Leadership Tea
The Leadership Tea podcast is where powerful leaders share their journeys, insights, and triumphs through informal conversations about what it takes to reach the executive level. Join us every other Wednesday to be inspired by the unvarnished stories of amazing executives who know what it's like to be "the only" at the table and who have succeeded regardless. They have proven leadership experience in their respective fields, from international affairs to the private sector to academia, and want to help others create their own success stories.
Leadership Tea
Tea Leaves and Transitions: Should I Steep or Should I Step?
Have you ever found yourself on the brink of a major decision or opportunity, only to be held back by fear and uncertainty? In this episode, we delve into Renée Rattray's inspiring journey of transition and resilience. Renée’s story of change serves as a powerful reminder that clarity of purpose and unwavering passion can propel us toward remarkable achievements. Join us as Renée shares her insights, urging us to claim our spaces, seize opportunities, and embrace our authentic selves.
Get ready for this story of courage and transformation on the bi-weekly Leadership Tea podcast.
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standing on the shoulders of the strong women who I've known, and my mother and my grandmother. They were the warrior people. So I think that's what I take with me Everywhere I go. In every space I enter. I take that courage and, yeah, the spirit of activism and in Jamaica we say that no non-sense thing and I feel like what's happening in our world now is so urgent that passivity is not an option.
Speaker 2:Hey everybody, this is Shelby. I can't think of a better way for the Leadership Tea podcast to kick off Women's History Month than by launching this episode on Tea Leaves and Transitions. Should I steep, or should I step? Because we are sipping wisdom with my Jamaican sister, renee Rattray. A global educator and connector of people, she is the very definition of phenomenal woman.
Speaker 2:In this episode, you'll hear references to the DMV. For our listeners outside of the DC bubble, dmv stands for Washington DC, maryland and Virginia. You will also hear references to IWF, the International Women's Forum. And if you caught our second episode with Kathy Duffy on bitter brews and sweet successes, you heard Belinda mention that she and Kathy were in the same IWF leadership cohort. Renee and I were in the same cohort and listen, she and I are like long lost cousins. We had an instant connection and I am so inspired by her passion and her warm courage.
Speaker 2:What's so amazing about the IWF program? All of these women from across the globe, whether they're entrepreneurs or CEOs or thought leaders in academia or government execs they're all killing it in their respective roles, but each of them struggle with self-doubt at times, just like everybody else, and many of us are trying to find our life purpose. You'll hear Renee speak about that. She'll talk about sitting at different tables deciding when and where to show up, and showing up as her authentic self in every circle. And so, with that, let's talk to Renee about her story through two leaves and transitions. Should I stink or should I step?
Speaker 4:So let's get started, and I want to begin by asking you about your transformation, about your journey, because you are in a place this year that you were not last year or the year before, and so we'd like to start by just hearing you talk a little bit about how you made a pivot from where you were previously and where you are right now, and what you're doing.
Speaker 1:So I am a Jamaican girl born and raised and a woman of the Caribbean. I love my people. That's where my heart is. I keep saying with Jamaica I'm like the reason you break my heart is because you have my heart, Jamaica.
Speaker 1:So I've been working quite a bit in education in Jamaica for all of my adult life. I knew from very early I wanted to become an educator and, despite my parents' distress I about me going and becoming a poor educator, I pushed ahead. I just knew that was what my soul was called to do. I was born to do that and so I went to teachers' college in Jamaica, didn't follow the regular path that most of my peers. I went to one of the best schools in high schools and the natural progression is to go on to university with all of the subjects you receive, the accreditation you receive and what mine was to just go to our teacher's college. Because I knew that I wanted to teach and I worked in education in various sectors for 25 years. So I taught as a special education teacher. I became a principal. I worked with our government in the Ministry of Education to help to support a number of the reforms that we've gone through over the years and then transitioned into doing a bit of coaching and leadership work for principals and teachers on the island. But after a while, I think, I worked as an incorporate with an organization, a bank, one of our banks that had a corporate social responsibility. I am a strong presence in Jamaica and I think I worked there for 10 years as a director of education, and so I was able to support schools financially, help them to be better equipped, and then also in various communities across the island, and then it gave me an opportunity to work throughout the Caribbean as well in some places.
