This post is a short bio written after asking questions and writing notes while listening to Novalena Betancourt talk about herself.
Novalena Betancourt was raised in the Bay Area of California, but her story does not stop there. Throughout her life Novalena has ventured as far as Puerto Rico and the East Coast. Her biggest challenge has been being surrounded by people with chemical imbalances. The challenge has been keeping her own emotions under control and staying positive. One instance was in high school when on the senior trip one of her friends had a little too much to drink. Novalena and her classmates had to do their best to calm him down. Another exciting experience happened when Novalena was in college. She was with friends in Mexico, but had too many people in one hotel room. They were kicked out and tried to sneak back in but were caught and arrested. She learned the hard way to be aware of one's surroundings; with whom do do you associate, current circumstances. Like anyone Novalena regrets making the dumb generic youthful mistakes that we all make. But mistakes mold people into who they are. She was close to her father and he taught her to be authentic to herself. Authenticity is one of Novalena's five values. Those values are: love, connection, growth, authenticity, and relationships. She wrote about these in her first book-that she co-authored- Strategies for Success. Novalena is currently publishing her second book. This new book is targeted to women and encourages them to be authentic and true to themselves because they can be it all on their own. Novalena's big goal is to settle down one day, get married, and start a family. She is continually learning more about herself so that she will know who the perfect man for her is to build a strong life long relationship.
