When Rebecca Mortimer first sought to create a documentary about her own story, she had no idea what it would become. As a certified nurse practitioner and founder of The Abundant Woman Movement, a women’s empowerment network and wellness community, Mortimer is committed to creating opportunities and working collaboratively with other women.
Mortimer is the executive producer of the documentary entitled Becoming Her, premiering in Miami this Saturday. She recently spoke with The Miami Times about how the project came to be and how, after putting it on hold for a short time, she decided to expand its vision.
“I thought of it being more impactful, even more powerful, having other women share their stories as well,” she said.
When she initially sent out a call for other women to join her project, she didn’t aim to specifically work with Haitian American women. The invitation was open to all Black women in her network. Yet when it was narrowed down to the final four, Mortimer realized they all had a shared ethnic history.
She aimed to amplify that cultural throughline, especially in the face of the current climate in the U.S. surrounding Haitian immigrants.
“With TPS being canceled, a lot of Haitian people are going through so much,” said Mortimer. “I felt like, man, I want to be able to help. I feel in some way I’m limited in my capacity as far as what I can do. But I said, OK, you have a platform where you can amplify and raise awareness, and I thought it would be great to show that Haitian American women, the diaspora, do amazing things when we come together.”
As of late August 2026, more than 300,000 Haitians nationwide — with some measurements as high as 521,000, according to The World Data — have lost Temporary Protected Status (TPS). WLRN has cited nearly 150,000 in South Florida alone.
Becoming Her is the story of four Haitian American women born to immigrant parents who persevered through sacrifice and hard work. The documentary features Mortimer, educator Sabrina Dieuvelhomme, attorney Samantha Collier and deputy sheriff Majory Milord as they work through their own struggles and forge a path forward.
“I think that it’s important for people to not only just see you where you are right now and what you’ve built [and] been able to accomplish but get to know you or how it all started for you,” said Mortimer. “It’s about the women we had to become.”
As these four women reflect on their journeys, each one has a different perspective on the meaning of success.
“Success for me is no longer defined by a title or position,” said Dieuvelhomme. “I’ve learned that true success is being aligned with God’s purpose for my life. It means having peace in what I’m doing, being present for my family, making a meaningful impact on others and having the courage to follow God when He calls me in a different direction.”
For Collier, success is being the person you want to be.
“We all have our wants [and] our needs,” she said. “For me, success is bringing that to the table and actually making it come to light… Success is a working thing. It’s not just one day you wake up and you’re successful. It’s something that you have to work at every day.”
For Mortimer, success is about alignment with your true purpose.
“Because I grew up where we had limited resources, our parents did what they were able to do, especially coming from Haiti and establishing themselves here,” she said. “We didn’t have all of the things that we wanted, but they did well with what they had.
“As I’ve gotten older, success is about doing the thing that you’ve been placed on this earth to do, being unapologetic about showing up in your truth,” she continued. “It’s about taking up space. It’s about owning who you are.
Milord sums it all up with a single statement: “Success for me is pushing through, not giving up, and reaching your goal.”
But for these women, success shouldn’t end with them. They hope to leave a legacy for their children.
“Generational wealth [and] generational careers are just so important because you see that in other communities,” said Collier. “We’re trying to make it the norm in our communities. We are big on legacy because we need it. We need to make sure that we’re passing something down to our children and that we’re giving our children and their children and their children a fair chance at the world, like they deserve.”
Dieuvelhomme hopes to be remembered by her children as “a mother who loved God, loved her family, served others and was courageous enough to follow her calling.”
“As an educator, I hope my legacy is found in the lives I’ve touched,” she said. “I don’t want to simply be remembered for the positions I held. I want to be remembered for how I encouraged people, how I served them and how I helped students and educators recognize the potential within themselves.”
In the film, four women come together from four different industries to explore their personal histories and the power of their collective determination.
“I know that everyone can relate to at least one of us,” said Collier. “In this season where there’s so many things going down and it’s not so much positivity out… now we have something that’s actually good. Rebecca has really put her heart, her tears [and] all her energy into it, and I know the evening is just going to be so beautiful and amazing.”
Becoming Her will hit theaters on Oct. 3, 2026, at Silverspot Cinema in Downtown Miami. Tickets can be found through Eventbrite.
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