Speaker 1:And yeah, I think at a point I just felt like I had maxed out.
Speaker 1:I felt I was doing some of the same things over and over again. I remember sitting in a meeting one afternoon and thinking why in at the Ministry of Education, I'm like I have had this conversation before, 20 years ago, 20 years ago, and I don't feel as if it's things are shifting, and so my soul was crying out for more. I just was not happy and I've never had an, I've never been in a place where I've not it's felt like work. And it started to feel like work and I think at that point I knew that something was not in alignment, that I needed a shift, and yeah. So I started yearning for that and as I did, as I spoke to people as situations, the universe comes fired to make sure that I was no longer comfortable where I was, and it forced me to make some decisions about where I needed to be and that kind of started a whole ripple effect of blessings and anxieties, lots of big decisions that I had to make in my life, for me and for my family.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, it's not easy. You make it sound like, oh yeah, I just woke up and decided it was time to make a shift, but what I really want people to know is that not only did you make a shift like you relocated, you left Jamaica and now you're here in the United States.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I had always been a resident of the United States because my family all had moved away, maybe 20 or years ago, to New York and to Florida. But I chose to stay in Jamaica because that's just where my heart was. And, yeah, so when I decided in 20, this was just after COVID I went off into doing private practice in 2019, just before COVID, and so I started doing consulting. The timing was perfect because then, when COVID hit and then we were doing things remotely, I was able to transition into that very seamlessly. And then, yeah, so the opportunities came for me to relocate. Actually, I was just pushed to relocate. I'm not Jamaica, I need some more space. I kept saying I just need to sit at a different table. I can never say that to a friend of mine I just need to be in different conversations, I want to continue to do the same kind of work, but I just want to be at a different table with some new people. And, yeah, and so I shifted, moved to the US, brought my family with me. I have two children and set them up in school, and my partner still lives in Jamaica, but we have been the children. I just came for the summer and decided who does this? And it actually was a colleague from IWF, shelby, our mutual friend, who said come have my house this summer, you can. In July you can have my house. And this is somebody who I hadn't known for very long but our spirits had connected as well. And she said have my house in the summer, and my husband and I are going away and you and your family can have it, and we will. And see what you feel, see how you think. And I did that, and that's what led me to start looking for schools.
Speaker 1:I knew when I landed in DC I was like, okay, this does feel like me. It feels like a space that I could be in and thrive and that my family could thrive here. And so it was a huge leap. It was a decision that was taken in a few weeks crazy people we were, but all with purpose. And the minute I got here, I was embraced by the right community. I just things just started to fall into place for me in ways that I hadn't imagined, because I took some the step, because I decided that I wanted to do more and made a move to do it. Yeah, sometimes I have to remind myself you're right, shelby, that I it's. It was a big deal. Yes, it was a big deal.
Speaker 3:Huge deal. So often when you make a step like that, it's such a big change. There are people around you who sow seeds of doubt. How did you manage those doubters? How did you manage your own fears about taking this step?
Speaker 1:I've never allowed doubters to stay in my space, to be in my air. So my biggest yeah, of course I had people asking me what on earth are you doing? You're leaving the safety of your home? I have a home in Jamaica. I have community, I have, but I never allow daughters to occupy too much space.
Speaker 1:I do try, and I think that comes, but goes back to my parents always reminding me to stay in my lane, to do what brings me joy, and I'm grateful to have to have watched them allow me to do that. I think that has stuck with me along my journey. So my worst enemy, I think, is always myself. Right, I'm the one who has always been wondering okay, so when I decided to move, I said, oh my gosh, am I going to be like a big, a little fish in this big pond and nobody will know me and it will feel like I'm starting over? And I told myself those stories and so those limiting thoughts very often would be reinforced by me, and it's something that I really had to fight hard to shift.
