Life-Changing Challengers

A Multicultural Odyssey with Venchele Saint Dic

• Brad A Minus • Season 2 • Episode 9

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What if your childhood was shaped by the vibrant cultures of Florida and Haiti, amidst a backdrop of civil unrest and a trilingual education? Join us as we converse with Venchele Saint Dic, a master of public health, author, and writing brand strategist, who opens up about the profound impact of her multicultural upbringing. From her early years in Haiti, navigating political turmoil, to living with a host family in Boston for safety, Venchele's story is a testament to resilience and the transformative power of education. We unpack her family's rich heritage and how it fueled her intellectual curiosity and confidence, even amidst adversity.

Transitioning from a pre-med track to a passion for public health wasn't a straightforward journey. Venchele reflects on how her academic pursuits were influenced by her father's own doctoral studies and the contrasting experiences she faced in Boston and Chicago. Her narrative is filled with leaps of faith and the unexpected opportunities that shaped her path. We explore her pivotal Peace Corps experience, where she applied public health principles in rural Senegal, overcoming language barriers and cultural challenges to make a tangible impact. This chapter of her life taught her humility, resilience, and the importance of cultural respect and understanding.

Returning to the U.S. under the shadow of her mother's declining health, Venchele shares the emotional complexities of balancing professional duties and personal grief. Her journey through grief counseling and the struggle to secure employment amid personal trials reveals the depth of her strength and adaptability. We also delve into her evolving career in ghostwriting, emphasizing the importance of respectful political discourse and the impact we have on others. This episode is a compelling exploration of personal growth, the power of education, and the enduring human spirit.

Contact Venchele @ Pathway Coach Writing
Instagram: @venchelesaintdic
Facebook: @venchele.dic
LinkedIn: @venchele-saint-dic-drph-student-mph-baph
X(Twitter):@VencheleD
YouTube:  @pathwaycoachwriting
PathwayCoachWriting.com

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Contact Brad @ Life Changing Challengers
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YouTube: @lifechangingchallengers
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Brad Minus:

And welcome back to another episode of Life Changing Challengers. As always, I'm your host, rad Minus, and today I'm extremely lucky and we're going to take a little departure from our normally regularly scheduled program because we're getting deep into an intellectual side of Life Changing Challengers with my guest and honored to have her on the show. Venshele Sainththe is a master of public health, she's an author and she's a writing brand strategist and coach, and she is in the middle of pursuing her doctorate in public health right now, and we need a lot more people like her. So, vanchelle, welcome. And how are you doing today?

Venchele Saint Dic:

I'm doing good today, Brad. I'm just so thrilled to be here and just looking forward to our conversation. You did a brilliant job introducing me. That's like one of the best intros, but thank you so much.

Brad Minus:

Oh, you're so welcome. As always, I start out the same question with everybody. Can you tell us a little bit about your childhood, the environment you grew up in, where the complement of your family, and what was Venshell like as a kid?

Venchele Saint Dic:

Oh, my goodness, I think, like right now, like as soon as you said, like well, who was I as a kid? I'm thinking to myself well, the best person we can tell you is my father. I was born in the States, I was born in Florida, and then my family my mother, my father decided that they wanted me to have a trilingual education, and so I went back to Haiti right after I was born and I've pretty much lived there for probably 10 or 12 years, like all my childhood I spent it there, and so my family is from Haiti, martinique and France, and so I grew up in a household that was pretty diverse, a household where I felt seen and I felt heard and, I think, most importantly, as a woman, I was given an opportunity to speak truth to power, to own my voice or at least to develop it at the time, and it also gave me a strong sense of confidence in like, where I come from, because that's pretty much how they start you off, like when you go to school in Haiti, they start you with your history Right, and at the time, like when I was in like, I was in preschool, middle school I didn't really quite understand that because I went to a private Catholic school. I didn't. I just thought it was laborious, like because again they had all of these tomes, these books, which would hurt my back because I would have to bring these books to school every day. Then, seeing where I am now, I'm so glad and grateful that I was in a situation where I had to learn about my history Because, as you probably have noticed, nowadays you have to be skeptical of the news and the information that you're ingesting every day, and so that definitely provided this level of foundation In terms of how I was as a kid.

Venchele Saint Dic:

I was very highly confident, somewhat of an introverted, introvert. Extroversion has always been a learned trait for me and practice makes perfect. So at a certain point people wouldn't notice that they talked to me. They think like, oh my goodness, like she's. She's very friendly, very sociable, but the introversion is still very much there. Like I definitely take the time to communicate and have fellowship with everyone, but in terms of renewing my energy, like I have to sometimes take a step back and just just be in my own zone to do some self-reflection, I was, I'm trying to think, like in terms of how I interacted with the world.

Venchele Saint Dic:

I live pretty much in my head. But again, having been in a school where I was surrounded by people, by children who came from different countries, it opened my eyes and made sure that I kept an open mind, and so I was very sociable, and then yet I was somewhat of a quiet child. I love to read, love to travel. I think, if nothing else, that's where I found my love in books. Books gave me, it was a sort of escapism where I just it brought me to a new place. It gave me an escape to know more about the world outside of my inner city because that's what I call it my inner city in my head, where I'm the only resident. But yes, in a nutshell, that's a little bit about me and my journey, at least.

Brad Minus:

Brothers and sisters.

Venchele Saint Dic:

I do have one younger brother and one younger sister. I do have one younger brother and one younger sister. So my brother is currently pursuing well, he has an associate's degree in business management and he's currently pursuing a bachelor's. And then my sister is living with my stepmother and my father and she's well. She's in high school. So there's an age gap, yeah a little bit.

Brad Minus:

So were you still living at home when your parents decided to split?

