We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sonya Davis a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Sonya, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
I developed my confidence and self-esteem from my father. As a child I grew up with 5 sisters and our father would always tell us how special we were. When I wanted to be apart of a team my father encouraged me to do my best. He would say win or lose as long as you put in 100% you are a winner. Growing up in South Carolina we had to prove ourselves that we deserve to be treated like our counterparts. I would not let anyone destroy the confidence I had. We went to church and learned to trust in God. We was taught unconditional love at an early age and we had to depend on each other. My self-esteem grew over the years as I began accomplishing some of the things I desired in life.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am a Program Manager for The Geo Group. I run a Reentry Center on the Westside of Chicago where we help returning citizens reentry back into the community. The men and women are on parole and they have completed their prison sentence. When they return to the community the have to complete Board Orders such as Substance Abuse, Anger Management, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Domestic Violence and Employment Readiness. Our office offer all those services and the goal is to help reduce recidivism. I have been doing this work for over 25 years and it’s a joy to see individuals get a second chance to turn their lives around.
I am a 2 time breast cancer survivor and during the pandemic I started an Non-Profit Organization Pink But Not Pitiful focused on helping women deal with their mental state when it comes to being hit with life issues. My goal is to allow women to understand just because you have cancer you don’t have to give up on life. I wrote and book and work book Pink But Not Pitiful to share my story and to give women a tool to use to help them with their emotions. I enjoy taking women on retreats, hosting workshops and helping them to Live Life Like they are in their Prime focused on Self-Care.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Looking back the three qualities I think helped me was determination, passion, motivation. I wanted to make a difference in others life since I was a little girl. I grew up believing that the things you go through is a testimony for someone else. My advice to other is if you have a burning desire don’t let know one talk you out of it, do the research and follow your dream.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I am looking for folks to collaborate with that would like to support breast cancer survivors. I plan cruises every year to get survivors and their supporters to take some much needed self-care time for themselves. My contact information is:
Dr. Sonya Watts-Davis
email: [email protected]
website: pinkbutnotpitiful.org
phone number: 773-895-3904
Contact Info:
- Website: www.pinkbutnotpitiful.org
- Facebook: Pink But Not Pitiful NFP
