A warm welcome to Susaye Rattigan, a mother, a daughter, a psychologist, a motivational speaker, an entrepreneur, and a woman in the midst of her own growth process.
Welcome to Millennial Of The Week! This is an interview series conducted by Millennial Community – we are a group of like-minded young people who support each other, talk about life as a millennial, work on projects & ideas that matter and challenge the status quo of the world we live in. Let’s dive right in!
Susaye, you’re our first MC member living in Jamaica! Tell us a bit more about yourself…
I’m Susaye. I am a woman who is passionate about myself and other women fully living a life that fulfils their soul’s potential. I work with women who have experienced a traumatic life to heal from their pasts, move out of surviving and into thriving. I do the work I do because it is in me and I have no other choice. I was born for this.
Are you a member of any online communities? If so, what made you join?
I am a member of a ton of online communities, although not as actively as before. I joined mostly because I wanted a sense of community, but also because I heard it was a great marketing tactic. Well, I’m naturally an introvert who doesn’t like to be seen (I’m working on that), so that didn’t work out so well for me. So now, I’m into smaller and more intimate communities where I can meet people without feeling overwhelmed.
What are – in your opinion – the most important skills a millennial needs to cultivate, and why?
A Millennial needs to be able to identify problems and their solutions. People are walking around every day with problems. The challenge is they may not be able to identify it as a problem. They may not be willing to openly acknowledge so we have to be able to see the signs and develop solutions that will meet them where they are and uplift them. Millennials also need to be able to release the constraints of the past. The world is wide open right now. The things that were norms then are no longer and we have to not be afraid to buck the system and create our own path or else we won’t have one.
How are you practicing those skills in your own life?
Right now, I’m slowly creating my own little self help empire in Jamaica comprised of different things that psychologists don’t really do here. I’m starting a school based after school therapeutic reading bookclub in a few schools. I’m offering personal development community events. I’m creating a self-defence movement for abused women in my country, I’m involved in personal and sports team coaching on mindset and habit development. I’m really trying to carve out my own world (Thrive Jamaica). You won’t find much of it online as yet but I’m getting there.
What is your personal definition of success?
My personal definition of success is to fully live out what’s inside of me. If I am helping one person move past their past or myself, I am successful. The funny thing is even with a PhD, I’ve never really felt successful. I understood what it meant for me (a way forward) but it wasn’t until I started working with people who were standing in real pain that I felt I’m succeeding.
What are YOU seeking help in at the moment?
Right now, I am still a work in progress. There are things from my past that impact my life and, while I’ve come a tremendous way, I still have a way to go and I am super clear on that. I have my own psychologist who is working with me to heal myself. In terms of business, I can be a huge DIYer but I need help in designing the online presence of my business. So if anyone out there wants to help, I’m wide open.
What excites you about being a millennial?
I am overjoyed by the fact that I am home right now, in the middle of the workweek, writing and not feeling like a bum because I have created this life for myself. I love all the different ways my life can look and the different roles I can play, the different ways I can reach people, the questions I can ask and answer without feeling limited. It’s a beautiful thing.
Quick Fire Questions
My current passion project
Jamaican Women Safe and Sound. It’s a self empowerment project for women to learn how to develop confidence, self efficacy and self defence so they can decrease their likelihood of getting raped and sexually assaulted.
I am most grateful for
My daughter who is all love and teaches me to be the adult in our relationship daily.
One of my role models (and why)
Detra West. She singlehandedly rescued my self esteem when I was at college. She changed my life and she is the kindest, most humble soul I know. She’s definitely living her mission and I aspire to be as calm spirited and caring as she is.
Best advice I ever received
This is not so much advice but it is to date the thing that sobers me up. “On the day you’re about to die, the person who you are will meet the person you could have been. What will that person be like.” It makes me do the things I know I can even if I don’t feel like it.
My biggest challenge
Putting myself out in the world. I know it’s the only way to get my message out, but whew, It’s a tough one.
Being resourceful means ___
Owning that you can’t do life alone and asking for and finding help wherever it is. A lot of time for me, that’s Google, God and Good people. The G’s.
