The Sail

POWERHOUSE GLOBAL MAGAZINE (PGMAG) INTERVIEW WITH:

PATRICIA SMITH (PS)

From a Homeless Young Woman to CEO of a Multimillion-Dollar Home Healthcare Company

Interview was conducted by: JULES LAVALLEE (PGMAG global partner and international journalist)

“I Persist,” the biography of Patricia Smith, provides a first-hand perspective of her journey from abandonment in Spanish Town, Jamaica, to an outcast and homeless young woman in New York. Through years of hard work and perseverance, Patricia became the CEO of a multimillion dollar home healthcare company.

PGMAG: Freedom was your ultimate goal in your journey to wellness that surprisingly manifested into wealth. Share your backstory in this.

PS: Emotional pain weighed heavily on me. At times, that crushing pain weakened every fiber of my being. I could hardly get out of bed at times. It is the worst kind of pain because, you can’t take a pill and get rid of it in the moment. You have to work with it. That arduous task of working assiduously under the cloud of depressive symptoms is no walk in the park. I describe my depression mainly at a high or medium intensity. It is rarely at a low intensity. Accordingly, I had to fight hard to find something that I could do to make a living and avoid becoming a bum. Though I had a postgraduate degree in nursing science, it did not serve me well because nursing work required that I show up at a time the job dictates. So, I had to explore different career options like Real Estate. Still, this did not work because I had to wait too long to get paid. Ultimately, I went back to nursing and worked for an agency where I could put myself on call when I felt well enough to work. My ultimate goal was to feel free to work on my own time and pace. It was mostly in the spring and summer months when my energy surged. I worked like a horse as I don’t know how long the surge would last. When the fall and winter months came I was totally wiped out. It took a while to understand that pattern and cycle but I did. As William Churchill once said, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” I got Depression from where? I don’t know but I managed it in a way that eventually gave me financial freedom.

PGMAG: Share your challenges and the lessons you learned from them.

PS: I realize that I did not create myself or the challenges that lead up to my deprived and depraved situations in life. I therefore had to observe divine consciousness and work on that which was lacking. Low self-esteem was a major challenge. I learned that getting an education helped me realize an honest estimation of myself. My other big challenge was depression. I learned that everything worth having took tedious and private hours. So, while my counterparts were on frolic, I took time out to learn about depression. I learned that it is manageable if I really got to know myself, my pattern and cycle. Taking on too much to do can overwhelm and frustrate me quite quickly. Being a single mother, working and going to school was extremely hard. But I learn the strategy of pacing myself to decrease the burden. I also learned that the only thing that does work is hard work. Work that needs to get done because it is a stepping stone to getting what I truly desire, the freedom to enjoy the fruits that I am planting, cultivating, nurtured, watered, and tended to with love, care, and attention, every single day. I learned that doing the things that need to get done, regardless of whether I enjoy doing them or not was necessary to move in the direction of my dream and reach my destination. I also learned that if I was going to get rid of my old identity, I had to drop the deprived and depraved story and boldly step towards my glory. Staying the same was not an option or I could die on the backward escalator.

PGMAG: Where did you find refuge during these times?

PS: I found refuge in the quiet, stillness, and comfort of my bed. I didn’t think anyone cared and I was too embarrassed to tell my story. Though concentration was poor at times, I read to increase my knowledge and make me feel better about myself.

PGMAG: Who has inspired you?

PS: NO ONE inspired me and I am really serious about that. Abraham Lincoln once said, “Always remember that your own resolution to succeed is more important than anything else.” If success was to be it was entirely up to me and I truly believed that.

PGMAG: Your book, “I Persist” is your journey from homelessness to becoming the CEO of a multimillion-dollar home healthcare company. Share key points from your book.

PS: The book was not written to make money because I already have money. The messages are more important than money. The message of overcoming low self-esteem, fear, anxiety, depression, hopelessness, helplessness, and parents leaving their children in search of a better life and having left their children without a life are more important than money. As Helen Keller once said, “character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved ”Fortunately, I am the mongoose that conquered the snake.

PGMAG: When you were homeless, what did you want to shout out to the world?

PS: I wanted to shout out “I have infinite possibilities and potential, please help me”.

PGMAG: What does success look like to you?

PS: For me, success is to be known all over the world as an ambassador, a change agent, and advocate for women who believe they are crippled by their past and cannot overcome challenges to succeed in their endeavors. Women who believe that their past challenges determine their destiny. Emily Dickinson, an American poet once said, “If I can stop one heart from breaking I shall not live in vain.”If I can ease one life the aching, or cool one pain or help one fainting Robin unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain”.

PGMAG: What is your advice for women entrepreneurs?

PS: Entrepreneurship is a male-dominated space. My advice for women Entrepreneurs is, do not feel intimidated, disappointed, or surprised at insults and attempts to undermine your worth and intelligence. Some men have trouble accepting the adage that a woman’s place is outside the kitchen. Often the victimizer is not even conscious of his/her behavior because it has become a norm to view women as only having a place in the kitchen. If you can’t educate with the manifestation of your worth, then ignore the victimizer and get on with your business.

PGMAG: If you could rewrite your story, what would it include?

PS: Growing up feeling alone is an awful feeling. If I could rewrite my story, I would first equip myself with nurturing parents. A mother, a father or a guardian. Whether this person is biological, foster, or adoption it wouldn’t matter. A comforter to lean on when leaning became necessary to guide and direct me during child and early adulthood.

www.ipersiston.com