Venchele Saint Dic:

That's a very good question. I didn't even know that they were split until like, maybe late teens, because they remained great friends. Like I never felt like this lack of presence from both my father and my mother. And then also, too, I forgot to mention because I know we were talking about my childhood but then there's a transition right Like from my childhood to becoming a teenager, and for that portion of my story, I wasn't living with my family.

Venchele Saint Dic:

Due to the civil unrest in Haiti, they made the painful decision to have me stay in the States, have me stay with a host family with whom I lived for about seven years and my childhood ended at 12. And I had to raise myself, and because it's a different ballgame when you are living with people who are not family members, but that gives you an idea of just how much strife was taking place in Haiti at the time. And so and at the time my father was getting his doctorate degree, I couldn't live with him on campus. My mother was trying to make ends meet and then making sure that the people were taking care of me, had funding to take care of me, so it was a very tough time in my life. And then also, too, I always chuckle because I think sometimes there are people who they take things for granted, and I know for me, I've never had the luxury. I just never had the luxury to take a break. Really, I literally became an adult and I had to be on my grind, doing great in school, trying to get scholarships, trying to go to college and again, my family. I'm not the first one in my family to get a terminal degree. Everyone has at least a master's degree in my family.

Venchele Saint Dic:

So I grew up in that environment where education was, and has always been, like a pillar in terms of defining your identity, and so that got me through the tough times. And even if I saw my mother during holidays and what have you, it was not the same. And so, even when people, when you go in these different Facebook groups and platforms, they talk about divine femininity, learning to be a woman, I had to define my womanhood, even when I received guidance from my mother, but again, there was some level of distance, right and so, yes, and then also, as I'm talking to your audience, I don't want to pit myself as a victim. I wasn't a victim. There was a choice that was made.

Venchele Saint Dic:

I was thrusted into something that I was not necessarily ready for, and I think that's the part that we need to take into account when we're talking about changing, changing challengers. Right, change is not always comfortable. My change was not comfortable at the age of 12. Like Dale Carnegie would say, life threw me lemons. I made lemonade and some key lime pies and all of that. So it all of these experiences like right, like we started off with my history, like how, what was my childhood like? Because I had a happy childhood To move from my happy childhood, my cozy, lofty environment to a situation where I was always on survival mode and I don't take any of these things for granted I think that, if nothing else, it has made me a better advocate, especially in my field. Right now, in public, I'm talking a lot, so I'm going to let you into general. Are you kidding the more?

Brad Minus:

you talk, the better it is, because we're getting from you. So, but I do have a couple of questions. So, basically, so you're saying so, because of what was going on in Haiti, your parents decided, hey, we're going to protect our child, right, thank you, right, not exactly the most comfortable thing, but the right thing, and I'm sure it wasn't comfortable for them either. They don't want to let their little girl. It wasn't. So you ended up moving in with a host family, and did you end up? Is that when you went to Miami?

Venchele Saint Dic:

No, so great question. So I was born in Florida, but when I went to live with this whole time was in Boston, massachusetts.

Brad Minus:

Oh, big city and cold.

Venchele Saint Dic:

Big city and cold. Trust me, I don't I well. I remember the blizzards, but I do not long to live in Boston and go through that winter. Our winters are pretty. They, they, they pretty rough yeah.

Brad Minus:

I grew up in Chicago, so I don't understand win rough.

Venchele Saint Dic:

Yeah, I grew up in Chicago so I understand winter. Yeah, I'm actually going to school. I'm getting my doctorate, my DRPH, in public health leadership in Chicago. That's amazing.

Brad Minus:

I love your city. We're in Chicago. What college? Universal Illinois at.

Venchele Saint Dic:

Chicago Circle Campus.

Brad Minus:

Or.

Venchele Saint Dic:

Champagne. No, not Champagne in. We're in chicago. What? A college universal, illinois, at circle, campus or champ or champagne. No, not champagne. There's this circle, circle, campus maybe it's circle campus. Yeah, uic, uh, university of illinois, circle campus uic but it's downtown program, so I only get to go there to your city, like in august so well, better to go in august.

Brad Minus:

At least they're not sending you in december or january they call it isn't that isn't.

Venchele Saint Dic:

Isn't that the reason why they call it the wind city? Yeah?

Brad Minus:

yeah, it'll blow you around. It'll definitely blow you around. I I love downtown chicago between april and the beginning of november. Yeah, that's the greatest time for you to be down there any after that.

Venchele Saint Dic:

Then it could get pretty treacherous yes, yes, actually plane tickets are much cheaper from what I'm seeing in march, uh, but as soon as you get to the august july, it gets you. You're paying a hefty fee, but it's worth it. It's worth it.

Brad Minus:

Well, I like what you're doing. You know what I mean. What you're doing is stuff for the greater good. So we need we definitely need more people like that. So, okay, so you moved to Boston, you're living with a host family and you realize that. So that, I think, is extremely mature of you, because you had to realize that, okay, I'm over here, I need to do something, you need to step. I don't know if you had to step it up or if it was something that was just natural to you. As far as academia, both, oh, all right, well, great. So you realize that, yeah, no, you talked about it, how that? You were like all right, I gotta, I'm here, I'm not taking it for granted, I'm gonna get my grade, get grades. And you knew that you wanted to go to college. Obviously, that was something that was instilled by you, by your parents. So, just going back, so your mother and your father stayed in Haiti.

Venchele Saint Dic:

States, and then my mother remained in Haiti, but I didn't know that they were. It was like a split, or the beginning of a split, but I didn't know until my late teens and again, I never felt the absence, so it didn't really matter at this point, and your father was also going, but he was going to college, or was? He? Yeah, my father was just getting his doctorate at the time.

Brad Minus:

Okay, what did he have a doctorate in?

Venchele Saint Dic:

I believe it's in economics and political science and he has multiple master's degrees, brad. So not trying to after, I'm going to tell you right now, after this DRPH, like I'm not going back to school, I'm just focusing on the school of life.