Speaker 1:I think that, yeah, I knew that the direction that I was in was the right one, and so I had to continue to tell myself that there is purpose in it and so that I wouldn't be swayed by that, because I can tell you there were days when that cold hit me, like in late December, after just getting here and just managing, juggling and learning what was I like?
Speaker 1:What am I doing? I had no real plan for a job either. That was the other thing. I was just doing my consulting. So I had a few projects here and there, not enough to sustain me yet. And there were times when I was at my lowest, there were times when I just had to truly say cry out to the father and I'd be like what on earth am I doing? What am I not? But I always knew that what I was doing was right. As much as I was kicking and screaming at points, I knew that I was at the place that I was supposed to be and that the provision would be made for me to be here and to do what I needed to do here.
Speaker 4:And I love that. I love what you just said in terms of the provision would be made for you to do what you needed to do here, and you said the word purpose a lot Like you just sound like you're very grounded, you have a true sense of self, and so, as you're on this journey, we're just wondering, like where is Renee going? Where are you going and what are you taking on this ride? Who are you taking on this ride?
Speaker 1:Oh, my Lord, when am I going? I'm going to spaces where I'm needed most. I'm going to spaces where I can serve with my whole self, with my authentic self. I'm fortunate to be in a position where I only show up as me and I'm able to do that and decide where I show up. I do a lot of speaking and workshops and what have you, but I'm grateful now that I can say, ok, no, that's not me, or yes, that's exactly what I'm working on now, that's where my heart is now, that's what I'm passionate about, that's where I see the urgency and I can give you my best self. So I'm going only into those spaces. I'm going into the ones that need to hear truth and the ones that will allow me to advocate for young people, and only in places that bring me joy and fulfillment and that will, in turn, allow me to open that up for others, for teachers, for students. I think that's part of my mission to spread joy in spaces where traditionally they don't exist, especially in our classrooms, because I think that too often there's so much trauma that, as educators, we experience that we have not even started to unpack and healing to be done and we don't talk about those kinds of things in those spaces because it's academic, we're just there to produce and to work, but the truth is that there's so much that has happened that we can't do us as a people and I'm also in spaces with my people.
Speaker 1:That was one of the things I felt guilty about when I moved to America, because I felt, no, my people in the Caribbean need me more. And it really did a job on me because I was not I didn't want to be, to appear to be deserting my people and because the needs are so great. But I then had to reposition my mind and my thinking and understand that there are times when you need to step away, to refuel, to replenish, to gain new people, gain new ideas and perspectives and connections and be able to come back in an even more full-sum way. So that's what I tell myself every day. But yeah, so I'm going into spaces where I can continue to dismantle some of the things that have held us our people, our children, our students, our teachers, spaces in education that have held us captive for so long. In Jamaica, for example, we just have all of our colonial roots, are live and strong and they're not serving us. And it's happening.
Speaker 1:And what is so great for me, having been here in this context in America, is that I'm able to see that all of those isms are the same isms. It's the same room and I feel that we have to call it as it is and do something about it. And so I'm here to do my little part in that work. And what am I carrying with me? My faith. My faith is my anchor, as I told you when I first came here, and there were days when I was on the floor crying and like feeling sorry for myself. It's my faith that I would lean on, and also my community. I developed a really strong community in the International Women's Forum, in that fellowship, so I was able to pull on persons for my strength and, yeah, and I'm taking my courage and I'm taking all of the standing on the shoulders of the strong women who I've known, and my mother and my grandmother. They were a lot of people.
Speaker 1:So I think that's what I take with me everywhere I go, in every space I enter, I take that courage and, yeah, the spirit of activism. And in Jamaica we say that no non-sense thing, because I feel like what's happening in our world now is so urgent that passivity is not an option. I don't play anymore. I don't play anymore.
