Today we’d like to introduce you to Petula Truly Flavius.
Hi Petula Truly, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was sitting alone in my bed, weeping.
After years of holding it together, being strong, pushing through and continuing to show up no matter what life brought, I had reached a point where I didn’t have anything left to pretend with.
I cried out to God:
“Why me?”
Why so much?
Why one thing after another?
Why did I have to go through all of this?
And in the middle of my weeping, I heard an answer I wasn’t expecting:
“Why not you?”
Why not you to have these experiences and someday use them to help someone else?
That moment didn’t erase what I had been through. But it began to change the way I understood it.
Because being strong was something I had learned very early.
I was the little girl who was bullied because of my short stature. Being different made me a target, and somewhere along the way, I learned how to keep going even when something hurt. I learned how to smile, adapt, push forward and not always let people see what I was carrying.
And I got very good at it.
I grew up, became a mother, built a career, earned degrees, served in my church and community, and became someone other people could depend on.
But eventually, life seemed to start coming at me faster than I could recover.
It began with major surgery, followed by unending health challenges and what felt like an endless cycle of specialists, appointments, tests and searching for answers.
And while I was trying to understand what was happening with my health, life didn’t stop happening.
My mother died after a long battle with cancer. My daughter grew up and left for college, bringing the unfamiliar quiet of an empty nest. My marriage ended in divorce. There were accidents, one after another. Loss. Loneliness. Physical pain. Changes I hadn’t planned for and couldn’t control.
And through so much of it, I did what I had learned to do years before.
I held it together.
I kept working. I kept serving. I kept showing up. I kept being strong.
Until I found myself sitting in that bed, weeping and asking God:
“Why me?”
And His answer—“Why not you?”—became a turning point.
Not because I suddenly believed everything that happened to me was good. And not because the pain disappeared. But I began to wonder whether what I had lived through could somehow become useful in the life of another woman.
Why not use my experiences to help someone else?
Why not understand what it feels like to look strong on the outside while struggling privately?
Why not someday sit beside another woman in her own difficult season and say, “I understand. I’ve been there too.”
Out of that weeping, my book Weeping Her Way to Wholeness was born.
And the book opened a door I hadn’t anticipated.
The book led to speaking.
Speaking led to conversations with women who began trusting me with their own stories.
Those conversations led to coaching and creating spaces where women could talk honestly about faith, fear, healing, loneliness, burnout, identity and the transitions we aren’t always prepared for.
Then came music. I began turning messages, prayers and lessons from my own journey into songs—another way to reach people with hope.
What began as one woman sitting in her bed weeping slowly grew into books, speaking, coaching, music, resources and a mission centered on a simple message:
Sis, you’re not alone.
Today, I am an author, speaker, faith-based coach, songwriter, entrepreneur, mother and healthcare technology professional. But I’ve learned that what we do is not the whole story of who we are.
That’s especially meaningful to me now as I navigate midlife myself.
I’m not talking to women from some perfectly finished place on the other side. I’m living many of these questions alongside them.
I’m still healing. Still learning. Still navigating change. Still growing.
Still becoming.
And that journey has led naturally into the next chapter of my work and my life: Stepping Into More™.
For me, stepping into more isn’t about doing more.
It’s about more of what makes me whole—more faith, more peace, more health, more courage, more meaningful connection, more joy, more purpose and more willingness to become the woman God is still calling me to be.
It’s interesting to look back now and realize how much grew from one of the lowest moments of my life.
I was sitting in my bed asking God, “Why me?”
And what I heard was:
“Why not you?”
Why not your story?
Why not your experiences?
Why not your voice?
Why not allow what made you weep to become something that helps another woman find her way toward wholeness?
That weeping gave birth to a book. The book gave birth to a message. And the message helped me discover a purpose I couldn’t see while I was still crying.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it has not been a smooth road. In many ways, the road itself is what shaped me.
One of my earliest struggles was being bullied because of my short stature. I learned young what it felt like to be different, and I also learned how to compensate—how to keep going, work hard, smile and appear strong even when something hurt.
That pattern followed me into adulthood. I became very good at being the woman who could handle things.
Then came a season when life seemed to keep adding weight before I had time to put anything down.
