Conversations with Allison English

Today we’d like to introduce you to Allison English. 

Hi Allison, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
My story starts on Mother’s Day 2021. My husband was making breakfast in the air fryer. 

We lost our home, all of our belongings and so many memories because the air fryer caught fire and then the kitchen wall, then the curtains on the window, then my 18-year-old posted an Instagram story, “Happy Mother’s Day mom” from a safe location outside, watching our home burn. Our entire home was destroyed from smoke damage and the kitchen was a total loss. 

We were so “spoiled” with GoFundMes, personal donations, and a temporary home we had countless friends and family help us dump everything into a dumpster on our driveway. Who knew the pile of toys I was so pissed about just a few short weeks ago, covered in ash and melted, would feel like the worst pain in the world to throw them in a dumpster. We went on a vacation we planned for my daughter’s graduation as a gift (HP world and Disney) and brought home the worst souvenir possible, covid-19, delta variant. I am immune-compromised, so I was eligible to receive the monoclonal antibody infusion. It helped; I recovered. We bought a condo in August, moved the daughter into her dorm, and the others went back to school. Fast forward, I got a position with Worthington schools, and it just felt like things were going right. Oh, did I fail to mention I recovered from Covid just before Thanksgiving? Oh, and again on Christmas. Thankfully both were mild, and I was able to start my new position after winter break. Well, by mid-February, I had missed 15+ days of work and had to make the decision to leave my new position and plan my funeral. I was septic, fever of 105 degrees Fahrenheit, unable to eat, sleep or breathe and finally admitted into the hospital on oxygen. I was asked all of the questions someone my age typically doesn’t think much about. I had to tell my husband things I am sure he is forever traumatized from. I thought was the end of my story. This is when I knew my story was not ending, I was a survivor, I had survived so many things, a little sepsis and Covid pneumonia was not going to be the winner. I wasn’t that easy (that’s what she said) 

I started physical therapy during my ICU stay, was sent to a step-down unit, and walked up and down stairs. I ate as much as I could and drank as much water as I could. Is it healthy? I did it! I had so many people who believed in me all of my life, it was my turn to believe in me. I lost 30ish or more pounds, all the muscle ever, and thought I would never go back to work again. Today is August 9, 2022. I signed an offer with a company to be their event marketing specialist, I am sending my oldest back to college as a sophomore, got to see my second oldest graduate from high school, my 15-year-old is going to be a junior in high school, I will have a middle schooler, and my youngest is starting kindergarten. I found my tribe, the women that help me love myself just because. I can walk more than a mile a day, I think it was 3 miles to a waterfall just a few weeks ago. I found the inner love I never gave myself, and I fall even more in love with my husband, best friend, faith, and favorite person ever, every single time I look at him. Every single day is just another page, and I love my story. 

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?
Is anything easy? I live in Ohio; the roads always have potholes. Evolving is hard, healing is hard. Life itself is hard, 

I was diagnosed as a long hauler; I have days that I do not have any strength to even get out of bed, 

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I have had the best and worst job ever for the last 19 years. I became a mom at 18, then again at 22, 26, 27, and then finally had George when I was 32. I could be considered an expert in my field. 

I went to college during these years and got a degree in interactive media. I spend countless hours creating stories and ideas of what my legacy will be. I spent some of my favorite years teaching and co-leading a preschool program. I met some of my favorite small humans in the world watching their brains soak up every ounce of information they could hold, especially when I would give them driving directions to my house so we could have picnics and play dates; I could never ask for a better time than those years. I spend my hours now falling into a new role, watching my family evolve. Watching each of us become our own person. It’s probably why I feel like I am constantly evolving and also starting over because the people I spent my years teaching and loving are now more independent, adults themselves, and showing me what a little bit of crunchy, trashy, and helicopter techniques can really teach a person growing into themselves. 

Alright, so before we go, can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
My 11-year-old, Ace, is probably a reincarnated cricket that teaches lessons about being human. Ace spent some of their youngest years learning how to navigate more than I can even imagine at such a young age and becoming the most kind, loving, funny, unique, non-binary pansexual person I could ever be lucky enough to love. Ace teaches me to just let people be, which to answer this question, just be, we will hold metaphorical hands and just work together as beings. 

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/englishallison/