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Alexandra (Alex) Strauss was born and raised in the San Gabriel Valley.
In High School, Alex first encountered meth, which she later turned to after school, hanging around and out in South Central LA.
During that time, Alex found out she was pregnant at 19 years old; soon after she started going to school again at PCC, found a job, and concentrated on raising her daughter.
Through severe medical conditions that her daughter was born with Alex found solace in God when she was tired and angry.
As her daughter has grown Alex has found a love for hiking in the mountains, content creation, and photography.
Instagram: @alxstrauss
Alex was born in San Gabriel Hospital and grew up in Rosemead for about five years. Her mom was a single mom, so they grew up in her grandmother’s house.
Then, she moved to Arcadia and stayed there until she was 33. Other than a year and a half in Texas, she has spent her whole life in the area.
Alex went to Arcadia Christian School from k-8 and eventually to Arcadia High. Then, she went to USC.
Alex considers herself a very creative person and enjoys diving into creative projects; however, she also feels like she stunted her own growth. This was because she noticed a classmate in 4th grade was exceptional at drawing Spider-Man, much better than she could draw, so she figured art wasn’t for her.
But thankfully, she rediscovered her artistic abilities later in life.
A major moment and life-changing event in Alex’s life was having a baby at 19 years old. This was a pivotal moment where she had to choose what she was going to do with her life.
Right up until having her child, Alex was heavily involved in drugs. She made the wrong friends and got into the wrong things.
How did she find the strength to stop doing meth?
Shortly before having her daughter, she wasn’t in school; she didn’t have a job, and she spent all of her time doing meth.
Meth is a man-made crystalline substance. It can be taken orally, you can snort lines, or you can smoke it.
Essentially, it triggers a massive dopamine dump in your brain. You feel confidence, joy, and like you can accomplish anything.
At a low point, Alex wanted to start a maid service where she would just be able to be in people’s houses, get high, and be paid for it.
The first time Alex did meth, she was 15 years old, and it was Halloween night. All of her friends were doing it, and she wanted to fit in.
Plus, this leaned into her desire to be a risk-taker. Her mom always caught her when he was doing it; her mom was very perceptive.
They fought a lot at that time in high school, although they are very close now.
However, Alex was able to drop it for the most part. It wasn’t until a couple of years later that she got into it again very heavily.
Alex was at a party, and she didn’t really like drinking or smoking weed. She ended up drinking too much, and she hated it. So, she wanted meth so that she could sober up.
That set up nine months of intense drug usage. That’s all she cared about – going out with her friends, having parties, and doing meth.
Alex is a very spiritual person, and she started having these thoughts in her head that she believed were God, not her own.
These voices said you need to go to school. You need to get a job.
She decided she wasn’t going to do meth anymore. She gave all of her meth away. He was shocked.
About three weeks later, she found out she was pregnant. She had one small relapse later on after her daughter had major surgery at 2 months old.
She felt it was so obvious in high school because she was naturally such a happy, outgoing person. With depression, she just sat on her floor and felt like she didn’t do anything.
It’s like she was dead, but alive.
She went to the doctor and was prescribed medication. She took it for about six months, it worked, and then she felt she didn’t need it anymore.
It happened during the pandemic, and it was a thought Alex had for about five years. Her childhood pastors lived there, too.
She has family out in Austin, Texas – so it felt like the place to go if she was leaving the San Gabriel Valley.
During COVID-19, she got a job offer to do social media for churches in Austin, Texas, and she wanted to jump on it.
She ended up coming back because the job didn’t turn out to be what it was supposed to be.
One unfortunate accident that happened was her moving truck burned down, meaning Alex and her daughter lost everything they owned.
Alex was diagnosed with ADHD when she was 22, so she likes to share information, knowledge, and tips on her social media channels.
It massively impacted her day-to-day life, so offering information on what to do or how to seek treatment gives Alex a lot of joy.
1 Her childhood home in Arcadia
2 The mountains around San Gabriel Valley
3 Alex’s churches. This merged into Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena.
My 1st recommended place in SGV
My 2nd place recommendation of SGV
My 3rd place recommendation of SGV