Speaker 4:I can't imagine you ever playing Renee, Just saying when you're on that journey and you're forging new paths.
Speaker 3:People often want to give you advice and offer words, so I think we're curious about what was the last piece of leadership advice you were given and what did you do with it.
Speaker 1:What I'm sharing with you is just. It will seem very simple, but it was a powerful and game-changing piece of advice and it actually came from a mentor who came to churches, who actually lives here in the DMV as well, and she was phenomenal in my journey in the last two years and when I was feeling those moments of anxiety about my involvement work-wise and my leadership journey and what I needed to be doing where I was and all of that and about taking this time away to reset, she reminded me that rest is okay. Rest is essential as a leader, and so for years I had been going and doing and working as hard as ever in the fields, but rest is just as vital to the work and it was important for me to take the time to do more being and not just doing. And that kind of settled my spirit and my thoughts in a very meaningful way, because I always thought that I had my grandparents used to say you can't sleep when you die and mashed down that line no, to be at peace and to be rested in my body and in my mind and to replenish myself ever so often, to fill my soul with the things and surround myself with the things and people who will feed me as well, in order to be able to give.
Speaker 1:You can't pour from an empty cup. We say it out of state, very flippantly, but it really is true and I remember when, a couple of years ago, I was going along on empty, there was not a lot of fuel in my tank and I didn't realize it because I was so busy doing. But yeah, I think that's the best piece of leadership advice that I have received in the last little while, because that rest has forced me to really zero in on who I am some more and where I'm for this next phase of the journey, and it's caused me to take stock and I'm so grateful for that.
Speaker 4:Yes, that's a word Like you have to. You can't be running on empty if you're trying to give to other people and to be your best self, like good to anyone. Empty, yeah, renee, what is your superpower? I know you have many superpowers, but if you could, if you can name one, what is one superpower that has aided your success?
Speaker 1:Oh, I think I'd say that I, knowing my why, is my biggest superpower Like that has kept me anchored and centered all my life. I'm grateful. I mean that I discovered why I'm here early. I went to see the color purple the other night and my eyes oh, let me tell you I did too. I'm here, I'm here and I know why I'm here and that, I think, has really always been the thing that I would come. That I have come back to. It makes the what easier. It makes the whole easier.
Speaker 1:When you know what your why is, and because I know that my mission is to inspire and to impact young people and those who serve them.
Speaker 1:It keeps me going, even when I'm in a project or in a school or whatever it is that is seeming like it's stressful, or a system that I'm working in that feels stressful. I advise the Ministry of Education in Barbados right now in the work that I'm doing. And even when it feels like it's it's not happening fast enough for their challenges, my why always brings me back to what that greater good is and why I have to hold steadfast and just wheel and come again, as we say in Jamaica, and find a way to do it differently and more, find new people to support in different ways. So, yeah, I think that's a superpower of mine, because I can always. I can always feel when I'm not aligned with my wife and quickly recalibrate and yeah, and I'm able to connect the dots. That's another big superpower of mine. I think I'm able to see big picture, connect the dots, connect people. I'm a connector that's how I describe myself in recent times a connector of dots, a connector of people, a connector of processes and systems and yeah, yeah, for good.
Speaker 3:Thank you. So we're always interested in knowing what types of things inspire our guests, and so we're curious about what are you reading right now, or what have you read recently that really touched you.
Speaker 1:So right now I just started reading the garden within Dr Anita Phillips, and she likens the growing of a garden to our life and how we need to nurture it and have it flourish. Really powerful book, because she's a scientist as well and she also has a theological background, so she's merged the two really powerful reader into the second or third chapter and difficult to put it down. And the other one that I've read that has to do with dismantling systems of education that do not serve us is punished for dreaming by Dr Bettina Love. She really speaks to how young people black and brown bodies are not able to dream we haven't been given an opportunity even to dream and how important dreaming is. Yes, because if you don't have a dream, you don't have hope, and so the systems that have not served us have been intentional about preventing dreaming. And how important it is for us as educators, as parents, as community, to ensure that we continue to allow dreaming to happen, hope to happen, not to lose that. We love that book and yeah, so yeah.
