Valentina – My name is Valentina Transtrum. I was born in Romania 37 years ago, almost, and I was raised in a very strict atmosphere. I had a lot of emotional and physical abuse. I was told all of my life that I was a loser no matter what I did. I didn’t have any self-esteem. I couldn’t even look at myself in the mirror. So I had to pretty much pick up the pieces and start all over by myself.

I figured I have to start somewhere. I just heard about Deseret Industries, and then I said, “OK, I’ll give it a try.”

I was scared in the beginning because I didn’t really have that much confidence in my skills. And day by day, my confidence grew because I had lots of people telling me good things about myself. And you know, it took a long time for me to actually believe them. I was looking forward to coming to work every day, and I was coming earlier, and I wanted to stay longer because I liked what I did. They got to the point that they understood who I was, what I wanted to do, kind of helped me get a direction. It was an awesome place to work.

Hi! How are you feeling today? Everything good?

Patient – Pretty well.    

Valentina – I’m actually doing nursing, which I love. And you know, I didn’t think I would. I was so scared of my nursing, and now I’m just like, “I love it!”

Working at Deseret Industries helped me and blessed my life in a way that I never thought it would be possible. It changed my life, and I know it’s going to do the same for other people too.