Grace Hogstad

Grace Hogstad received her PhD in Mythological Studies with Emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. She now teaches through her writing, public speaking, and life coaching.

Born into poverty in the Philippines, Grace awakened to memory living in a one-room thatched shack with her parents and her siblings. When she was eight her mother died from complications in childbirth, and her father could not take care of six children on his own. Their newborn brother was adopted, and the five siblings moved in with their aunt and uncle, where they were beaten and treated as second-rate citizens. But Grace did not allow their put-downs to define who she was. Instead, she dreamed of fighting her way out of poverty and abuse, and education was going to be her ticket out.

After finishing her Bachelor’s degree in English and getting the well-paying job she sought, she found freedom and began to help her siblings with their education. She came to the US at age 24, got married, and became a real estate broker, successfully operating her own business while raising her three children. But when her last child left home to go to college, she also left town, and her business, to begin her inward journey and her quest of becoming a writer and teacher. Grace first worked on her master’s degree in English, Creative Writing from California State University, Northridge; then she proceeded to work on her doctoral program.