May 27, 2025 • 44 mins
Dr. Linda P. Chinn is a native of New London, CT who currently resides in Douglasville, GA. She fulfills her mission of uprooting and pulling down false belief systems in the lives of God's people to build them up by planting in them the incorruptible seed of the living Word through her various ministries. Dr. Chinn is an accomplished entrepreneur and the creator of Linda Chinn Ministries as well as the founder of Christian Women in Training Network.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Keeping It Real with Doctor Linda Chen. This
is the podcast where real life choices need biblical truth
without the flock. Tune in and every second and fourth
Monday at upm in Eastern Standard Time as Doctor Chen
shares faith filled, practical insights to navigate everyday challenges. Get
(00:21):
ready for real talk, real life and real answers.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Good afternoon, Good afternoon, Good afternoon. Welcome to another episode
of Keeping It Real with Doctor Linda Chin. I'm Augebel Curry,
producer of the show. We got a good series, not
just the show. We got an entire series on technology.
Doctor ten is gonna be covering it, which is exciting
for me. If you guys don't know, by no by now,
(00:46):
I am the tech I'm the tech junkie over here.
So I'm always as a matter of fact, I'm teaching
a five day challenge starting tonight. And today is my
mom's birthday, so you know, this is always a tough
day for me because she's no longer with me, but
I always want to acknowledge her and all that I do. Anyway,
Doctor Chan has a great guest today. Her name is
Shana Hamm, and she's gonna be talking about STEM and
(01:07):
for those of you who don't know, STEM stands for
a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. And they added an
A in here because they felt like they needed to
add in the arts. So you got STEM and you
got STEAM, and the AA in the is for arts.
So we're happy to have Shane on the show today.
Doctor Chen is gonna be talking to her about I
guess where we're going with this and why is them
so important to our youth? And right now, I got
(01:28):
to tell y'all one quick story and I'm gonna bring
them up. I have a six year old granddaughter and
I am developing her a platform called carter Can. Her
name is Carter and I'm developing her platform called carter
Can and it's an educational platform, interactive educational platform. So
she called me yesterday. She calls me Jia.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
She said, Now she's six and she already knows the
kids know how to use technology. She says, Jiah, are
you finished my thing yet? And I said, not yet.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
I'm not finished yet, but Ja's working on She's gonna
finished and have a lot of moving.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Parts to it.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
But I shared that to say sim is really important
and it's especially important for our youth coming up, So
I'm gonna stop talking. I'm gonna bring up doctor Chen
and Shena and they're gonna be talking to you more
about stem and we This is gonna be a powerful series.
So make sure that you subscribe to the show so
you don't forget right now, all right, Okay, welcome to
(02:23):
the stage, ladies.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Good afternoon, Good afternoon, Good afternoon. Thank you Audrey. I
love how she comes out with such energy and such
light and such enlightenment, and she's just a wonderful friend.
And actually keep following us because we've got something special
coming from Audrey as well. And we thank God for
doctor Shanahm And she's so humble that she has people
(02:49):
don't realize she's a doctor. And we're gonna talk today, yeah,
about what she does and how she encourages. And I'm
gonna give her a challenge today. I didn't let her
know earlier, but I'm gonna give her a challenge today.
So welcome to the show, Shanna, and thank you Audrey.
(03:10):
This is let me tell you what I know about Shanna.
So I've known her over ten years. Shanna and I
have studied scripture together, just one on one. Shanna and
I have prayed together and for one another. We have
encouraged each other, we have laughed together, we have cried together.
And she's just a beautiful, beautiful person. And I've known
(03:33):
that she's had her PhD in biology. Correct, Shanna, it's biology,
your biologists. Yes, And this is what I wanted to call.
I am stem because we know many black women in
the sciences and in technology, but we don't bring them forth.
And I want Shanna to come on, and I'm gonna
(03:54):
ask some questions, and then we're also gonna let the
Holy Spirit lead, because this is a faith based show. So,
doctor Shanahan, if you would tell us a little bit
about yourself.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
Okay, So I am a scientist. I got my bachelor's
degree in biology at Tennessee State University, and then I
went on and got my doctorate degree from Morehouse School
of Medicine in the area of Cardriobaska Genomens. So science
has been in me for a very long time. I
(04:28):
just I've always had an interest in science, and so
from there, I worked in the lab for over ten years,
and while doing that, I decided that I wanted to
actually move from the lab, which is behind the scenes,
which we call the bench side, to take it to
more of the bedside, taking it to humans and being
able to see the things that we do that nobody sees,
(04:50):
and how we can help cure a lot of these
diseases that we are seeing today. And so that has
been my goal, that my passionate and my journey about
this whole process is really just to find cures to
help our help people be able to live longer and
to be cured from a lot of these deadly disease.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Awesome, awesome, I love it. I love it. And she
has such humility, She walks in humility. She is more
concerned about the work and the study and the growth
and the progression than she is about a title. And
she's been a beautiful while. But I wanted to ask you,
doctor him, as a female scientist, what would you say
(05:35):
have been some of your greatest challenges coming along?
Speaker 4 (05:39):
So some of the greatest challenges as a black scientist,
black female and science is not getting the respect from
your counterparts. You know, as we know, research is a
male dominating feel and so it's hard for women out
there to break into the science, and harder when you
(06:01):
are black. You know, Black scientists represent less than ten percent,
and when you think about STEM it's even lower than that.
And so just trying to be to get out there
and to be value for the work that you do,
to be known amongst your colleagues and your counterparts as
someone that has the knowledge and the experience in science
(06:24):
and not be considered isolated from everyone else. Those are
some of the challenges that we face. And then of
course having to work even harder to be able to
prove that you deserve to be here, that you are
as scientists, you know you have to work twice as
hard as our kind of parts, and being a minority
of the minority is even harder. So those are some
(06:46):
of the challenges that I'm hoping that we'll be able
to resolve in the future for blacks.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
So do you get a different level of respect and
accepted from uh Caucasian or Hispanic or Indian and other
ethnic women in scientists then you do.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
The males for the most part, yes, for one thing, yes, Well,
when it's for women's scientists, we do tend to sit
behind each other because we know that it is tough
being able to prove ourselves. But then when you think
about being black in the science, it's not enough of you.
You know, we don't see each other like that because
(07:29):
we don't know, we don't get into that the science.
So it's even more difficult. And even though you feel
accepted by the women of the women, there's still this
gap where we're still below the minority.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
So you mentioned a term earlier, minority of minorities. Help
out listening or understand what you mean by minority of minorities.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Okay, so when you think about minority of the minorities,
we know that in the science era, blacks are considered
the minority. But as a female black scientist, you are
the minority of the minority. So again, science is a
male dominating feel So with women coming into the science,
we are considered minorities. But if you're black and you're
(08:18):
a woman coming into the science, you are a minority
of the minority. So that's how I like to state that.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
You know, I am in my sixties, and I remember
when I was growing up how my parents used to
say things like, when you're black, you have to work
twice as hard. You have to do this, And here
I am, and we're still there right here, here, here
we are and we're still talking about this, and this
(08:45):
is not a show about racism or being biased or
anything like that. But I say that to say, whoever
it says that there's no such thing as systemic racism
must be of another persuasion where they've never lived it,
never had to fight through it and fight for it, right,
And so coming up as you were growing up as so,
(09:07):
that was something on the side for anybody who has
a problem. You know, I'm sorry, but the truth is true.
But when you were coming up as a child, did
your parents recognize that you were interested in the sciences?
Speaker 4 (09:22):
They did, so. My mom was My mom loved science,
and so he used to have these books for me
and my sister, Encyclopedias, where we learned a lot about
the human body, the functions of the human body, which
we both were so fascinated with. And I remember when
I was little, I told my mom, I want to
(09:44):
be a doctor or cashier.
