Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Suzanne Potts. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Suzanne, thanks for joining us today. Let’s go back in time to when you were an intern or apprentice – what’s an interesting story you can share from that stage of your career?

When I was a graduate MSW/MPH intern, my second year placement was with a macro-focused, County Commission on Children, Youth and Families. I was eager to learn about budgeting, community work, critical issues facing underserved families and more. Our field liaison quit promptly after recruiting my colleague and I so we started our fall placement with an interim supervisor, who was less than thrilled to have two new students to manage. The Board chair call me, “The Intern” or “Hey Intern” and never took the time to know my name. It was a tough work environment for many reasons and set the tone for me as a supervisor later in life when I had my own students. Certainly kindness, empathy and compassion for being a young student in a bigger environment all weigh on my mind now when I am the supervisor. It motivated me to get to know people at all levels of an organization and never treat someone poorly. It reminded me to be an encouraging and supportive mentor to younger members of our team or who are seeking opportunities for growth.

Suzanne, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started as a social worker after working at the YMCA during graduate school in an after school, substance abuse and gang prevention program. It was such an amazing opportunity to work in a community and learn about key challenges facing a wide variety of populations. I certainly learned more than I was able to teach at that point and loved meeting with so many different cultures and people. I wanted to continue this line of work, supporting and strengthening communities as part of the solution. Being a social worker meant bringing active listening, research, wraparound support services and a keen interest to strengthen communities to the various roles in my early career. I worked in domestic violence, gang prevention, after school, teen pregnancy, cancer, faith and disability and so many diverse areas utilizing the same social work skills, ethics and values. I love the balance that my skills bring to an organization and community. I also enjoy community planning, macro side of creating long lasting change. From government agencies, nonprofit or other community organization, I’ve learned new things with each different work setting.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Once I was laid off from a job that I loved. I mean, I was ALL IN on this position and organization, proudly wearing the gear, speaking about the founder and work to friends and family, soliciting funding on a cause I was passionate about it. After a reorganization, I was let go with a group of people and was floored. As part of our severance packages, the company provided critical career transition support and it quickly changed my perspective. I worked with the career transition staff to rewrite my personal narrative, review my skills and understand that it was just one company that let me go. There were thousands of other positions that would love my skill set and while it hurt my ego to say goodbye, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I updated my resume and within a week had another job interview. Within 6 weeks, I had a new job offer and felt wanted, supported and employable. While it could have been easy to wallow in self-pity and doubt, with a new perspective and some basic support, I changed the way I thought about the job search. My personal statement became my mantra, and I grew in confidence. My new job and team were a wonderful reminder that helped me gain skills, build new relationships and a lasting strength in myself that I can take on any challenge in the workplace with grace and poise.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

I think networking has been a real support in my field. In my early years, I took time to look at jobs, descriptions, roles and how organizations utilized their team. I met with people in those roles to explore how they got there, what they did to educate or grow, and connected with so many different people. I volunteered in various settings as well, which helped me build crucial skills and confidence in my work. I like people so getting to meet others and be curious about their career journey helped me learn that there’s no straight line in this space. People zig zag all over to build robust and rewarding careers.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thehiddenopponent.org
• Instagram: @suzpotts
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzanne-potts-lmsw-mph-67a9a99/
• Twitter: @suzannepotts

Image Credits

Chris Wyttenbach