Speaker 2:And I'll see you tomorrow.
Speaker 4:That's so powerful, that's really powerful. I'm even thinking of my own kids and talking to them about their dreams and what do they want for themselves. And sometimes people are like, oh, you shouldn't ask your kids what they want to be, and it's no, you should let them dream Like I'm not expecting them to say, oh, I want to be a lawyer and I'm going to do all of this.
Speaker 3:They want to be. What kind?
Speaker 4:of people who are you becoming? Yeah?
Speaker 3:And not feel that your dreams have to be driven by what you think. I want you to dream Exactly.
Speaker 1:Correct, which is hard, as parents, as much as involved as we are, it really can. It's a test for us, I think, to see how we. Khalil Gibran says that they don't come, they're not of us, they come through us.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And that is like a huge test, I think, for every parent to want the best, but allow them to be who they came here to be and to guide and to stand behind and beside what not to impose our own selves on our people, yeah, that is so true.
Speaker 4:So we're going to shift a little bit into a more lighthearted part of the conversation and I want to ask you what are you sipping on? Literally, what are you sipping on right now? Oh, all right. No, what team are you sipping on?
Speaker 1:So, listen, one of the things that I have and I feel like as leaders, we do this very often where we look after everybody else. We're on the go, we're busy doing all kinds of things and we don't look after ourselves.
Speaker 1:In our own, yeah. So as part of my evolving and transitioning and growing these last two years, I have been conscious about looking after my body and so I've been very intentional about what I put into it. I'm not always the best at it, but so I've been doing some cleanses and we're known again and I've been working out again, which really does clear the mind and it makes such a huge difference. Whenever I exercise, I'm like why don't I?
Speaker 4:do this all the time, all the time, because you always feel better after you do it.
Speaker 1:But yeah, so I've been seeing this nutritionist who is this amazing and I've introduced her to so many people. She's in Jamaica, we call her. We call her somebody who is like a ghost, a doppy, and she's like a doppy because she's like totally intuitive and will call me at the times when I'm being my worst self. So she, so there's a. So I've been drinking a lot of teas of my water intake. I do my water first thing in the morning with lemon and all the hot water to curb my cravings at different times during the day, just hot water. And the tea I'm drinking right now has milk, thistle, dandelion root. It's a mix, it's a blend. Okay, it's a cute little store that has great herbs and stuff. What's the other one? Oh, I can't remember what the other thing is, but yeah, that's what I'm drinking right now. Oh, wow.
Speaker 4:I got a sip of my tea game In my cup. That says spread joy. I love it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you need to remind us all over the place.
Speaker 4:Yes, we do, Belinda. What are you sipping right now?
Speaker 3:You know what? I'm keeping it really basic right now and I just have a decaf black tea with some honey and lemon, but I do have it and my superpower yes.
Speaker 4:I am here for that. Love it. All the women, like women of various nationalities and ethnicities.
Speaker 1:I love that.
Speaker 4:That is so cool.
Speaker 1:What are you sipping shelves?
Speaker 4:I'm also sipping something just super generic. I've got a cinnamon. I'm in cinnamon and lemon mode right now, mainly because lots of people around me are sick and I'm like, okay, I need to not be getting sick, so I'm just sipping on lemon and honey, but I'm sipping it out of my favorite mug, which was purchased in Columbia. I don't know if you can see it. You probably can't really see it that well, but anyway, oh.
Speaker 1:I'm seeing it now. Yeah, lovely tea, so calming, that's what I am.