Brad Minus:

Yeah.

Brad Minus:

So, yeah, I'm with you, I'm off of that soup. I'm just focusing on the school of life, yeah. So I am. Yeah, I'm with you, I'm off of that soup. I don't put it here because it's not. This is not about me, it's always about the, it's about the guest. But I have an MBA, I have and I've got several certificates in IT and I have several certificates and, yeah, in in fitness and in the whole bit. So I understand my father yeah, I understand not wanting to go back to school, because I did not want to go back.

Venchele Saint Dic:

Don't get me wrong, I'm a nerd and I love school, I love what I do, and I think, like it's a bigger discussion of when you go, at least for me, when I was going to college, I wanted to do something. I was passionate about. Now, this whole idea of understanding and finding your mission and your vision no, I no, I was not really embedded into the theoretical frameworks of trying to find my mission at the time. I just wanted to do something that could allow me to impart wisdom, impart the knowledge that I've gained as a 12-year-old trying to make it out as the daughter of an immigrant, knowledge that I've gained as a 12 year old trying to make it out as the daughter of an immigrant, before my mother finally came, I think around 2007. And that's when I left the host family and I was reunited that's what I'm going to call it a reunion with my people, and so, so, yes, so I. That's how I landed on public health.

Venchele Saint Dic:

Initially, I wanted to go to medical school. I was on the pre-med track and then along the way, I just thought I don't know if this is a good fit. I want to focus on population health and I know if I become a pediatrician, it's more so case management and taking care. It's just not that I have something wrong with that, but I just felt like this was just not a good fit. And so around my sophomore year, I switched majors, so I was still able to keep my credits, like all for all of the other classes I've taken, so it didn't hurt me that much. And so I switched to public health and I just fell in love with it. And it's almost like when we're talking about challenges too, I think we and then I spoke about this earlier but keeping an open mind and open heart. That was also taking a leap of faith to be to come, to go from I really want to become a pediatrician to taking a moment and realizing no, I need to make a change, because I'm not happy. And I had to listen to myself. I had to block out the noise of people, and that's another thing that I've learned along the way is that sometimes it's best to move quietly.

Venchele Saint Dic:

I was so overzealous at the time. I really wanted to become a pediatrician. No one could stop me. But then how? And as a believer, I kept thinking, well, is God able to even use me if I continue down that path? And there were so many signs and then I said, no, I think I have to make the move and if I fall on my face, then I fall on my face. I'll be able to pick myself back up again. But I have to have enough faith that something good will come out of it, and it did.

Venchele Saint Dic:

The gates just opened and I was flooded with opportunities, like with internships, things that like literally opportunities that I did not get when I was in biology. If nothing else, I felt like I was struggling to get opportunities, and that's part of I think it's a huge part of when we talk about life changes. We need to be able to take a leap of faith and not always try to have everything figured out and I'm speaking to my analytical mind right now not have everything figured out from point A to point B. You may have a plan and it's also good to just keep. It's also good to make sure that you create space, for essentially, you have to give space for you to be surprised, and I guess that's how you kind of land on your mission and vision and the people and the places that you need to be adversity, trauma, injury, whatever in an uncommon way.

Brad Minus:

Well, you had this change in your life that was forced upon you. That could be considered adversity, and you had a plan, and I think the uncommon route that you made was you went into the public, you went into public health and then, of course, that led you into and we're going to get to that into this career. You've got with with brand strategy and writing coaching, and that's where we're going to move in there in just a minute. So, your dad so just to reiterate, dad's in college, mom's in Haiti you're with a host family and you've been making reference you're a reference to faith. So was that always something that was within Haiti and with your host family? Was that always something that was within Haiti and with your host family? Was the church a big part of your life?

Venchele Saint Dic:

Yes, church has always been a big part of my life and, at the same time, I'll be remiss to say that I'm not an over like over religious. So I'm one of these people, like I question everything under the sun and I'm unapologetic about it, because I think that the more knowledge you get, the more you have to be, and I said that earlier, you have to look at things with like a fine tooth comb, because what I'm noticing is that all of the granular details that you're looking for when you're listening to people talk, when you're reading the newspaper, sometimes those granular details are not there for a reason. And I always have to ask myself who is driving the story, who is writing the narrative? And, make no mistake, I even think about this when I go to the museum. I think about who funded the museum, who funded what's inside of the museum, because they get to tell the story and are they telling the full story.

Venchele Saint Dic:

And so I think of the Bible. I take the Bible with, I guess, a grain of salt. I don't take it literally word by word, because there are certain books that have been banned from the Bible, the original Bible. I think they banned 13 books, so the version that we have does not include everything, and so even now I'm trying to think well, where can I get some of these banned books? I probably will never be able to access it. I think it's at the Vatican level.

Brad Minus:

I literally was just about to say that I'm going to be taking a trip here soon overseas. I'm going to be in Rome, and I just thought about that. I'm like I'm going to be in Rome, I'm going to go ask the Vatican while I'm there and I'm going to get back to Benchel and tell and I like it, I just gonna, I'm gonna walk up there pope, hey, pope there, buddy, listen, my friend says that there was a banned books and everything. Where can we get it? Where can we get a copy of the bible as it was written first time?

Venchele Saint Dic:

is it available on amazon?

Venchele Saint Dic:

exactly no but, to be fair, I think that what I think, the way I see my faith, is that I have a very close relationship with God. I talk to him the way I talk to an old friend. I'm talking to him the way I'm talking to you right now. I just always have an issue with, like, I'm not the type of person who's going to wait until Sunday to go to a specific place to worship him. I think that it's like the, those holidays, right, like the it's not. Well, it's not a holiday, but Valentine's day, like I always have an issue with Valentine's day because I'm thinking I'm not waiting until February to tell someone that I love them.

