Inside the Office with
Suezette Y. Robotham WWW.CSUITECHICKS.COM
INTERVIEW WITH SUEZETTE Y. ROBOTHAM 2
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What’s your day job? I am a speaker, connector, coach, and leading “Black Girl in Tech.” I have more than a decade of leadership experience, with expertise in talent acquisition, diversity & inclusion initiatives, leadership development, strategic planning and relationship building across various industry sectors.
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Who are your heroes or mentors?
14 years old, and around 50 was the first time that she wasn’t really responsible for the day-
Heroes, it’s probably cliché, but my first hero is my mother. She is probably one of the strongest, most phenomenal, yet humble women I know. She’s modeled all of those things for me. And I think the first lesson that she ever modeled for me was bravery. I don’t think she sees herself as brave, but I see her as the bravest person I know.
to-day care of anyone. I think her journey to self, and being able to watch that as I’ve become an adult has shown me a completely different side and picture of who she is. She has also modeled giving and so many other things for me. So, it’s funny because my mom told me on her 60th birthday when we were in the Dominican Republic that I was
Can you tell me more about how she
brave before I was born. And I don’t think that
showed you bravery?
she realizes just how much of that bravery comes from the things that she’s done, because
My mom was the first person in my entire family to come to the United States, at the age of 21, in 1975. She’s been in the country for 44
she just sees them as things that she was supposed to do.
What’s your best childhood memory?
years. It’s funny because while most Jamaicans come to America and go to places like New York, my mama picked the most nondescript towns to live in. Most folks come to New York. She went to Norristown, Pennsylvania.
I’m a first generation immigrant child, and I grew up in a house where all of our relatives would stay with us, especially my dad’s family. And so, I grew up in a house where family and
We also lived in Roanoke, Virginia. She decided,
supporting family was central. My parents also
after she got divorced, that she wanted to
owned a store in Virginia when I was growing
move to Florida and instead of picking Fort
up, and they modeled for me the significance
Lauderdale, where most Jamaicans go, she
of community, of customer service. I’ll say both
decided that we were going to Tampa. So,she
of them are extroverts. I’m actually more of an
was kind of a foremother in terms of where our
ambivert and I’ve taken on, their personalities,
family landed.
because I’ve watched them, in terms of how they engage with people.
She showed her bravery in the decisions and sacrifices she made as a single mother. I think
I loved spending Saturdays and Sundays in the
that once she became an empty nester, that
store with my parents, because I knew that we
created a different types of bravery for her. My
were going to see our neighbors and people
mother has been raising people since she was
that we knew. Childhood was filled with music
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and reggae, and my father would be doing community radio. We would listen music in the basement, and the essence of family sharing special moments, I would say, is my favorite childhood memory.
What traits did you possess as a child that resemble traits of a leader, and do you have a funny story? There are two funny stories. My mother was convinced I was going to kill myself before I turned five, because I was an explorer. I don’t remember this, but my mom was like, “I don’t know what got into you, but you hated sucking on a bottle,” and she was like, “I think your teeth were coming in, and you were just upset and it was hurting you.” She said, “You crawled to the top of the stairs, and you were sitting there with the bottle sucking it, and it started hurting and you threw that.” She was like, “You threw the bottle all the way down the stairs and never drank out of one again.” And I was only one. My mom’s older sister was like, “She’s doing these things because, as she’s discovering her world, that’s how she’s going to learn. She has to do these things to learn,” and my mom’s like, “I know but she’s going to kill herself.” So, my mother said, I was probably two. All she saw was me flying across the room. She saw a spark of fire, and I flew across the room. And essentially I was trying to figure out how the plugs worked. And, I think, it speaks to who I am; an adventurer, a risk taker and I believe in trying everything once. So, I never stuck anything else into the electrical socket as a child, but I’ve just C - SUITE CHICKS MAGAZINE - INSIDE THE OFFICE
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always had a sense of discovery and apparently
“Well, maybe I’m gonna do education policy.”
conquering.
