About MJ
Lived Experience. Practical Tools. Intentional Choice.
I’m MJ Sumrall—a U.S. Army Veteran, Resilience & Recovery Coach, speaker, trainer, and trauma survivor who understands what it means to rebuild from the inside out. I bring together lived experience, professional training, and practical tools to guide people beyond survival mode and toward lives shaped by awareness, regulation, intentional choice, and values.
From Survival Mode to Intentional Living
I know survival mode because I have lived it. My story includes Military Service, trauma, health challenges, and the ongoing work of recovery. Those experiences taught me that resilience is not pretending everything is fine. It is learning to notice what is happening, regulate what is happening within you, and make the next choice with intention.
Rebuilding did not happen all at once, and it did not turn me into a perfect person. It showed me that people are not broken, change is practiced, and one values-aligned choice can begin to shift the direction of a life.
Today, I bring lived experience together with professional training to guide people through honest conversations and practical tools they can use beyond a session, workshop, or training. My goal is to equip people to understand themselves, respond with intention, and build lives that reflect what matters to them.
What Shapes My Work
My approach is not built on theory alone. It is shaped by lived experience, professional training, and tools designed to be used in real life.
Lived Experience
Military Service, trauma survival, recovery, health challenges, family, and the daily practice of intentional living shape the way I listen, teach, and lead. I understand that change is rarely neat, quick, or linear.
Professional Training
Education and training in recovery, peer support, trauma-informed practice, suicide prevention, facilitation, and Military and Veteran culture strengthen the knowledge behind my work. Training provides the foundation; integrity determines how I use it.
Practical Application
Insight matters, but it must work beyond the session or classroom. I turn complex ideas into clear language, practical tools, and repeatable steps people can use when real life gets messy.
Experience, Training, & Service
Lived experience gives me perspective. Training, accountability, and continued learning strengthen how I use it. My work is shaped by both.
Education & Training
- Associate of Applied Science in Business Information Systems
- Associate of Applied Science in Business Management
- Peer Specialist Intern with training in recovery support and mental health peer services
- Professional development in trauma-informed practice, suicide prevention, facilitation, resilience, and Military and Veteran culture
Experience & Service
- U.S. Army Veteran, 1996 – 2002
- Founder, Resilience & Recovery Coach, speaker, and trainer at Triumphantly Thriving
- Military Veteran Peer Network Volunteer since 2022
- National Military, Veteran, and First Responder recovery facilitator since 2023
- Author and monthly Texoma Observer columnist
What I Believe
The goal is not to become a better person. The goal is to intentionally become a person whose choices consistently reflect their values.
People are not broken. Change is practiced. Recovery is lived. Choice creates freedom. My role is not to fix people or make decisions for them. It is to guide honest awareness, teach practical tools for regulation, and create room for choices that reflect what matters most.
My Christian faith shapes how I understand dignity, hope, and freedom. Faith is welcome in my work when someone wants it included, but it is never forced, used to shame, or made a requirement for working with me.