Speaker 5 (09:47):
And a fan.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
How does that match? And I said, because the doctors
they make money and the cashiers make money, and she
said the cashiers don't own that Money's so as I
got older, maybe going into middle school, I said, okay,
I want to be a doctor. And that stemmed from
because I used to watch cospe show, So a lot
of that was from I saw that I wanted to
(10:12):
be a ob g y n and I wanted to
help people. And my parents was telling me, well, you know,
you don't like school, so how are you going to? Man?
I have to admit, growing up, I didn't like school.
I couldn't stand it. But over the years it changed.
I started having in the passion in science. That was
(10:33):
my passion, and so a lot of things changed, and
that's how I grew into doing more into the science
and started loving it. So, uh, yeah, they didn't believe
me at first, but now they they're they're sold in.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
I love it. I love it. Listen. So one of
my nieces, when she was little, she would go out
and she would collect frogs. And I've got a niece
now who does it too, who's who's younger? But Thisney
sounds in the twenty And she would bring the frogs
and whatever little animals in, and you know, she'd have
them in her hand and be freaking my mother out.
And I remember, uh, she brought in a spider one
(11:11):
day and my mother was freaking out and she said,
don't worry Graham, because I took its legs off, so
it can't hurt you. But now she's still interested in
the sciences. And you know, it's important that parents of
young children that it's not just about freaking out when
did you when they bring an animals? Not just about
(11:32):
freaking out when they want to go to museums and
and look at things that are scientific or whether it's technology,
but today we're talking about the science of biology to
know their natural bend. So you had the encyclopedias, you're
telling your age and I just want to know, doctor
Sham And I'm glad you decided not to become a cashier,
(11:55):
Praise God. But so it's important it right. Don't you
think that parents recognize Do you have you met any children,
young children that you think or suspect maybe geared towards
the scientists.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
Yeah, So what are the things that I've noticed in
some young kids that have experience in SCIENTI is that
they they they're curious, you know, they they want to
know the why, and that's where science starts. Knowing the why.
Why is this? You know, why why do we have this?
Why do we why does space look like this? Why
(12:32):
does this animal does this, and so the curiosity is
like the first step to know. And also when the
kids are not afraid to pick up all types of.
Speaker 5 (12:42):
Things, that's another side that maybe they have no fear
in this. So and the thing is, most kids, when
you're starting out, from what I've seen, they love experiments,
the simple things that they will experiment. Where things where
you want to know what's in the world, or what
causes plants to grow, why does the color of leafs
(13:03):
change in the fall. These are little some things where
builds a child's curiosity to want to know more. So
I think that that's really the start of where the
science begins.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
So I remember too, when for Christmas sometimes you get
those little chemistry sets. You remember those with the little
microscope and all that. They were gifts, but no one
showed us what to do with them. You know what
I'm saying. They were to them because that was a
popular thing, but no one said, well, well, this is
what you do with the microscope, and this is what
you do with this whatever blobber was ever in there,
(13:39):
And there weren't many instructions anyway, So how would you
coach a parent who's afraid of science and doesn't feel
equipped to raise a child who is interested in the sciences.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
I guess I would start by just understanding exactly what
these questions that most kids have about science. A lot
of time, it's just when they you give them something.
And I'm speaking as examples with my nieces and nephews.
When they were little, we we would give them, uh,
(14:14):
these experiments. I remember my oldest niece who's just now
going to medical school. We gave her this biology set
and you know, she didn't really know much to do
with us. We kind of want to see what is
she going to do with these uh, these little twos
and this this chemistry hole pack. And so we watched
(14:35):
her and she was trying to figure things out and
just like the minx, things together and even though some
of the experiments came out wrong, just the fact that
she was intrigued to just want to mix things together
and to learn from there. And as time go we
would kind of me and my sister and mom we
would kind of like show her this is how you
do this, this makes this, and so they begin to
(14:56):
learn how to use these different and science technologies and
want to do more. My nephew was another example he's
going into want to be an engineer, want to be
in NASA and space, and we started giving him a
lot of the different globes and things to look at
(15:16):
in microscopes and telescopes and things like that. Because they
have an interest, they're asking questions. So that's how it starts.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Beautiful beautiful. So when you were coming up, did you
have a mentor?
Speaker 4 (15:34):
I honestly didn't have a mentor until I started college.
I guess I would say when I was in high school,
I kind of followed the crowd. I had a lot
of friends at the time that want to go into medicine,
and so I thought, Okay, that's what I want to do.
(15:55):
I'm gonna go along with them.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
That was the thing.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
That's all we saw at career day. We saw thoughts
and firenments. We never saw I never saw scientists. So
that was the thing. But it wasn't when I got
to college that I was questioned on whether do you
really want to be a doctor or do you want
to be a scientist. And the only thing I knew
about science is that it was some weird people that
(16:19):
stayed in the lab that you know, discover stuff. And
I didn't want to be a weird type of scientist,
so I said, I'm not going that route. I'm going
to be a doctor. And over the years that change
with my professors and mentors that I've had, and from there,
I've grown to have a lot of mentors that has
been on this journey with me that has guided me
(16:40):
because I know I could not have done it by myself.
I didn't have all the knowledge and the experience and
the resources. So I did have mentors along the journey
that have helped me every step that.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
I was going. Do you mentor I do?
Speaker 4 (16:57):
As a matter of fact, I would mentor metem. I've
done career days where I went to classrooms and talk
to little kids because they start when they're little, and
doing the small experiments with them, it entreats them to
want to know more. So I've mentored them. Now even
at my job, I'm mentoring. I'm mentoring students that are
(17:21):
coming out of college that wants to go into a
career and where do they start, What do they need
to do? What should they have to get started in
the sciences, or if they want to be a clinical scientist,
what do they need to do? I tell them that
because I say, you know, my journey was never straight.
I've had bumbers all along the way. I didn't have
(17:42):
a straight journey, and I know it was a reason
for that, because God was building my character. And if
I went just straight into just getting everything that I
said I wanted and not having to see the challenges
and go through the struggles and get strong in it,
I went not appreciators I do now, That's why I'm not.
I try to stay as relatable to people as much
(18:05):
as I can. That's why having a doctor and want
people to call me that. It's not a big thing
for me because it took me a lot to get
to where I am. And I always want people to
know that I'm relatable. You can talk because I've been there,
I've done that, I beat the odds and you can too.
And that's the message that I want to be able
(18:26):
to send to those young girls and college students and
grad students that are trying to get into the science.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
So I want to challenge you this use the title
You're relatable anyway. That's your nature. And I say that
to permit us to call you doctor Shanahan one because
you earned it. Two because yes, you have beat the odds.
But the third thing is oftentimes it builds a curiosity
(18:59):
where people ask you, well, what kind of doctor are you?
And as you're asked that question, you can be again
to share who knows what other little mentees. So I'm
gonna make your work harder right with other little mentees
and proteeses. You'll have come along who know already that
you're relatable and didn't know that that's what you did,
didn't know that those are the kind of challenges that
(19:21):
you face. The other thing is, and I thought about it,
there's this one group into ministry and I don't know
if she's listening or will listening to listen to the broadcast,
but Minister Shantina Knox has a treasure our Daughter's ministry
where she mentors young girls young girls right, brings other
(19:44):
people and professionals in to help them to learn and
to guide them along the way. And I think you
could be useful and helpful even to help young girls
decide is this really what I want to do? Right?
Speaker 5 (19:59):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (20:01):
So another thing that I was thinking about it and
wanted to ask you is what advice would you give
parents whose daughters wish to enter the sciences but have
been discouraged. I have discouragements one after the other after
the other. What would you say that encourage them again?
(20:22):
To breathe life into them?
Speaker 4 (20:25):
Keep going, Keep going because it is tough. You're going
to face challenges. You're going to face rejections. You're going
to face people saying this is not for you. That's
smart enough, You need to do something else that's easy.
I've had all of that said to me.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
How did you respond.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
To be transparent? It bothered me because there are times
why I started to question is this for me? When
it got hard, But then I was reminded of look
at how far you come. You've had to go through
these rejections, not so much as to prove to other
(21:11):
people you can do it, but to prove to yourself
that you could do it. And that's what's the lesson
I had to learn throughout my whole journey is that
I have to be strong and proved in myself. You
got this, whether anyone else believes you or not, God
already knows.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
I got it.
