate major life changes, arguing that while economic abuse debilitates, cultivating a personal "STEM" system—Support, Time, Energy, and Money—is necessary for survivors to move from merely surviving to achieving self-actualization and financial freedom. She illustrates this by recalling facing intimate partner violence, realizing the need for external support, and building her own life by leveraging community resources and self-care into entrepreneurship. ## Speakers & Context - **Andrea Sasha Ortiz** — Speaker who recounts an experience of clinical death and subsequent recovery to make major life changes, specifically leaving an abusive relationship. - Location of abuse: The United States. - Time of initial trauma: May 18, 2008, when she was clinically declared dead and revived three minutes later. ## Theses & Positions - A person cannot thrive if basic physiological needs are unmet, making leaving an abusive situation difficult, especially when economic abuse is involved. - *Support* is the most powerful form of currency, transcending socioeconomic status, gender, ethnicity, religion, and age. - The goal for survivors is not mere survival, but *thriving*, defined as evolving to a place of stable, secure, and safe realization of autonomy. - *STEM* is the actionable framework for moving from victimhood to self-actualization and economic freedom. ## Concepts & Definitions - **Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)**: Encompasses physical, sexual, emotional, verbal, financial abuse, stalking. - **Economic Abuse**: A specific form of abuse that debilitates by cutting off a person's ability to attain financial freedom. - **STEM**: An acronym defined by the speaker for the system required for thriving: **S**upport, **T**ime, **E**nergy, and **M**oney. - **Support**: Friends, family, and community members who champion success and mentor. - **Time**: The investment in pursuing life-affirming and fruitful ventures. - **Energy**: The allocated resource necessary to utilize time. - **Money**: The resulting fruit of labor, often signifying financial freedom. - **Self-actualization**: The ultimate goal, achieved through financial freedom and the cultivation of STEM. ## Mechanisms & Processes - **Abuse impact**: IPV can cause injury, fearfulness, PTSD, and economic abuse, which can be debilitating enough to prevent escape despite resources. - **STEM Cultivation**: The process involves utilizing a network of support to gain time, which is then wisely invested with energy to generate financial means. - **Skill Leverage**: Any skill—sewing a button, cooking a meal, caring for a dog, driving—can be leveraged to achieve economic freedom. - **Healing Path**: Process involves attending art-based healing circles, frequent journaling, and self-care to regain mind, body, and spirit health. ## Timeline & Sequence - **Prior to May 18, 2008**: Experiencing the violent relationship and abuses in the United States. - **May 18, 2008**: Pronounced clinically dead, revived three minutes later. - **Post-revival**: Connected with a survivor advocate; started attending a survivor support group. - **Ongoing**: Developing and cultivating the STEM system, leading to entrepreneurship and public speaking. ## Named Entities - **Andrea Sasha Ortiz** — Speaker and survivor. ## Numbers & Data - **One in four women** and **one in nine men** experience severe intimate partner violence. - **14 of 100 homicides** are the result of IPV (70% to females, 30% to males). - Estimated survival rate regarding economic abuse: **94 to 99 percent** will also experience it. - Ability to achieve economic freedom from any skill: **"if you can sew a button if you can cook a meal care for others walk a dog or drive."** ## Examples & Cases - **Crime Scene Observation**: Standing outside the crime scene in the U.S., observing the impact of IPV. - **Economic Abuse Impact**: It was sufficient to fulfill the former partner's ability to exert power and control, culminating in him taking her life. - **Support System Utilization**: Being connected with a survivor advocate who provided information for community support resources. - **Reclaiming Self**: Healing by participating in art-based healing circles and journaling. - **Entrepreneurial Foundation**: The ability to become an entrepreneur and speaker due to support from women healers. ## Counterarguments & Caveats - The challenge faced by many who question survival: those who questioned why she didn't just leave or why she wasn't "smart enough." - The danger of external focus: many people *want* to invest, but they *will* definitely want to invest only when observing growth and success. ## Conclusions & Recommendations - If experiencing IPV, one must cultivate their personal STEM by connecting with helping professionals to gain safe space and support. - It is possible to build an economic path of freedom through the systematic management of Support, Time, Energy, and Money. - The final thought is that victims can be transformed into those who live victoriously. ## Implications & Consequences - Failure to address systemic support means economic abuse can function as a disabling force, preventing autonomy. - Successful cultivation of STEM allows an individual to move from mere biological survival (physiological needs) to genuine self-actualization. ## Verbatim Moments - *"on may 18 of 2008 i was pronounced clinically dead when i revived three minutes later"* - *"one in four women and one in nine men experience severe intimate partner violence in the form of physical sexual emotional verbal and financial abuse and stalking"* - *"a person who lives in fear for their or their children or their pets lives cannot excuse me cannot active excuse me cannot achieve or maintain safety love belongingless belongingness self-esteem or self-actualization"* - *"I developed what i call my stem theory stem is an acronym for support time energy and money"* - *"support is the most powerful form of currency on this planet"* - *"survival is living in vigilance over one's physical safety needs however thriving is evolving to a place of stable secure and safe realization of your autonomy"* - *"i would not be here today without a powerful stem"*