Dr. Shauntee Slack

I attribute my success to my ability to be okay with being uncomfortable. In my line of work, there are definitely some difficult situations that I have to navigate, but being comfortable with discomfort has been key to my success. This ties directly to the best career advice I ever received, which was to not be so quick to give up just because something is uncomfortable, because something that's meant to be your calling is never supposed to be comfortable.

The best career advice I ever received was don't be so quick to give up just because it's uncomfortable. Something that's meant to be your calling is never supposed to be comfortable. This advice has really shaped how I approach my work and has helped me stay committed to my purpose even when things get difficult.

I would tell young women entering my industry that even though it's not easy, it's definitely worth it. When you sit at the table, you might not find a face that looks like yours, but that's the importance of it. The topic is finally making it into areas that it needs to be, because trauma, for it to be such a loud topic, the conversations are quiet. I would say don't be afraid to be that voice in the quiet. It's important to have diverse voices at the table addressing these critical issues.

The biggest challenge and the biggest opportunity in my field are ironically the same thing. The biggest opportunity is that trauma therapy is not wide reaching, so there is a lot of room for growth and a lot of room for those who want to get into the field. The challenge to it is what's keeping it quiet, and just like anything else, it's monetary. Insurances give a lot of push back paying for the service because some trauma-informed approaches like EMDR is long-term. If you work with Medicaid or Medicare, you do end up having your own financial struggles. So the biggest opportunity and the biggest challenges kind of ride the same line.

I have to say my moral compass is most important. A lot of things that I do are spiritually led. I'm what they call in the South a preacher's kid, so a lot of things that I've done in life were based off of that framework. I'm the mental health minister at my church, so it allows me to deal with trauma within the church environment and address church hurt, as we call it. These are the things that drive me to do what I do. It's my faith and how it allows me to help people.