As fate would have it, I ended up going to work
Dropping bottles and electrocuting myself, Mom was like, “I was always really concerned
for Teach for America and being Director of District Strategy in Atlanta.
about what were you going to do daily that
My journey has been this interesting course of
could end your life.”
me ending up in education in a way that I would
When did you decide you would be
have never imagined, and then has evolved into this place of me doing work in talent. I
an educator? That’s really what your
don’t know, and I’m not really sure where I’ll
trainer, equity ... What would you call
go next, because I think my passions within the
yourself?
coaching realm have changed. So, I’m much more interested in working with groups than
It’s interesting, because for a long time and even growing up, I wanted to teach. I applied to Teach for America, got in, didn’t do the Corps because I got into grad school, and mom was like, “You’re going to grad school!” I’ve always had a passion for imparting or giving knowledge and supporting people to find and access their highest potential in whatever it was. And I think now, if I was to definitively call myself a name, it would be more of a coach. I want to influence people, whether for leadership development or identifying opportunities. I always wanted to connect people to something that will help them find the impact that they want. And I don’t think I ever knew that that was going to be my calling officially.
individuals, for several reasons. And the thing that I will say to anybody is just, if you buy $20 shoes, they will last you for as long as a $20 pair of shoes will last you, but an expensive pair of shoes is going to last you a lifetime. So, do you want to make and have investment pieces, or do you want what’s going to be a short-term win? You are your OWN best investment. But my biggest lesson as an entrepreneur, as a coach and as a black woman is, I have to hold myself to a standard, and I have to evaluate my goods appropriately. And in the same way we should support other businesses. For example, if you’re looking to land a $100,000 a year job, a $500 investment in a résumé that’s going to get you that job is priceless.
I ended up in policy school and thought, “I want to be a public policy practitioner,” and I ended up working in the office of the Chief of Staff in Atlanta Public Schools; then I thought, 6
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If you weren’t doing this work, what
way it’s supposed to. I’ve never gotten the
would life look like?
initial job I applied for, and now I’ve ended up at Google. And even in my journey to working
At some point in my life, I want to be an author,
at Google, I was asked to apply for one thing,
and I want to have a TV show. And, those things
interviewed for another thing, and was hired
are going to happen. I’m manifesting it, but I
into a different role, but ended up having a
would be much more arts-focused.
phenomenal first manager Kanika Rainey, who become my big sister.
I really enjoy writing about the young, black female’s experience from the single
And so, even in that, I was like, “Well you
perspective, and soa couple years ago, I created
thought you were going to do this and ended
a non-fiction, a fact-based fiction blog. Some of
up meeting an amazing black woman that has
it was based on facts, but most of it was fiction.
invested in your experience.” I always try to
I developed the storyline from having one main
look for the lesson. Now, there are some men I
character to sharing it across two.
wouldn’t date again, but even that was a lesson right?
Life kind of happened. I want to get back to a place where I’m creating a very unique
Something that’s always stuck with me
narrative around black women’s experience.
is, you don’t have to make the mistake to
One of the women that I blog about worked
learn from it. What’s the toughest lesson
at a non-profit. Her best friend was a black,
you have learned that you hope another
female music producer and was at the top of
woman can learn from you?
her game I like taking a unique context and writing something yummy around it.
Oh man, just one? Money is never enough,
I want to send it to Queen Latifah. What I also
and some would say that that is not a wealth
appreciate is there are all these black folks now
mindset. But in 2008, I got a great job
getting deals with Netflix original content, and
opportunity and moved to Nashville. I ended up
I’m like, “I need to focus and get someone really
having the worst personal experience, because
invested in it,” because I do believe in the brand
I sacrificed my personal life in the name of
around my story too.
growing in my career.