Venchele Saint Dic:

You know I'm going to be about that life, you know every day, and so what it has provided me, I think my faith has provided me a compass, and knowing that from because I'm Roman Catholic, so knowing from the Bible's perspective that God gives us free will, I know that I can always change my mind. I think that the maturity and the wisdom comes when you have to say to yourself okay, I'm going to make a decision and I'm going to live with the consequences of that, good or bad, and I think that's what it has allowed me to do. It has given me this sense of groundedness. I feel centered, I'm on firm ground. No one can really no one can shake me Right. And then also being an informed consumer, questioning things and doing my own research, I think has been very helpful on my journey, when you say that you have to watch out where the narrative is.

Brad Minus:

So it's so. Sometimes it's like, so blatant. So, just for instance, fox News is completely on the right, cnn is completely on the left. Yes, they both omit facts to speak to the narratives. Facts, so yeah, facts. So where do you find it? Do you use AP? You don't know, obviously not. And then the other one that I actually listen to because I like the way they present the news, but I still have to think about it, is NPR.

Venchele Saint Dic:

Yes.

Brad Minus:

Which is completely left right. Yes, no-transcript and I don't know if you've ever heard of it. There's a site called the ground and it's really cool is the fact that articles, but then they sort it or they give you a, they give you red, green, red, yellow and green, and like red is red is right, so it's. It tells you that the art hey, this article is right leaning, and green is all right, this article is left leaning. And then they've got center, this one's kind of in the center it's, it's I wrote it down.

Venchele Saint Dic:

I have to check it out. Yeah, yeah, it's the first time I'm hearing about it I didn't know about it either.

Brad Minus:

I caught it on. I caught on somebody else's podcast, yeah, and I heard about it and I started reading it and it's definitely you can see where it is and then they'll list the same article, like it'll be a different title, but the list it's like the same articles on the same thing on all three levels. So you can like all right, what did they say here? They didn't say here what was the same, and you can take a look at it. But that's a lot of time, you know what I mean. It's a lot of time for you to look at that. So, yeah, you got to pick your battles, what you want to learn about.

Venchele Saint Dic:

So, anyway, all right, so that resource thank you yeah, no, I will.

Brad Minus:

Oh, that definitely will, and obviously I mentioned it, so I'm gonna. I'll put it in the show notes as well. So, all right. So you've gone through high school and then, and now you've, you were going to be a pediatrician. You had that locked and loaded and then, all of a sudden, it's. What it sounded like to me was that as a pediatrician, you're going to work one case at a time. Yes, with match with public health, you're going to be able to help full populations or subgroups. So is that kind of where you were leaning at that point?

Venchele Saint Dic:

That's where I was leaning at that point. And then also, too, I have to analyze this from the lens of the 16 year old, because I started the college at the age of 16. And so by the time I graduate I graduated I still wasn't. I wasn't legal to do. You couldn't even drink. Yet I couldn't even drink yet. Oh my Right, yes, that's the, that's when you take a swig. No, you're right.

Brad Minus:

Yeah, yeah, no, that's. That's crazy. That's like the Big Bang Theory. Sheldon graduated college at 14. It was Dr Sheldon by the time he was 17, or something like that. It was crazy and you're like falling right there Done with high school at 16, done with your bachelor's, your BA, in public health, at what? 19, 20?.

Venchele Saint Dic:

To 19, 20. And then I decided to do the Peace Corps. So I moved to Senegal, west Africa, for about. Well, the contract was for two years but I stayed for three because my contract was renewed for a third year but it was not guaranteed.

Brad Minus:

Yeah, but what was that? Like Senegal, west Africa, that's awesome.

Venchele Saint Dic:

Yeah. So the experience was great, and I don't say this lightly. I think that it very much aligned with my values of wanting to travel and experience new cultures, and it had its challenges too, because sometimes things can be lost in translation. And so I think, if nothing else, like what it has taught me and I always remember this quote, and I don't remember if it was from a mentor or a friend who told me this but knowledge doesn't bring power into our lives until we apply what we have learned. And I think that, as someone who started working in the Peace Corps, it gave me an outlet to put into practice what I had learned in class, like in public health, and bring everything together.

Venchele Saint Dic:

And I'll tell you, working with people is not always easy. You're dealing with different personalities, your different social values and interests. I lived in a rural community with no running water, no electricity, and so I was given the bare minimum of resources, if you will, and I had to once again make key lime pie. But, in a nutshell, those three years taught me that I am someone who is resilient. I know this is like the hot button word that's being used nowadays, but I am a resilient person.

Venchele Saint Dic:

I am someone who's flexible and adaptable. I can live under extreme conditions and survive, and I think that's where the faith and being grounded and centering your values, knowing what you can or cannot do, comes into play, even now, like as someone who's pursuing a doctorate in public health, leadership is not afforded to many people Because we live in a society where we're always on the go-go, that we don't have the time to reflect, and I think that there's so many conflicts that could be avoided had one person just say well, I'm going to take a moment to think about how I showed up today to this person and how I could have done things differently. So, so, yes, so that's, at least that's what's coming up for me, like as I'm talking about my Peace Corps experience.

Brad Minus:

So no running water, minimum resources, and I'm just going to ask you to do it quickly. But can you run us through like a normal day that you had when you were in the Peace Corps, like getting up, what were you do? How would you with these lack of resources? How are you taking care of yourself?

Venchele Saint Dic:

And I think, well, the normal day would look different for everyone. So I know for my in my community, like when I got up, I just got ready, I would have breakfast with my host family and then I would again some days, because Senegal has different seasons and so in the rainy season people don't really go outside unless you're a farmer, and so you need to go and plant the seeds and do what you need to do before the rain comes, like in the afternoon, but you would pretty much be locked in your room. But for me it was literally just having breakfast with my family starting to work. So at the time I was trying to bring them like a brand new clinic, and so I was networking with many organizations in the area, and so I spent maybe a good chunk of the day with these local partners and then around 5 pm Eastern time well, 5 pm their time I would already be home, like having dinner with my family. Then we would talk about the day, because my in my family I, my father, my host father was a farmer, and so he would just tell stories. And don't forget that the people I lived with I don't even think they had a high school, I don't even think I think their reading level was at the sixth grade level. And so and I think that experience is humbling as well to come from, and I think that experience is humbling as well to come from a family where it's like I was surrounded by people who are educated to live in, with people who were not afforded that opportunity for whatever reason, it humbles you.

