Elaine Love’s story of moving on, forward
by Anthonette Klinkerman
Elaine Love is one of those people other people instantly like. That instant connection serves her well in her newfound passion for public speaking. This also explains her numerous awards in the field.
Love moved from Steamboat Springs to Castle Pines Village in July of 2008. She had served as an ambassador on the Steamboat Springs Chamber. She felt an inexplicable draw to Castle Rock, and since acting on it, knew she made the right choice by listening to her inner voice.
As a financial education counselor, Love encourages others to listen to that inner voice as well, but the one that speaks positively, not negatively. “Self-sabotage,” she calls the negative voice, has become the platform from which she speaks to groups.
Her life has been nothing short of fascinating, starting from running a chain of Goodyear dealerships in Detroit, to now competing in Toastmasters public speaking competitions. In between, she owned a property management company in Steamboat Springs, and was married to a well-known local man. Love spent ten years trying to make the relationship work. But when it turned abusive, she knew she needed to leave.
The passion from which Love speaks is evident as she recounts her struggle. She said it took a long time to restore her broken self-esteem, but found recovery through personal development exercises. “Things like questioning of myself, and envisioning a better future, I found ‘deservablitly.’” Love explained that abused women, whether mentally or physically, believe they don’t deserve to be happy. “They do deserve a wonderful life,” she said, “but it’s up to them.”
She stated the disturbing fact that one in four women in America is the victim of domestic violence. “Physical and mental abuse escalates when the economy gets tough,” said Love. “It’s so easy for people to take it out on those closest to them.”
Love felt she had a message to convey, and was driven to public speaking, something she has never done before. She found The Competent Communicator, the first manual in Toastmasters, and completed it in four months when most take a year.
Besides her passion for speaking, Love has a passion for physical fitness, and works out regularly. She is a telemark skier, and when not on the slopes, enjoys a near daily routine that includes 90 minutes on the treadmill, and weight lifting every other day.
She is most proud of her two sons, and four grandsons. When it came time for college for her boys, as a single parent she knew she could not afford to send them. Her son simply looked at her and said, she quoted, “You put yourself through college and raised us alone. Why would you expect less of us? Of course we will pay our own college.”
