We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shardae Carter a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Shardae, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
I would have to say my resilience comes from my late maternal grandmother. My grandmother raised me and my brother to understand the value of hard work and determination. I can recall several times when she would endure multiple disappointments, heartaches and setbacks but she consistently found strength to push through to complete whatever tasks she set forth for herself. I admire my grandmother’s resilience and determination so much because I know she struggled with so much. I can vividly remember on multiple occasions seeing tears in her eyes yet she never let any adversary stand in the way. In my opinion, resilience builds strength and she definitely had lots of strength!! Even today, whenever I want to throw in the towel I always remember my grandmother’s resilience and determination during her most challenging times.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am always thinking of new ways to creatively assist individuals navigate life after loss. Currently I own and operate my own private therapy practice which focuses on aiding individuals navigate different life transitions. I chose to name my practice Dae to Dae Counseling Services for many reasons. First, Dae is a nickname given to me by some close friends after undergoing several life changes. Secondly, I often times hear people say “I’m just trying to take it day by day” which is one of the common themes I help people process in therapy when trying to navigate life after loss. And lastly, Dae is an ancronym for Discovering Authentic Emotions. I strongly believe many times whether its consciously or unconsciously we don’t allow ourselves the time to really dig deep and find out what our true emotions are at specific points in our lives. Not only are we doing ourselves a disservice it always can potentially lead to further mental health problems later in our lives. I take pride in being able to not only help people learn tools to take it day by day but overtime gain a greater sense of empowerment and knowledge of various emotions.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I would definitely have to say self trust, self value, and self acceptance. For individuals working on self healing, I definitely would advise people to learn how to take time out to check in with themselves and assess their personal needs. A part of learning to trust oneself is prioritizing time to build a healthier relationship with yourself through acts of self care and self love. Next, understanding your value takes highlighting your strengths and abilities. Think about the things that make you stand apart from anyone else. Taking pride in your strengths and weaknesses can help with identifying your value rather than comparing yourself with other people. Lastly, understand that being afraid of rejection is more common than you think. Many people tend to struggle with anxiety about how they show up to the world. However, once you accept that you may not be liked by every single person on the planet it can help to diminish some of your fears and embody a level of self acceptance.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I am currently interested in collaborating with individuals who share similar interests in terms of assisting people navigate life after any major life transition. I enjoy being able to connect with others who are open minded, creative, energetic and optimistic about challenging the lives of others for the better.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://dae2daecounseling.com/
- Instagram: Dae2daecounsel
- Facebook: Dae to Dae Counseling Services
- Linkedin: Dae to Dae Counseling Services
