By: Deborah Chester

BA dream transformed my life.

In the dream, two tornadoes rolled in from the sea as my two young daughters and I stood in the office of our beautiful beachfront home, which overlooked the ocean. At the time, I was sure of my destination, but things were about to change. What we now understand as a warning was unfolding before me. It was as if the dream were a genuine premonition; it felt real, overpowering, and filled with fear, all rolled into one. I awoke trembling and sweating, as the dream had been absolute. I knew it was a warning, and that it was only the beginning.

The dream came true just a few weeks later.

Our home and everything we owned were destroyed in seconds when two tornadoes ripped through our seaside town in New Zealand. My girls and I survived because of that dream. All we had with us when we escaped were the clothes we were wearing and one another. In a matter of seconds, we went from having everything as a family to facing complete uncertainty.

The journey began at that very moment, when our lives changed forever.

When Faith Is All You Have Left

Losing everything reduces life to its most basic components. Routines, status, and belongings all vanish in an instant. The people you love, faith, and resiliency are what’s left. Following the tornadoes, my family quickly realized that people had different definitions of what it means to survive. For us, survival required paying close attention to our faith, intuition, and the subliminal messages that we are frequently too preoccupied to notice.

Dreams had always given me instruction, but after the tornadoes, I discovered that I shouldn’t ignore them. Dreams had kept us alive.

Why wouldn’t they direct what happened next??

A few weeks after the tragedy, my husband Chris had a seemingly unremarkable dream involving scuffing the car’s wheels. The concept for RimPro-Tec Wheelbands, a worldwide automotive innovation currently covered by more than 100 patents and trademarks, sprang from that straightforward image.

We were aware of the irony that, while losing our home, we had acquired a concept that would help us reconstruct our future.

The Law of Attraction: In Practice, Not Theory

Adversity is not eliminated by faith; instead, it is reframed.

Challenges increased as our company expanded, including dishonest partners, patent issues, copycats, and years of costly legal proceedings. My family dealt with PTSD, relocation, and the emotional burden of starting over at the same time. There were times when perseverance did not “win the day,” times when fatigue, anxiety, and uncertainty were persistent companions.

But every failure taught us something. Every setback improved the way forward for something bigger.

I started to feel that the universe rewarded bravery rather than ease.

From Kitchen Table to Global Brand

Late at night, around kitchen tables, where fear and hope coexist, some of the most revolutionary ideas are produced, not in boardrooms. That’s how we constructed our inventions: with perseverance, hard hours, and an unwavering faith that something significant was happening.

The Journey is more than just a memoir. It’s a behind-the-scenes look at what it really takes to start a business from scratch while also rebuilding a life. It speaks candidly about the cost of creativity, burnout, and sacrifice, particularly for women entering male-dominated fields.

I discovered that success draws both opportunity and resistance.

Listening When Life Speaks

Life is constantly communicating with us through dreams, intuition, coincidence, and challenges, which is one of The Journey’s most powerful lessons. Whether or not we are listening is the question.

My story explores the fine line between fate and coincidence, from philosophical encounters and prophetic warnings to moments of tremendous grace. Did dreams happen to save our lives? That was when we had nothing left, an invention came? That assistance showed up when it was most needed?

Why I Wrote The Journey

I wrote this book for dreamers who question whether faith still has a place in a chaotic world, families dealing with grief, entrepreneurs on the verge of failure, and anybody who has felt broken by life.

The Journey is evidence that destruction and fate may coexist, that adversity teaches resilience, and that miracles frequently take the form of catastrophes.

If you’re going through a difficult time, remember that losing everything isn’t the end. Occasionally, it signifies the start of something far bigger than you had anticipated.

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