Finding Strength: Shatayia Baker's Transition from Air Force to Mental Health Specialist -27

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Captain Kim [: 00:00:01

What happens when life takes an unexpected turn, and the career you dreamed of suddenly slips away? In this episode, Shatayia Baker, a United States Air Force veteran turned mental health advocate, shares how her medical discharge after an anxiety attack left her feeling broken, but ultimately led her to discover her true purpose. From navigating military challenges to helping others heal, Shatayia's story is a powerful testament to resilience, transformation, and finding light in the darkest times. Welcome to Dog Tag Diaries, where military women share true stories. We are your hosts, captain Kim

Captain Dakota [: 00:00:47

And captain Dakota. The stories you are about to hear are powerful. We appreciate that you have joined us and are eager to learn more about these experiences and connect with the military women who are willing to share their stories in order to foster community and understanding.

Captain Kim [: 00:01:04

Military women are providing valuable insight into their experiences, struggles, and triumphs. By speaking their truth, they contribute to a deeper understanding of the challenges they face and the resilience they demonstrate.

Captain Dakota [: 00:01:18

We appreciate your decision to join us today to gain insights and knowledge from the experiences of these courageous military women. Thank you for being here.

Captain Kim [: 00:01:35

In this episode, we feature Shatayia Baker, a proud United States Air Force veteran, and now a licensed clinical social worker, and CEO of Peaceful Therapy Services. Shatayia shares her unique journey from a childhood filled with community and family to finding her way in the military. She talks about overcoming challenges in the air force where she rose to meet high expectations despite limited training, and how those experiences shaped her leadership skills and perseverance. Shatayia also discusses her passion for mental health awareness and her work as a therapist, author, and life coach. Her story is one of resilience, transformation, and dedication to helping others heal. Welcome, Shatayia.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:02:25

Thank you so much.

Captain Kim [: 00:02:27

Thank you so much for having the courage and bravery to come on and talk about your story and how you found peace through all of it. But first, I have been stalking your Facebook. And let's do what you always do in the beginning and take a breath. Don't you say that? You always start with breathing.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:02:48

I always put my hand on my chest to indicate to my heart that it is okay to breathe. And I breathe in. Oh, I'm bad.

Captain Kim [: 00:03:01

Oh, it already calms you. Thank you for that. Yes. Well, you are a woman with so many accomplishments, but we always start from the beginning, and we have to know a little about little Shatay Tay. So guide us through her, what she was like.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:03:21

As the middle child, I was always getting into something, literally. It was filled with activity. I have a large extended family. My mom has 5 sisters, and I believe 8 brothers. And so during my younger days, I would go back and forth between Southern California and home, either in Inglewood or in San Diego. And then I would spend time at home playing in the in the streets with every child from one end of the block to the other. Skating was big in the back in the day. And so we would skate up and down the street or ride our bike, or turn people's lights off with their circuit box.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:04:10

We were doing things, we were doing things. But it was always a lot of people, a lot of cousins who were not blood related, but we were all cousins. And we just had a great time.

Captain Kim [: 00:04:23

All the things you just said, round out that middle child thing. Like, you're very exuberant and then turning people's lights off with their circuit breakers. Yes.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:04:37

Yeah, we were doing things at San Diego that we probably weren't supposed to be doing. My younger aunt and uncle were just 3 years and maybe 5 years older than me. And so we were literally always doing something.

Captain Kim [: 00:04:52

So how many brothers and sisters do you have?

Shatayia Baker [: 00:04:56

So with my mom, I have 2 sisters that I was raised with. And with my biological dad, he also has another daughter and my brother. And so my brother did at one time live with my adoptive dad and my mom and my two sisters at one time, but it was very short lived.

Captain Kim [: 00:05:15

Yeah. Adopted dad. Was that all confusing for you?

Shatayia Baker [: 00:05:19

No. I don't think so. Looking back on it, I always felt like the oddball out. So it didn't really matter. Yeah. It it didn't matter who was there and who wasn't there. I didn't meet my biological dad with my memory until I was 11 years old. But no one had to tell me that's your dad.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:05:40

We literally walked past each other and stopped and cried and hugged. And that was it. Oh, you knew right away? Probably instinctively, I don't know. But it was very interesting. I think I mean, I always had behavioral issues in school. And so my mom felt that I needed to meet him or something like that to find identity or completion. I don't know.

