Meet Suzette Salandy | Speaker, HR Executive and Leadership Advisor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Suzette Salandy and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Suzette, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
The thought process behind starting my business was to enable and equip leaders to lead more effectively. I believe that all of us are leaders in our own right and that each and every day the more tools we have to become more effective the greater the impact we will have in our lives.

Therefore when starting my business I wanted to have those insights, tools, training and coaching that could help leaders work on that aspect of their life.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?

I realized that the ability to own a business requires a huge amount of flexibility when it comes to the marketplace and knowing that at any moment, you have to PIVOT. The vision does not change but the pathway to the vision can change. My ability now to coach leaders and to share my HR insights on human capital is primarily based on my hands-on experience. In 2012,  I consulted for a major fortune 500 company and travelled all over the world. That year I learned so much about the art of coaching and more specifically coaching with the understanding of culture, compassion and sustainability.

I describe myself more as an Advisor than a Coach as an Advisor means not just providing insights and tips but as an Advisor you hold the role of confidant and develop an extraordinary level of trust. My brand is to be an Advisor and to truly allow leaders to lead with authenticity and transparency.

Finally, everyone is a leader even a stay at home mother, so my goal is to ensure that all Leaders lead effectively and efficiently. My desire to develop in this space has given me that great 70-20-10 rule which is 70% hands-on-experience, baptism by fire as they say and my heart is so delighted that many leaders still call me today to thank me for my coaching. The 20% is primarily the mentorship, conversations and alliances with different people from different organizations. The 10% is truly that information gathering of training and books that I continue to saturate myself.

This journey has not been easy, I did not do well for my first two businesses but I learned and applied that to my strategy. So my suggestion is apply the learnings and keep pushing. Failure is a teacher and some of the great leaders failed. If it were easy it would not be worth it. I also would say that my brand is thrive everyday to change your pattern to purpose…. We get comfortable in life and may not be happy at what we are doing but we are comfortable at it. Change it now! Make the Pivot and go do what you were called to do!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I think Washington DC has some great museums, so definitely check out some of the museums and great places to eat are always around, but we can definitely try out some of the restaurants at the National Harbor. I love the The Hamilton restaurant you can get great American cuisine. Ocean Prime is great for their lobster mac and cheese and of course if you want to do a quick tour of the white house its right in the area. I am excited to experience the Van Gogh exhibit which is coming in July to Washington DC,, but there is some much good food, arts and culture to experience in DC.

Of course you can always drive a bit further and check out some great spots in Old Town Alexandria in Virginia, the Salamander Spa and Resort in Middleburg VA is amazing and if you are into wines, there are several wineries that we can check out, starting with the Stone Tower Winery in Leesburg VA.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have to first give recognition to my mother Judy Pierre, and grandmother Anita Pierre as they set the tone for me to learn and understand the journey of success and how critical it is to recognize that God’s timing and your own timing are not the same. Throughout my life I was blessed to have mentors and women who guided me along the way. I am huge fan of author and leadership coach, John Maxwell and one of my favorite books from him is Good Leaders Ask Great Questions. Oprah talks about those AHA Moments in life and I have to say, I cherish those AHA Moments now as it has taught me that Life is truly a Marathon and not a Sprint.

Website: www.iamsuzette.com

Instagram: officialiamsuzette

Facebook: I Am Suzette