WOMEN, moreso than men, focus on emotional and mental healing and restructuring when a storm of any kind hits. In the wake of Hurricane Melissa, as Jamaicans sweep debris, rebuild roofs, and patch broken walls, another quieter kind of strategic restoration is taking place — the rebuilding of inner strength, emotional peace, and personal purpose.

For many women, Melissa has done so much structural damage and has added to years of other kinds of storms they have been dealing with. Personal battles, burnout, stress, emotional fatigue, career strain, hidden grief, and the silent weight of being strong for everyone else.

And it is in moments like these that transformational coach and breast cancer survivor Marcia Skervin, who knows what it’s like to rebuild after a storm, is going full speed to help women go through the clutter and restructure their lives.

A woman of prayer, discipline and deep resilience, Skervin knows what it means to stand in the middle of life’s fiercest winds and refuse to be blown away.

The storm that changed her life

Years ago, while juggling family, career, and women’s advocacy, Skervin received life-altering news — she had breast cancer.

“It felt like the ground shifted beneath me,” she recalled. “Your whole world pauses. Suddenly, the things you used to rush to don’t matter. Your peace becomes priceless. Your clarity becomes life-saving.”

Faced with her own storm, Skervin did not crumble — she surrendered everything to God, leaned on faith, and fought her way back to health one prayer, one treatment, and one moment of courage at a time.

“I decided that cancer would not write the ending of my story. God would.”

That battle not only preserved her life, it reshaped her purpose.

Turning pain into purpose

Today, in addition to the other hats she wears, Skervin is a clarity and transformation coach dedicated to serving mid-career women who feel overwhelmed, exhausted, and pulled in too many directions.

A certified human resources professional and business coach, Skervin is committed to guiding each client toward their best selves. She develops targeted packages that have been tailored to the needs of the respective client over three to six month coaching periods. On her coaching website marciaskervin.com, she offers women a free e-book on how to successfully juggle life and career.

Her work blends mindfulness, faith-driven strategies, mindset therapy, life organisation, and resilience coaching — helping women clear emotional and physical clutter so they can think clearer, feel lighter, and finally walk in their God-given purpose.

“I help women identify the clutter in their personal and professional lives, remove barriers and organise their lives to function better,” she said.

“A woman needs space to be at her best. Sometimes we are not at our best because our lives are so cluttered with everybody’s issues so we become confused, stuck and not as productive as we can be. I coach women to find clarity and structure. Because when clarity comes, structure will drive her growth and success follows — life begins to flow better.”

As a woman who has survived many storms, Skervin knows all too well that many women who look strong on the outside are fighting battles no one sees, and are often pouring into others while running on empty themselves. So she has been working assiduously through her Broken Wings Foundation to assist people impacted by Hurricane Melissa. And she has a message for our women in the midst of the storm recovery process.

“As Jamaica rebuilds physically from Hurricane Melissa, I think it’s necessary for us as women to rebuild internally, from our storms as well,” she said.

“After a storm, we clear away debris. We remove what’s broken. We make room to rebuild stronger.

“It’s the same with the soul. God sometimes allows storms to shift us, reset us, and put us on the path that will bring out the best version of ourselves. We will find peace of mind, structure and pursuit of purpose.”

To women who feel overwhelmed, discouraged, or stretched thin at this time, she offers a gentle reminder: “You do not have to rebuild alone. Do it step by step. Clarity comes. Strength returns. Productivity will come back but be kind to yourself. One thing at a time.”

A sisterhood of strength

Skervin’s story reminds us that storms do not always come to destroy us. Sometimes they come to awaken us, re-align us, and reveal the strength we didn’t know we had.

“Sometimes the most powerful reconstruction happens within. Every woman has a season when life demands she starts over — whether after illness, heartbreak, burnout, or the storms of nature and life. When a woman rebuilds her life, she strengthens her family, her community, and a nation,” she said.

“Right now we are rebuilding homes with cement, but we rebuild our women with faith, clarity, and support.”

As Jamaica continues to restore structures and rebuild lives, women like Skervin are helping to restore hope one life, one mindset, one woman at a time.

Marie Berbick-Bailey is a certified master life coach, women’s transformational coach, ordained minister, 2025 presidential lifetime achievement awardee, author, motivational speaker, wife, mother and big sister dedicated to empowering women to heal, thrive and walk in purpose. Connect with her at marieberbick.com, marieberbickcoach.com, or e-mail marieberbick@gmail.com.

MARIE BERBICK-BAILEY