Captain Kim [: 00:06:05

And did you when you met him?

Shatayia Baker [: 00:06:06

I think I still had some behavioral issues growing up, just very listless or restless in a way.

Captain Kim [: 00:06:15

Yeah. So how did you end up making the decision to go into the military then?

Shatayia Baker [: 00:06:23

It was twofold. So there was a black man in a uniform that came to my junior high school, and my adopted dad was army. And so I identified with him immediately and said, hey, wherever you're going, I'm going, literally is what happened. But then the other side of that is with the older sister, very interesting story. She told me, hey, if you come to my school, I'm gonna have my friends throw you in the pool. So it was pretty obvious to me that I still wanted at school. So I went across town to and I don't even know if they have it nowadays, but it was Junior ROTC, Air Force. Back in the day, there was all different branches of ROTC.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:07:05

And so I went to the Air Force ROTC.

Captain Kim [: 00:07:09

And then from there, you decided that you wanted to be permanent?

Shatayia Baker [: 00:07:13

Absolutely. I love the blue uniform. I started wearing it at 14. Loved it, went into the drill team. So I was marching and doing the rifles and standing on top of the rifles. But I'm that type of person that whatever I do, I'm all in. So it was an obvious choice for me. And then I get to get away from home on top of that.

Captain Kim [: 00:07:35

Yes. And you were in from 1995 to 1999? Yes. And what was your MOS?

Shatayia Baker [: 00:07:43

So personnel specialist, I think it's 35051, if I'm not mistaken. 3 no, 3 s. 3 s.

Captain Kim [: 00:07:53

3 s. Okay. What did that entail?

Shatayia Baker [: 00:07:56

So I could have worked in the what we called headquarters in a way where all of the different offices and administration offices were, or actually work in the orderly room at every duty station that I had, I worked in the orderly room, but I will go and pick up mail at the main hub, I would drop off mail at different offices and interact with my peers in that way. But I was localized in the local squadron. So with my last duty station was air refueling squadron, which was great, because I got to interact with officers enlisted. And in Delaware, gosh, I don't even remember. Oh, it was logistics. So whatever that entails, I don't even remember. Long ago.

Captain Kim [: 00:08:45

Some things we wipe from our minds in the military.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:08:49

Very true. Very true.

Captain Kim [: 00:08:51

So you had some challenges, because you weren't getting the training.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:08:56

Absolutely.

Captain Kim [: 00:08:57

You were supposed to get? Talk about that a little bit.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:09:01

My sup my first supervisor, he worked from maybe 6 am to 3 pm. And so by the time I got there, I would always hear stories like, Oh, I'm done with my work. Hey, do this, this, this and that. When I got there at 7:30 or 8 o'clock, I was like, What do you mean, you've done all your work? And so most of his time was, I don't know, delegation. To me, I really do thank God for her name was Alisa. She was a civilian, wife of a military tech sergeant. And she trained me in everything. So I was over weight management program.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:09:35

I was over our filing system, brand new in the Air Force. And so she really was a saving grace in addition to the training liaison that we had. I can't recall her name, but she was always taking me underneath her wing and said, don't worry about it. I'll train you. I'll make sure you have what you need. But you know, you need to know these things in order to make right.

Captain Kim [: 00:09:57

Yeah. It sounds like you had a very solid group of females Yes. Wanting to see you succeed.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:10:05

Absolutely. And even now looking back on it, if I didn't have the females in my life then and now, I would not have succeeded in any way, shape, or form. That sisterhood is very, very promising and prominent in my life.

Captain Kim [: 00:10:21

Yeah. And how about that deep sense of pride in contributing to your team, in your country? Like, what drove you besides, like, your dad was in the army. Yes. But what drove you to be like, I want to serve my country.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:10:37

It's a tenacity, really, that drives me. It's this I don't give up. And being in that uniform really gave me a sense of pride. It was it was not about just looking good. It was, this is who I am at my core, attention to detail, service before self, excellence in all that we do. And of course, being able to put the mission first. For me, it was, this is who I am. This is not just what I do.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:11:05

Even now raising kids, it's like excellence or nothing at all. That is always said in my house. And so they're probably tired of it. My daughter is looking forward to going in as an officer. She just started college. And so that's her plan. And so it's really been ingrained not only in my home, in my life, but even in my business. If it's not excellence, we don't do it.

