Renee MacDonald’s life reads like an episode of The Oprah Show: dysfunctional family, sexual abuse, violence and methamphetamine addiction.
If it sounds dramatic, that’s because it is. But it’s hard to square MacDonald’s backstory with the healthy, happy 41-year-old sitting opposite me, sipping the peach and green tea kombucha she makes under her Soul Sisters Kombucha label.
“I’ve certainly come from a place of darkness,” says Levin-based MacDonald. “I had to hit rock bottom to be able to come out the other side.”
Today the mother of three is in “an amazing place”.
“I have a loving relationship firstly with myself but also with my kids and my fantastic partner. My business is doing well, I’m furthering my study in Rongoā (natural Māori medicine) and helping others to manage their addictions. But most of all, I’ve been clean since 2016 which only came about by learning to walk in my truth and realising the importance of holistic healing and what it means to be truly connected to something.”
Read more at RNZ