Voices for Voices®

Resilient Spirit: How Karla Solomon Turned Pain into Purpose (Ep 314)

• Founder of Voices for Voices®, Justin Alan Hayes • Season 4 • Episode 314

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Resilient Spirit: How Karla Solomon Turned Pain into Purpose (Ep 314)

What does it take to transform unimaginable trauma into a powerful force for good? Karla Solomon's journey from human trafficking victim to survivor-advocate provides a raw, inspiring answer to this question.

Continuing our conversation from episode 313, Karla shares the harrowing details of her trafficking experience - broken ribs, impossible financial quotas, and constant threats to her family's safety. The turning point came unexpectedly when she discovered a cross necklace among her belongings while hiding in a hotel bathtub. This small symbol reconnected her to faith just days before law enforcement officers raided the hotel and rescued her.

Yet as Karla candidly reveals, "The healing journey afterward was harder than what I survived." She describes hitting rock bottom in October 2017, attempting suicide before a timely call from a friend who "went to war for her" through prayer changed everything. This spiritual awakening became the foundation for her remarkable transformation and calling to help others.

Today, Karla's accomplishments defy expectations. She founded "No Longer Captive" providing emergency assistance to trafficking victims, serves as a court-certified expert witness, teaches law enforcement about trafficking dynamics, and helps shape Texas legislation through her role on the Human Trafficking Survivor Leader Council. Perhaps most powerfully, she now teaches alongside the same investigator who built the case against her trafficker.

"I am extremely proud of the woman that I have become today," Karla reflects, "because I am now a woman that would have protected me as a child." Her story reminds us that our darkest chapters don't define us, and with faith and resilience, we can transform trauma into purpose.

Visit KarlaSolomon.com to learn more about her work and her survivor devotional "Unchained." If you missed the first part of our conversation, please check out episode 313.

Chapter Markers

0:00 Welcome and Introduction

2:25 Karla's Trafficking Experience

7:15 The Faith Turning Point

13:30 From Survivor to Advocate

20:15 Working with Law Enforcement

26:13 Faith, Purpose and Self-Care

33:18 Becoming a Protector and Final Thoughts

#ResilientSpirit #KarlaSolomon #PainToPurpose #OvercomingObstacles #PersonalGrowth #TransformativeJourney #MentalHealthAwareness #InspirationDaily #EmpowermentStory #LifeLessonsLearned #BuildingResilience #MotivationalSpeaker #HealingThroughStruggle #CourageAndStrength #PurposeDrivenLife #HealingJourney #justiceforsurvivors #justice4survivors #VoicesforVoices #VoicesforVoicesPodcast #JustinAlanHayes #JustinHayes #help3billion #TikTok #Instagram #truth #factoverfictionmatters #transparency #VoiceForChange #HealingTogether #VoicesForVoices314

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Speaker 1:

Hey everyone, it's Justin. Thank you so much for joining us on yet another episode of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. We have an exciting guest, which you saw the first part of our conversation with Carla Solomon, which was episode number 313. Which was episode number 313. This episode is number 314. And we just want to thank everybody who has done with us from the beginning, or if this is your first time joining us, we obviously encourage you to at least look at episode 313 so you can catch all of our conversation with Carla.

Speaker 1:

And we have a variety of guests, we cover a variety of topics and it's all in the hope of helping people understand that they're not alone, that other people have gone through somewhat similar, potentially in one way or another, and that it's okay to be empowered as a person to get through things, no matter how hard they may seem, and to find and we're going to talk about faith. So for us, you know, faith is a huge, huge part of how we're going to talk about faith. So for us, faith is a huge, huge part of how we're able to get through just all life's challenges, the ups and the downs, all the hurdles and roadblocks and everything that comes with it. So, yeah, thank you for joining us and again, thanks to Carla Solomon for coming back for another episode. Thank you so much.

Speaker 2:

Thank you for having me again.

