Story & Lesson Highlights with Denise Saucedo of Phoenix

We recently had the chance to connect with Denise Saucedo and have shared our conversation below.

Denise, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
I’m being called to step into something that used to terrify me, fully owning the role of healer, guide, and truth-teller. For years I hid behind labels that felt safer: photographer, coach, creative. Those were identities I knew people would accept and understand. But what I’ve always carried is deeper. I’ve walked through abandonment, loss, and heartbreak. I’ve rebuilt myself again and again. And through it all, I’ve been given this gift to see people’s souls, to help them remember who they really are, whether that’s through a photograph, a conversation, or the programs I now create.

For most of my life, I played it safe. Maybe that was survival. When you’ve been through a lot, safety feels like the only way to get by. But now, safe feels boring to me. I don’t want to live inside the lines anymore. I want things that stir my soul, that make me feel ecstatic to be alive.

Even in my photography, I can see where I once stayed safe, capturing beautiful, polished moments. But now I want my work to be raw, for my images to go beneath the surface. I want people to stand before me with their naked soul, to feel broken open in the most loving way so they know they are seen, honored, and absolutely remarkable just because they exist.

The same is true in my coaching. I don’t want to just coach, I want to give people hope. I know what it feels like to walk through fire, to carry storms so heavy you don’t think you’ll stand again, to bury your truest self just to survive. And I also know the power of digging her back up, breathing life into her, and realizing you’ve been the one you’ve been searching for all along.

What I used to fear was the weight of that calling. I was afraid people would think I was “too much” or not qualified enough to claim it. But my entire life has been the qualification. Every loss, every struggle, every rebirth shaped me into someone who doesn’t just talk about healing, I embody it.

Today, I stand in that truth. I’m in a relationship with a man who sees all of me, who doesn’t try to contain my fire but walks with me in it. And because of that, I can hold space for others in a way I couldn’t before. What once felt too risky, to be fully myself, to create boldly, to love without fear, now feels like the only path I was created for.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hi I’m Denise Nicole. For more than two decades I’ve been a photographer, but it was never just about beautiful images. It was about creating spaces where people felt safe, celebrated, and truly seen. My camera became a conduit for something deeper—a calling I sensed but didn’t fully recognize until I began living in my truth: bringing people back home to themselves.

My life has been shaped by fire. I became a mother at 15, and then again at 23. Most of my life I carried the weight of being a single mom raising two children on my own. Along the way, I walked through relationships that were toxic, unfulfilling, or never led to marriage, all while trying to hold everything together for my family. I’ve also faced profound loss: my father to cancer, two brothers (one to suicide), and most recently my nephew to suicide as well. Through it all, I survived, I kept rising, but for years I thought that was nothing special. Isn’t everyone equipped to be resilient and just keep thriving? Which is why I didn’t believe I was worthy of the title “coach.”

It wasn’t until I met my husband, Robert, that I began to see myself differently. He looked at me and said, “You’re a High Priestess, a woman who heals and changes lives.” I was floored. How could he see that in me before I had even spoken it out loud?

When Robert and I came together, our love story became the soil for a greater mission. Unlike me, Robert has always known who he was and the calling God placed on his life. His heart has always been in mentorship, ministry, and leadership. But for years, work in the tech industry kept him from stepping fully into that purpose. Providing financially for his family meant climbing into C-level roles, even though it pulled him away from the work he was destined to do.

When his most recent layoff happened, everything shifted. For five months, he was between jobs, and while that was extremely challenging, it became a blessing in disguise. It gave him the space to pause, to reflect, and to reevaluate what really mattered. Out of that season, we knew it was time to go all in on MickSauce Coaching, a joining of our partial last names to symbolize one union, one mission, and one movement. This is something we had dreamed about for years but never had the time to fully invest in. Now, with both of us aligned, this vision is no longer a side project. It’s our life’s work.

MickSauce has three paths. I guide women through healing, self-worth, and stepping into their feminine power. Robert works with men, helping them embody true masculinity, purpose and leadership. And together, we teach couples how to build relationships rooted in wholeness rather than wounds. What makes our work unique is not only the soul, but also the innovation we bring. Robert created DeniseGPT, an AI-powered coach infused with my voice and teachings, so people can have 24/7 access to wisdom and guidance. Alongside this, online courses like The Goddess Awakens and Legacy Builders: The Life of Purpose and Power carry our mission forward: to rebuild self-worth, families, and future legacies.

At the heart of it all, our mission is simple but profound. We help men, women and families be seen in the truth of who they are, beyond their wounds, beyond survival, so they can rebuild their self-worth, remember their purpose, and rise in every area of life.

