COMBERMERE – Despite a number of learning disabilities and challenges in her personal life early on, motivational speaker Lesley Andrew has accomplished a lot.
She shared her message of perseverance and overcoming obstacles recently to a group of attentive listeners at the Combermere Community Centre on June 11.
Opening her talk about her successes, she soon reverted to where she came from and how she got there.
Currently a professor at the University of Windsor in the area of vocal studies, Andrew also owns and operates her own production company and voice and drama studio called Dream in Progress Productions. A well-known Canadian singer and actress, she has performed and appeared on some of the biggest world stages as well as The Tonight Show, Oprah Winfrey, and CBC radio to name a few.
“My first CD has sold over 5,000 copies and my mother only owns one,” Andrew said with a smile.
Andrew shared how at the age of nine she came home from school to find her mother’s crumpled body, and had to call 9-1-1 to save her life after discovering that her mother had tried to commit suicide.
In the next year, her parents had divorced. Stress led to weight gain, frequent fainting spells, debilitating headaches and hair loss. In addition, she suffered abuse from her father.
Get your June 17, 2015 edition of The Valley Gazette to read the full story.