I'm Dr. Ellen Campos Sousa, and my life's work is helping people come home to themselves.

 

By training, I'm a marketing professor and a transformative consumer researcher. By calling, I'm a mindfulness facilitator, a coach for wellbeing and happiness, and a certified Chief Wellbeing Officer. But the truest foundation of my work isn't a credential — it's my own story.

 

In 2016, I moved to the United States with my two little ones in tow, already navigating life as a single mom. In the years that followed, I carried the things so many women carry quietly: parenting alone, pursuing a Ph.D. as an international student and single mother, building a life as an immigrant, and making my way as a woman in business — always feeling like I had to do more, prove more, be more. For a long time, I did.

 

And then something shifted. I began to trust myself. To love myself. To make myself a priority instead of the last thing on my list. And as I did, little by little, life started to open up; softer, warmer, more mine. That transformation is the reason I do everything I do today.

 

My academic path spans two countries. I earned my degrees in Brazil before completing my Ph.D. at Florida International University. My research at the University of Tampa examines how mindfulness can improve wellbeing in classrooms, workplaces, and communities. I've published internationally and had the privilege of bringing this work to diverse groups, including vulnerable women learning to reclaim their sense of worth.

 

I also serve on the board of the World Happiness Foundation, helping bring happiness and wellbeing into cities, organizations, and schools.

 

Life today looks different than it once did. I'm married to Dr. Adam Splaver, and together we've built a joyful, full, blended family. Together we have 6 (his four children and my two). Our house reminds me every day how beautifully things can grow when you finally believe you deserve them.

 

Out of all of this came my book, "#1 Priority: Me: 60 Reminders to Love, Trust & Honor Myself." The gentle affirmations and practices help you love, trust, and honor yourself, even on the hard days. Because I've learned it firsthand: you deserve to be your own number-one priority. And my hope is to walk alongside you as you learn (or remember) how.