Individually, Robert and I both carry stories of resilience. But together, we are proof that when two callings align under God’s vision- love, legacy, and purpose multiply. What once felt too risky—to love boldly, to create unapologetically, to lead without fear—now feels like the only path we were ever meant to take.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
One of the moments that most shaped me and how I see the world was losing my brother to suicide. We grew up in the same home, went through the same divorce when our parents split, and faced many of the same struggles in relationships and life. When our family broke apart, things went havoc. My brothers turned to gangs, drugs, and alcohol, while I became a teenage mom. It wasn’t easy—I was young, scared, and trying to figure out who I was while raising a child—but I decided to use my circumstances as fuel to build something better. That choice eventually led me into a thriving corporate career, and later into entrepreneurship.

My brother’s path was different. He carried so much pain, especially after losing his best friend to a gunshot wound—a death he felt responsible for because his friend was saving him. He walked through life depressed, unable to shake the guilt, and eventually he chose to end his life. That loss broke me open in ways I can’t explain, but it also gave me perspective.

My husband and I often talk about how it isn’t just what happens to us that defines our lives, but how we respond to it. Pain, trials, and heartbreak are a part of being human, and we don’t always get to choose those circumstances. But we do get to choose what we make of them. My brother’s story and mine remind me every day that perspective is everything. I could have gone down the same road—becoming another statistic, giving up on myself, or letting the weight of teenage motherhood and hard choices bury me. Instead, I chose to keep fighting, to keep believing there was something more for my life. His life and his loss shaped the way I see the world, and it’s the reason I’m so passionate about helping others discover resilience, self worth, healing, and hope.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Success gave me titles, a paycheck, and the validation that I could climb ladders I never thought possible. By the age of 23, I was making six figures and managing at a Fortune 500 company—an achievement that most women, let alone Latina women and single mothers, don’t often get to experience. By 25 I owned my first home and launched into entrepreneurship. But as proud as I was of those milestones, they didn’t heal me. They didn’t teach me how to love myself, how to believe I was worthy, or how to build a life rooted in truth.

It was suffering that shaped me. Being in an emotionally abusive relationship from ages 14 to 18, becoming a single mom, and carrying the weight of raising two children alone—those years stripped me of my self-worth. But they also pushed me into photography, where I found a way to help others see their beauty when I couldn’t yet see my own.

It was also suffering that came through loss—losing my father to cancer and two of my brothers, one to suicide—that forced me to face the deepest wounds I carried. Those losses left me with abandonment wounds that ran so deep I didn’t even realize how much they shaped the way I related to men. I believed love always left, and until I healed from that, I couldn’t receive the kind of healthy, lasting relationship I longed for.

It was suffering that showed me how to keep moving forward through situationships that made me question my value and relationships that convinced me I was asking for too much. In my 20s and 30s, I found myself caught in cycles with emotionally unavailable men and long-term relationships that never led to marriage. That heartbreak eventually led me to create a women’s community called Beauty Within, a space for women to share their stories, rediscover their worth, and know they weren’t alone. What began as a small community grew, and it became the foundation for what is now MickSauce Coaching. Without those years of hurt and stretching, I wouldn’t have the heart or wisdom to lead women, men, and couples today into what we call Kingdom love.

Every heartbreak, every trial, every loss prepared me for the love I have today with my husband. He honors me, respects me, and leads our family in a godly way. We are equally yoked, and together we’ve built a life and a mission that is bigger than anything I could have done on my own. My pain became my power, and now it’s the foundation of the work I do through photography and MickSauce Coaching.

Suffering gave me what success never could: resilience, compassion, perspective, and the wisdom to guide others. It taught me that you can turn your life around, rise from the ashes of your story, and find love that doesn’t tear you down but builds you up. That’s what I carry into everything I do.

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Is the public version of you the real you?
I would say yes, the public version of me is real, but it’s only surface level. And I am anything but surface level. I carry a depth and vulnerability that runs deeper than the ocean, but when it comes to showing that publicly, I’ve always protected my peace. It’s not that I’m hiding who I am, it’s just that I haven’t always opened the deepest parts of me for others to see.

I know in my heart that when I choose to be more open, that’s when my true people will find me. Vulnerability used to feel like weakness to me, but now I know it’s actually where the power lives. There is strength in telling your story, in being real about what you’ve walked through and how you’ve risen from it. I’m learning to step into that more and more, and I know it will change everything.

So, is the public version of me real? Yes. But it’s just the surface. The deeper version of me—the raw, unfiltered, fully alive version—is making her way through, and you’re about to see a lot more of her.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What will you regret not doing? 
What I would regret most is not taking this movement to the next level. Right now we’re helping people heal, come back to their authentic selves, and begin building legacies—but I know there’s so much more. I want to help people uncover their God-given gifts, learn how to live in their purpose, and walk in the fullness of who they were created to be.

We’ve only scratched the surface of what’s possible. There is so much work to do, and I know in my heart that this is just the beginning. I don’t want to look back and wonder “what if?” I want to look back and know that we poured everything we had into this vision. The best part is, we can’t wait to see what God has in store next.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.denisenicole.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/denisenicoleportal
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/denisenicolesaucedo

Image Credits
Denise Nicole Photography
www.denisenicole.com