Speaker 1:

You're welcome. Maybe we can pick things up on how and when faith and that walk kind of started with you and then we'll work our way, obviously up to current state and the advocacy work and all the great things that people can find out and and hopefully help help you out so something I didn't share in the first episode is how I was actually recovered by my trafficker as an adult.

Speaker 2:

I was in a hotel in Texas and I was fumbling through all my stuff. Now at this point I had broken ribs all the way on the left side of my body because my trafficker physically abused me a lot. I actually got my ribs broken one day because I shut a door without his permission, so he punched me as hard as he could in my chest in Texas and he refused me any kind of medical treatment. So something that I used to do during this time was sit in a hot, scalding bathtub to try and soothe my body, and he had already taken everything from me, including my wedding ring. At this point and he even before this I had escaped and I ran, and during the time of me trying to get away, I had actually reached out to my husband and told him everything that was going on, where I was at, who I was, with everything from him. My trafficker, or my pimp, was actually sending me messages telling me that if I didn't come back, that he was going to take my daughter, who was five years old at the time, and he was going to do the same thing to her. So I went back and my quota went from $1,500 a day to $2,500 a day and he would intentionally put things on the back page ad. That I was not okay with and I was not allowed to refuse any of those services.

Speaker 2:

So I was sitting in this bathtub and, like I said, he had taken everything of value from me, including my wedding ring, all my jewelry, everything that was anything of value and somehow I found this cross that I never take off. I'd actually bought it for my husband as an anniversary present years previous to this and I found this in my stuff somehow. I don't know how I got there. I cannot explain it. There is no explanation for it, but it was there and I was sitting in the bathtub fumbling through all my stuff and kind of taking inventory of what I had that was mine, and I found the cross. And I remembered this night that I had actually my daughter had a nightmare and I put daddy's cross around her neck and I told her baby, when God is with you, no evil can come against you. And she slept soundly the rest of the night and when I found that cross, you know I, I remembered that moment and I shed a quiet tear because I didn't want him to hear me from in the hotel room and I basically looked up at the ceiling and I told God, I was like I can't take this anymore.

Speaker 2:

And a couple of days later I was recovered by DPS. They basically raided the hotel, they found me and it took an officer getting in front of my face to asking me are you Carla Solomon? For me to realize that I wasn't the name that my trafficker called me, which was Alexia, because that was what was on those ads Alexia, the Australian princess. And I'm obviously not Australian. But that's what it took for me to kind of snap out of that autopilot mindset. And obviously the law enforcement knew something else was going on. I kept complaining about how bad my ribs hurt. So they took me to the hospital and I was eventually reconnected with my you know. I was eventually reconnected with my you know, reunited with my family, with my husband and my kids, and that was kind of where my faith journey started.

Speaker 2:

But, to be honest with you, the healing journey afterwards was harder than what I survived. I had trauma bond, which many people know as Stockholm syndrome, and there was a lot of disturbing. You know things that go along with that Probably too long to really talk about it on here, about it on here, but I actually got to a place where I felt like, after hiding in my house for seven months, I got to a place where I felt like my only way out was suicide. So I tell a lot of people, october 4th of 2018 or 2017, I'm sorry was whenever I kind of threw in the towel and got through to my face and said no, you've got some work to do. And during this attempt of suicide, I had taken a bottle of pills and I was literally looking at the phone, waiting to see how long it was going to take for me to just fall asleep and not wake up. And during that time, a really good friend of mine and she'll even tell you she basically was in her kitchen and something in her spirit told her you need to call Carla now, and so she stopped everything that she was doing and she called me and, if I recall correctly, she basically asked me what's going on? What did you do? And I broke down and I told her everything.

Speaker 2:

Up until that point, she didn't know exactly what I had been through. She knew I was very traumatized. She knew I wouldn't leave my house. She would always come in see me. She even helped my kids one year with school clothes and shoes and things because I wouldn't work and it was just my husband working. So a lot of people. Whenever you are on the phone with someone and someone just tells you, like I just swallowed a whole bunch of pills, I don't want to live anymore, they would call 911 and they would, you know, would have your stomach pumped and rush to the hospital, all the things. But that wasn't her response. Her response was her going into prayer over me and my life, and not just those little, quiet, closet prayers that many make. She went to war for me and I don't want to cry. I've shared this so many times, but this is always the part that makes me emotional.

