On Saturday night's show August 14, 2021 at 8:00 pm EST we will be speaking with Dr. Susanna Wu-Pong Calvert, MAPP, PhD is a leader, coach, speaker, and writer who inspires and enables others to make our beautiful future a reality.
Dr. Susanna Wu-Pong Calvert is the founder of The Foundation for Family and Community Healing. The foundation embraces the creation of healthy relationships as central to thriving in this world.
Like so many people, Susanna started life pursuing the American dream: a successful career, happy marriage, two children, McMansion… the whole nine yards. With a stroke of a pen in 2000, the final piece fell into place when Susanna got tenure at a large, public research university where she taught pharmaceutical sciences, in recognition of her achievements in teaching, research, and service.
All her dreams came true.
Why did it feel like the worst thing that ever happened to her?
For many people, the realization that external measures of success do not bring happiness comes about slowly as we start to sense depths of desperation amid our success. For Susanna, it felt like a crushing blow that caused her to resign her tenured position and search for meaning and purpose. Her mental and physical health and marriage were on the rocks, with no end to the apparent toll on her life, and she knew she had to change her life.
This terrible and wonderful turning point allowed Susanna to rediscover herself without the blinders of all the cultural and societal shoulds and musts that she had endorsed. This increased openness and self-awareness enabled Susanna to discover her love of leadership, career, professional, and personal development, in part due to her work with the Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute as a program facilitator and the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Academic Leaders Fellowship Program. Susanna realized she had wisdom to share and a talent for program development and facilitation. She decided to go back to school to get a degree in the science of wellbeing, applied positive psychology, and several coaching credentials so she could devote herself to helping others in this way
In 2016, Susanna found her dream job supporting faculty success and wellbeing at the University of Georgia, Athens. This bliss was short-lived because in 2018, Susanna learned, on the heels of her sister Sabina's funeral, that her beloved husband Christopher also had cancer. In that moment, Susanna knew her life as she knew it was over and faced another rock bottom moment that persisted past Chris’ death seven months later.
This turning point sent her on an even deeper quest for meaning and purpose, this time turning to the divine for support and inspiration. Susanna felt guided to quit her dream job, move back to Richmond VA where she had spent the prior 23 years, and start the Foundation for Family and Community Healing.
To learn more about Susanna check out her personal website : https://www.susannacalvert.com/about-6
Check out her FFCH webpage: https://familyandcommunityhealing.org/about/
So sit back , relax , and join us for a fun and informative evening. You will be glad you joined us. Please be sure to like our Facebook page and our YouTube Channel @ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaYL... :