I f you had it all to do over again, would you do anything different? No. Every single thing in my life has happened the 8
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That was probably my first experience with depression, and I couldn’t name it at the time because I wasn’t in therapy. I realized that money was never enough. Because, also, the other piece of it is, I was not smart enough to understand negotiating my salary, and so have REFLECT. CONNECT. INSPIRE.
now been trying for my entire career to catch up to what I should have been making then. And so, I would say, one, know your rate, and learn how to negotiate your salary, but don’t let money be the definitive reason for any major life decision, because you’re always going to need more regardless of whether or not you can spend it.
Reflect on your first major challenge in a leadership role. What resources did you have, or need and not have, to overcome it? One of my first major challenges, very honestly, was having a manager that was not an expert in what it was that he was asked to do. But more importantly, working for a manager that did not have a vision for what my work was supposed to be, and bumping into each other as I began to try to define it. And I think the first major lesson I learned in that space was the art of managing up, because I think you’re told very young, when you’re going to work, the boss is going to tell you what to do. Sort of like my first jobs were, I worked at Rainbow, I worked at Busch Gardens, I had all these summer jobs, and it was always very directive. And so, to come into a space where you’re asked to be the strategic leader, or you’re asked to be a strategist, and having to figure out, actually, that somebody’s not going to tell you what to do. You’re going to actually have to show them what we need to be doing. C - SUITE CHICKS MAGAZINE - INSIDE THE OFIFCE
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And I’ll be very honest, within that space; it
superintendent’s going to change, but your
was disappointing, because it was my first
admins are always going to be there.”
experience reporting to a black man.
He was like, “Well, we have to have these
And before that happened, phenomenal
higher-level relationships.” And I sat back
experiences, my first mentor was a phenomenal
from the meeting, I crossed my arms, and I
woman named Dr. Janice Monk-Reardon,
said, “I am the best relationship builder in
a white woman that just committed to my
this organization. No one builds relationships
growth and development. And then to be in a
better than I do, and that’s just it.” So what
space where I was working for a black, male
happened was, I left Teach for America, went
leader, I was expecting that thing pouring
back few later., I was up for a promotion, and
into, and to not have it, and to have to manage
my EVP went back to my first manager and she
up was just jarring, but it was also my first
was like, “You know I just wanted some context
experience with, if you’re not getting what you
on Suezette,” and he was like, “She is the best
need professionally, then it is okay to leave.
relationship builder I know, and no one builds
So you managed up until you managed out?
better relationships than her.” It was something that I had given him four years ago, and not in the best space, but it came
Yep. And unfortunately, I think as a black
back to be a part of my brand. There is also the
woman, that’s a lesson that we learn, in terms
significance of owning your narrative, and what
of how we’re navigating space. It was manage
you’re communicating to people, and how that
up to manage out, but it gave me my directness,
then shows up later, as well.
and it also taught me the importance and significance of the brand that you build professionally.
There’s a lot of research demonstrating the value of diversity in leadership. Tell me about your experience as a female
So we had this conversation, and it wasn’t
leader in your industry. What has
adversarial, but I was becoming much more
diversity looked like in your work?
direct in my feedback to him. I have a very clear understanding of the significance of
For most of my career, I have been responsible
relationship building, especially with school
for teaching about either the programs that
districts, and what that means for your ability
will impact communities of color, and/or set
to influence change and a broader kind of
the stage for how an organization diversifies.
work. So I told him, especially because I had
I would say one of my proudest moments was
come from this school district, “You have
when I was at Teach for America.
