Brandy Smith: Never Going Back and Never Backing Down

Brandy Smith keeps her eyes forward and focused on the future.

"It's possible. I'm doing it. I'm living -- breathing. I have my own truck, my own house. I have a boat and a camper, things I would have never dreamed that I could own that are in my name -- and it's possible," Smith said.

Smith owns her own home repair business and started her work after being released from prison for a felony charge related to drugs.

"I got into drugs, I was 17 and I went from weed to pills to cocaine to meth to crack," Smith said.

Smith's father took her in after her release and set her up on his property. Eight months later, Smith ran into trouble with the law again and was back in jail, soon to be joined by someone who would change her life.

"I told (this girl), 'Look, I'm fighting these demons,' you know, and we sat down and we prayed. And that night, when she prayed over me, they (police officers) came and got me at 2 o'clock in the morning to take me back to prison," Smith said. "From there, I was on the straight and narrow. I had no desire to go back to what I was doing."

Smith's father let her come back and had a camper set up for her and the two began to work on repairing historic homes. Smith considered going to college and applying for scholarships when her father encouraged her to start her own business instead.

"I was just really good at it and I enjoyed it, people would come by and say 'Hey, do you want to come work on our house?' But then I finally started doing it," Smith said.

Smith said the past 10 years of her life have been the best, even though she was in prison for part of them.

"I have a relationship with my father now, my mother doesn't have to worry if she's going to find me dead on the street. I can see my nieces and nephews grow," Smith said.

Smith's project that she finds most rewarding is the home that she repaired with her father.

"Taking it back to its original beauty is pretty much what we did and that was pretty satisfying," Smith said.

Smith attributes her life as it is now to that moment when she was at her lowest.

"When she prayed over me, it was just like the weight just lifted off of me and I get chills everytime I talk about it. Without that I don't think I would have done that (recovered.) If I wouldn't have accepted him (God), I don't think I would be here today, I know I would have got back out and I would be probably dead," Smith said.

Smith said most of her friends from the days she abused drugs are locked up or not alive anymore.

"This is something I enjoy doing, I'm not trying to get rich off of it, I'm just good at it, I love it," Smith said.

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