Speaker 1:

No worries.

Speaker 2:

She went to war for me and I found myself on my bedroom floor crying, puddles into the carpet and I rededicated my life to God that day and I left the house for the very first time the next day and I was asked to share at a local university here where I live because they were having a human trafficking awareness, you know, event and that was the first time that I had actually shared my story. I probably trauma dumped on the entire audience and it was very emotional, but I got through it and through that it really kind of showed me that not only do I have a voice, but a voice that people will listen, a voice that people will support me and help me get through. You know what I've been through. So that was kind of my meeting Jesus moment and together we had started a ministry. We were the first nonprofit in the state of Texas that was recognized by the Department of Justice to be a state approvedapproved program for survivors, specifically those who have criminal charges and need treatment rather than punishment. So we started that. It's still going.

Speaker 2:

Because of the recent flooding here in Kerrville it's been tough because one of our homes was completely damaged. I don't work with them full time anymore. I had to leave last year because a lot of health problems. I literally piled my plate so full that I was doing for me to get back to a place that I was okay emotionally, spiritually, mentally, emotionally and even physically, because it's hard for a survivor to step into a space where they're then advocating for others, advocating for others. So today I'm the founder of my website, which I call NLC, which stands for no Longer Captive. I help women, specifically those that are in crisis or emergency situations, who are trying to leave their trafficking situation. So a lot of the, all the funds that are donated to my website go directly to survivors to help them sustain themselves, so that they don't have to entertain the thought that going back to that trafficker, to that lifestyle, is their only option of survival, of survival. I am still a consultant and work with Mercygate Ministries, which is an amazing program for women 18 and older. I oh gosh I'm a mandatory continuing education legal education sponsor for the State Bar of Texas. I am also recognized as a court-certified expert from the State Bar of Texas. So not only have I walked with other survivors through testifying against their trafficker, but I also work as an expert in my field or in the human trafficking field, to be an expert called to the stand to give clarity to the jury about survivors and not self-identifying as one. I you know, my first case was in Waco that I did that for and the guy got 249 years sentenced to him for what he did and there was four victims in that case and none of them identified as a victim, because not many people understand and know exactly what trafficking is.

Speaker 2:

It does not look like the movie Taken. It does not look like the movie Sound of Freedom, although that was actually based off of a single sexual assault event, was actually based off of a single sexual assault event but turned into a trafficking movie. But it doesn't always look like that. A lot of times it's way more complex. I'm a sort of a council member for the Human Trafficking Survivor Leader Council for the state of Texas, for the governor's office, so we help a lot with like legislation and things that are being passed in Texas. A lot of the legislation that is about human trafficking we have had a hand in because I've been a founding member of that council since 2019. So we've been through two, three legislative sessions that have passed laws that have to do with trafficking and still doing a lot of work in that area. But I mean, I've done a lot of things. One of my favorite things to do is I partner heavily with law enforcement, and that's amazing because you know I've been picked up by law enforcement multiple times. I'm a two-time prison, I've been to prison twice, I have seven felonies on my record and today I am accredited by the state to teach law enforcement, judicial officials, service providers, schools and school districts, and even more. So it's been really, really cool to watch the Lord work through my life and my story and the things that I've been through, because Romans 8, 28 is one of my favorite scriptures that he turns all things to good for those who love him, for who are called according to his purpose, and I have it actually tattooed on my chest because that is just a testament of my life and I want to continue doing the work that I do because I know that it can and will continue to help so many. I've walked along.

Speaker 2:

Hundreds of survivors, women and children walk through the trial process. There's one in particular that comes to mind that she's like a second daughter to me. You know I walked with her through two trials that ended in life sentences for both men who abused her, and you know she was placed in placement and she ran away from placement and she was actually trafficked during that time and that really kind of opened my eyes that it's not about just walking with the survivor themselves, but also with their families, because her mom was not in a good place either. Her mom has been through a lot of stuff too. So it's really about, you know, being there for the entire family so that at the end they can be reunited, because every time she would run away from placement or homes or wherever she was placed, she would always tell me Carla, I just want to go home to my mom and I got.