Venchele Saint Dic:

And then I think also when we talk about my normal day, I also made time to read the Quran, because the majority of the population in Senegal are Muslims, and so it was important for me to understand why they believed in what they believe, how they moved in the world, like what was their compass. So I made time to dedicate, maybe, if it's like an hour or two to read the Quran, and I read it in French because I'm a native French speaker it will never compare to the Arabic version and it will tell you that too. So it helped me. It helped me as an American to go into the country, not projecting how I think things should be done, because remember that when people come to the US, I don't want to say we force them, but it's expected that they have a certain level of proficiency in English and without realizing that when they do that, they're sacrificing a part of themselves.

Venchele Saint Dic:

So I think sometimes it can be a little bit arrogant if I go to someone else's country and I demand, I ask for them to speak English to me. No, I will find a way. I'll try to meet you where you are, learn your language, learn your customs and learn your values, because I know when you come to my country we're expecting you to do that and also, I won't be so naive. I know that the commercial language is English. With globalization, that's the number one language that we can all sell our products and sell our products. And again, you understand what I'm trying to say.

Brad Minus:

Yeah, no, let's face it, America wants the world language to be English. But I think you're absolutely 100 percent correct. If you're coming to America and you're coming here to live, I think the expectation is that you learn a level of English that you can communicate with almost anybody. Same way, when you go somewhere else, we should be expected that we have to pick up enough of the language to be able to communicate, get around and you pick up. Language is pretty easy when you're immersed, when everything around you is, when everybody's talking a different language and you're trying to figure out your way. You figure out your way pretty fast.

Brad Minus:

I was never a good speaker, but I spent 18 months in Korea and every chance I got I would go on into the economy right. So I was in the military, so I would spend my day speaking English because I'd be on base. But every chance I got, as soon as we were done with work, I was on the economy. On the weekend, when we had any kind of liberty, I was out. I was in Seoul, I was, I was out. I was in Seoul, I was in Taegu, I was in Busan, everywhere to the point where I could understand it and I could speak a few words here and there, but funny story I was in, I was on Camp Casey.

Brad Minus:

I would go to Wijambu on a train and then from Wijambu would go to Seoul. I was on it, I was on this I would go to Weijianbu on a train and then from Weijianbu would go to Seoul. I was on it, I was on this, I was on this train and these school kids jumped on the train and they started making fun of me as being a white boy. Um, and they were. You know, they were making fun of me and they didn't realize that I knew what they were saying, um saying until next to me just happened to be there. I just was lucky enough for it to be there. But there was a folded newspaper in Hangul, which is the actual language in Korea, and I looked at them and I just gave them the side eye and I picked up the newspaper and I unfolded it and I went, just so they can hear it, and I started reading and they just looked at me. But they just looked at me, like, and I just gave him the eye and then they all, they quieted down.

Venchele Saint Dic:

Oh, yeah, okay, sorry, go ahead.

Brad Minus:

Go ahead. No, I was just saying that's what I meant by immersion, though, because I immersed myself, I had enough where I could listen and and interesting words, and I can probably get away with speaking to get myself around, but not obviously, not like completely, but that was also because I went back to base every time and wasn't using it 24 7, like like you were had to speak. I mean, what is sangalese?

Venchele Saint Dic:

no, I had to. So the the main language, the main languages, were wolof and french. But in my community I spoke Mandinka, which is spoken by very few people, because when I was going through my training before I was sworn in as a volunteer, the trainers thought that Wolof would be too easy for me because I already knew how to speak French. They just don't know. I think I should have been speaking. Wolof would be too easy for me because I already knew how to speak French. They just don't know. I think I should have been speaking Wolof. I think I probably would have had my learning curve would have been shorter if they had allowed me to do that, because Mandinka Sose is, in my humble opinion, a beautiful language. It's just, it's tough in terms of the consonants, the vowels, and it also just how the verb comes before the noun. It can get confusing real quick.

Brad Minus:

Oh, I can imagine. I can imagine. So you were there for three years.

Venchele Saint Dic:

Three years. So two years, that's the standard contract, and then that's the standard contract, and then, in order to do a third year, you would have to talk about, like, the projects that you'd be interested in continuing and what have you. So, in my case, I had applied for Fulbright scholarship, but I didn't get it. And then the doctor I was going to work with because he was focused on, he was doing a pilot project on family planning and so I jumped on to. I jumped on this project because he had a connection with, like, a nonprofit NGO based in Belgium, and so I pitched it to them and they had to make a decision and they there's a list, there's a select criteria that they go through, like again, in terms they look at your health, that your health status. They look at, like, your past performances, and I had a stellar if I may say so myself, stellar performance, like I did my job.

Venchele Saint Dic:

I did, I was able to do a lot of community projects with my community. They're still going on to this day. And then remember the claim that I told you about we were able to, I was able to include my community in an already established project, and that was like some time ago, and then now they have a maternity ward and I believe the clinic has become a hospital, and so, yeah, so I'm telling you, I'm telling you again, it was literally community based, participatory, community project. And so we did it together.

