WOMEN and WORK

Breaking the Cycle: From Trauma Survivor to Child Advocate

October 6, 2026

About This Episode

Sheryl Hauk spent more than four decades in music education, building award-winning choir programs, mentoring thousands of students, raising four children, and navigating a career where she was often the only woman in the room. But behind that successful career was a childhood experience she kept largely private for decades. In this episode of Women and Work, Sheryl opens up about surviving childhood trauma, becoming a parent determined to break the cycle, and learning how awareness, empathy, and safety can change the way we raise and support children. Her story also takes us from the classroom to advocacy. After retiring from a 41-year teaching career, Sheryl wrote Piece by Piece: A Memoir of Survival, Resilience, and the Power of Creativity and began using her story to advocate for children and survivors. Topics they tackled:

• Being a woman in a male-dominated area of music education

• Persistence when you feel like an outsider

• Building a career while raising four children

• Breaking generational patterns of trauma

• Recognizing triggers and creating safe environments\

• Supporting students experiencing abuse

• Why children need adults who will listen

• Turning a personal story into advocacy

• Writing a memoir later in life

• The importance of empathy and accountability
  

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