Speaker 2:

I totally understood that, you know, and so we had to help her mom get to a place that she was mentally, emotionally okay and sober and all the things, and help her get custody of her child back, which that did happen, and so she in particular was able to return to her mom and go all throughout high school and experience all the things that kids should be able to experience Prom, homecoming, having boyfriends and all the things for her, you know to. Actually, she's now 18 and, you know, living a very good life and obviously we all have struggles and we all have, you know, the ups and downs and everything in between, but you know, for the most part that is definitely a success story. So that's really that's me, I mean. So that's really that, that's that's me.

Speaker 2:

I mean I try to lean on the Lord for his understanding and his leading, not my own. I don't try to jump into things without his green light saying yes, carla, you know you can do this. Just like before we got on the first podcast or recording of this, that was one of my main questions Can I talk about God? Because if I can't talk about Jesus and what he's done in and through my life, then it's not for me. I've walked away from many documentaries and many other opportunities that would have been really, really cool, but they wanted me to leave God out of the story, which I just cannot do. I have to stand firm on that and I will continue to stand firm on that, because he is my everything and I would not be here without him.

Speaker 1:

That's just so incredible here without him, that's just so incredible. That's uh, well, one of the questions I was going to ask you, like, what's the field that keeps you going? Uh, the lord keeps you going and I I would. I'm gathering, when you're helping people, whether it's for money or not, that that is part of it and I think that's one of the parts that I'm working through and, uh, of you know, everybody wants to look at numbers, they want to look at how many downloads, how many followers you have, all these things, and oh, you're, you know you're not making a difference, or whatever that may be, and that's it. And it's the, the stories and the feedback where somebody does reach out and you get some kind of feedback and it's like this is.

Speaker 1:

This is why it might not come every day and it might come in varying degrees, but those are the things where I look at what I could be doing or what I'm being asked to do, something in a different field or something different for me, because I haven't been trafficked, but with my mental health, the depression, anxiety, ocd, all those things, I live it every day, just like you live yours every day, and I and I just feel like, well, I'm just being myself and sharing about myself and talking to people that are just being themselves. Whether it's a high profile person or not, it doesn't matter. As long as the person is sharing their own story and it is their truth to them, then people can judge all they want. But I've I've gotten past that myself, which is so, so hard to do, because it's that whole comparison of like, well, what are, what are my competitors doing?

Speaker 1:

or what am I not doing?

Speaker 1:

or what can I do better, or the numbers or whatever it may be, and that's been the God for me has been that that I mean he's filled in the void. Always there's just's there and I accept it. Then it it kind of feels that that uh, a little bit of that emotional uh bond and then, uh, you know, just talking and hearing you, hearing you speak, and get into the goosebumps as you're talking about all the things that you're I don't say you rattled off it. You know you're quite an extensive list of the things that you do. And if somebody would ask you 10, 15, 20 years, carla, is it what you think? Where do you see yourself? And it's like, oh yeah, I see myself doing this, this, this and this, and that's kind of where I'm at.

Speaker 1:

Like, if it was 20 years ago for me, I would have said I would never come to grips with my mental health. I would maybe get to that point of you know is life for me and that you know is life for me and that, but with you in October of 2017 and me in November of 2017, kind of hitting that rock bottom and then just starting that trajectory of all. Right, it's still a journey, even today. There's still good days and there's still really crappy days, and the only person that knows that is you, and I and the individuals of you know how we're, how we're feeling. It's not always a, you know, a cut or a sprained ankle. You can see that there's just a lot with our minds and a lot of things that people say and then that we go check it out and then and then we go oh man, how did I get myself in this situation? And and for you to be here as not even just a survivor, just like an advocate.