Captain Kim [: 00:11:30

You know, that's something really beautiful to hand down to your daughter.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:11:32

Absolutely. I have already envisioned pinning her and saluting her, just because it's a core, something that I hold deep and core to me.

Captain Kim [: 00:11:44

Oh, gosh, that's gonna be a beautiful moment. Yes. We'll have to keep in touch that way we, you would send me pictures. Or maybe I can come and watch.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:11:54

Hey. Why not? Why not?

Captain Kim [: 00:11:58

So let's talk about your mental health advocacy. How did all that come about? Was it because you felt like in childhood, you had some mischief to you and you just wasn't weren't sure what all that was about?

Shatayia Baker [: 00:12:11

You found me, really. Oh, it wasn't something that I set out to do when I went to school to get either, you know, my bachelor's and my master's. It wasn't anything that I foresaw even. But in school, they told us, get your ASW numbers, what it's called registration number, just in case. So I turned out, I don't even know, I kind of saw myself as the obedient child, I always wanted to ask permission. And so when the professor stood there, one of our symposiums, and said, Get your ASW number. I said, Absolutely, I'll do that. And so, man, I had internships in homelessness.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:12:51

I love that. Worked at a shelter, enjoyed that. But even being a therapist out of high school, but as I collected these, what we have to get hours to sit for the exams, it felt very fulfilling. And I again, I didn't think about being a therapist at all, but really being kind of on the other side of it. In the Air Force, it was more so about, okay, what do my clients need? And so I leaned into the type of person that I am humorous, calm, reserved, and then kind of leaned into that and derived what my clients need. And so that confidence came as I went, the style came as I went. And heard someone say those are your courses and your lessons. What you survive, you can turn into a gift that you give to someone else.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:13:45

And so that has sustained me over when I started in 'twenty 1 to now being full time. I went full time July 5, 2023. And I've been able to sustain a living.

Captain Kim [: 00:13:58

Wow, congratulations on all your work, but it doesn't like I know it's work. But like you said, it found you. So it kind of almost seems like this is my path. Absolutely. This is where I'm gonna go. And you just let it guide you.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:14:12

I did. And I'm grateful for it, because I understand how it feels to be depressed and anxious. And that's kind of where we go. And it's not just that it's whatever the client comes in the door with. And it's been a it's been sometimes an interesting journey. But for the most part, it has really, really worked.

Captain Kim [: 00:14:33

What were some of the things that you noticed about yourself in the military with mental health? Were you anxious? Were you depressed?

Shatayia Baker [: 00:14:42

I was all. Yeah. And I was nervous a lot because entering in with 2 stripes pretty much indicated for the most part, though, people with 2 stripes have been in 4 to 6 years. And I had been in for none. Is that because you did junior ROTC? Yes. Yes.

Captain Kim [: 00:15:03

Oh, okay.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:15:05

Yes. So as an enlisted person with no experience, I was looked at as someone who had been in for 4 to 6 years, and I knew nothing pretty much. And that made me very nervous as an overachiever. And so being an overachiever, not knowing how to say I don't know how to do this created a lot of anxiety. And then the thought about being a failure was very prevalent because I don't know how to do this. And there's no one really to teach me how to do it, whether across the board, not just in Delaware. But it took a while to get a good supervisor, even in Kadena. And so that was challenging for me, as a person who normally knows how to figure things out, I couldn't figure things out.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:15:51

So then I felt like a failure, which brought about depression. And where do you go? Really, it's taboo in the military that speak about mental health, which is what led me here because I was discharged after an anxiety attack, medically discharged.

Captain Kim [: 00:16:09

Did you want to be discharged? Totally not. No. So you had an anxiety attack, and they wouldn't give you any like assistance or put you in a Nope. Have you go to a therapist?

Shatayia Baker [: 00:16:22

No, it was never even presented to me. And maybe times have changed now. But I was allowed to go. And I remember every moment of that day. It was the day after April Fool's Day. So I literally thought a joke was being played on me, because I had been working during the exercise. And for those who may not know what exercise is, it's wartime stimulation. And so I had worked 13 days straight, 12 hour shifts, 7 pm to 7 am.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:16:54

I know. And so also during that time was Lent. And so during Lent, for some religions, they fast. And being new in my faith, I was very zealous. And I fasted without understanding the implications of that. 7 pm If you haven't noticed 7 pm looks like 7 am. It was like, who was today? What did I eat? Or when was the last time I did eat? And so going back into the office on April 2nd, I thought, well, they're playing a joke on me. Let me follow the clues.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:17:30

