Carrie Sheffield

MEET CARRIE SHEFFIELD. Not many people landed a full tuition scholarship to Harvard, cat-walked bikinied for a Miss USA system pageant, managed billions of dollars in risk at Wall Street firms and interviewed the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo. Even fewer covered the White House as a credentialed journalist, hiked snowy Antarctica and three times won the National Press Club running competition. Nobody did all this while overcoming a life of extreme poverty, abuse and religious Mormon brainwashing. Raised by a fundamentalist Mormon father who claimed he was a prophet, Carrie endured a hardscrabble life as one of 8 children forced to perform music on street corners and distribute religious tracts preaching fire and brimstone on America. The gypsy family lived in motor homes, tents, sheds and trailer parks throughout Utah, the Midwest and East Coast. Overcoming depression, PTSD, near-fatal hyponatremia, a schizophrenic brother's attempted rape and a transient education of 17 public schools and home school, Carrie worked her way through Harvard University and landed jobs on the editorial board of a national newspaper and at Goldman Sachs, the world's most prominent financial institution. Carrie's struggle to reconcile her initial belief in her father's prophetic claims with mainstream Mormonism led her to later question Mormonism, and later, organized religion altogether. That spiritual journey led her to Stonehenge in Europe, Buddhist monasteries of Asia, and the Muslim and Jewish holylands of the Middle East. After nearly 12 years as an agnostic, it eventually led her to Christianity, where she found deep peace. An adamantly polite girl-next-door from the Millennial generation, Carrie experienced life beyond her years. As people around the world struggle with mental illness, Carrie adds her empowering voice to the growing conversation on true tolerance, creating a life of meaning in a post-fundamentalist existence and healthy spirituality. Carrie is a member of the Harvard Christian Alumni Society and named a Most Inspiring New Yorker by Bumble, a social connection app with more than 100 million global users. An avid runner who completed the Marine Corps Marathon, she loves traveling. Prior to turning age 30, she visited every continent--including Antarctica.