Speaker 1:

It's a human being that, like you said, like I testified at trials, I'm accredited, I work with law enforcement, I have ever record, and yet they still want to work with me because I, because of the work I do and because of how passionate and how you've really taken uh, not that you haven't taken control of your life, but you're really taking that control of saying here's where I'm going and if it's in this lane or lane, then I'm good with it. And, like you said, if you can't talk about god and your walk, then that's not in your lane. So it's an easy thing for you to say, okay, well, thanks, but no thanks, and that I think that's not in your lane, so it's an easy thing for you to say, okay, well, thanks, but no thanks, and I think that's important that people can feel comfortable talking about their faith. If that's something that's important to them, they should by all means say it.

Speaker 1:

Don't worry about people are going to judge, no matter what no matter how popular a celebrity or anybody is, there's still always going to be people that are. They don't like them. They might not like their music, they might not like their work or what have you. So for us it's like it's got to. If we look ourselves in the mirror like, am I doing what I feel that god is having me do, it may be a little bit, I'll say alternative.

Speaker 1:

Or, you know, not the nine to five as is pictured and in in many jobs and careers and nothing against that, and I think that's sometimes it's hard for people to if they're not in that mindset. It's hard for somebody to have that kind of entrepreneurial like hey, I can adapt, I can do this. And if I get a call or get an email, I'm going to at least check it out. I'm not going to just turn away of you know a potential opportunity, just turn away of you know a potential opportunity. And those are things that I'm going through, and I'm sure there's other people watching and listening as well. And it is just powerful to have your voice and your emotions, with how you're sharing your voice, and that just makes you even more human because we're not robots, we're humans.

Speaker 1:

We have emotions. We can try to block them, but there's times where we have emotions and sometimes it makes us cry. Sometimes it makes us cry, sometimes it makes us laugh, sometimes it makes us very, very strong and feeling and what we're doing, that I'm doing what I was called to do and and so to somebody, that somebody, it can be like oh my gosh, you're trying to be this savior for everybody and that's not the case. You're doing one person at a time, I'm doing one show at a time, one guest at a time, one story at a time. And for somebody to say, oh sorry, you know, this person's dangerous because they have a record, or if they don't have a record, or because their traffickers still looking for them, I get it, but I also get the fact that this is important work and if we just let things go, then there's more people that could potentially be harmed. And even though we might not have that number that says, oh, we've helped 50,000 or whatever the number is. And that's the hard thing, because people are looking for numbers. They're looking at a paycheck, hourly wage, how many views, how many clicks, how many followers, and then saying, oh well, this person only has this many followers, so they couldn't be part of something that's bigger than them.

Speaker 1:

And I think it's just important for our viewers and listeners just to, I mean, take stock of where you're at and what your calling is, and it's not going to be the same as it may be the same as ours. It might not be, it might be a little bit, it might not be. But don't feel ashamed when you find yourself doing something that not only feels like you're advancing your career but it's also advancing kind of your emotional healing and sharing and that cathartic experience like journaling and with those types of things that do. But for me that that help. I don't do them enough, but when I do them I'm like I don't do this like once a day, but at least I have some coping mechanisms.

Speaker 2:

I can at least try before I get to that like For me yeah, for me, excuse me self-care is paramount If that means, you know, going to therapy or doing something special for myself. It could be simple things, it could be sometimes expensive things. I'm a big fan of hypothermic, infrared pod heat therapy, which is extremely good for your body, but also good because you get that 30 to 45 minutes of just really really sitting in the heat, but also because I love the heat obviously. Also because I love the heat, obviously, but it really gives you that reset time.

Speaker 2:

Right Reading my Bible, journaling, writing is something huge. Like I wrote a book, I wrote a devotional for survivors, for healing. It's a 37 day devotional and it's also on my website. You can find it on Amazon also. It's called Unchained and it's also on my website. You can find it on Amazon also. It's called Unchained. But something I wanted to also share is that today I even get to share and teach DPS alongside the same investigator, now lieutenant, that built the case against my traffickers. So those moments are just amazing because he's seen me at my most broken and he now trusts me to teach new agents coming into you know the public safety area, being troopers and you know working human trafficking cases and things like that, and I get to teach right alongside of him. And the other thing that I just kind of wanted to leave you guys with is that I am extremely proud of the woman that I have become today, because I am now a woman that would have protected me as a child.

