Rising Stars: Meet Rormina Strickland of Raleigh

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rormina Strickland.

Hi Rormina, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I launched my career in uniform as a U.S. Army Military Police Officer, where I learned discipline, situational awareness, and the moral duty to safeguard the vulnerable. After my service, I earned dual B.A. degrees in Biblical Studies and Social Work, followed by M.A.s in Pastoral Counseling and Executive Leadership, and later an honorary Doctor of Divinity.

My civilian path led me to serve as a School Social Worker, advocating for at-risk students and their families. At forty-four, I entered what seemed to be a promising relationship, only to endure ten years of covert abuse that steadily eroded my self-confidence. Escaping that ordeal awakened my voice, and I chose to amplify it. Writing became both therapy and mission: my memoir, “Love’s Dark Reflection: Surviving a Decade of Covert Narcissism,” transformed private pain into a public roadmap and launched my full-time work as an author, speaker, and domestic-violence advocate.

Today, under the pen name R. R. Williams, I lead The R. R. Strickland Foundation, a 501(c)(3) that provides emergency relocation grants, trauma-informed counseling, empowerment education, and youth outreach. My current projects include Escape: How to Plan and Escape a Toxic Relationship, the children’s workbook I Am Not Alone, and weekly TikTok live panels on domestic violence and covert narcissistic abuse. In every endeavor, I turn lessons forged on the battlefield of abuse into practical tools that shorten and soften the road to freedom for the next survivor.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
“Easy?” That word doesn’t live in a survivor’s dictionary. I had to claw my way out, fingernails on concrete every single day.

First, there’s the psychological warfare. Covert narcissism chips away at your reality one molecule at a time. Re-learning to trust my own eyes felt like teaching a toddler to walk, shaky steps, hard fall, get back up, repeat.

Then come the systemic blind spots. Courtrooms, relatives, even well-meaning friends could not see past the polite mask my abuser wore. Trying to secure protective orders? Like yelling into a hurricane, and he kept fighting for access, and I stayed scared and exhausted.

And let’s talk money. Safety is expensive. Three moves, therapy bills, rebuilding my credit, cameras and alarms at my house and my daughters’, all while keeping the lights on at my home. Abuse hands you an invoice nobody warns you about.

Finally, the public glare. Publish a memoir and strangers’ line up to dissect your trauma like a science project. One woman actually told me, “You shouldn’t air private business in public.” I had to grow titanium skin without losing my tenderness, and that is a tricky tightrope to walk.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
What do I do? In short, I build bridges, from trauma to freedom, from whispered pain to full-throated purpose. By day (and plenty of late nights). I am an author, speaker, domestic violence advocate, and founder of The R. R. Strickland Foundation. My lane is covert narcissistic abuse and domestic violence, and I drive it like a woman on a mission, because I am one. I write books that hand survivors a flashlight and a map, host TikTok live panels that turn “therapy talk” into real-world tactics and raise funds to get families to safety now.

My specialty? Translating the invisible, gaslighting, financial sabotage, trauma brain, into plain English and practical steps. Think Bible wisdom meets neuroscience, delivered with a side of “let’s cut the fluff.” People know me for that raw-but-hopeful voice: I’ll tell you exactly how bad it can get, then show you exactly how to claw your way out and still keep your tenderness intact.

Proudest moments? Seeing a survivor message me, “Your book Love’s Dark Reflection. gave me the courage to pack the car and leave.” Watching my grandchild color her way through my I Am Not Alone workbook and finally sleep without nightmares. And launching emergency-relocation grants that prove love can pay someone’s first month’s rent.

What sets me apart? I wear the scars and the degrees. Military discipline, social-work grit, pastoral empathy, executive strategy, all braided into one voice that refuses to sugar-coat, gate-keep, or give up. I tell hard truths in a way that keeps hope alive, and I back my words with action, because a lifeline without a plan is just a story.

What are your plans for the future?
My future plans include the release of “Escape: How to Plan and Escape a Toxic Relationship.” A coordinated launch strategy, podcast interviews, and a TikTok mini-series, which will convert reader interest into concrete action. Immediately thereafter, two child-focused titles, “I Am Not Alone” and “Skylar’s Journey to a Safe and Happy Place,” which will position our resources within school districts and pediatric clinics, ensuring young audiences receive practical tools rather than passive sympathy.

Right now, the R. R. Strickland Foundation funds relocation grants case-by-case. By year’s end, I want a standing Emergency Exit Fund, money ready before disaster strikes. That means, our first annual Purple-and-Gold Gala (200 seats, violinist already booked). A corporate-partner program so businesses can sponsor “Safe Nights” (hotel vouchers, ride-share credits). A volunteer legal task force to tackle protection orders faster than an abuser can file a retaliatory motion. Tech that saves, and not just trends.
I am watching and I plan to testify when North Carolina’s coercive-control bill hits committee, because laws that cannot name the abuse cannot fight it. I am growing the digital town square, by hosting TikTok panels twice a week, but I’m adding a monthly “All-Hands Healing” Zoom for survivors, and those that are on the verge of getting out. Each Zoom session brings together a panel of therapists, financial coaches, legal experts, and former detectives and law-enforcement officers.

Big changes? Absolutely. But every move funnels back to a single mission, to shorten the distance between someone whispering, “I need out” and actually getting out safely, securely, and with their dignity intact. Implementation has already begun.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lovesdarkreflection.com
• Email: lovesdarkreflection@gmail.com
• Phone: 704-296-8090