We recently connected with Sattie Nyachwaya and have shared our conversation below.
Sattie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Is there a heartwarming story from your career that you look back on?
I have a few actually, but one that sticks out to me the most is, that I was an administrative assistant for a specialty pharmacy and I realized that I wanted to do more in the community for my career. I didn’t know what that really meant, I just knew that I wanted to have my job allow me to make an impact on the lives that I heard every day coming into the pharmacy. I saw this event, around World AIDS Day and two of my peers secretly invited me, under my bosses’ nose to come along. I didn’t even have a car, but I knew I wanted to go. It was clear across town, so I looked up the city bus route to get there, I didn’t tell anyone and I took off early and got on three buses, and walked about a mile away from the last stop to get there. I didn’t even think about it really, I just knew I wanted to be there. I walked in, and my peers were there. We sat together and listened in to some of the HIV advocates in the community. Some of them were receiving an award, and others were just telling their story. I don’t know, but at that moment, I knew that I wanted to make an impact, and I was going to do whatever I needed to do, to make this space a part of my life. Afterward, and long story short, I have had the pleasure of working directly with them for the past 5 years together. I don’t think some of them, even know this story. How they impacted my life, with their work. Oh! I got a ride home. haha.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers?
Now, it has been almost 5 years ago, wow! Haha. So, I used to say it was a stroke of luck, but I believe that things always come full circle. I always wanted to maybe have my own nonprofit one day, when I was a kid, my mother wanted us to do community volunteer work. I was the kid, during the summer that would volunteer at the hospital, pushing the elderly downstairs for physical therapy. For the last 5 years, I have worked at a pharmacy, worked at a grassroots nonprofit, and an established nonprofit and I pitch myself often on, how did I get here. I feel like my story is still currently, being written. I fully believe that I did not start living until 3 years ago. When people ask to be who I am, I just say I am Sattie and that’s it. Nothing big, nothing major but internally, I am still working on my self-discovery and love. I just want to help the world and teach people to live out loud, because that is what it took to get me here. So many people had poured into me because I feel like they believed in me and I am internally grateful for that, every day. I feel most proud of overcoming my fears and paths throughout my journey. Without those moments, I would not be in the place or season right now. I must continuously remind myself of the hard rough times, those days when I could not see where I fit in this world… so that I can keep going. The stories of the community will always inspire and empower me.
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Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
Yes! I received a book, when I became an entry-level supervisor years ago, at a call center. The book was suggested by my first director, it was called StrengthFinders 2.0: From Gallup and Tom Rath. Ahh! that book really exposed me as a person during that time and taught me a lot about the leader that I was and could not see until recently. It even helps to work with others, which has helped a lot! As a manager, and as an employee, I would bring up that book to every position I was in and introduce the book. Thanks, to that Director, she helped me grow professionally and personally. The supervisors I had after her would probably thank her too if they could. Haha.
Have you ever had to pivot?
So, Pivot to me does not really mean failure. It is more like switching up. I would say that I had to do that many times, in the past 5 years. One time that was memorable and that sticks out the most was, I had just gotten a promotion, and I was in that “honeymoon phase” of the new position. I was thinking that the way to get the job done was to do it like everyone else in the field/position. I found out very quickly, that it was not working at all. I could not seem to make ground like them, and I found out that if I wanted to grow in this field/ position, I would have to do it differently. My best friend and Community partner in crime, took me to this networking event years ago, where the space was more tailored for me. I freaked out right after because I knew that they were right on board and could see my path before I could see it myself. Every time, on this journey I have had to pivot because I have tried to do what everyone wanted for me or thought that it was supposed to be done a certain way. It’s been tough at times, and sometimes it’s invalidating but, I try to remind myself every day to try to follow my own path wherever that might lead, and try not to focus on how the world wants me to show up, but remember it’s how I choose to show up is what matters.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sattiechevettexx
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sattiechevette100
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sattienyachwaya/
Image Credits
Texas Tribute