How Did Collide Get Started? With Founder and Director Willow Weston

Collide didn’t begin with a business plan or a vision for a women’s ministry—it began with one woman hiding in a closet, confronting her own pain, and allowing Jesus to meet her there.Episode SummaryHow did Collide get started?In this special solo episode, founder and director Willow Weston takes us back to the very beginning of Collide—a story that didn’t start with a conference, a nonprofit, or even an idea for a ministry. It started in a closet.Years ago, Willow was home with her baby when someone connected to deep wounds from her past showed up at her door. Overcome by fear, anger, and unresolved pain, Willow hid upstairs with her baby. In that moment, she realized that although she had experienced tremendous healing since giving her life to Jesus, there were still wounded places in her story that needed attention. She sensed God inviting her to come out of hiding and pursue deeper healing. The next week, she made an appointment with a Christian counselor.It was in that counseling office that the idea behind Collide was born. Willow began describing how wounded people move through life colliding with other wounded people—and how easily our unhealed pain can wound those around us. But when she looked at Jesus in Scripture, she saw a different kind of collision. When Jesus collided with wounded people, they were left more whole than broken.Soon after, one college student asked Willow to mentor her. A couple of friends turned into more than 20 young women packed into Willow’s living room studying the people Jesus encountered in Scripture and asking what happened when their broken stories collided with Him. What started as the Wounded Collision Bible Study eventually became an experiment simply called Collide.In this episode, Willow shares the unexpected story of how those living-room gatherings grew into events for women of all ages, how wise leaders encouraged her to allow Collide to become bigger than any one church, and how the ministry eventually took a huge leap of faith to become a nonprofit—even without money, staff, an office, or a clear roadmap for what came next.Willow also shares some of the women whose stories shaped Collide along the way, including a grieving mother who had walked away from church after losing her son to suicide. At a Collide event, she discovered she didn’t have to pretend she was okay—and that God could handle the depth of her pain. Her story became part of the fuel behind Collide’s commitment to creating spaces where women can show up authentically and encounter Jesus in the places that hurt.From conferences and counseling support to mentoring, Bible studies, classes, leadership development, and this very podcast, everything that followed grew from that same invitation: bring Jesus the real story, including the broken parts, and see what He can do with it.Collide began with one woman discovering that God could meet her in her brokenness—and then use that very brokenness to bring beauty into someone else’s life. And as Willow shares, this is only the beginning of the story.Meet Willow WestonWillow Weston is the founder and director of Collide and host of The Collide Podcast. Her passion for Collide was born out of her own experience of encountering Jesus in places of pain and discovering that healing doesn’t require us to hide our brokenness.In this solo episode, Willow pulls back the curtain on Collide’s beginnings, sharing the unexpected moments, people, risks, and invitations from God that transformed a small Bible study in her living room into a growing movement of women daring to believe that God not only meets us in our brokenness—He can use us there.Key TakeawaysHealing can begin when we stop hiding. Collide’s story began when Willow recognized that unresolved wounds were still affecting her life and chose to get help.Your brokenness doesn’t disqualify you. God didn’t wait until Willow had everything healed and figured out before He began using her story.Jesus can handle the real story. Pain, shame, grief, addiction, disappointment, and questions don’t have to be hidden before we come to Him.Healing changes how we collide with others. Unhealed wounds can spill into our relationships, but encountering Jesus can change what we bring into our interactions with others.Pay attention to what God is already doing. Much of Collide’s growth wasn’t carefully planned. Willow and the early team kept noticing where God was moving and taking the next step.You don’t have to have everything you need before you say yes. Collide became a nonprofit without staff, an office, event supplies, or financial security. Its growth required continual leaps of faith.Getting help matters. As more women shared their stories, Collide developed counseling support to help remove obstacles that kept women from receiving professional care.God can use ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Collide’s leadership model grew around giving women opportunities to learn Scripture, discover their gifts, and serve even while carrying insecurities and weaknesses.How This Episode Will Encourage YouMaybe you’ve looked at Collide from the outside and wondered how it all began. This episode gives you the answer—but it’s also about much more than the history of a ministry.It’s about what can happen when one person stops hiding.Willow didn’t come out of that closet with a five-year plan. She came out knowing she needed help. She went to counseling. She began looking at Jesus differently. She shared what she was learning with a few young women. Then she kept paying attention to what God was doing and saying yes to the next invitation.If you’re in your own version of the closet right now—hurting, hiding, afraid, or convinced your brokenness means God couldn’t possibly use you—Collide’s story offers another possibility.God can meet you there. He can bring healing there. And He can use your story from there.Collide BookFollow Willow: Website | Instagram | Facebook💑Check out Collide’s website for info on upcoming conferences, events, and resources.📲Follow Collide on Facebook and Instagram for encouragement, inspo and a fun peek into our ministry.📰Plus, subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date on all things Collide!