Speaker 4 (21:28):
I needed to believe that I have it. So when
I when I speak to these young girls, I tell
them you can be what you want to be. Don't
let someone say this you can. They don't know your journey,
they don't know your story. You know your story. God
knows your story. So if this is what you want,
you keep going. If you fall down, you get back up,
(21:50):
that's the part. But you don't give up. And that's
what keeps me going every day is knowing that I'm
not giving up no matter how hard it gets. Yes,
I'm gonna fight. I failed, I've fallen down, but I'm
able to say I got back up. Yeah, I got
(22:10):
back up. And I want to keep going. And that's
what I would say to them. Don't don't give up, don't.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
Stop listen Joyce Smith says, this is great. New books
and teaching things are being taken away. The youth needs
someone to teach them. It will open their world. Now
that gave me chills, right, It will open their whole
world past what they see and a past. And it
(22:38):
also opens a world of how to relate to other people.
Because you're in the sciences, you have audiences sit at
the feet, and other people sit at your feet who
don't look like you, don't sound like you, and it
opens up the world of how to relate to other people.
Other than just ourselves. You understand what I'm saying. Yeah,
(23:00):
So did you have to learn differently how to navigate
with different people? How did you learn how to do that?
Speaker 4 (23:08):
Well, the first thing I had to realize is that
I may be the only one of my kind and
that and I had a mentor to tell me that.
He said, you need to get used to the fact
that you may not handle one look like you and
so and he was right. I haven't had one to
(23:29):
look like me. And in the eras I was going in,
but I said, I wanted to have a voice, and
I wanted to be heard.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
And so.
Speaker 4 (23:40):
I accepted the fact that I'm a scientist and I'm
here to be heard and it's not about color, but
it's about making a difference and making a mark in
the science era. And that's what I set out to do.
And now people are starting to hear me, not because
I speak loud, but because my work and what my
(24:03):
passion is what is driving doors to open up that
could never been opened if I set back and did nothing.
Speaker 6 (24:10):
And suddenly, Yeah, So I suspect that doors are going
to begin to open for you in different areas, and
that you're going to be getting invitations to speak here
and to go there, and to do this, that and
the other.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
And as you stated early in the conversation, you don't
have to deal with the rejection and other disappointments because
God was building your character. And I believe that when
your character is built and being built, that opens doors
for us as well. Right, they say that whatever can
get you there, but it's your character that you know.
(24:50):
The BS word will get you places, but it's the
character that will keep you. I'm excited about your journey.
I'm excited about the young black girls, Hispanic, well whoever,
whatever the ethnicities are, that you can and will influence.
And I want to ask you this because I heard
such passion in your voice when you said it. Why
(25:14):
is it important that you have a voice? Did something
happen or not happen where you knew that having a
voice is important.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
So it was during the time that I was trying
to make a decision if I want to go back
and get my doctorate degree in science, and I had
a mentor, female Carucasian mentor. She's at just trying to
be one of my best mentors. She told me that
because I was debating on getting my doctor degree, and
(25:44):
she said that if you ever want to have a
voice in the science, you need to get this degree.
And so that's that was really the reason why I
decided to move forward and get the degree. And it's
funny how when you get the degree, you think, Okay,
I have a voice now, but no, not always. You know,
(26:09):
that doesn't really mean you have a voice. It's what
you do with that degree. It's how you the confidence
that builds in. And sometimes people hide behind that degree
thinking that that's what's going to give me the voice,
and it's really it's more to it than that. Yes,
having a passion, it's about knowing your purpose, that purpose
(26:31):
if you haven't knowing that purpose, and it took me
a long time to find out what that purpose was.
And by having that that pretty much has given me
the voice because now I know why I'm here. I'm
not here to get accolades because I got the degree
and I'm the doctor now. I'm here because I want
(26:53):
to make a difference in the science. I want that
science to be able to reach not just one class
one population, but all because we all need to be
a part of that. And so that's the voice that
I care in everything. They know my passion before they
know anything else.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
Oh my god, that's powerful. That's powerful. So tell us
your specialty again.
Speaker 4 (27:18):
So my specialty is working in cancer research. So I'm
a clinical scientist. I work on the clinical trial studies
for cancer patients, particularly breast cancer, and hopes of finding
a cure, not just a treatment of symptoms, but a
cure for the disease. So that is that's my motivation,
(27:40):
that's my passion, and that's what I'm going to keep
on going and doing.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
I love it. I love it, I love it. I
love it. I have a daughter who went through breast canting.
I've got a dear, dear friend who called me a
couple of weeks ago her daughter is going through We
all know what I won't say we all know, but
I know many people who know people and people who've
had breast cancer. And so that I love what you said.
(28:03):
You're looking for the cure and not just something to
treat the symptoms, because oftentimes, as you know, the thing
that treats the symptoms have side effects that I've heard
people say they wouldn't wish on their worst enemy, right,
and your voice, So this is what I believe is
important about fascinating about what you said about a voice.
(28:27):
We don't have to look. We wouldn't have to look
at James Earl Jones. We could be in another room
and hear him speak and recognize his voice.
Speaker 6 (28:36):
Right.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
There are voices that we recognize whether we see the
person or not. So it is my pope and my
prayer and my encouragement that your voice speaks volumes all
over the world because of the results of your research.
The other thing I know about God is that he
needs his people everywhere, right, He needs his people. It's
(28:57):
pulpe it's nothing right right. The lab is your pulpit.
Those children are your congregation, Your mentees are your congregation.
And I love the fact that that's where your passion lies,
and that's where your purpose is. And passion, by the way,
means like excruciating pain. When you're passionate about something, it
(29:19):
almost pains you not to be able to do it right.
And so we're excited for you, and I want to
know if you're available. I don't know what kind of
information or you can put up, but do you have
a website? Do you have a cause? Hint, hint? Do
you have a cause that you begun, or a mentor
(29:42):
program just for the scientists. Hint, hint, so that young
girls and parents of young girls can reach out to
you so that you can help them too in some
kind of way, even if it's one word of encouragement.
Speaker 4 (29:58):
You know, we don't have a sight of yet, but
I have had people reach out to me through LinkedIn
to my email even if contacted me my phone. But
that's something that I to be thinking about doing, having
a site for that.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
But yeah, I.
Speaker 4 (30:16):
Would love to mentor young girls and teenagers and college
students because that is my passion and I want them
all to be successful whenever they want to do. So.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
Yes, I'm going to be praying that God give you
a voice and a name to your cause so that
doors will open up, even for the young girls who
don't have a place and have never heard the voice,
never heard a voice that can support what they're feeling
in their hearts and their guts and in their bellies.
(30:50):
So be prepared. You know, when people pray God according
to his will and purpose, he begins to move. And
I tell people all the time that I don't have
to seek the hand of God if you seek his
face and you seek his heart, his hand will move reflectively, reflexively,
as if that rubber mallet to the knee. You touch
(31:14):
God's heart and his hand's gonna automatically move in your
favor and your direction. Yeah. So, and then I know
someone who can help you build a website. On the
website your logo, girl, I know God.
Speaker 4 (31:32):
I know that.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
Praise God. Praise God. So AUDREYE, we'll want to bring
you back on because I know she's chomping at the
bit back there. I already know this excites her. Right
to Audrey, what questions and thoughts came up in your
mind while Shanna doctor Ham and I were talking.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
First the first question is this is a funny one.
So when Shaney came on, I was like, hey, tell Mark,
I said, happen. Then it hit me like, what if
it's not the same pamn, you know, that was the
first question that came to my mind. I'm like, what
if it's not the same person. I'm telling her to
tell somebody, Hi, what if he's not Mark's white? It
was so crazy. I don't know what made me think
about that after the fact. So that was the first
(32:14):
thing that was the first thing came to my mind.
