From Ashes to Foundation: How Caitlin LaBrie Turned Failure, Sobriety, and a Near-Broken Marriage into a Mission for Families

Caitlin LaBrie will be the first to tell you she doesn't think of herself as someone with a compelling story. "I always feel like people have these really great and wonderful testimonies," she says with a laugh. "Mine is so simple."

But spend a few minutes listening to her and a different picture emerges — one of a woman who has walked through addiction, a marriage on the edge of collapse, and the daily grind of building something that genuinely helps families. What holds it all together isn't a polished platform or a well-rehearsed elevator pitch. It's something quieter and more durable than that.

A Prayer She Almost Didn't Pray

Caitlin grew up knowing who Jesus was. Her mother made sure of that — Christmas in her home always included a birthday cake for Jesus, a small but intentional act of faith. "I always knew he was a historical person that existed," Caitlin recalls. "But I never really grew up reading the Bible. I kind of just disregarded it."

That changed somewhere around 2011 or 2012, in the most unexpected of settings — sitting in front of the television watching CBN. When Pat Robertson led viewers in a prayer, Caitlin made a decision that surprised even herself.

"I was like, fine, I'll pray the prayer with you, Pat Robertson. And then from there, God just started really working in my life. Things started happening around me that I noticed, and I was like — it has to be him. It's obviously him."

There was no mountaintop experience. No lightning bolt. Just a woman on a couch, a prayer she almost skipped, and a God who showed up anyway.

Delivered Before She Even Had a Name for It

What makes Caitlin's story even more remarkable is that God had already been working in her life before she called herself a Christian. Sixteen years ago, she was delivered from alcoholism — a struggle that had roots in family history and a trajectory that picked up speed in high school.

"I prayed a prayer to God, not really knowing him," she says. "He just delivered me from it before I even really had a relationship with him." She met her husband shortly after, and life began to take a new shape. Today, sixteen years of sobriety later, she doesn't hesitate to name it for what it is.

"To me, marriage saving and sobriety — that's a miracle. Five kids — that's awesome. Things like that."

She says it plainly, without embellishment. And somehow that plainness makes it land harder.

The Marriage That Almost Wasn't

Even after years of faith and family, Caitlin and her husband nearly lost it all. Just last year, divorce felt like a real possibility. The tension had been building for a long time, and Caitlin admits she spent much of that season focused on what her husband needed to change.

"A lot of the time I was thinking, 'Oh, it's him. If he would just change or just do this.' And God kind of gave me a nudge — no, it's you too."

That shift — from pointing outward to looking inward — became the turning point. As Caitlin focused on becoming more like Christ in the way she showed up in her marriage, something changed. Her husband noticed. He responded in kind. The restoration wasn't dramatic. It was incremental, humble, and deeply real.

"When I worked and focused on myself, I was able to become more Jesus-like and practice that. And my husband recognized that and he's doing the same. So we just got better in that way."

It's the kind of marriage testimony that won't make the highlight reel of a conference — but it might be the most useful one in the room.

Building Something That Matters

Caitlin has been running a home daycare since 2016, and out of that decade of hands-on experience, she founded Footprints Family Foundation Inc. — a nonprofit driven by one of the most practical and pressing needs facing working families: affordable childcare.

"Parents have to choose between working sometimes because daycare is not affordable," she explains. "I see both sides of it." As a mother of five, she understands the math personally. The mission isn't abstract theory — it's lived reality translated into action.

She's also pursuing her education, investing in herself as an investment in her family and the families she serves. In a season where she's intentionally simplifying — cutting back, clarifying, focusing — the work with the foundation remains a clear priority.

The Expert on Failure

Ask Caitlin about her professional journey and she'll tell you about the t-shirt business that never took off, the ventures that went sideways, the directions she tried and abandoned. She doesn't say it with shame. She says it with the confidence of someone who's learned to treat the ground as a classroom.

"I'm an expert at failure. I've learned so much from falling on my face, and I really wouldn't trade it for anything — because I know what doesn't work."

For faith-driven leaders who've been conditioned to interpret struggle as a sign that something is wrong, Caitlin offers a different frame. Failure isn't the opposite of faithfulness. Sometimes it's the very path God uses to sharpen your clarity and redirect your steps.

Her advice to business leaders is simple enough to sound almost too easy — until you actually try to live it: "If you want to do something, you can do it. It is possible in some way, shape, or form. And if it seems impossible, reframe it. Change your mind. Be happy with something else."

Living It Out — One Day at a Time

Caitlin doesn't lead from a stage or build a brand around her faith. She leads from her kitchen table, her daycare, and the daily, unglamorous work of raising five children to understand that their walk with God is uniquely theirs.

"The flesh is always at war with the spirit," she says, describing how she tries to walk her kids through their emotions by contrasting them with what Scripture teaches. It's theology made practical. Faith made domestic. And it may be the most important work she does.

When asked for her single best piece of advice — for anyone, in business or otherwise — she doesn't hesitate.

"If you follow what Jesus actually teaches, your life will work out. I can't say what success looks like for everyone. Only God can say that. But it's very helpful."

Simple. Grounded. And coming from a woman who's tested it across addiction, business failure, near-divorce, and the daily weight of raising a family — entirely believable.

The Invitation

Caitlin LaBrie isn't a polished speaker or a headline name. She's something rarer: a person who has allowed the same faith she professes to actually shape her decisions, her marriage, her parenting, and her work — even when it cost her something.

Her story is a reminder that the most powerful testimonies aren't always the loudest ones. Sometimes the most faithful thing you can do is pray a quiet prayer, humble yourself in your most important relationship, and build something that helps the people around you get a foothold.

That's what Footprints Family Foundation is doing. And if you ask Caitlin, she'll tell you — she can't take credit for any of it.