behind the story...

Born and raised in Queens, New York, Stephanie M. Corrao is a strong-willed single mother with a passion for success and advocacy. Her street smarts have kept her balanced while working full time as a successful finance manager and running a home. Her second full-time job is being a mom to her wonderful son, Vincenzo. He is the reason for her strength and courage. He is the reason she lives and fights for what's right.

A survivor of domestic abuse, slander and revenge porn are not the only battles Stephanie has faced. Becoming a single mother to a colic child at the age of 29 while her own mother was dying, Stephanie also became her mother’s proxy. Stephanie has fought for her own life, fought to protect herself and her son, and fought to end domestic abuse and revenge porn. Author of the forthcoming book, My Life Is Based on a True Story, her real life story of being in a abusive relationship with a narcissist sociopath and how hard she had to fight for herself. It’s a story that needs to be told now more than ever. She hopes that the book will be a beacon of hope for others who are suffering as she did. 

In the meantime, Stephanie has become an advocate to many women for her strength and fortitude. She's admired by many for her spirit and drive, and for her ability to stand up for victims and their rights. Some top advocacy groups she belongs to are wesurvived.org, datingasociopath.com and selfcarehaven.org. As certain other groups are anonymous she will honor that anonymity and not list them.

Stephanie herself is a proven fact that domestic abuse isn’t limited to the physical, the emotional abuse is often worse and can lead to PTSD. Domestic abuse and revenge porn have become so insidious—and beyond the law’s grasp when it comes to the Internet—perpetrators have been able to abuse others online and destroy the lives of their victims without being held accountable, until now. Stephanie has gone to great lengths to help get the word out and change laws. She wants victims to no longer be silenced and to be an example of the fact that the more you speak out the more people you help.

Her biggest fear was having her son exposed to the battering online about her, so instead of pretending like it never happened and hoping it would just go away, Stephanie fought and fought until she was heard—first by the police, the courts and then by several New York State senators. As a result, she will never fear her son seeing her in a negative way because he will know that she fought for her rights and became a voice for others. Her son will be proud to know that he has a mother who turned a negative situation into a positive one, not only for herself but for countless others.

Stephanie’s son Vincenzo, now 5 years old, is her world and is the reason she is who she is today.  

A message to readers in Stephanie’s own words: My gut knew all along something was terribly wrong. I’ve learned through this experience to always trust and follow your gut, it is the most powerful tool you'll ever have. Remember, if something feels wrong, it usually is.