And I was able to go home, I had a great supervisor at the time. I will not mention her name, but she was phenomenal. And she allowed me to go home for the day. And so I went home, called my spiritual leaders were who are still in my life. My pastor came. And that's how I knew it was anxiety. Because after the fact she told me, I felt the anxiety in the room. And so she would ask me questions.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:17:55

And I remember the answers. Even today, I still remember some of the answers that I gave her and some of the things that she said to me. And so throughout the day, we went here and there, and the secretary of the commander went to our church. And so she called our pastor said, Hey, they're saying that she's AWOL, she has to come back to work, which I was like, What do you mean? Like, my supervisor said that I can go home. And so went back to work, went into the commander's office, she was there. And in my spirituality, my Christianity, we have a thing called prophecy. And so apparently, I may have said some things to her that really resonated with her. She had this big reaction, crying and things like that, and carrying on.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:18:45

And so I was called into the commander's office. From there. I don't know about you. But I remember whenever someone was called to the commander's office, or the 1st sergeant's office, you were in trouble. Oh, yeah. We're getting calls to the carpet on something. And so I went from the commander's office to the 1st sergeant's office with my supervisor. And I was terrified, terrified, because I worked in that office, I worked closely with the 1st sergeant.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:19:14

And I was so scared, I did not say a word. And that didn't help me. So she drove me to who I thought was going to be my pastor because where my pastor's lived was the exit after the exit that she took. And instead I went to the psych ward, I was locked up. And that was it. Literally. You had to be so confused and so scared. Absolutely.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:19:40

And my thought was, how do I explain this to someone? That was my question to myself, because I was just like, what is going on? How do I tell them I thought someone played a joke on me? Because this is not a joke. Like I'm literally locked up. That's extreme. Oh, absolutely. Scary.

Captain Kim [: 00:20:01

And so how long did you have to stay?

Shatayia Baker [: 00:20:04

Well, a lot of people came there, commander, 1st sergeant, people from my church. I don't remember how long I was there. I remember some of the phone conversations I had, one of them was my mom. And she said, Shatayia, do you want me to come? Now mind you, I'm in Okinawa, Japan. And she says, Shatayia, do you want me to come? And I said, Yes, mommy. Well, I don't call her mommy, I call her mom. And so she knew right then and there that something was not right with her child. And even before that, I was woken up with psychotropic meds.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:20:38

And that's what really, really knocked the daylights out of me because I remember taking it, but I don't remember anything after that. And so I remember the phone conversation with my mom, but I don't remember her being in Okinawa, even to this day.

Captain Kim [: 00:20:51

Oh, she did fly over?

Shatayia Baker [: 00:20:53

She did, her and my sister. Oh, your blessed mother. I still don't remember her being there.

Captain Kim [: 00:20:58

Well, with all the medicine.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:20:59

And I still don't know what it was to this day. But what I did, I was able to get my medical records. And often, I was asking, when can I go home? When can I go home? When can I go home? And so I went to work and never went home. And I went from Okinawa, Japan to mainland Japan, to Tripler, which is in Hawaii, to Travis, and I was discharged at Travis. When I counted from the beginning to the discharge, it was literally 40 days.

Captain Kim [: 00:21:30

Oh, my goodness. And a lot of that you weren't even aware what was

Shatayia Baker [: 00:21:34

I do remember it. When I got to mainland Japan, the funny thing about it, so I'm opening up my work bag, and I had a knife in there, a steak knife, and because that I had taken for lunch. And if I was really, really, really incoherent, or what people you know, quote unquote, say crazy, what would I have done with that knife? They didn't even look through more things. And so left mainland Japan. I went to Tripler, I was able to go outside with the smokers and get sunlight. Thank God for the smokers. I was really happy to meet them. Because other than that, I wouldn't have had any sun.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:22:12

It was just crazy. I went to church there. And I was discharged. I remember someone coming and saying if you could be discharged, where would you go? And I said, leave me here in Hawaii. I'll figure it out. Because who doesn't want to stay in Hawaii?

Captain Kim [: 00:22:29

I do.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:22:32

I would send home to my or my home of origin is what they call it, right back to my mom's house. And I stayed one weekend, cried the whole weekend and moved to Sacramento area, where I've been since 99. Wow.

