
Troy and Tommi Vincent have spent the last 26 years building a commitment to faith, family, and food. Their family mantra is all about making a difference. With their lifestyle platform Vincent Country, a faith-driven family brand committed to positive social impact, they’ve dedicated themselves to combating domestic violence and sexual assault. Generations of women in their family have experienced violence against them, and the Vincents are committed to breaking the cycle.
The Trenton, New Jersey natives met through Tommi’s sister Lisa who was dating Troy’s friend at the time. However, their relationship did not form until much later. Troy, who had been drafted by the Miami Dolphins, eventually asked Tommi’s sister about her and sent over football trading cards to impress her. At the time, Troy was at football training camp in Florida, and Tommi was a student at Temple University. They fell in love with each other over the phone and were engaged to be married eight months later. They forewent the bells and whistles of a typical NFL wedding for an intimate exchange of vows at the Ft. Lauderdale wedding chapel followed by a dinner buffet.
However, the Vincents did not realize on their wedding day that trauma from their shared experiences with domestic violence would show up early on in their marriage in different ways. Troy grew up in a household where domestic violence became normalized. He witnessed domestic violence from the age of seven until 15 when he and his mother left that situation. “I just decided that I didn’t want to be what I grew up seeing. I wanted to be part of the solution. I didn’t want to be part of that world of harming women or inflicting violence amongst women,” he shared.
Domestic violence was normalized for Tommi growing up as well. When her high school boyfriend physically abused her, she thought it was the way he showed her love. “The first time I witnessed [domestic violence], I was three years old. When you see it early, it begins to shape your perception of what love is,” she shared. For Tommi, there were no red flags that warned her that the abuse wasn’t okay, until her abuser picked her up to throw her off of a bridge. It was then that she knew she had to get out of that relationship.
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