Suzette Samuel is an author, realtor and entrepreneur who set her sights on making big changes in her lifestyle for the better. Working in the urban industry got old and no longer aligned with her goals or where she saw herself. So, she leveled up. Let’s meet this boss…
Where did you grow up? What was your childhood like and also take us back to 18-year-old Suzette and share what you would say to yourself knowing what you know now. Did you attend college?
I grew up in the Bronx, NY. Childhood was strict *lol. My mom is Caribbean, so it was school, sports, church- that’s it *lol. However, at 18 I finished high school, and I was caught up in the streets because I wanted to transition out of the group home to my own place. I went to college but only because I was fighting a case and looking at 3-5 years and my lawyer suggested I go to school to show the judge I was being productive. Knowing what I know now, I would tell my 18-year-old self that it’s not punishment, it’s preparation. Find what you’re good at, study your craft, and perfect your craft. Invest your money so that eventually, you can get out of the streets and trust no one. Focus on your end goal and if anyone is not in alignment with where you’re trying to go, leave them behind. Don’t let your loyalty to others put you in circumstances where you’re fighting for your life or your freedom.
When you were modeling and living a lifestyle of a video vixen, was there something you were seeking in that lifestyle that you didn’t feel like you had access to before that?
I really wasn’t seeking anything IN the lifestyle per se. My focus was the money that could be made without me having to watch my back with the police. When I entered the urban industry, I had just given birth to my second daughter, lost my job and hustle due to my pregnancy being high risk and having no help from her father so I needed quick money without me risking my freedom. While I was pregnant, Instagram had just launched, and I watched girls make money off their body and their face was not all that so I knew I could enter the game and make money and build relationships, but I had an end goal. That was just the goal at the time to make money, get on my feet, and invest in some businesses even though back then I wasn’t sure what that would be.
Now once I got into the lifestyle, yes, the perks were rewarding but had I not been pregnant I would have still been working as a case manager, something I had to give up to carry my baby full term.
What was your wake-up call (when you decided to make a change)?
I had a few wake-up calls, but I was hard-headed. My first wake-up call was in 2014 when I went into a coma after my last round of illegal silicone injections.
The one that shook me up was the wake-up call in 2019 when my ex held me at gunpoint. I just knew my life was over and that he was going to kill me. As he held me at gunpoint, when I looked into his eyes it wasn’t him. Then he had this sinister grin like “Got you”. I was so ashamed I didn’t even ask God to spare my life. I told him to make sure my daughters were good. Then I was taunted and traumatized for weeks. It felt like I was living in hell on earth and that’s when it dawned on me. The enemy wanted me dead. he comes to steal, kill and destroy and that’s exactly what he was doing. I couldn’t sleep for weeks.
To this day I don’t know how I escaped that. God kept showing me, you’re living through men and money and if you don’t change you will die by the hands of a man over some money. This was not the first time a man attempted to take my life. It was then when I made it home to my daughters by his grace that I knew I had to make a change. He wasn’t going to keep sparing my life.
After getting baptized, how have you invested in your spiritual walk, in order to make sure you are staying on track to better and not settling for a mediocre faith?
After my baptism, my appetite changed for certain things. I had to change the type of men I was dating, my “friends, and my environment. I incorporated God into my schedule instead of giving him what was left of my schedule. I connected with people on the same walk and just put my focus on my assignment and what I’m called to do.
Are there still some of the trappings of that life, that still draw you in or influence you even after the change? Has that lifestyle ever come back to negatively harm your business endeavors? Do you feel you have to work extra hard to get past potential clients’ opinions about that former lifestyle?
I’m not at all tempted or influenced by my old life or people. To be delivered from the things I have been delivered from I’m not playing with God. *lol
Honestly, my transparency brings me clients. People respect my journey, my walk and my businesses reflect where I’m at now so people are like, Man you give me hope that I can overcome anything I want to work with you. The more transparent I am the less people talk about my past. My attitude my demeanor is Yes, I did that, Yes I said that and look where I’m at NOW. Talk about that. But they don’t. Because I own it. I own and walk in my truth.
You had your own plastic surgery scare and a lot of women are stepping away from all of that and wanting to not only be healthier but also learn to love themselves more. What would you say to a young girl thinking about having procedures done for the purpose of being more appealing in a similar lifestyle that would inspire them to seek better options?
I would tell that young girl that getting the body is only half the journey. This lifestyle is really a prostitution ring because if you were doing something productive it wouldn’t require “body”. Where’s your mind? What are your goals? What is your credit score? What do you own? What businesses do you have? Invest in THOSE things because if you’re fixing your outer body for opportunity, your opportunities will include your body and that’s only going to last but so long.
When you think about your biggest regret and your greatest accomplishment to date, which one had the greater impact on your life and why?
I don’t regret anything that I have done, nor do I regret what I have been through. I don’t live my life through regrets. Every opportunity shaped who I am today. No story no glory.
My biggest accomplishment was shifting gears in my lifestyle and that happened once I found and surrendered to God.
How did your interest in real estate evolve?
A lady came to the strip club and put that bug in my ear about doing real estate. I saw her again shortly after that at a video shoot to find out she was a broker. That’s how I was introduced to real estate. Once I got my license as time went by, I grew to love it, the satisfaction of assisting people to accomplish such a big milestone in their life is rewarding.
Tell us about your autobiographical book, “She Had to Die to Become Her”. What steps have you taken to heal?