Venchele Saint Dic:

Because that was one thing I was afraid of, and I believe they had spoken to me about, is that they were saying that there were many foreigners who came in and just created these projects and then you would have this building in the middle of nowhere, that's no longer functional, right? But? And then I didn't want to be taking up space, I wanted to use what they already have and just enhance it and amplify it. But before I even contacted and communicated with other NGOs, I did, like a survey. So, going from door to door, there were many people living in my community, door to door, and talk to them, and I think that afterwards it became clear, based on the survey results, that there was a need for us to have, like, a newer building, because this small building was just not adequate for, like all of the, for women to come in and conceive in that it was just, it needed an upgrade for sure.

Brad Minus:

Nice, so that's a huge accomplishment, vinsha, my God, to get a public clinic up and running. And now and you left a path for it to get bigger and broader. And now there's a maternity ward. That's amazing, yeah.

Venchele Saint Dic:

Yeah, so props.

Brad Minus:

Totally Kudos up there. That's crazy. So All right, so you. So you come back. Totally Kudos up there. That's crazy. So all right, so you come back. Where did you end up coming back? Did you end up going back to Boston?

Venchele Saint Dic:

Yes, I came back to Boston even one year in because that's another thing too as I was talking to my parents because they would always check up on me while I was in Senegal, my mother, I believe, became sick, and so in retrospect, I think she didn't want to worry me because it was at the tail end of my third year and I believe that my contract was going to be renewed again, and I politely declined. I said you know what? I just have a funny feeling that I need to go home now, like I did what I need to do here, and so I left, and so I ended my contract and came back to Boston, massachusetts, and then, three months later, my mother passed away. Oh yeah, it's been such a long time. Looking back on it, it was a bit like it was a traumatic event because I came back. It was a traumatic event because I came back, I was reacclimating myself to the US, and then it just so happens that in this phase, I was practically living at the hospital with her, because, as a public health professional, but also to based on the fact that we're talking about earlier, that I have written articles on race I was always afraid that the people at the hospital were not going to treat her with respect and with dignity and that, as a daughter, I had to fulfill my role and be there. And so I lived with her in that hospital for a week, like from August I believe. I took breaks where I would go home and check up on my brother, but I practically lived there until she passed away. It's not a tough conversation for me to have, because it took me some time to really grasp her loss, just because once again I just feel like I had to step up and it's not something that I wanted to do at the age of 25, like because I've done so much that I thought, ok, I'm going to have some level of reprieve. But when you are, when you decide to live life and take life by the bull horns by the horns, you are asking for constant change. Change is never going to stop. And so I took it upon myself to join a community where I could grieve like a counseling group, to grieve with other people who had lost a loved one. I became a staunch advocate and like a shoulder for other people to lean on as well, because I remember one of my friends had lost a mother around the same time, like literally a year later, and so we comforted each other and we gave each other advice. We're going through all of these transitions.

Venchele Saint Dic:

I was looking for a job and I couldn't get a job in Boston, and then, finally, I had to leave my brother behind with a host family to finish his last year of high school because I had gotten a job by the tail end of 2016,. But I didn't want to uproot him and so I came to DC and then, from DC, like I lived in Maryland but my job was in DC and then I would do the back and forth. I would do the back and forth during that year to check up on him, give him pocket money. Just my father and I were pretty much my father, who was still in Haiti.

Venchele Saint Dic:

We were co-parenting because he had lost his mother at the age of 15. And I can only imagine how that impacted him and how he's still impacted by it, because mom was like a kind and just a gentle soul, like she was a great human being, very loving, and I even remember the people at the hospital still reached out to me afterwards, I think a few months later, just asked me hey, just wanted to let you know we're thinking about you and if you need anything, because they sent us gift cards, I felt supported and I knew like once again, like I had to rely on my faith to get me through that stage of my life.

Brad Minus:

I can't even imagine. May I ask and talk about if you want to, but can I ask what her diagnosis was?

Venchele Saint Dic:

She had pneumonia. She contracted pneumonia. It was not a protracted illness. She had high blood pressure and all of that, but that's what she had. That was the diagnosis. No-transcript Did you have a good experience? Am I allowed to ask?

Brad Minus:

I love DC. I loved working at the pentagon and I had I had two offices, so I also, I had an office in the pentagon and I had an office in roslyn, which is just over the bridge, and I yeah, no, my, that was the greatest experience ever and when I was there, they were, they like gutted it and reconstructed it, so I got to see the whole thing just in time. Yeah, I separated. I separated the first time because I ended up getting callback. I ended up separating the first time. May 31st 2001. I still had a. I still had a a good, non-expired pentagon badge or 9-11, so I actually left. A friend of mine. A friend of mine called me when the towers were hit and I thought it was a hoax. And then, all of a sudden, because I was only six miles away, and then when I found out that it hit the pentagon, yeah I literally got in the car and drove to see if I can help out with triage and they wouldn't let me in.

Brad Minus:

But I tried. It took me about 15 minutes to get there. It took me four hours to get home. Six miles. I could have ran it faster, but because of the traffic and everything that was going on that day. But that was an interesting day. All right of the traffic and everything that was going on that day, but that was an interesting day, All right so all right. So you're going into your. You went into DC because that's where you found your, that's where you found a job. Where? When did you start like really putting efforts into writing?

Venchele Saint Dic:

The writing piece, like if we take a step back, like again to go back to the childhood piece, because I think I was sharing with you that I fell in love with books right as an introverted kid, and I think that's where I became. I fell in love with words and just how you can put it together, make meaning out of it and then generate different responses from people For whatever reason. Something about it just attracted me to it. But when I got to college in Boston, there were people were asking me to provide content feedback, like on different topics, and at the time I didn't make much of it. I just said you know what? I'm just going to friends, help friends. So I'm going to help friends, and I've never seen it modeled, at least in college. I didn't see people making a living out of it. Actually, if nothing else, the people who would make a living out of it always talked about how they were struggling. So I always said to myself well, I don't know if I want to go there, right. And so that's how I started Pathway Coach Writing informally. I didn't have a website, I didn't have a brand, but I was helping people use writing as a branding strategy, and so when I saw that I had a knack for it around. I think 2019, like right before the pandemic, one of my friends told me hey, michelle, like you need to start a website because you can't be doing this informally anymore. Like how can people find you if they don't? Again, you don't have like a social media presence. And so that's when I started Pathwood Coach Writing formally, and ever since it's been blooming.