to do grassroots relationship building. A I helped co-found our School Leaders 10
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of Color and Professional Learning Community. It was developed in the space of one. I realized that we had such a small population of leaders of color, black, brown, or Latin infusion and we weren’t doing enough to connect them. For school leaders in particular, as a principal, you can’t talk about your English teacher to your math teacher, right? It’s super-isolating in terms of the role, but also then, if you add another faculty, such as, being the only black principal in Connecticut, you just naturally, don’t have a community. So, I saw very clear gaps in terms of training and development. I really leaned in with my co-founder Melinda Wright, to say, “What is it that we can do to create community with most of these folks?” We started that program with 30 leaders in DC. It’s now six years old and they had 600 people in 2018 in Denver. The community has exponentially, creating those spaces for our leaders. I’ve also spent my most recent professional experiences helping organizations hold themselves accountable for building their muscle around, “How do you actually recruit diverse talent?” I think is interesting especially within the tech industry. We have this very interesting narrative around, “Oh, we have to build the brand”. We have had to go to these universities and show up, and “We may not hire you, but you C - SUITE CHICKS MAGAZINE - INSIDE THE OFIFCE
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know who our brand is”. And my response to
been able to articulate to anyone what I do,
that is, “We don’t have a brand issue. You have
because I always have these weird titles in
a relationship issue in whether or not people
organizations. Even when I was getting my
see themselves represented there, and feel like
master’s degree, and it was during my second
they can grow and thrive there”.
masters, she’d be like, “My baby is working on
So, really changing that narrative, I think I
something.”
learned most of that within the educational
She’s the board chair because she’s just the
reform space because it was, to some regard,
board chair. I would say my good friend Lynette
brand-building but then also, relationship
Buzzdale; we worked together at Teach for
building. You can’t be an education nonprofit
America, and now together at Google. We
that says that you are serving communities of
don’t know how we met, but David Johns, in
color, but when I look at your leadership bench,
terms of being a phenomenal friend, is on my
and throughout the organization, there’s no
board of directors.
one that looks like me.
Wait, I think what’s interesting about a board
We had an opportunity to really lead the work
of directors, and what corporations could
and set very clear goals and targets around
take from it, is a lot of times, it shifts. It should
how we do this, but then are we holding up a
actually shift based on what your need is. And
mirror and holding ourselves accountable for
it should always be a body that has some level
doing it?
of subject matter expertise in that space. I
So, my life’s work, and what I will forever have as a part of my narrative, is working to create
think a board of directors is different than your kitchen cabinet.
access and opportunities for communities of
It is not just about your friends you think
color, in whatever capacity it is that I’m doing
you click with, but you need people that can
it.
actually help you drive what excellence looks
Top businesses have a board of directors
like. And I’ve found, especially working in tech that my board of directors has shifted to be
to help govern their business effectively.
people that are in this space. I also think it’s
Who’s on your personal board of
hard to articulate, sometimes, the challenges
directors?
in tech to people that are not in it, because it is one of those things that you have to
My mom is the board chair, even if she doesn’t want the role and even if she doesn’t always understand the role. My mother has never
experience to understand. I also think some of the things even in
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instances where there might be a more passive-aggressive culture, there’s passiveaggressive culture in education reform, for instance, but it looks completely different. And so, I feel like my board of directors, honestly, has become much more formed around people that can understand and empathize with my experience My board of directors now, as I reflect on it, it’s still David and Lynette, but Chanelle Hardy, Wilson, White, Tiffany Snowden, Carla McIntosh, and Lawrence Cole are also included. I now have a strategic communication strategist on my board of directors that’s helping me think about a broader brand and outreach instruction, so Courtney Culmer. This is due to really wanting to make sure that my board of directors reflects what I’ve been through, can help me vet my next steps, understand my view, and have a broad enough focus and subject matter expertise in what I’m passionate about to really help me drive my decision making.