But the second thing came to my mind was the
fact visibility. When you said that, it hit me like
a ton of bricks because I'm.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
Just listening to your story. And when you said the
part about being a cashier of the doctor, I thought
that was hilarious. I'm over here cracking up. But there
are other young women out there who are looking for that,
right And I said myself, men, she got it. She
got to get visibility. And so when you look.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
At what we're doing right now, this is visibility, like
this is streaming the Doctor Doctor. Someone to emailed me
earlier today, Doctor Tanner's like, hey, can you send me
to ring the.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Link for the show? And I was like absolutely, So
I shared that link with soone for this show. So
when I.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
Think about that part, and yes, it could be a
lot of work sometimes, let me just let me just
start by saying that part. And I know a lot
of times people can't find the time, but I feel
like what you have is so important and the work
that you're doing is so important. People got to know
about it, especially people of color, because I constantly struggled.
My mom had breast cancer twice and the second time
(33:15):
resulted in her getting up the secondly on the left side.
But there are so many things that we just don't know.
And I got to tell you this is funny. It's
not funny, but it's funny. My husband works in pharmaceutical
We take.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
So many supplements.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
I have no idea if anything works because we take
so many because everybody wants to be healthy.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
And I keep saying, man, somebody needs to create an
act for that. And then and I decided I'm gonna
create act myself. But we just don't know what we
don't know. So we want to be healthy.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
And I think the fact that you're doing the work
and you're doing the study, I think people need to
know about that, like you need to document your journey
to share that, not just with the youth, but to
the people who want to know, what can I do
to not, you know.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
Get breast cancer? What should I be doing? So that
was the first thing came to my mind.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
And the visibility and the fact that here we are
in twenty twenty five and it's still so so hard
to be taken seriously, even when you're phenomenal.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
Yeah, yeah, even when you're phenomenal, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
So I remember some years ago, and I'm like you,
I like to be behind the scenes. That's why when
doctor Tenn said she's gonna do it alone, like great.
But I remember some years ago I was I had
written I had co opted a book with some friends
and Terry Williams, who was a publicist at the time.
I had written a book called The Personal Touch, and
I had read the book and I reached out to
(34:37):
her about helping us market the book and she said, well,
I don't know if you guys can afford me, which
we couldn't because at that time she was like Michael
Jackson's publicist and Janet and Eddie Murphy.
Speaker 3 (34:47):
We couldn't afford her.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
But she turned she introduced us to another publicist, and
when when we went to go have our meeting with
that publicist, she was like, you know, what are you
guys trying to do? So me trying to be in
the back. She's like, Weudrey, you can't be straddling the fence.
She's either gonna be on the inside on the outside picked.
But you got to pick a side. I have struggled
with that for years, Shannon. So you know, I feel
like you're doing great work and you have to create visibility.
Speaker 3 (35:10):
Now I know a man that you know, a man
that can help you do that.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Yeah, if it's the same man that I'm thinking about,
he help you do that because we need that. We
need people to see you. We need people to see
you and see what you're doing it. We need them
to be in the lab with you, to be behind
the scenes. And like you, I love science, like that
was my favorite subject in high school, math and science.
(35:34):
But nobody told me to go to school to be
a scientist or engineer, which I should have been. They
told me to go be an accountant. And then I
go there and plunk out like I hate this. Nobody
nobody told me that. So that's my those are my thoughts.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
I'm excited about this, I really really am. That's I said.
I have this feeling, Shannon, that doors are just getting
ready to fly open. So think about a name, pray
about a name for your call or for your mentor program.
And you know, I could be on the praying side.
And you know pro Web Firm and that is owned
(36:09):
by Mark Ham. Everybody, Thank you, I see you, Elder
Barbara Green. But it is important because it's almost like
when the disciples went and said to the man, the
Master has need of you. I hear now that the
Master has need of you. This is your time and
this is your season, and it's not about you. And
(36:30):
that's what's wonderful about your personality and about your passion
because you know it's not. But you have that voice,
and every voice there's a place for it, and God
has given you that voice for a purpose. So you
know this is just the beginning. Think about and pray
about a name and a program for your mentorship. I
(36:52):
see you chumping at the bit orgy. What's up, doctor ten?
Speaker 2 (36:55):
You said something so important, and I think this happens
to a lot of people. You say, is not about
out you, And I think for a lot of amazing
people and brilliant people, they don't show up because they
don't want people.
Speaker 3 (37:06):
To think it's about them. That was me for a
long time. But let me tell you what that is.
That's that's that's that's arrogance. That's how the Lord administered
to me. That that's arrogance. And I kept saying, no,
I don't I don't want to do that, and it's selfish.
I don't want to do this in this because I
want to be in the background, I kept hearing myself
(37:26):
say I, and God made me realize how many selfs
I said I, And it made me realize I was
making it about me. Does that make sense? Yes?
Speaker 4 (37:37):
It does.
Speaker 3 (37:38):
So do you have any thoughts. I'm going to share
a little something before we end, But do you have
any thoughts or anything that you want to share or
talk about that I didn't ask or that Audrey didn't
bring up.
Speaker 4 (37:53):
No, I think you guys brought up everything. Like I said,
I I want to tell my story because I think
it is going to help other young kids, other young
girls see that they're not along in that the testimony
of I have a cousin that he was just like me,
(38:15):
trying to get in and get her doctorate degree, and
I struggled just trying to get into graduate school. I said,
I went to a lot of rejections, and she started
going to the same thing. But I'd already had gotten
my degree before her, and I kept telling her, you
got to keep going, you know. She would say, but
I keep getting rejected. And I said, well, come back
(38:36):
to me when you've got rejected for the eighth time.
Speaker 3 (38:39):
Yeah, I.
Speaker 4 (38:42):
Said so. When she was in I said, but you
don't give up.
Speaker 3 (38:46):
You keep going.
Speaker 4 (38:48):
And I'm I'm so happy and honored to say that
come June, she'll be walking down the aisle getting her doctor.
Speaker 3 (38:54):
Had give up.
Speaker 4 (38:57):
Also, you know, we all have stories to tell. We're
all going to go through our own journeys. We're all
going to go through rejections, humiliation, embarrassment. You're gonna feel
like you're embarrassing hum But the thing is what I
keep telling myself now. But God was trying to get
something to me. And so when I look back on
(39:18):
the lessons I've learned even with all of this, I
thank Him for it because I couldn't be where I
am now if it wasn't for God taking me through
and what I have to go through. So I don't
take nothing for my journey. If I had to all
over again, I'll do it again. Beautiful again.
Speaker 3 (39:34):
Wow, listen to somebody who's experiencing rejection. That's how Ruth
ended up with Boas. Let me just help somebody right there.
That's how Ruth y'all want a Boas. She had to
be rejected first. I hope y'all understand that. And she
also had a Naomi, who was a mentor to her
was her mother in law. So catch something in this
(39:55):
show today, Roy, get you a Naomi, and don't worry
about the rejections because God, God has something greater and
we're wonderful for you. And I'm excited too that on
the next podcast we have a black female engineer and
person in the C suite in business and so and
(40:16):
then we'll have a tech after that, we've got a
tech savvy person. I mean she's she's a beast and
she can build as she shares. And that is the
Audrey Belkenny. So stick with us. You all there are there.