Speaker 1:

Oh my gosh, that is such a fitting way to close out and, oh my gosh, so powerful. When I reached out and we were talking about times and dates and trying to get everything lined up, I was floored when we were able to settle on one. And now it's happening, because you're also a positive spirit too. It's not just well, here's my story and here's the things I've done, but you just have that positive spirit of hey, I want to help people. Like as basic as whatever that sounds. I want to help people and I'm kind of in the same boat of it's in a little different area, but still connects to the human trafficking. I just want to help people if it's through a situation like that, if they've gone through a tough situation, if they're students and they have exams and they feel stressed, like that's, that's completely normal. It's not. You're not feeling any emotion. That, uh, that isn't what it's supposed to be like. I get nervous even doing these, even though I've done so many of them. It, uh, it I just, I just do, and I think it's because that's just what I think, part of what I'm meant to do, and I, uh, I was lucky to be able to uh, meet individuals.

Speaker 1:

His name's tyrus. He he's a former wrestler, he's on the gutfeld show on fox and that, and and so I was able to have him on the show and and so I was able to have him on the show, and and he was just talking about the just basic human things of feelings and emotions and being a dad, and which I have a lot of work to do, I think. I think we all do. But to hear somebody do this down to earth and be like alright, like we want to talk about the numbers, like he's almost got a million followers on X, and here he is talking to me like who am I? I'm just, we're just some little organization. And he felt it was important enough and it's so cool because he does enough, and it's so cool because he does comedy and he's coming near our area, and they sent two complimentary free tickets and backstage passes and they're just like, yeah, thanks for having me on your show.

Speaker 1:

And it was just like something. You look at what your show? And uh, it was just like something. And you look at, you know what those would cost. And I'm just like I literally want to shake his hand and say, hey, thanks for you know, like what you're doing, that you you're helping us as an organization? Yes, I mean, he'll sometimes repost or file, or he follows with repost or share some some things. I'm like for him to have the time to do things. Uh, then it doesn't matter, like at what level we think somebody's so well to do, like well, they don't have time to help people or to talk to the little person. And that just showed me A lot of humbleness, of swallowing my pride and one thing at a time. And if we feel like this is what we're being called to do, then Then I think that's what we're we're called to do and that we should follow in that path. Can you just recite that last line again as we end, because I love the last tagline?

Speaker 2:

Oh that I have now become a woman. That would have protected me as a child.

Speaker 1:

Amen. Thank you so much, Carla Coleman, for joining us on two episodes of our show. You're an inspiration.

Speaker 1:

You are an incredible person and thank you for your transparency of walking back through life and those traumatic times and to get to where you're at, of just being a down to earth person. But you're helping so many people and I just love being able to have people that talk about that, that just genuinely want to help. But it's not all about the money or other things that like, yeah, that that that's important and uh, gotta find a way uh for for that. But also you know what's in our heart and stuff. You know they say. You know people can die from a broken heart Definitely, and so it's just so important to follow your dreams, follow what interests you and don't let other people tell you you can't do it and just be yourself.

Speaker 1:

As simple as that is the Carla Solomon awesome episode 313, part one. Please check it out. Please visit CarlaSolomoncom with a K to learn more about Carla, her devotional, her book, everything that's going on on TikTok, on social media. Just a very upbeat person that talks about some very tough topics, and the world could use a lot more people like, like yourself. So thank you so much, thank you for having me, thanks, you're welcome and thank you. Our viewers, our listeners. Uh, again, please check out episode 313, part one of our conversation with carla. Uh, carla solman, and we just hope that you celebrate the voice in you and please be a voice for you or somebody in need. Bye, bye, we'll see you later next time.

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Justin Alan Hayes

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