Captain Kim [: 00:22:47

And you're so resilient because from this experience, you have just had so many accomplishments. You're an author. You're a mental health specialist. I mean, talk about that. What would talk about that. I wanna hear all about it.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:23:02

This is the thing. I don't stop. It's that overachiever thing in me. I just don't stop. I get bored easily. And so writing the first well, the first I wrote a chapter in a compilation book, which was great. It told some of this story in that book, and it was called my chapter was called God's calls me to triumph, which is from a verse in the bible.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:23:27

And I was in chapter 8, and so that was great. Went on to do a journal for young girls or teenagers to young adult on identity and confidence, self worth, how to make affirmations or declarations, we call it in the spiritual arena that I am in. So there's a verse that says declare a thing that shall be so. And so that's a little bit more to me powerful than an affirmation. And so that has a lot of good questions in there. And it's just what I love to do. And so whether it's self esteem, or let's kind of talk about the depression that a person is it is in, because I've been through that, that resonates with people. And it is accomplishments.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:24:13

But I think as an overachiever, we're like, Yeah, let me go get a doctorate just because like, if I do that, then I won't have anything else to do.

Captain Kim [: 00:24:26

I have to ask, do you celebrate your wins?

Shatayia Baker [: 00:24:28

I do only because I have had great business coaches, and different people on Facebook and different groups that I'm on. And they say, okay, tell us your wins. If that wasn't there, I probably wouldn't. So it's being drawn out of me. And I'm saying, okay, I took Thanksgiving off. Yay.

Captain Kim [: 00:24:48

Yes. Yeah. You know, it's interesting. The high performing women that I talked to, and including myself, you performed at a high level, but you're like, I mean, that's me. So to you, it's not really I mean, it's an accomplishment, but we're like, okay, what's next? What else do we can we create, accomplish? And we forget to take time.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:25:10

We forget to take time, we minimize it. We normalize it. But then we look at sometimes we look at other people like, what's your thing? So there are barriers, but I believe it becomes a thing. And I don't know if it's a Shero thing or what it is, but it becomes a thing about let's knock down barriers and anything that stands in my way because Lord forbid, anything deter

Captain Kim [: 00:25:35

me. And we are intelligent, capable women.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:25:39

There's nothing we cannot do. We may take a break, which is kind of what I'm doing in a way. But it becomes a comp I don't know. I don't know. It's a competition against ourselves in a way.

Captain Kim [: 00:25:51

Yeah. And there is something so beautiful about celebrating. Once that unfamiliarity goes away, that transitional period from when you don't celebrate yourself to when you start celebrating yourself, it feels really good. And I feel like the same thing happens. I'm like, Oh, what else can I do to celebrate mine?

Shatayia Baker [: 00:26:11

Let's eat a cheesecake and then go to the gym? Oh, yeah.

Captain Kim [: 00:26:16

Is that one of the way you celebrate?

Shatayia Baker [: 00:26:19

That and traveling and resting. I literally I believe last night had about 10 to 11 hours of sleep, just because I was exhausted. And so taking a walk is great for me, reading a book, going out, what we call fellowshipping, or hanging out with whether it's a sorority sister or someone in my church, it just becomes a way of filling my cup.

Captain Kim [: 00:26:46

Those are all really beautiful, beautiful ways. By the way, what's your favorite cheesecake?

Shatayia Baker [: 00:26:50

Oh, you know what, I'm such a plain Jane. I don't have a favorite because I am a foodie. There's not many things that I don't like at all. I am a foodie to the core, which makes it necessary for me to go to the gym.

Captain Kim [: 00:27:10

What's your gym routine? Do you do like Zumba? Or do you weight lift?

Shatayia Baker [: 00:27:16

I definitely do weightlifting. That's fun. The one and only time I did Zumba, I laughed at myself the whole time. So that was fun. But I love the elliptical. I love the machines. I'm getting more acclimated to the machines, trying to work on my tense area. So shoulders, definitely abs, but the elliptical is probably my favorite thing in the whole wide world.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:27:40

Yeah.

Captain Kim [: 00:27:40

And it's such a good stress reliever, you feel so much better afterwards.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:27:45

I was never a gym rep. But my gym has a steam room. It has a sauna. And so I'm in hog heaven.

Captain Kim [: 00:27:57

Well, if you have to pick one thing that's beautiful to go to the gym, and then oh, afterwards, just let your muscles relax in those saunas and the hot tub.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:28:07

Yes. And I just sit there and deep breathe. I meditate. I pray. All of those great things. I make friends in the sauna. Yeah.

