Abigail G. Manning is a Keynote Speaker, Impactful Storyteller, and Change Maker with a big belief in the power of choice. At Create Awareness…Change Lives, Inc. Abigail works primarily with the military, veteran non-profits, and national security corporations. She also works closely with Special Operators Transition Foundation (SOTF) as a 1:1 coach with active duty Special Operators 1-2 years out from their military transition. Together, they create a vision of what each Operator wants for a happy and rewarding career and lifestyle as they move forward, translating their military experiences into civilian skill sets.
As a full-time, single parent of two young children, she worked to create a positive environment full of health and goodness, ending the cycle of negativity and hardships she grew up with. Abigail’s children both went on to become Marines. When her daughter announced dreams of becoming a Marine, Abigail worked through her initial concerns and supported her efforts to secure a MOS of Military Police, her dream. Her mother’s support and encouragement motivated her through the tough training. She went on to join HMX-1, the Presidential Helicopter Squadron among only a handful of women protecting our Presidents. Abigail’s son, also a Marine, overcame early struggles with dyslexia, encouraged by her empowering positive self-beliefs and removal of hurtful words of others. After much hard work he became one of “The Few. The Proud.” He is currently in Intelligence at MARFORCYBER in Washington, DC, preparing reports and giving briefings to the brass.
Abigail created Purple Threads curriculum by combining her personal life lessons, parenting journey, and education through her double major at Indiana University. This unique course addresses complex emotions like rejection, abandonment, and unworthiness while providing tools to prevent those emotions from limiting your choice to live, love, and thrive.
The full definition of Purple Threads is “Limiting personal thoughts connected to past traumas that are physiologically tied to what we ThinkSayDo.” Her three-step program begins with a deeper level of self-awareness and assessment of limiting personal thoughts (Purple Threads). The second step empowers participants to develop healthy habits, a positive mindset, and a meaningful connection to others. The third and final step is life-long self-empowerment of “THINK SAY DO“ skills. This work has been shown to prevent the adverse spiral of stress, depression, addiction, abuse, PTS, and suicide.
The ultimate goal is Stronger individuals. Stronger families. Stronger organizations. Stronger country. Abigail received the honorary military call sign “Gator,” short for “Navigator,” in recognition of her ability to guide others through challenges of personal and professional development.
We salute Abigail for her amazing work empowering the military community to live their best, most healthy lives.