We're here for a purpose on this podcast. I'm not
here just because I wanted to start a podcast, but
this is faith based and we've got to encourage one
(40:38):
another and let people know that God has something for
you to do and there's a place for you. I
don't care if you as they call it, slay hair
and you want to come on this show and you
want to talk about something that where we can hear
from God and hear your journey and it will help
somebody reach out to us. And speaking of which, we
(41:00):
have a class coming up reaching out to us. Speaking
of that coming up, and it's called Spiritual Truths to
understa Biblical Truths of Spiritual Warfare, and this class. I've
taught this class for over nine years, and so I
want you to go to our website and register for
that class. And this is why I'm saying that I've
(41:22):
seen t shirts, placards, desk thing of my Jiggi's on
people's walls and saying be patient with me. God is
not finished with me yet. But then I heard this
in my gut too. The devil is patient and he's
not through with you yet either. He's still trying to kill,
still destroy families purposes, right if he could keep you
(41:43):
feeling rejected. So, as Shannon was saying, doctor Anne was saying,
I kept going, she encouraged her cousin keep going. You
have to know how to fight, and when you get weary,
you have to have someone who will fight for you,
and they can tell you you go sit in the
corner you rest right now. I'll fight for you right
whichever way that is. So I want to thank doctor
(42:05):
Shanner for coming on. And I will call you doctor
Ham and doctor Shanner because it is who you are.
And I hope that some of you are listening. And
know someone who could use the encouragement that's in her.
You can reach out to me in the meantime until
she gets her her website and her calls up right
(42:27):
and her podcast right produced by Audrey Bell Canny. But
so I want to thank you again, and I just
want to say thank you, and Audrey, you can just
take us out now, please.
Speaker 2 (42:39):
All right, listen if you enjoy them. Doctor Chen has
a series of great people coming down the pike. And
this is so important because right now we're living in
some strange times, right, biblical times, but strange times for
a lot of us because some of us don't read
the Bible like that, so they're very strange.
Speaker 4 (42:54):
So let me just say that part.
Speaker 2 (42:56):
So that's why this is important, because you need to
know what you need to know. You need to know
how to understand texting me to unknowing, to understand biology.
You need to know how to grow your food. My listen,
my husband have planted us a garden, don't. I don't
like dirt under my fingernails at all.
Speaker 3 (43:11):
But here's the thing.
Speaker 2 (43:12):
We don't know what's gonna happen, so we need to
have some food growing. So he Doug got a big
old patch and we got a little garden back there.
So you need to know all of these things, and
I'm constantly learning. So I'm so grateful the doctor Chen
has decided to do. She does great, she does a
great show every two weeks, right, but when she starts
speaking my real language, I get excited.
Speaker 3 (43:30):
And this is my real language.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
So thank you, thank you doctor Hand for being here.
I didn't even know you were a doctor. Your husband
is just as humble as you are. He never said that.
He said you did real estate. That's all I knew.
So I'm so glad that you got on hand shared
this because people need to see you, They need to
hear your message, they need your voice, So thank you
for doing that.
Speaker 3 (43:49):
We gotta go.
Speaker 2 (43:50):
If you like this episode, be sure to subscribe to
the channel and shared with two friends. It's free, doesn't
cost You're done, shared with two.
Speaker 3 (43:57):
Friends, all right.
Speaker 2 (43:58):
We'll be back in two weeks, same place, same time,
so put it on your calendar so you never miss
an episode. And if you want to support the show,
go to Lindtenmanistries dot com, Lindatenministries dot com, Lindedtenministries dot com.
We'll be back in two weeks, so you guys stay
safe out then until next time, My friends, until next time,
make it a great day.
Speaker 3 (44:16):
Bye everybody, By bye Biggs.
Speaker 1 (44:23):
You've been listening to Keeping It Real with Doctor Linda Chin.
If you enjoyed this episode, hit the like button in
share it with a friend. Be sure to support the
show by going to Lindachinministries dot com. Subscribe to the
show so you never missed an episode, and tune in
again in two weeks at two pm Eastern Sanatime. Until
next time, keep the faith and keep it Real.
Welcome to Keeping It Real with Doctor Linda Chen. This
is the podcast where real life choices need biblical truth
without the flock. Tune in and every second and fourth
Monday at upm in Eastern Standard Time as Doctor Chen
shares faith filled, practical insights to navigate everyday challenges. Get
(00:21):
ready for real talk, real life and real answers.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Good afternoon, Good afternoon, Good afternoon. Welcome to another episode
of Keeping It Real with Doctor Linda Chin. I'm Augebel Curry,
producer of the show. We got a good series, not
just the show. We got an entire series on technology.
Doctor ten is gonna be covering it, which is exciting
for me. If you guys don't know, by no by now,
(00:46):
I am the tech I'm the tech junkie over here.
So I'm always as a matter of fact, I'm teaching
a five day challenge starting tonight. And today is my
mom's birthday, so you know, this is always a tough
day for me because she's no longer with me, but
I always want to acknowledge her and all that I do. Anyway,
Doctor Chan has a great guest today. Her name is
Shana Hamm, and she's gonna be talking about STEM and
(01:07):
for those of you who don't know, STEM stands for
a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. And they added an
A in here because they felt like they needed to
add in the arts. So you got STEM and you
got STEAM, and the AA in the is for arts.
So we're happy to have Shane on the show today.
Doctor Chen is gonna be talking to her about I
guess where we're going with this and why is them
so important to our youth? And right now, I got
(01:28):
to tell y'all one quick story and I'm gonna bring
them up. I have a six year old granddaughter and
I am developing her a platform called carter Can. Her
name is Carter and I'm developing her platform called carter
Can and it's an educational platform, interactive educational platform. So
she called me yesterday. She calls me Jia.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
She said, Now she's six and she already knows the
kids know how to use technology. She says, Jiah, are
you finished my thing yet? And I said, not yet.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
I'm not finished yet, but Ja's working on She's gonna
finished and have a lot of moving.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Parts to it.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
But I shared that to say sim is really important
and it's especially important for our youth coming up, So
I'm gonna stop talking. I'm gonna bring up doctor Chen
and Shena and they're gonna be talking to you more
about stem and we This is gonna be a powerful series.
So make sure that you subscribe to the show so
you don't forget right now, all right, Okay, welcome to
(02:23):
the stage, ladies.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Good afternoon, Good afternoon, Good afternoon. Thank you Audrey. I
love how she comes out with such energy and such
light and such enlightenment, and she's just a wonderful friend.
And actually keep following us because we've got something special
coming from Audrey as well. And we thank God for
doctor Shanahm And she's so humble that she has people
(02:49):
don't realize she's a doctor. And we're gonna talk today, yeah,
about what she does and how she encourages. And I'm
gonna give her a challenge today. I didn't let her
know earlier, but I'm gonna give her a challenge today.
So welcome to the show, Shanna, and thank you Audrey.
(03:10):
This is let me tell you what I know about Shanna.
So I've known her over ten years. Shanna and I
have studied scripture together, just one on one. Shanna and
I have prayed together and for one another. We have
encouraged each other, we have laughed together, we have cried together.
And she's just a beautiful, beautiful person. And I've known
(03:33):
that she's had her PhD in biology. Correct, Shanna, it's biology,
your biologists. Yes, And this is what I wanted to call.
I am stem because we know many black women in
the sciences and in technology, but we don't bring them forth.
And I want Shanna to come on, and I'm gonna
(03:54):
ask some questions, and then we're also gonna let the
Holy Spirit lead, because this is a faith based show. So,
doctor Shanahan, if you would tell us a little bit
about yourself.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
Okay, So I am a scientist. I got my bachelor's
degree in biology at Tennessee State University, and then I
went on and got my doctorate degree from Morehouse School
of Medicine in the area of Cardriobaska Genomens. So science
has been in me for a very long time. I
(04:28):
just I've always had an interest in science, and so
from there, I worked in the lab for over ten years,
and while doing that, I decided that I wanted to
actually move from the lab, which is behind the scenes,
which we call the bench side, to take it to
more of the bedside, taking it to humans and being
able to see the things that we do that nobody sees,
(04:50):
and how we can help cure a lot of these
diseases that we are seeing today. And so that has
been my goal, that my passionate and my journey about
this whole process is really just to find cures to
help our help people be able to live longer and
to be cured from a lot of these deadly disease.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Awesome, awesome, I love it. I love it. And she
has such humility, She walks in humility. She is more
concerned about the work and the study and the growth
and the progression than she is about a title. And
she's been a beautiful while. But I wanted to ask you,
doctor him, as a female scientist, what would you say
(05:35):
have been some of your greatest challenges coming along?