Captain Kim [: 00:28:19

Yes. So I have to say, where are those moments that inspire you to because you're on your 3rd book now?

Shatayia Baker [: 00:28:25

Yes.

Captain Kim [: 00:28:25

Is that correct? I am. When do those ideas come into your head?

Shatayia Baker [: 00:28:32

In the shower. I call it the lab. That's my time to just be quiet. But I always find times and space like today, I had a 9 o'clock session. My next session is not until 5 o'clock. So I will sit in my office and I I have a couch and just commune with myself and with God, and just kind of think outside of the box and have a little fun. Sometimes I'll go outside and I have digital journals. And so all of those, even you saw on my Facebook, mental health moments, a lot of my posts come from random thoughts.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:29:10

And it's fun. It's so fun.

Captain Kim [: 00:29:17

I have stalked your Facebook. And yes, you are so personable and so lovely. And I do love those breathing exercise, that breathing exercise, hand on the heart. Yes. Breathe in, breathe out. It's something well, to transition into it, if you had to tell a woman that's in the military or someone who a woman who's thinking about going in, like your daughter, what would you tell her besides the hand on the heart and breath?

Shatayia Baker [: 00:29:47

Go for sure. I'm hearing a statement from a lot of other very powerful and strong women in my life. And they're telling me often know your why. And that is a, to me a statement that goes across the board. And so for a young lady who's wanting to go into the military, know your why because different entities will try to tell you your why. And that's not okay. From the core of who you are, who we are, we have to know what's my purpose, because that is what's gonna drive you into staying, making a career out of it or saying, Yeah, this is not for me, and getting out. Or even let's say there is an unfortunate situation and a person is medically discharged.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:30:32

Had I known my why, I would have been okay. But I didn't find my why until afterwards, which allowed me to really forgive the situation time in place and players to say, Okay, my why was fulfilled. I'm okay.

Captain Kim [: 00:30:49

That's such good advice. You are totally correct on that. Because you a lot of people when they get out of the military and try to reintegrate back into the civilian world, have a really difficult time, like you said, if they don't know their why. You did. I did. Almost everyone woman I've talked to has. Yes. So hopefully we can pass this on.

Captain Kim [: 00:31:11

And does your daughter ask you questions?

Shatayia Baker [: 00:31:14

No, she doesn't. I think both my kids think I'm crazy. And I really proved them right half the time. And so she doesn't ask a lot of questions. So I really wanted her to go and list it. And she said, well, the dropouts go and list it, which in our day wasn't the case. And so she said, Well, if I get straight A's, why would I go and list it? And I said, Okay, so what's your plan? And so I asked her more questions as she asked me. And so she found a program, a stipend program that she's looking into, that will help her become a dentist.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:31:49

And so there is a lot of things that she likes to experience on her own, which I experienced as the best teacher. And so there's not a lot of questions that she asked. And there's not a lot of information I offer either until it's necessary. I'm more of a life coach for her. And so she's open whenever she's open, and I'm ready and willing and waiting patiently for those open opportunities.

Captain Kim [: 00:32:16

Oh, my gosh, you are such an amazing woman, amazing mother. Because asking those questions, even though she might not respond at the time, that really does sit in our heads and percolate.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:32:27

Yes. It does.

Captain Kim [: 00:32:30

So I am just so proud of you from being an author to the clinical social worker to public speaker and CEO of Peaceful Therapy Services. You are a very accomplished woman.

Shatayia Baker [: 00:32:43

Thank you so much for being on. Absolutely. My pleasure.

Captain Kim [: 00:32:51

Thank you for tuning into dog tag diaries. We appreciate your willingness to listen and engage with these stories as we understand the challenge that comes with sharing and hearing them. Your support in witnessing the experience of our military women is invaluable. These stories are meant to inspire and provide meaning, and we hope they can help you find your own voice as well.

Captain Dakota [: 00:33:15

If you or anyone you know are in need of immediate help, call the crisis line by dialing 988, then press 1. There are resources available to help and provide guidance during difficult times. Please visit our website www.reveilleandretreatproject.org to learn more about the Reveille and Retreat project, including upcoming retreats for military women and resources. The link is in the show notes. We'll be here again next Wednesday. Keep finding the hope, the healing, and the power in community.