What keeps you up at night? I’m a closet Type A personality and so I’m now trying to work on growing and developing my podcast and I get in my own way and it bugs me, because like, Courtney, who is my strategic communications person will say, “Suezette, just record”. And I’ll start recording and I’m like, “But I don’t like it”. And so, I think that what keeps me up at night is I know that I’m standing in my own way and I wonder, “How do I move 14
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myself?” It is also funny because somebody spoke this into my life a couple of weeks ago. She was like, “You’ll be who you want to be”. But sometimes, you are thinking “Are you doing enough? Are you enough? Is this what you’re supposed to be doing?” And even though I know that I’m very much on a walk and I trust, it’s always like
And so, it’s like, “How do you give, be in the spotlight and do all of these other things?” So, it’s also finding the right energetic balances, which means that I’ve also changed, to your point, about board of directors my supports in my my kitchen cabinet. I need to be surrounded around people with good energy and that understand my energy.
that even though some would be like, “You’ve
What do you do for you that brings you
achieved so much,” it never feels like enough,
absolute joy and peace?
which then also leads to me being in my own way about stuff and so it’s like, “How do I let
Oh, man. Solo vacations. My most recent
go of the ‘it’s not enough’ and be content with
solo vacation was to Mauritius in 2018, I love
‘you’ve done a lot’?”
seeing the world by myself. I think that there
Not content, but perhas at peace? Exactly, because, I think sometimes, we don’t allow ourselves to appreciate what we’ve accomplished. It’s always like, “Okay, that was good, but you need to go accomplish something
is nothing that shows you who you are, where you are going than going somewhere where you may not speak the language, or you may not know anyone and having the time of your life and creating memories with people that you would have never met otherwise.
else”. You’ve just really achieved and attained
I am a free spirit so I also like to have the
that that was great. You’re to obtain other
freedom of not being responsible for anyone
things”. I think that, in general, black women
but myself. I also feel like when I do solo
have that interest and attention of our humility
vacations I actually take the time to get to
versus self-promotion and I think we need to
know people that I wouldn’t otherwise get to
lean much more toward self-promotion, but
know. So, when I go to (Durban) South Africa, I
I’m pushing through this. People see me and
stay at the Hotel Prince Edward on the beach
think,”Oh, Suezette is such an extrovert”. And
and I go and I know the staff and I’m like, “Hey,
I’m more of an ambivert. I’m also somebody
Charlene. Is Charlene in here?”
that likes to be behind the scenes, pushing other people forward, and so it’s not like pushing myself forward and coming out from behind, which has been very interesting, and I’m a giver and so that takes a lot of energy too.
When I went back with Jenn (Roberts, Versed Education Group), Charlene accidentally sent my champagne to herroom, because we had a whole conversation where she revealed
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she was Indian and she was explaining to
is usually from the perspective of the person
me what second class citizenry looked like
doing it, so I love The Four Agreements.
in South Africa for them and Durban is the second largest settlement for Indians. Had I gone with people to Durban the first time, I wouldn’t have had that conversation. And so, having the opportunity to build friendships and relationships around the world by myself has been cool, but also, there is something about being on vacation somewhere where there’s water, because there’s just a freedom where sky meets the sand and the land and the sea. I just feel myself most in those moments. I do feel the energetic difference in me having not
For what I’m reading now, I’m reading 10 books at once. I decided when I had surgery last year that I was re-reading anything by Bell Hooks. So I started Sisters of the Yam again. From a fiction perspective, I just may recommend it now that I’ve read The Warmth of Other Suns. Even the poetry in it so far, I’m enjoying that. I actually read Homegoing in 2016 when I went to Africa, and I should read Homegoing again. Have you read it?
No, but will add it to my list!
done that in a while and doing one this year.
What’s your favorite book and genre and what are you reading right now? My favorite book on any genre, yeah. I have two favorite books. I actually read What I know For Sure by Oprah when I went to Australia for my 34th birthday. And I was like, “How have I not read this before?” There are women like, “Oprah, I don’t have a house in Maui,” but there are some salient points in that book. I read it once a quarter. I have it highlighted; and have it electronically, so I always have it with me. I also love The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. In a professional sense as a manager, I have had to impart the four agreements to younger people, especially the “don’t take it personal” advice. I think our tendency is naturally, everything’s about us, and it’s just a really great reminder that decision making
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It’s about two sisters that didn’t know they were sisters and what the experience of slavery did for the generations of their families. It was just profound because it was the first story I read in adulthood where it wasn’t a happy ending and it also taught me about my mindset around we all are seeking and striving for
like, “I’m out here making goat”. Okay. I want to be able to make those things that are distinctly ours and some of them I can do, but I want to be more intentional around it, because I want my children to grow up and be like, “I am Jamaican.”.