Speaker 4 (05:39):
So some of the greatest challenges as a black scientist,
black female and science is not getting the respect from
your counterparts. You know, as we know, research is a
male dominating feel and so it's hard for women out
there to break into the science, and harder when you
(06:01):
are black. You know, Black scientists represent less than ten percent,
and when you think about STEM it's even lower than that.
And so just trying to be to get out there
and to be value for the work that you do,
to be known amongst your colleagues and your counterparts as
someone that has the knowledge and the experience in science
(06:24):
and not be considered isolated from everyone else. Those are
some of the challenges that we face. And then of
course having to work even harder to be able to
prove that you deserve to be here, that you are
as scientists, you know you have to work twice as
hard as our kind of parts, and being a minority
of the minority is even harder. So those are some
(06:46):
of the challenges that I'm hoping that we'll be able
to resolve in the future for blacks.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
So do you get a different level of respect and
accepted from uh Caucasian or Hispanic or Indian and other
ethnic women in scientists then you do.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
The males for the most part, yes, for one thing, yes, Well,
when it's for women's scientists, we do tend to sit
behind each other because we know that it is tough
being able to prove ourselves. But then when you think
about being black in the science, it's not enough of you.
You know, we don't see each other like that because
(07:29):
we don't know, we don't get into that the science.
So it's even more difficult. And even though you feel
accepted by the women of the women, there's still this
gap where we're still below the minority.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
So you mentioned a term earlier, minority of minorities. Help
out listening or understand what you mean by minority of minorities.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Okay, so when you think about minority of the minorities,
we know that in the science era, blacks are considered
the minority. But as a female black scientist, you are
the minority of the minority. So again, science is a
male dominating feel So with women coming into the science,
we are considered minorities. But if you're black and you're
(08:18):
a woman coming into the science, you are a minority
of the minority. So that's how I like to state that.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
You know, I am in my sixties, and I remember
when I was growing up how my parents used to
say things like, when you're black, you have to work
twice as hard. You have to do this, And here
I am, and we're still there right here, here, here
we are and we're still talking about this, and this
(08:45):
is not a show about racism or being biased or
anything like that. But I say that to say, whoever
it says that there's no such thing as systemic racism
must be of another persuasion where they've never lived it,
never had to fight through it and fight for it, right,
And so coming up as you were growing up as so,
(09:07):
that was something on the side for anybody who has
a problem. You know, I'm sorry, but the truth is true.
But when you were coming up as a child, did
your parents recognize that you were interested in the sciences?
Speaker 4 (09:22):
They did, so. My mom was My mom loved science,
and so he used to have these books for me
and my sister, Encyclopedias, where we learned a lot about
the human body, the functions of the human body, which
we both were so fascinated with. And I remember when
I was little, I told my mom, I want to
(09:44):
be a doctor or cashier.
Speaker 5 (09:47):
And a fan.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
How does that match? And I said, because the doctors
they make money and the cashiers make money, and she
said the cashiers don't own that Money's so as I
got older, maybe going into middle school, I said, okay,
I want to be a doctor. And that stemmed from
because I used to watch cospe show, So a lot
of that was from I saw that I wanted to
(10:12):
be a ob g y n and I wanted to
help people. And my parents was telling me, well, you know,
you don't like school, so how are you going to? Man?
I have to admit, growing up, I didn't like school.
I couldn't stand it. But over the years it changed.
I started having in the passion in science. That was
(10:33):
my passion, and so a lot of things changed, and
that's how I grew into doing more into the science
and started loving it. So, uh, yeah, they didn't believe
me at first, but now they they're they're sold in.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
I love it. I love it. Listen. So one of
my nieces, when she was little, she would go out
and she would collect frogs. And I've got a niece
now who does it too, who's who's younger? But Thisney
sounds in the twenty And she would bring the frogs
and whatever little animals in, and you know, she'd have
them in her hand and be freaking my mother out.
And I remember, uh, she brought in a spider one
(11:11):
day and my mother was freaking out and she said,
don't worry Graham, because I took its legs off, so
it can't hurt you. But now she's still interested in
the sciences. And you know, it's important that parents of
young children that it's not just about freaking out when
did you when they bring an animals? Not just about
(11:32):
freaking out when they want to go to museums and
and look at things that are scientific or whether it's technology,
but today we're talking about the science of biology to
know their natural bend. So you had the encyclopedias, you're
telling your age and I just want to know, doctor
Sham And I'm glad you decided not to become a cashier,
(11:55):
Praise God. But so it's important it right. Don't you
think that parents recognize Do you have you met any children,
young children that you think or suspect maybe geared towards
the scientists.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
Yeah, So what are the things that I've noticed in
some young kids that have experience in SCIENTI is that
they they they're curious, you know, they they want to
know the why, and that's where science starts. Knowing the why.
Why is this? You know, why why do we have this?
Why do we why does space look like this? Why
(12:32):
does this animal does this, and so the curiosity is
like the first step to know. And also when the
kids are not afraid to pick up all types of.
Speaker 5 (12:42):
Things, that's another side that maybe they have no fear
in this. So and the thing is, most kids, when
you're starting out, from what I've seen, they love experiments,
the simple things that they will experiment. Where things where
you want to know what's in the world, or what
causes plants to grow, why does the color of leafs
(13:03):
change in the fall. These are little some things where
builds a child's curiosity to want to know more. So
I think that that's really the start of where the
science begins.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
So I remember too, when for Christmas sometimes you get
those little chemistry sets. You remember those with the little
microscope and all that. They were gifts, but no one
showed us what to do with them. You know what
I'm saying. They were to them because that was a
popular thing, but no one said, well, well, this is
what you do with the microscope, and this is what
you do with this whatever blobber was ever in there,
(13:39):
And there weren't many instructions anyway, So how would you
coach a parent who's afraid of science and doesn't feel
equipped to raise a child who is interested in the sciences.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
I guess I would start by just understanding exactly what
these questions that most kids have about science. A lot
of time, it's just when they you give them something.
And I'm speaking as examples with my nieces and nephews.
When they were little, we we would give them, uh,
(14:14):
these experiments. I remember my oldest niece who's just now
going to medical school. We gave her this biology set
and you know, she didn't really know much to do
with us. We kind of want to see what is
she going to do with these uh, these little twos
and this this chemistry hole pack. And so we watched
(14:35):
her and she was trying to figure things out and
just like the minx, things together and even though some
of the experiments came out wrong, just the fact that
she was intrigued to just want to mix things together
and to learn from there. And as time go we
would kind of me and my sister and mom we
would kind of like show her this is how you
do this, this makes this, and so they begin to
(14:56):
learn how to use these different and science technologies and
want to do more. My nephew was another example he's
going into want to be an engineer, want to be
in NASA and space, and we started giving him a
lot of the different globes and things to look at
(15:16):
in microscopes and telescopes and things like that. Because they
have an interest, they're asking questions. So that's how it starts.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Beautiful beautiful. So when you were coming up, did you
have a mentor?
Speaker 4 (15:34):
I honestly didn't have a mentor until I started college.
I guess I would say when I was in high school,
I kind of followed the crowd. I had a lot
of friends at the time that want to go into medicine,
and so I thought, Okay, that's what I want to do.
(15:55):
I'm gonna go along with them.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
That was the thing.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
That's all we saw at career day. We saw thoughts
and firenments. We never saw I never saw scientists. So
that was the thing. But it wasn't when I got
to college that I was questioned on whether do you
really want to be a doctor or do you want
to be a scientist. And the only thing I knew
about science is that it was some weird people that
(16:19):
stayed in the lab that you know, discover stuff. And
I didn't want to be a weird type of scientist,
so I said, I'm not going that route. I'm going
to be a doctor. And over the years that change
with my professors and mentors that I've had, and from there,
I've grown to have a lot of mentors that has
been on this journey with me that has guided me
(16:40):
because I know I could not have done it by myself.