My book, She Had to Die to Become Her, speaks on my transition from bondage to breakthrough. The addictions I fought, the pain, the trauma, abuse, the lifestyle, and my past relationships but it also gives the readers principles to overcome bondage to breakthrough. I went through a season of isolation where I had to focus on myself and myself only. I had to take accountability and focus on my pain and trauma instead of running away. If you can’t look at yourself in the mirror and be honest with yourself and hold yourself accountable for the role you played in what you need to heal from it will be difficult to heal. More importantly, I had to seek God. I didn’t know HOW I was going to overcome everything I had been through, HOW I was going to get the strength– but I did, through his grace. He put people and opportunities in my life that not only sparked my next chapter, but it was the gateway to my transition and my obedience played a major part in that.
As a serial entrepreneur, people can often be all over the place with the businesses they chose. Tell us who Suzette is at her core and what if any of your businesses (you can be completely honest) do you feel is passion driven and what the catalyst was to start it. Also, tell us what courses you offer where other women can learn how to start businesses of their own.
When starting a business, you must ask yourself, What problem am I solving? If you are solving a common problem, you will always be in business and that’s what all my businesses do; solve a problem. My businesses focus on different problems people need solving on a day-to-day basis to live a productive life.
A lot of things I experienced could have been avoided had I had the right person or people around me and had I been educated in what to do and not to do. So, it’s hard to say which ONE of my businesses I feel more passionate about because ALL my businesses require me to be some sort of mentor and overall provide guidance on how a person solves a problem, they’re facing whether it’s bad credit, having nowhere to live, suffering from bondage, or lack of employment.
If money were no object, what business/endeavor would you start tomorrow?
I would buy a HUGE parcel of land and build my own city *lol I would open up a couple of shelters and affordable housing I would do so much, but it would all involve real estate.
Tell us about your mentorship program, its mission, and how people can support it? Have you ever had a mentor during your journey?
My mentorship Breakthrough to a Better You is a 6-week mentorship program I created because, like most people, I experienced bondage from past trauma, relationships, lack of support and resources, lack of spiritual guidance, lack of self-love and discipline, therefore making it difficult to heal, and function as a person, friend and mother. My lack of discipline and my procrastination were also major downfalls in my life not only mentally and emotionally, but also in my career and daily living. Like most, I felt that if I knew better I would do better. Overcoming these issues, I decided to put together a mentorship to assist others, mainly women, with overcoming what’s keeping them in bondage so that they can experience breakthroughs, healing, awareness, and resources to excel and elevate in life like I did. Who would be better to teach you than someone who went through it herself?
I had to go through healing. I had to grow! As I transitioned, I had to reclaim my voice.
Here to save, to inspire, to testify that I am LIVING proof that people can go from Bondage to Breakthrough 🙌🏾 My mentorship can be found on shopsuzette.org
I have had a few mentors along the way. It wasn’t anything long-term, but it might have got me through a season or two.
Tell us about family life/kids and what you enjoy doing when you’re not in business mode.
I have two daughters who are 16 and 9. I’m building them up to discover their gifts early and focus on entrepreneurship, credit, investing etc. Breaking generational curses is major for me and my bloodline. They spend ALOT of time with me in the field, especially in real estate and my daughter handles most of my content. So, we have fun but we’re at such a pivotal point as a family that we are BUILDING. Even when we’re not in “business mode” we’re reading, spending time together, feeding the homeless, we watch a lot of movies we love to eat. My daughters have witnessed all that I have been through, so they want to hustle and make money.
What do you want your legacy to be?
My legacy will involve prosperity – emotional mental and financial prosperity. The children in my bloodline from generation to generation would be brought up in love and taught entrepreneurship. We would set up for “death” and not just life-Real estate, Wills, and Trusts. No more getting it out of the mud.
How did you find your true self and realize you not only deserved better but that you were better than that old lifestyle and tap into being enough?
I can’t really describe HOW I found my true self, but I always knew I was different and as I was engaged in my old lifestyle, I always felt I was “better” than that. It was a lot of shame and guilt behind what I did, and I tried to find my happiness in the money, the “fame” people knowing my name and what I did and giving me money for it but no matter what I always felt empty. Not enough. Not accomplished.
The feeling of becoming enough happened as I set goals and started to accomplish them. Everything I put my mind to, I did it so I started to feel empowered and enough. Once I started my various businesses and got my real estate license, I knew that was my exit strategy. I don’t know how it happened I just always talked to God about what I wanted to be delivered from. The more I believed, and sacrificed, it became a reality.
Tell our readers where they reach out to you online and support your endeavors.
They can reach me at (404) 994-9325 if you have an interest in working with me in real estate, funding, owning your own virtual call center, or credit. My IG is @suzette_the realtor
My email info@anrealty.org.
What’s next for you and how do you want to continue to inspire women to take the reins and propel themselves out of negativity and into a better life?
I just started a real estate mentorship for real estate agents with their licenses who need direction and guidance. I also want to focus on my other mentorship, Breakthrough to a Better You.
My story is inspirational enough that I will continue living in my truth and showing others that they Can accomplish whatever they set their mind to regardless of where they come from or what they have been through, and I will be that vessel used to help those accomplish their goals regardless to what that may be. The amount of people I have inspired already is overwhelming. I now know what I have been through wasn’t punishment. It was preparation and I encourage everyone who wants change to understand that change has to start with mindset, your circle, and your relationship with God. Not religions but RELATIONSHIP! Same grace 🙏🏽
