Meet Saundra J Golden | Mother-Daughter Relationship Coach/Author/Speaker/Consultant/RN
We had the good fortune of connecting with Saundra J Golden and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Saundra J, what’s the most important thing you’ve done for your children?
The most important thing I have done as a parent that I am most proud of is to have built a solid, relationship with my children that has cultivated into a strong bond. The relationship is one of openness and honesty where I can be vulnerable and help them navigate through life even as adults. By becoming more than a parent to them, but also a friend, they can feel comfortable in coming to me to talk about anything and know that I will listen without judgement, criticism, but actually hear them and validate them, letting them know their opinions, thoughts, and dreams are valid and they have a right to feel the way they do, because it’s their feelings. Right now because of the relationship I’ve built and fostered over the years continues to allow me to be their go-to person, especially my daughters and with my son who often calls for advice on handling things with his children. It was the ability in learning to communicate with them effectively, actively listening to them without interruptions and being able to relate and understand what they were going through that makes our relationship even possible and I am so happy I took the time to learn the tools and strategies that have given us the opportunity to build such a wonderful, loving and stress free relationship. I’m most proud of our bond. This has impacted them to be open and ask questions, but it has also allowed them to be confident and well adjusted individuals being assured of who they are. I am so proud of each one of them.
Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a registered nurse and have been in the healthcare arena for over 35 years. It was the encouragement from my family and my passion to help others that lead me to my profession of being a self-published author, writing my book to help mothers with communicating with their daughters and building a bond that transcends and grows as both the mother and daughter does.
My journey was not easy. When I began my journey in nursing I was still dealing with the trauma of my life and doing so with a daughter. In trying to deal and give her the mother she needed and deserved, I left nursing school for a year to deal with my trauma by taking a year of nothing but psychology courses, asking questions learning me and who I was and understanding the trauma that had happened in my life. After my year, I re-entered nursing school graduated becoming a Registered Nurse.
Initially it was a struggle working in a hospital and having to work every other week end and some weekends both my husband and I would have to work and this caused issues for me. I was very particular about who kept my kids because of my past, but my husband and I finally agreed to allow his cousin whom we both trusted and had a good relationship with and, she with our children, keep them on the weekend we both had to work. But being a certified oncology nurse was stressful and overwhelming and I needed a break, so I started to search for something different and went into the field of Home Health Care. I initially only did it for a break but I fell in love with the ability to help people in the comfort of their homes and seeing the outcome of them getting better. Home Health is where I have spent over 25 years of my career and I wouldn’t change it. The ability to go in and teach patients and their caregivers about they disease, medications and everything they need to know to better manage their care in the home to prevent hospitalizations and/or having to be placed in a nursing home is a rewarding experience. It gave me an accomplished feeling to see a patient where they once were, and the positive outcome upon discharge. Seeing the end result was nothing short of amazing. Now, while still in home health, I am a Corporate Nurse Consultant for Home Health and I get to teach others how to do this while also ensuring that they meet all regulatory requirements, help with formulating policies and procedures to ensureour patients receive quality care.
What set me apart from others was that I could use some of my skills I had to learn when raising my kids. I had to learn to communicate in a way my patients could understand what I was saying and in a way that would resonate with them on their level, where they would be open to communicating with me, giving me the information I needed to help them improve their health. I had to learn to actively listen to them and their wants and desires because even though I had goals I wanted to achieve with them, it wasn’t necessarily about my goals, it was what they wanted to achieve and why and how I could help them do it and becoming more relating and understanding to their needs. It wasn’t about me, but about what they felt they needed and why and help them to achieve it. This was also a part of my journey I had to endure and it help me build the relationship with my daughters because the same thing applied. I just had to learn how to use it in a way that would help me with my daughters.
It took hard work to accomplish where I am today, even taking a job with a huge decrease in pay to learn different things like regulatory requirements of several health entities to make me stand out among the others. By taking the position for less pay, I not only learned the regulatory requirements for home health, but also for hospice, private home care and a little of the alternative living facilities. But all of this not only helped me in my professional career but my personal career as well. It seemed I was on a journey for what God really had in store for me. Not just helping patients and their families to deal with illnesses and giving them the ability to manage them, but to use the information I learned that helped me build a solid relationship with my daughters to help other mothers.
I have learned that you can do anything you set your mind to, if you are willing to put in the work. However, in some instances you have to be honest with yourself and realize you can’t do it alone. You have to be willing to ask for help and for me that was difficult because I felt it meant I wasn’t up to par or where I needed to be. But realized that this wasn’t the case, that life was ever evolving and with each evolution you were on a continual learning journey of things you may have not known before.
What I want the world to know about me and my brand is that no matter what I have endured I am a conqueror and I want to help mothers to conquer the ability to effectively communicate with their daughters, learn to actively listen to their feelings, validating them without judgement or criticism, having the ability to be more relatable and understanding of their needs, thoughts, desires and opinions and that you may need help with learning these tools and strategies to build the desired bond you want to have with their daughters and become their go-to person. I want them to know that they can have friendship with their daughter without boundaries being crossed if they are established appropriately and ultimately strengthen their relationship with their daughter.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I laughed when I saw this, because there is so much to see in the city and my adventurous daughter is usually my go-to person for this. But I do know a few things I think people would like, for places, I would take them to the Fernbank, where there is a museum, 3D theater and a forest to see which is rich in culture and learning a lot. If they come with kids, High Falls Water Park would be a great way to spend the day as it’s also has a national park that you can walk in and view the beautiful scenery, uptown comedy club, North GA premium outlet for a little shopping, Southern Gentleman Restaurant, Grand Lux, take a day trip to Helen, GA or Dahlonega to view the wildlife and scenery, little alley steak restaurant.
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My husband who has always supported me and my children, especially my daughters who are always encouraging me. Without them, none of this would be possible, especially the writing of my book, Make It Stop! A Young Woman’s Guide to Overcome or Prevent Dating Abuse.
My daughters were the ones who continued to encourage me to write a book to help others who may be going through what I had and help mothers to build relationships with their daughters as I had with them. When I spoke to my husband about it, he was onboard and encouraged and supported me to do it. So I wrote the book and then created a coaching program to help mothers learn how to communicate effectively with their daughters, learning the tools and strategies to actively listen becoming more relatable and understanding of their daughter and her needs as well as 1:1 consultations with mothers to work with them specifically on relating to their daughter.
Without my family, none of what I do would be possible. They are my biggest cheerleaders!
Website: www.saundragolden.com
Instagram: @saundrajgolden
Linkedin: SaundraJGolden
Facebook: Saundra Jackson Golden and Saundra J Golden
Other: TikTok: @saundrajgolden
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