Sobers New Years Newsletter – Reflecting on 2019

Dear Family and Friends,

This year has been an extraordinary coming of age year for me. I turned 40! I had been thinking about and planning my birthday celebration for years yet as the day grew closer I still had nothing confirmed. Once I stopped thinking about how it “should be” and how it would be viewed in the eyes of others when I spoke about it, I was able to figure out what I really wanted. I took the week off of work, social danced, taught dance, ate West Indian food, and spent time with the people who love and believe in me. It was a great start to a new era of my life. Every day and with every decision I am learning to love, appreciate, celebrate, and listen to myself more and more. I wish the same for every one of you.

• In May I officially registered my consulting business as a limited liability company (LLC) with the state of Texas – shaunatsobers, LLC. It was a dream I hadn’t recognized I had yet I am truly thankful that I am pursuing it. I have continued to expand my workshop facilitation, keynote speaking, and one-on-one consultations specializing in Strengths-based leadership, women’s empowerment, and communicating transferable skills. Some successes include:
• being featured on 3 podcasts (visit www.shaunatsobers.com/podcasts)
• the designing and implementing a 6-month strengths-based curriculum for a 60 person department with 4 sub-teams,
• the presentation of my Resilience Tree Model for women aspiring to executive positions for a half-day workshop at a national conference which led to the design and implementation of worksheets
• celebrating 20 months of hosting a monthly women’s empowerment lunch for professional staff and graduate students of the University of Texas at Austin.

In the midst of all of the personal growth, I have maintained stability through my work as an Assistant Director for Residence Life at University of Texas at Austin. In January I became certified as a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory and have continued to co-facilitate a 10 week course each semester on building competencies with communicating across cultures. Click HERE to watch a reflection video from the participants.

Also in March my area of responsibility expanded to include a 16-story, 650 upper class resident apartment complex previously privately owned. My colleagues and I (pictured above) are “building the bridge as we walk on it” as we establish integration precedents for the department in terms of staffing, residential curriculum, building management, and customer service that are a hybrid between residence hall living and off-campus apartment living.

I am thankful to be positively impacting all of my communities and look forward to what the future holds…

From my heart to yours… Happy New Year! 
Dr. Shauna Tamara Sobers 
dr.sobers@shaunatsobers.com.