Guest Profile
Nancy Landrum M.A.
My desire from childhood was to have a loving marriage and then write books to help others have loving marriages. I married at 18 and was widowed at 23, left with two baby boys. My dreams seemed very far away...even impossible.
I married again at 38 to Jim Landrum, a widower with three children. It didn't take long to realize that our maturity didn't give us the skills to navigate the complicated dynamics of a stepfamily. In a few years, small disagreements morphed into almost daily fights.
We love each other. We were committed to our marriage. Why couldn't we make it work? We longed for someone to teach us HOW to talk without fighting, HOW to manage our out-of-control anger, HOW to build on our love rather than tearing it apart with our toxic behaviors.
After exhaustive searches through books, marriage seminars, pastors and counselors we found a coach who began to teach us simple, yet powerful communication and conflict management skills. These were the "HOW" we'd been longing for. It took about six months of intensive learning and practicing of these new skills to resolve our differences, bring peace, and restore those "in love" feelings.
After a few years of stability, we began teaching others the simple but powerful skills we had learned. I returned to school for my Masters Degree in Psychology. I wrote our signature book, entitled "HOW to Stay Married & Love It! Solving the Puzzle of a SoulMate Marriage.
We taught together and spoke at marriage and stepfamily events for eleven years before Jim was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Some time after his passing I realized that the only thing I was passionate about doing with whatever time I had left was continuing the dream of my childhood by teaching others how to build and keep the love in marriage the way Jim and I had. I work from my home office in Southern California, but have also coached couples via Zoom as far away as Canada, Seatle Washington and Australia.
Currently I've been teaching classes and coaching couples for twenty-five years. I've completed seven books, the latest one about how to navigate successfully through stepfamily issues to create and sustain a loving marriage and healthy family.
Although some of the circumstances of my life were definitely not of my choosing, everything has woven together perfectly to enable me to realize the dream of my childhood. I am grateful to Dr. Pat for the amazing opportunity to contribute to her dream to help others!