perfection, but the reality is everything doesn’t
My mother is known for her Jamaican black
necessarily end with a bow tie. It’s a fairy tale,
cake and I was raised standing in the kitchen
but also, deeply reminds me about all that’s
and watching her. But two parts this and three
been stolen from us. I do have the fortune in
parts that don’t mean anything, right? It’s kind
terms of my family being Jamaican, knowing
of like she can look at it and know her precise
where in England my father’s family is from, but
measurement of, to your point, if I had someone
also knowing, that my maternal grandmother
to record her doing that, I could recreate all of
does not have access to the same knowledge of
those things.
her history, although we have an idea of where, but it’s kind of weird. I’m loving these books where it’s a reclamation of history, but also not sugar-coating it. If you haven’t read it, go read. It’s amazing.
And so, also, another thing that I want to do and I am committed to doing is, I have one living grandparent, she’s 91, I want my grandmother to tell me more of her story. We’ve been doing the talking, so now I know
It gets deeply personal and emotional, because
she went to private school and she was the only
you find yourself reading it and being in the
one of her siblings that went to private school.
story with her, yeah
My grandmother speaks Creole, and I want
What is a skill you want to learn and why?
to get a better understanding of it, but we’re assuming its Maroon and I’m like, “Well, are we descendants of Nanny?” So, trying to figure out all those pieces while she’s still alive,, I want to
That’s very interesting, because I had this
be a better historian.
conversation last night. So, I can cook, but I want to learn to create more of the traditional
When do you feel the most confident?
Jamaican dishes, because I think where I have a huge concern is: I grew up with a distinctly
It’s funny…on stage! I love doing speeches and
Jamaican upbringing and experience and I want
talking. I love getting up in front of a crowd and
to provide that to my children. long as my mom
just talking. I feel most confident then. Well,
is around, I know she will help raise them, but I
also, it’s nerve-wracking, so even after I did
want to be able to do those things. I want to be
my first TED Talk, as soon as I was done, I’m
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like, “Ahhhh”. I had this burst of emotion. I was
and my friends. I just believe that we’re magical
bawling. I had to fix my face quickly, because
and I know that’s become cliché, but I cannot
we had pictures afterwards, but I love being on
imagine this life not having the bonds and just
stage.
the strength that comes from those dynamic
If you had to describe yourself in five words, what would they be?
women in my life.
How can readers connect with you?
Authentic, compassionate, empathetic,
My name is Suezette, so if you can never find
dynamic, leader.
me, it’s because you forgot an extra “e” and so that’s Instagram.
What would you like your epitaph to be? Instagram @Suezette. Twitter is @11zett17. I would probably have something from…I don’t
LinkedIn is Suezette. Iced Coffee Confessions
know…that’s hard. You know what? No, I know
on Itunes, spotify and SoundCloud. On
what I’m going to put. My mom was like, “Live
Instagram it’s @therealicedcoffeconfessions.
your dreams” and I want it to read “She lived her dreams.”
If your life were a movie, what would be your theme song? “Satisfy My Soul” by Bob Marley is my favorite song.
20. Is there anything else you wish I had asked you? About a whole bunch of other things. I think if I was going to say anything that we didn’t talk about it would just be that I strongly and fully believe in the potential, the ability, the beauty and the strength of black women. And so, I think that’s why I’m so strongly connected to my mother, but also my nieces and my cousins
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Images by C-Suite Pics® Interview by Lydia Kearney Carlis, PhD Graphic design by Daniella Marooney
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