Major surgery was followed by years of health challenges, specialists, appointments, tests and searching for answers. At the same time, life continued changing around me. I lost my mother after her long battle with cancer. My daughter grew up and left for college, and I had to adjust to an empty nest. My marriage ended in divorce. I experienced accidents and physical pain. There were seasons of loneliness, uncertainty and trying to figure out who I was when so much of what had once defined my life was changing.
One of the hardest parts wasn’t simply going through those experiences. It was going through them while still functioning.
I still had responsibilities. I still had work to do. People still needed things from me. And because I had spent so much of my life being “the strong one,” I didn’t always know how to say, “I’m struggling too.”
That taught me something I now carry into my work with other women: strength can sometimes become a hiding place.
We can become so skilled at surviving that even the people closest to us don’t realize how much we’re carrying.
My faith has also been tested along the way. There were times when my prayers weren’t polished or inspirational. They were simply, “God, why?”
I’ve had to learn that faith and struggle can occupy the same space. I can trust God and still have questions. I can be grateful and still grieve. I can be strong and still need help. I can love the life I have while mourning parts of the life I thought I would have.
I’ve also had to learn that healing isn’t always a straight line. Some seasons require answers. Others require acceptance. Some require asking for help. Some require grieving. And some require having the courage to begin again when you never expected to have to begin again.
Perhaps one of my greatest challenges has been learning to stop measuring strength by how much I can carry.
I’m learning to pay attention to my body. To rest without believing I’ve failed. To create boundaries. To allow people into my life. To ask questions when something doesn’t feel right. To advocate for myself. And to recognize that becoming whole doesn’t mean pretending the difficult chapters never happened.
Wholeness means they don’t get to write the ending.
I wouldn’t call every struggle a blessing. Some things simply hurt, and I don’t believe we have to romanticize pain to find meaning after it.
But I can say that my struggles have given me compassion I didn’t have before. They’ve changed how I listen to people. They’ve made me more willing to talk about the things women often suffer through quietly—health changes, menopause, loneliness, burnout, grief, divorce, empty nesting, identity and starting again.
The road hasn’t been smooth.
But it has taught me that being strong isn’t the same thing as never breaking down. Sometimes strength is allowing yourself to be honest about what hurts—and then deciding that what happened to you will not be the end of your story.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Truly Flavius Group LLC?
Truly Flavius Group LLC is a faith-centered company focused on helping women 40+ navigate midlife, life transitions, health changes, identity and purpose.
Through speaking, coaching, books, music and women’s midlife resources, I help women move through seasons of change with faith, courage and the reminder that they are not alone.
The company also has a creative-services arm offering book writing and publishing, website design and music creation, helping individuals, entrepreneurs, churches and organizations bring their ideas to life.
What makes my work different is that much of it comes from lived experience. The struggles that once made me ask God, “Why me?” eventually became “Why not me?”—why not use what I’ve lived and learned to help someone else?
I’m especially proud of building a brand where my books, speaking, music, resources and creative work all have one thing in common: helping people turn their experiences and ideas into something meaningful.
My newest message, Stepping Into More™, reflects where I am today—encouraging women to pursue more of what makes them whole: faith, health, peace, connection, courage, joy and purpose.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
If there is anything else I would want someone reading my story to know, it is this: you are not too late.
Life may not look the way you thought it would. Your body may have changed. Your children may have grown up. A relationship may have ended. You may have lost someone you love, changed careers, faced health challenges, or simply looked in the mirror one day and wondered, “Who am I now?”
I know that question.
But I am learning that change does not mean your story is over.
At this stage of my life, I am writing books, creating music, speaking, building a business, helping other women and trying things I once might have thought were too late for me.
And I’m still becoming.
That’s what Stepping Into More™ means to me. Not chasing more accomplishments, but choosing more of what makes us whole—more faith, health, peace, courage, connection, joy and purpose.
So if another woman sees herself somewhere in my story, I hope she remembers this:
Sis, you’re not alone. You are not too old. You are not too late. And maybe you’re not starting over at all. Maybe you’re Stepping Into More™.
Contact Info:
- Website: www,trulyflavius.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trulyflavius
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/trulyflavius
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trulyflavius/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Trulyflavius
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0YJqDbP6Tgik6QJTpwaUMj