Speaker 3:So next up in our lightning round, we're interested in knowing what time of day is sacred for you.
Speaker 1:Thank you early mornings for sure, before the world opens up, before my children's get up and start. They call me 100 times, so early mornings that's my time. I've never really been a morning person, like a really early morning person, but I became that, I think, when I started one when I was a teacher and then with children.
Speaker 4:Yeah, motherhood will do it, for sure.
Speaker 1:Motherhood surely does it. Yeah, I've never, but yeah, and it's really the best time of the day, I think, when I experience it. That's another thing that I say. Why don't I do this all the time? Why am I always taking it in? Yeah, mornings are my time, or the shower.
Speaker 4:Or the shower, that too. So what's your theme song or a playlist for a tough day?
Speaker 1:I have a few. I'm a music buff, right, so I pull on different kind of genres and I sing. I've been singing for most of my life. So music is always in my heart, it's always in my house, it's all around. So you know, on really terrible days like this past year, they hold Apple does this thing where they pull up all your playlists, the songs you play, frequently. It was very interesting. Yeah, past year, my playlist this past year was like oh my gosh. I was like, oh my gosh, girl, you were in trouble. I had Maverick City, sufficient for today. That's probably over and over many times. And yeah, and then the music of my country, reggae music always sets me in the best mood, anything from Bob Marley to Third World, to Chronix, to. I'm just constantly surrounding myself with that. My children love classical music, actually. So at night yeah, that night sometimes to go to sleep, they play classical music, they play all kinds of other things.
Speaker 4:My daughter does the same thing Really. Yeah, it helps her go to sleep.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's what my children tell me. Their dad actually introduced them to that when they were babies, so they do that all the time and that it sets a mood in the entire house. Yeah, so those are my oh yeah playlist. It's music all day long. Music, really. Bob Marley says one good thing about music when it hits, you feel no pain, and it really is true. It has that effect.
Speaker 3:Yeah, lovely. So our last lightning round question is a fill in the blank. Leadership is Leadership.
Speaker 1:Leadership is letting your own light shine and giving others permission to do the same. Showing up in all your fullness, letting your light shine and giving other people permission to do the very same.
Speaker 4:Yeah, that's awesome. You've certainly been a light on us today. Seriously, this has been amazing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so many nuggets. Just as we liberate ourselves, we liberate others. You know what I mean. That's the mission.
Speaker 3:The question of whether to stay or steep is one that hits home with me. It's a question that I've asked myself often. Really, I've asked myself this question almost every quarter throughout my entire career. Renee talked about limiting thoughts. She said I'm going to be like a little fish in this big pond and nobody will know me and it will feel like I'm starting over. And she's right. Starting over is scary and hard. I, too, told myself those stories, and it's only recently that I started to change my thinking, believe in my skills, lean in on my community and gain the courage to act and live to my full potential. How are limiting thoughts keeping you from reaching your full potential? Did you catch when Renee said I'm going to spaces where I can serve with my whole self, with my authentic self? I'm fortunate to be in a position now where I only show up as me. That's where my heart is known. It's what I'm passionate about.
Speaker 3:Those words resonate with me. I respect what Renee has done and I feel deep in my soul. I know how difficult that act of leaving something safe and familiar is for someone. I understand what it feels like for everyone to be surprised that you would leave a place where you're succeeding on the surface level but unfulfilled underneath. I also know the freedom of defining your future. If you had freedom and full autonomy to act, how would you use the tools in your toolkit? I hope you leave this episode knowing you have to remain clear about your why, your passion and your boundaries in order to chart a new and fulfilling course. As always, shelby and I want to say thank you for listening. Please feel free to reach out to us on Instagram at leadership underscore T, or send us a message through our website, wwwstirringsuccesscom. Don't forget to follow, rate and review our podcast wherever you're listening to us. Please keep coming back every other Wednesday for more episodes of the Leadership T podcast, where we are sipping wisdom and stirring success.