I didn't have all the knowledge and the experience and
the resources. So I did have mentors along the journey
that have helped me every step that.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
I was going. Do you mentor I do?
Speaker 4 (16:57):
As a matter of fact, I would mentor metem. I've
done career days where I went to classrooms and talk
to little kids because they start when they're little, and
doing the small experiments with them, it entreats them to
want to know more. So I've mentored them. Now even
at my job, I'm mentoring. I'm mentoring students that are
(17:21):
coming out of college that wants to go into a
career and where do they start, What do they need
to do? What should they have to get started in
the sciences, or if they want to be a clinical scientist,
what do they need to do? I tell them that
because I say, you know, my journey was never straight.
I've had bumbers all along the way. I didn't have
(17:42):
a straight journey, and I know it was a reason
for that, because God was building my character. And if
I went just straight into just getting everything that I
said I wanted and not having to see the challenges
and go through the struggles and get strong in it,
I went not appreciators I do now, That's why I'm not.
I try to stay as relatable to people as much
(18:05):
as I can. That's why having a doctor and want
people to call me that. It's not a big thing
for me because it took me a lot to get
to where I am. And I always want people to
know that I'm relatable. You can talk because I've been there,
I've done that, I beat the odds and you can too.
And that's the message that I want to be able
(18:26):
to send to those young girls and college students and
grad students that are trying to get into the science.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
So I want to challenge you this use the title
You're relatable anyway. That's your nature. And I say that
to permit us to call you doctor Shanahan one because
you earned it. Two because yes, you have beat the odds.
But the third thing is oftentimes it builds a curiosity
(18:59):
where people ask you, well, what kind of doctor are you?
And as you're asked that question, you can be again
to share who knows what other little mentees. So I'm
gonna make your work harder right with other little mentees
and proteeses. You'll have come along who know already that
you're relatable and didn't know that that's what you did,
didn't know that those are the kind of challenges that
(19:21):
you face. The other thing is, and I thought about it,
there's this one group into ministry and I don't know
if she's listening or will listening to listen to the broadcast,
but Minister Shantina Knox has a treasure our Daughter's ministry
where she mentors young girls young girls right, brings other
(19:44):
people and professionals in to help them to learn and
to guide them along the way. And I think you
could be useful and helpful even to help young girls
decide is this really what I want to do? Right?
Speaker 5 (19:59):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (20:01):
So another thing that I was thinking about it and
wanted to ask you is what advice would you give
parents whose daughters wish to enter the sciences but have
been discouraged. I have discouragements one after the other after
the other. What would you say that encourage them again?
(20:22):
To breathe life into them?
Speaker 4 (20:25):
Keep going, Keep going because it is tough. You're going
to face challenges. You're going to face rejections. You're going
to face people saying this is not for you. That's
smart enough, You need to do something else that's easy.
I've had all of that said to me.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
How did you respond.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
To be transparent? It bothered me because there are times
why I started to question is this for me? When
it got hard, But then I was reminded of look
at how far you come. You've had to go through
these rejections, not so much as to prove to other
(21:11):
people you can do it, but to prove to yourself
that you could do it. And that's what's the lesson
I had to learn throughout my whole journey is that
I have to be strong and proved in myself. You
got this, whether anyone else believes you or not, God
already knows.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
I got it.
Speaker 4 (21:28):
I needed to believe that I have it. So when
I when I speak to these young girls, I tell
them you can be what you want to be. Don't
let someone say this you can. They don't know your journey,
they don't know your story. You know your story. God
knows your story. So if this is what you want,
you keep going. If you fall down, you get back up,
(21:50):
that's the part. But you don't give up. And that's
what keeps me going every day is knowing that I'm
not giving up no matter how hard it gets. Yes,
I'm gonna fight. I failed, I've fallen down, but I'm
able to say I got back up. Yeah, I got
(22:10):
back up. And I want to keep going. And that's
what I would say to them. Don't don't give up, don't.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
Stop listen Joyce Smith says, this is great. New books
and teaching things are being taken away. The youth needs
someone to teach them. It will open their world. Now
that gave me chills, right, It will open their whole
world past what they see and a past. And it
(22:38):
also opens a world of how to relate to other people.
Because you're in the sciences, you have audiences sit at
the feet, and other people sit at your feet who
don't look like you, don't sound like you, and it
opens up the world of how to relate to other people.
Other than just ourselves. You understand what I'm saying. Yeah,
(23:00):
So did you have to learn differently how to navigate
with different people? How did you learn how to do that?
Speaker 4 (23:08):
Well, the first thing I had to realize is that
I may be the only one of my kind and
that and I had a mentor to tell me that.
He said, you need to get used to the fact
that you may not handle one look like you and
so and he was right. I haven't had one to
(23:29):
look like me. And in the eras I was going in,
but I said, I wanted to have a voice, and
I wanted to be heard.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
And so.
Speaker 4 (23:40):
I accepted the fact that I'm a scientist and I'm
here to be heard and it's not about color, but
it's about making a difference and making a mark in
the science era. And that's what I set out to do.
And now people are starting to hear me, not because
I speak loud, but because my work and what my
(24:03):
passion is what is driving doors to open up that
could never been opened if I set back and did nothing.
Speaker 6 (24:10):
And suddenly, Yeah, So I suspect that doors are going
to begin to open for you in different areas, and
that you're going to be getting invitations to speak here
and to go there, and to do this, that and
the other.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
And as you stated early in the conversation, you don't
have to deal with the rejection and other disappointments because
God was building your character. And I believe that when
your character is built and being built, that opens doors
for us as well. Right, they say that whatever can
get you there, but it's your character that you know.
(24:50):
The BS word will get you places, but it's the
character that will keep you. I'm excited about your journey.
I'm excited about the young black girls, Hispanic, well whoever,
whatever the ethnicities are, that you can and will influence.
And I want to ask you this because I heard
such passion in your voice when you said it. Why
(25:14):
is it important that you have a voice? Did something
happen or not happen where you knew that having a
voice is important.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
So it was during the time that I was trying
to make a decision if I want to go back
and get my doctorate degree in science, and I had
a mentor, female Carucasian mentor. She's at just trying to
be one of my best mentors. She told me that
because I was debating on getting my doctor degree, and
(25:44):
she said that if you ever want to have a
voice in the science, you need to get this degree.
And so that's that was really the reason why I
decided to move forward and get the degree. And it's
funny how when you get the degree, you think, Okay,
I have a voice now, but no, not always. You know,
(26:09):
that doesn't really mean you have a voice. It's what
you do with that degree. It's how you the confidence
that builds in. And sometimes people hide behind that degree
thinking that that's what's going to give me the voice,
and it's really it's more to it than that. Yes,
having a passion, it's about knowing your purpose, that purpose
(26:31):
if you haven't knowing that purpose, and it took me
a long time to find out what that purpose was.
And by having that that pretty much has given me
the voice because now I know why I'm here. I'm
not here to get accolades because I got the degree
and I'm the doctor now. I'm here because I want
(26:53):
to make a difference in the science. I want that
science to be able to reach not just one class
one population, but all because we all need to be
a part of that. And so that's the voice that
I care in everything. They know my passion before they
know anything else.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
Oh my god, that's powerful. That's powerful. So tell us
your specialty again.
Speaker 4 (27:18):
So my specialty is working in cancer research. So I'm
a clinical scientist. I work on the clinical trial studies
for cancer patients, particularly breast cancer, and hopes of finding
a cure, not just a treatment of symptoms, but a
cure for the disease. So that is that's my motivation,
(27:40):
that's my passion, and that's what I'm going to keep
on going and doing.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
I love it. I love it, I love it. I
love it. I have a daughter who went through breast canting.
I've got a dear, dear friend who called me a
couple of weeks ago her daughter is going through We
all know what I won't say we all know, but
I know many people who know people and people who've
had breast cancer. And so that I love what you said.
