We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chamar Latanja a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Chamar, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
I believe that we find our purpose when we begin to think outside of ourselves and serve. As a faith-based speaker, Christian life coach and human rights advocate (as you can see these all align with helping people) I have always been big on helping other people. Your purpose is something that is inward yes, but it always works it way out. I truly desire to see people win, I truly desire to see people overcome the hurdles within themselves and reach their fullest potential, I truly desire to see people become strong spiritually as that aids in strength everywhere else. One of the things that used to frustrate my mother is that growing up, my desire to see other people happy would always outweigh my own happiness and safety. I have learned to find the balance in that as I have gotten older, but finding my purpose came through serving.
I also have a big mouth! I cannot stand to see injustice happen; I cannot stand to see bullying happen in any form. So, I always start with a “this is wrong!” moment, and then I ask next “how can we change this?”. Once I start working the solution, I find that my purpose comes out even more. The thing about purpose is this, yes it can be scary, it is not always easy, but your spirit is so attached to it that even in those down moments…you just can’t help but to do the things that make your spirit soar!
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am a Faith-Based speaker, a Christian Life Coach and Human Rights Advocate. I am most excited about the last part, as it is a title that I have just recently learned to leaned into, though I spent years doing it. As a faith based speaker, I travel and speak to mainly women on the importance of walking boldly and uniquely in their purpose. I LOVE being on stage and interacting with women, I love watching their faces light up when they begin to find the power within themselves. I love watching a woman wipe away tears because she can feel the barriers break within herself. As a Christian Life Coach, I love the DOING portion, when I get to work closely with a person or a group of people and we collaborate together on goals and plans to reach those goals. To be a part of a woman’s process and the pride she has in actually putting in the work and winning, puts me on a natural high that I cannot explain. We are so unlimited in our abilities, talents and treasures that are within us and it is important that we begin to unlock that as it makes the world around us better.
What has brought me the most joy and fulfillment lately is the work I have been doing online and offline for human rights. We are in a world shift right now, where people are waking up and seeing that human life is more important than just maintaining the status quo. We are beginning to wake up and see that collective freedom is more important than individual success, because when it happens to one group it can very well happen to us all. To be in a position to learn the history about ur current affairs; especially with humanitarian crisis and heavy loss of life in Palestine, it is humbling to educate others as I learn and to gather and implement resources to do what we can to help others. It is humbling and powerful to be able to protest, use my platforms and my voice to not just stand up for what’s right, but to scream it to the world that no, we can no longer stay asleep, it is time to walk in, move in and understand that we the people are the power base for change. Revolution for human rights, world change is a process and not a conclusion, it is dependent upon us having the empathy for the people within our world and the willingness to become the voice or amplify the voices of those who are struggling to be heard, at home and abroad.
This all falls under the umbrella of my faith. I believe that God has called us to serve others, stand up for others, love others, speak out against injustice and as we are commanded when we get strength, go back and strengthen our brothers. We were never meant to hoard our strength, resiliency and power all to ourselves. Once we get that we bring others along with us.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The first skill is discernment. Discernment is defined as the ability to perceive, understand and judge things clearly, especially those that are not obvious or straight forward. You will be presented with a lot of opportunities or people that “look” great, but may not be great at all or may nit be meant for you. Your gut will usually tell you when something or someone is off, your spirit will scream it. Too often we ignore that and it isn’t until everything falls apart, that we think back and say “I knew something was off”. The ability to listen to and trust your spirit will keep you out of situations that can harm or slow your journey.
The second would be not leaning into just my own understanding or emotions. Biblically we are told that a man who has no self-control (or control over their emotions) is like a city broken down without walls. No protection, anything can happen. We all know what it’s like to make a decision based on emotion, it never usually works out well.Your mind is clouded, your thought process is off, your blood pressure is high and ultimately the decision is not a clear one. I am in a career that can be incredibly emotional and the decisions can be dire if I am not careful, taking a step back and learning let my emotions guide me but not control me is often my saving grace.
The third would be NEVER GIVING UP! Resiliency! Grit! These are superpowers that we all have access to! Life is not easy, at all, sometimes it is downright ridiculous…but let me ask you this, if you are already struggling and you quit, what is the alternative? The point is to get to the mountaintop of whatever we are trying to accomplish, which means that we can’t get away from the climb. Life does give us beautiful and victorious moments, but darlings you have to get there! When I first started training at my gym, I could not run without my asthma getting bad because I was so out of shape. One of the trainers said to me “I don’t care how slow you go, just don’t stop moving”. Moving build stamina, 6 months later I am able to run without needing to stop as much. So I will say to you, I don’t care how slow you go, just don’t stop.
Now what would I say to someone on how to develop these skills? Understand that these skills are growth. Some of these we will catch on t quicker than others, some take tine to develop through trial and error. Give yourself grace to actually trial, error and then win.
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
Maaaaan my mama Cheryl Giles and my Grandmother Darlene Walker as well as my grandfather, uncles, aunts…no matter what age I was, they never let me lean into excuses. I can remember one time in high school, my father, who I had not had a relationship with came back into my life. It was a lot to navigate emotionally and my grades dipped big time. The counselor had asked if I had any significant life changes, so I told her about my father. When the counselor called my mom, my mom said “Aht! Aht! I can appreciate how she’s feeling but she still has a future to work toward, so while we can work on the emotional piece, she still has a job to do” I was always expected to get the job done and I better not be lazy with it! LOL! I had better give my very best and strive for excellence in every area. They taught me that if I said it, I better do it because we are not women who lie. They taught me that yes I can cry, be frustrated, get upset but through all of that, I still need to get up. I have watched these women fight through, pray through and overcome things that should’ve broken them, yet they have only gotten better over time. They taught me grace, class, elegance and how to carry myself like royalty. The biggest lesson they taught me and this is how I live my life, that you reap what you sow. So how you treat people, what you put out there will always come back to you. Everything I am now, though I am the one putting gin the work, it if from the examples of strong, resilient and brilliant women.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.chamarlatanja.com
- Instagram: @ChamarLatanja
- Facebook: Chamar Latanja
- Youtube: Chamar Latanja
- Other: TIKTOK: @ChamarLatanja
Image Credits
Quatina Frazer
