Interview with Sundi Jo

Joseph: Many people are probably asking “Who is Sundi Jo?”

Sundi: For starters, I’m a chick who looks back on my life and knows the only way I made it through the mess I created was by God’s grace. I’m a writer and speaker, in love with sharing the message of my gritty redemption with others.

Joseph: What was it like growing up as a child?

Sundi: Honestly, I didn’t have much of a childhood. I grew up pretty fast. I was sexually abused as a little girl and that messes with a child’s heart and mind. I was a pretty confused kid.

Today I’m still a big kid at heart. I’m doing this interview in a Smurfs t-shirt if that tells you anything.

Joseph: You have an incredible weight loss story and wrote a book about it. Could you share that experience with us?

Sundi: Food was always an escape for me. It was a way to hide from the emotional pain caused by others. I also used it as a wall to protect myself from others.

Sundi Jo Before and After

In 2008, during a difficult time in my life, a friend suggested I go for a walk around the apartment complex. So I did. Then I kept going. A simple walk turned into a mile, then two miles. By 2010, I was running 3 miles a day.

She started teaching me about healthy foods. I stopped dieting and changed the way I was living. I’ve since lost 145 lbs., no longer buy my clothes online, and can actually breathe when I walk up the steps.  I don’t really miss the love affair I once had with cheeseburgers, pizza, and Mountain Dew.

Sundi Jo Before and After

I wrote Step Away from that Diet to provide some simple, yet profound steps for those seeking to lose weight and get healthy.

Joseph: Looking back, what would you say is the one thing God taught you through that experience?

Sundi: To rely on Him and deal with the things that cause me to run to food, versus just burying them and pretending they don’t exist.

Joseph: I know you are a speaker and a writer. How much does your Christian faith influence your craft?

Sundi: It’s the biggest influence. Without it, I’d just be writing and speaking for my own glory, not His. I never want to be in that position.

The things I share via writing and speaking aren’t always popular. They aren’t always pretty. But they’re very real. I don’t speak about something unless I’ve experienced and grown through it myself.

Joseph: You recently launched a new eBook “Liar Liar” on Amazon. Could you tell us what the eBook is about?

Sundi: I’m excited about this message. Liar Liar is a manifesto about not only believing the truth about who you truly are, but also speaking that truth into reality. It’s a call to take the next step in your faith and take action with your words.

I actually woke up one morning and I was in a funk and trying to figure out why. After doing some journaling, I realized I had believed some lies that didn’t belong in my mind.

I just started typing away and the book was created. I thought to myself; “Why not share it if it will help others?”

Joseph: And you also have your first book print coming out in 2013. Could you give us a little sneak peak into what we should expect?

Sundi: Oh wow! This book… It’s so close to my heart.

Dear Dad, Did You Know I Was a Princess? (that’s the book title) consists of journal entries from one very trying, redeeming year of my life, turned into letters to my father, who passed away in 2009. It’s a story of redemption, restored relationships, overcoming shame and darkness, and so much more.

Writing this book has been like walking in public in your underwear. It’s raw and real and people are going to see parts of me in the lowest depths of my life. But in the end, God gets the glory for the changes He made in my life.

Joseph: You recently announced you would be heading over to Moldova in March 2013 for 9 days. Could you tell us what’s going on there?

Sundi: I’ll be assisting women who have been sold into the sex trafficking industry in the poorest country in Europe, Moldova. God ignited this passion in me back in 2009, and now He says it’s time to go.

My team will be reaching out to women, children, orphans, and the elderly. It’s going to be an experience I know I will never forget.

Joseph: I have been privileged to work with you on multiple book launch teams, like Wrecked by Jeff Goins, Liar Liar and more on the way. You exude so much passion and energy. What inspires you to do what you do?

Sundi: I want people to see that change is possible. I want them to realize they don’t have to stay stuck in the pits they’ve been in for so long.  I know change is possible. I’m living proof. God has changed me in so many ways, and He’s still doing it everyday.

If the things I have been through in my life can change another’s heart, then I’ll talk about what God did in my life until I’m blue in the face, even if it hurts. My pain will be used for God’s glory and that excites me.

Joseph: Finally, only a few people know this but, you promised to name your first son after me. Does that agreement still stand?

Sundi: Ha! You’re right, I did promise that. I try to stay true to my word, so I’ll have to say yes to that.

Have you been challenged by Sundi’s story? ‘Got any question you would like her to answer? Leave a comment below.