Venchele Saint Dic:

Ever since Last year, I definitely went through the ebb and flow because, again, I started school. Like I got my master's. I finished my master's in public health, in health policy analysis and evaluation, in 2022. 22. And then I was applying for doctoral programs right after and started school in August 2023 at UIC. And so I had to, I had to take a step back and prioritize school, especially, I think, we tend to prioritize the things we pay for. So that's what happened to me. I said, well, I was getting all these projects. And I said, and yes, like my ego was saying, well, michelle, like look at you with all these. But I just said, no, I have to prioritize my school right now. And so I just decreased the number of projects that I started accepting.

Brad Minus:

So is Pathways, is that? Did you monetize that as your?

Venchele Saint Dic:

no-transcript, and at the time I just didn't know how to make those connections with publishers. It was always a situation where they finished working with me and they have to go and look for a publisher if they didn't want to self-publish. But now I'm trying to change that and since then I've made connections with several publishers that I know personally, whom I can just recommend them to. But again, the caveat is it depends on the genre of the book. There's just a series, there's just so much to take into account. And then recently I've been getting a lot of I shouldn't say recently for the past three years I've been getting projects for ghostwriting. So even though right now I don't officially have it listed on my website, but that's something I think it's in the pipeline once I graduate that I can start working on.

Brad Minus:

Yeah, so just for everybody's, just for everybody's information, it's pathwaycoachwritingcom.

Venchele Saint Dic:

Yeah.

Brad Minus:

And I will put a link in the show notes for that. So check that out and check out her blog, because there's some really amazing articles in there and stuff that'll really make you think and like blew me away. So let's be freaking honest, I lean right, okay, okay, I'm just gonna say that, but, um, reading about one of the one of them, which was the one, and I'll pull it up- but here's the thing, brad.

Venchele Saint Dic:

I love how you said okay, can I ask you a question? When, of course, because in my network I have people from people lean left, lean right, they are independent, let's just put it that way Do you feel like you get judged for saying that? Because this is a safe space? This is a safe space.

Brad Minus:

Oh, 100%. Okay, because I'm not judging you. I have lean right in my sphere of influence, so I can understand yeah, no, I definitely, I definitely get it and unfortunately on both sides there's some intolerance there is.

Brad Minus:

There is some, so I've got a. I so, and in the media, the intolerance is highlighted. So you've got people that and I was. I was a victim of it in 2016. I lost a lot of friends. I had people like all over facebook saying, if you voted for trump, he friend me.

Brad Minus:

And I'm like he hasn't even doesn't even stepped into the freaking office yet. We don't know anything that he's gonna do. We don't know any, isn't? It's all strictly on his care, on his character and his personality, which does not dictate what the kind of work that this man will do. So I was already like, and I fought back a little bit. I'm like, oh, wait, a second here, hold on, we he's not even in there yet. But people were so and I hate the word triggered, and he hadn't even stepped into the office yet. He had just won the. He just happened to have won the election, so, but I do have a friend, a very good friend, who leans way left yeah and you know what, we butt heads and we have these great conversations, fantastic conversations, and we're both very passionate about what we believe.

Brad Minus:

And you know what? We can sit there and we look at it. We go okay, I think we about gave that conversation and run for its money. Okay, hug it out and we talk about something else and that's it. And I'm like and I don't understand why people aren't like that.

Venchele Saint Dic:

I think sometimes I think we've moved away from focusing strictly on policies, you know. I mean now it's like a team sport and I think that's the reason why for me in my line of work, like I got to be very careful to just be able to look at both sides. It's so critically important for me to do that right, but it's hard Sometimes. It's hard I'm not going to lie to you just because you may feel a certain way about given topic from the right side and then another way left side. So it's just you do what you can, you do what you can, you do the best you can and that's all I can. That's all we can really do, brad, and I appreciate you feeling comfortable enough to say that I chuckled when you said the way you said it. I was just like no, I'm not judging you, this is a safe space. This is a safe space.

Brad Minus:

But see, and that's the thing, is the fact that so it's. I think the assumption should be that I can tell you that, hey, you know what? I'm a little bit more conservative than the next guy Not be judged Now and be able to have healthy discourse, yes, without calling people names, without using four-letter words, having to like walk away because you're so, yeah, charlie Kirk, on Turning Point. People hate him, but the thing is that you'll never, ever hear him. He never calls anybody a name and he's constantly just asking questions and people just walk away. Oh, and I'm not listening to this, I'm not listening to this, and you hear those words all the time. I'm not listening to this because they've judged, yeah, they've made the judgment, and they're not moving from their position Instead of, okay, well, let's listen. Like you were saying, you grew up with an open mind, so you've got one up on a lot of people. I grew up that way. I grew up that way as well, so I had a very conservative childhood and then my first degree is in theater.

Brad Minus:

Okay well, that's Exactly I was. I was then then I don't want to say indoctrinated, but that was they were tried to a lot of the, a lot of the left side of it and I believed a lot of it. So I'm like I lean right but I believe in pro, I believe in pro-choice, I believe in gay marriage. The rest of it I've got a little problem with. But this is not a political discussion.

Venchele Saint Dic:

But I appreciate you sharing that, because I think that as much as when people come on your show right, there's this assumption that the show has to be about the person you're hosting, and it shouldn't be that way. This is a conversation, and so the fact that you interjected and you said what you said, I'm like your audience needs to hear that too. So I I respect you and I respect how you did this, like that's oh, I appreciate that.

