About Clarissa

Christian Public Speaker, Strategic Planning, Training, Event Planning, 25+ Years of Executive Media Management, Audience Engagement, Operations Excellence, more than 30+ years of media experience.

Clarissa’s Testimony

A Message Of Encouragement

Clarissa was born an overcomer, weighing slightly more than 4lbs at birth. She became a Christian after attending (VBS) Vacation Bible School at Wofford Baptist Church in Williamsburg Kentucky, when she was 9 years old.

Growing up in Southern Kentucky she fell in love with the art of storytelling, being introduced to journalism at the age of 15. Media came naturally to her, compelling her to find new ways to develop stories and present photography. A graduate of Whitley County High School in the mountains of southern Kentucky, she is proud of her Appalachian roots. While attending Union College she met her husband Herbert Williams. During college she wrote stories as a stringer for various local newspapers for experience, worked third shift at American Greetings factory and had a tennis scholarship. After college, she was hired to work as an Advertising Sales Representative for the Corbin Times-Tribune.

Her media career took her on an adventure managing media companies and groups in Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, Illinois and Delaware. She held every position in the newspaper industry and was an early adopter of the digital world. Corporate leadership refer to her as a gifted leader and a culture expert.

She is goal-driven with the philosophy that as she works she is working for the Lord citing the verse from Colossians 3:23, "Whatever you do, work at it wholeheartedly as though you were doing it for the Lord and not merely for people." Because of this, she has achieved several goals including being a publisher before she was 30 years old.

While living in Daytona Beach as Group General Manager of a regional publication group, Clarissa was scheduled for her mammogram. Ironically, she was preparing a special supplement to the newspaper dealing with breast cancer awareness. The doctor found a lump that concerned both Clarissa and the doctor. Clarissa was scheduled for X-rays the next morning.

As she waited to hear results, she continued to think of her aunt and great grandmother who had passed away due to breast cancer complications. Those were dark days for Clarissa. The dread of coming home to tell her husband and children, the thoughts of not being at graduations, weddings and seeing her children grow up were almost unbearable. As Clarissa waited on the results, she spent a lot of time in prayer and she wanted to devote her life to Christ more than she had previously - stating she didn't want to b e a part-time Christian.

One day she and her family were shopping for new Bibles at a bookstore as they were waiting to get the final results. Clarissa chose a beautiful leather pink Bible because she "liked the design and loved the color". She didn't pay attention to what was inside at the time of purchase. At church on Sunday Clarissa was putting her bulletin away in her Bible as the praise and worship service was beginning and something caught her attention. The Bible she had chosen was entirely devoted to breast cancer awareness. As she looked through the pages detailing survival and personal stories from others who had dealt with the same thing, she sat in the pew listening to one of her favorite songs tears flowed down her face. Confirmation came when she received a letter with her biopsy results saying it was a benign tumor, the same week she went back to the doctor for a follow-up and to review the results, they couldn't find the lump! As they checked again they were still unsure of why and how it was gone - Clarissa knew God had intervened.

Spiritual warfare manifested itself greater as Clarissa and Herbert began to trust Jesus more with their finances in tithing and time. Clarissa and Herbert's children were baptized in the Atlantic Ocean during this period while they were members of Providence Church.

Clarissa has experienced discrimination in presenting her Christian faith in the workplace. She was asked to remove personal items that reflected her beliefs. One item in her office highlighted the verse from Matthew chapter 17: 20, "if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; nothing will be impossible to you." It remains in her office today.

Later in Illinois, she was ridiculed for her Christian perspective regarding her personal belief in the biblically based definition of marriage and her pro-life outlook to her conservative nature in her written columns, she believed and lived by her convictions.

As she chased success - God continued to chase her heart. Time and time again she would experience difficulties or hardship and come to God in prayer. God always came through - on his time - which was always the right time. During times of extreme stress she didn't understand the timing but reflecting now she can see how perfect God's timing was and is.

After her husband had a heart attack and she sat in the dark in her dining room crying out to God, she remembers vividly how comforted she was when Jesus spoke to her telling her she would be okay and that her husband would be okay. It was a peace that went beyond any understanding she's ever known.

Prayer and continual learning and researching of various topics related to life today are her companions in her pursuit to evangelize to others about the gospel of Jesus Christ. In her quest to spread the loving grace and agape love of her Lord and Savior, she gives insight to relationship trust, and Jesus as it relates to family.