Brad Minus:

Yeah, and when I draw and I do that if you and I know that you are so freaking busy I can't imagine that you had a chance to listen in the episodes. But you'll find out that when I dropped Pierolo, I did actually oh, you did, okay, great yeah, but that was like before, oh, before, yeah.

Brad Minus:

So for everybody out there, this is the third try. Third time's the charm. We both had the first couple of appointments that Vangel and I had two issues One was technical, one was familial and so this is actually the third appointment we've had to do this podcast. So, but, third time's the charm. But, but yeah. So I draw parallels. Yeah, when there's a parallel, like you said, you were in DC. It's the first time I've mentioned people, so they get a little bit with each episode. I draw a parallel to my guest and you have a little bit about me. So I always thought about doing one like interview myself, but I don't. But I like the fact that people get bits rather than chunking it all in one.

Brad Minus:

So yeah but no, I appreciate your open mindedness. I love the fact that you had this open mind and you were. It was opened up to you so that you could see it, but you also were like thrown into when you were in senegal, so you really got to see both sides.

Venchele Saint Dic:

You got to go into let's face it boston have knots, because even in my childhood, like I, I grew up upper middle class, so I was surrounded by abject poverty. Sometimes they'll tell you that even when you live in the states, like if you go from one zip code to the next, you can discern, like what the health status of these individuals are, or that community and population, that lifestyle to having to survive, and like getting bits and pieces but not everything, understanding the value of a dollar. This is very, those are very important life lessons. For some people they end up learning it, maybe their late teens, early twenties, but for me I had an introduction course to it at the age of 12.

Venchele Saint Dic:

And I don't take, and if I had to go back, if I had a do-over, sometimes people will say, well, I would have done it differently. And, to be honest, I think everything is as it should be. Everything I went through was for a reason and it made me a better advocate in public health. It made me a better person, because those types of experiences can make you bitter or better, and I think for me it made me a better person, a better friend, a better sister, a better mentee, a better mentor and a better advocate in my field of study.

Brad Minus:

So you're working on your doctorate and you've got Pathways. Do you have a full-time job as well, too?

Venchele Saint Dic:

Yes, I have a nine-to-five, but I don't talk about this is not related to my nine-to-five, but I work in public health, I work for an agency, so that's my nine-to-five. And then Pathway Coach. Writing is my side gig.

Brad Minus:

They're working on your doctorate, but you are working in public health, so with all that training that you've got, you are helping people right now.

Brad Minus:

And that is the biggest thing ever is the ability to help other people. And I and that's why I do this right and I'll reiterate it because it seems to come up every time but it's I do this, so you, so people like you, can tell their story, showing the path that they made. And if somebody can get one nugget, just one little piece of either inspiration, knowledge or wisdom and use that to level up or to take the next step in their life to attain a goal that they've been wanting to, then we've, then it's done its job right. It's helped. Just the one, that that one nugget, just that one nugget of information. And, from my audience's point of view, from the some of the comments and stuff that I've gotten back people have been talking about, no one walks away with just one. So I'm good. So so I'm like and you've like, put out a lot the ability to be open minded, the ability to look at both sides. If anybody gets a chance to read some of the articles on racism and public health and health in in and not in lower economical, lower economic populations and neighborhoods, and there's just some great stuff, and that's why I'm going to link it and make sure.

Brad Minus:

So, yeah, it's just, it's pretty amazing and the ability that, just the drive you had. You went into public health and you went to the Peace Corps, like that's. That just shows a through line of. From the very beginning, all you wanted to do was really make a difference in. Like that's you. That just shows a through line of. From the very beginning, all you wanted to do was really make a difference in other people's lives and obviously in the in the community that you lived in Senegal, you made a huge difference. That's still compounding today. That's make you feel just amazing.

Venchele Saint Dic:

It does, it does. And speaking of nuggets of wisdom, one thing I would leave with your audience is to, regardless of where they are in their lives and just thinking about why they are here, why they are here on this earth, it would be to just focus on what you can control. Focus on what you can control and allow things to pan out the way that they need to, because the biggest lesson I've had to learn, as someone who has a type A personality, is that not everything needs my intervention Sometimes. And also, if you feel the need to always intervene, where's that coming from? Do you feel, are you in environments and settings where you don't feel like your voice matters? And I would welcome people to say, ok, if my voice is muted all the time, it's like do I need to make a change? Right, and so I welcome people to think about that. Focus on what you can control.

Brad Minus:

It is, leaves us with the greatest, one of the greatest sayings ever, and that's the serenity prayer I grant you to accept the things I cannot control, the, the strength to to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference, to know the difference and we'll keep talking about that being the, the alcohol dynamics and the drug, and blah, blah, blah. But I think it's life, it's a pure life right there. So, yeah, so, vanchels, thank you, thank you so much for sharing your story with us and I wish you all the success in the world. I cannot wait for you to graduate, because you're going to I don't know if you're going to end up in government with, because obviously the doctorate is somewhere down the line in your life. If you end up there, because we need people like you, you would be the person. If you were going to be my congressperson, my senator, I would be voting for you just because of the way you think, and it's always been people first. Those are the type of people that we need in Congress right now.

Venchele Saint Dic:

So I receive it. I receive it and I appreciate you, my friend, for doing that, for saying that to me. I it's easy sometimes to lose sight in, to lose sight of the impact that I'm having on people, the impact that I'm having on you right now, and so the fact that you, again, you're doing some self-reflection here. You're just speaking from the heart and I respect, respect that and I appreciate you for that.

Brad Minus:

Oh well, I appreciate you. So, anyway, thank you again and, for the rest of you, if you like what you heard, go ahead and click the. If you're watching it on YouTube, click the like button, the subscribe button, if you're listening to this on a podcast, if you can give us a quick review and then share it with someone that you think might really benefit from all this information. But, that being said, thank you very much and we will see you in the next one.

Venchele Saint Dic:

Thank you.

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