(28:03):
You're looking for the cure and not just something to
treat the symptoms, because oftentimes, as you know, the thing
that treats the symptoms have side effects that I've heard
people say they wouldn't wish on their worst enemy, right,
and your voice, So this is what I believe is
important about fascinating about what you said about a voice.
(28:27):
We don't have to look. We wouldn't have to look
at James Earl Jones. We could be in another room
and hear him speak and recognize his voice.
Speaker 6 (28:36):
Right.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
There are voices that we recognize whether we see the
person or not. So it is my pope and my
prayer and my encouragement that your voice speaks volumes all
over the world because of the results of your research.
The other thing I know about God is that he
needs his people everywhere, right, He needs his people. It's
(28:57):
pulpe it's nothing right right. The lab is your pulpit.
Those children are your congregation, Your mentees are your congregation.
And I love the fact that that's where your passion lies,
and that's where your purpose is. And passion, by the way,
means like excruciating pain. When you're passionate about something, it
(29:19):
almost pains you not to be able to do it right.
And so we're excited for you, and I want to
know if you're available. I don't know what kind of
information or you can put up, but do you have
a website? Do you have a cause? Hint, hint? Do
you have a cause that you begun, or a mentor
(29:42):
program just for the scientists. Hint, hint, so that young
girls and parents of young girls can reach out to
you so that you can help them too in some
kind of way, even if it's one word of encouragement.
Speaker 4 (29:58):
You know, we don't have a sight of yet, but
I have had people reach out to me through LinkedIn
to my email even if contacted me my phone. But
that's something that I to be thinking about doing, having
a site for that.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
But yeah, I.
Speaker 4 (30:16):
Would love to mentor young girls and teenagers and college
students because that is my passion and I want them
all to be successful whenever they want to do. So.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
Yes, I'm going to be praying that God give you
a voice and a name to your cause so that
doors will open up, even for the young girls who
don't have a place and have never heard the voice,
never heard a voice that can support what they're feeling
in their hearts and their guts and in their bellies.
(30:50):
So be prepared. You know, when people pray God according
to his will and purpose, he begins to move. And
I tell people all the time that I don't have
to seek the hand of God if you seek his
face and you seek his heart, his hand will move reflectively, reflexively,
as if that rubber mallet to the knee. You touch
(31:14):
God's heart and his hand's gonna automatically move in your
favor and your direction. Yeah. So, and then I know
someone who can help you build a website. On the
website your logo, girl, I know God.
Speaker 4 (31:32):
I know that.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
Praise God. Praise God. So AUDREYE, we'll want to bring
you back on because I know she's chomping at the
bit back there. I already know this excites her. Right
to Audrey, what questions and thoughts came up in your
mind while Shanna doctor Ham and I were talking.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
First the first question is this is a funny one.
So when Shaney came on, I was like, hey, tell Mark,
I said, happen. Then it hit me like, what if
it's not the same pamn, you know, that was the
first question that came to my mind. I'm like, what
if it's not the same person. I'm telling her to
tell somebody, Hi, what if he's not Mark's white? It
was so crazy. I don't know what made me think
about that after the fact. So that was the first
(32:14):
thing that was the first thing came to my mind.
But the second thing came to my mind was the
fact visibility. When you said that, it hit me like
a ton of bricks because I'm.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
Just listening to your story. And when you said the
part about being a cashier of the doctor, I thought
that was hilarious. I'm over here cracking up. But there
are other young women out there who are looking for that,
right And I said myself, men, she got it. She
got to get visibility. And so when you look.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
At what we're doing right now, this is visibility, like
this is streaming the Doctor Doctor. Someone to emailed me
earlier today, Doctor Tanner's like, hey, can you send me
to ring the.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Link for the show? And I was like absolutely, So
I shared that link with soone for this show. So
when I.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
Think about that part, and yes, it could be a
lot of work sometimes, let me just let me just
start by saying that part. And I know a lot
of times people can't find the time, but I feel
like what you have is so important and the work
that you're doing is so important. People got to know
about it, especially people of color, because I constantly struggled.
My mom had breast cancer twice and the second time
(33:15):
resulted in her getting up the secondly on the left side.
But there are so many things that we just don't know.
And I got to tell you this is funny. It's
not funny, but it's funny. My husband works in pharmaceutical
We take.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
So many supplements.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
I have no idea if anything works because we take
so many because everybody wants to be healthy.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
And I keep saying, man, somebody needs to create an
act for that. And then and I decided I'm gonna
create act myself. But we just don't know what we
don't know. So we want to be healthy.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
And I think the fact that you're doing the work
and you're doing the study, I think people need to
know about that, like you need to document your journey
to share that, not just with the youth, but to
the people who want to know, what can I do
to not, you know.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
Get breast cancer? What should I be doing? So that
was the first thing came to my mind.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
And the visibility and the fact that here we are
in twenty twenty five and it's still so so hard
to be taken seriously, even when you're phenomenal.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
Yeah, yeah, even when you're phenomenal, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
So I remember some years ago, and I'm like you,
I like to be behind the scenes. That's why when
doctor Tenn said she's gonna do it alone, like great.
But I remember some years ago I was I had
written I had co opted a book with some friends
and Terry Williams, who was a publicist at the time.
I had written a book called The Personal Touch, and
I had read the book and I reached out to
(34:37):
her about helping us market the book and she said, well,
I don't know if you guys can afford me, which
we couldn't because at that time she was like Michael
Jackson's publicist and Janet and Eddie Murphy.
Speaker 3 (34:47):
We couldn't afford her.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
But she turned she introduced us to another publicist, and
when when we went to go have our meeting with
that publicist, she was like, you know, what are you
guys trying to do? So me trying to be in
the back. She's like, Weudrey, you can't be straddling the fence.
She's either gonna be on the inside on the outside picked.
But you got to pick a side. I have struggled
with that for years, Shannon. So you know, I feel
like you're doing great work and you have to create visibility.
Speaker 3 (35:10):
Now I know a man that you know, a man
that can help you do that.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Yeah, if it's the same man that I'm thinking about,
he help you do that because we need that. We
need people to see you. We need people to see
you and see what you're doing it. We need them
to be in the lab with you, to be behind
the scenes. And like you, I love science, like that
was my favorite subject in high school, math and science.
(35:34):
But nobody told me to go to school to be
a scientist or engineer, which I should have been. They
told me to go be an accountant. And then I
go there and plunk out like I hate this. Nobody
nobody told me that. So that's my those are my thoughts.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
I'm excited about this, I really really am. That's I said.
I have this feeling, Shannon, that doors are just getting
ready to fly open. So think about a name, pray
about a name for your call or for your mentor program.
And you know, I could be on the praying side.
And you know pro Web Firm and that is owned
(36:09):
by Mark Ham. Everybody, Thank you, I see you, Elder
Barbara Green. But it is important because it's almost like
when the disciples went and said to the man, the
Master has need of you. I hear now that the
Master has need of you. This is your time and
this is your season, and it's not about you. And
(36:30):
that's what's wonderful about your personality and about your passion
because you know it's not. But you have that voice,
and every voice there's a place for it, and God
has given you that voice for a purpose. So you
know this is just the beginning. Think about and pray
about a name and a program for your mentorship. I
(36:52):
see you chumping at the bit orgy. What's up, doctor ten?
Speaker 2 (36:55):
You said something so important, and I think this happens
to a lot of people. You say, is not about
out you, And I think for a lot of amazing
people and brilliant people, they don't show up because they
don't want people.
Speaker 3 (37:06):
To think it's about them. That was me for a
long time. But let me tell you what that is.
That's that's that's that's arrogance. That's how the Lord administered
to me. That that's arrogance. And I kept saying, no,
I don't I don't want to do that, and it's selfish.
I don't want to do this in this because I
want to be in the background, I kept hearing myself
(37:26):
say I, and God made me realize how many selfs
I said I, And it made me realize I was
making it about me. Does that make sense? Yes?
Speaker 4 (37:37):
It does.
Speaker 3 (37:38):
So do you have any thoughts. I'm going to share
a little something before we end, But do you have
any thoughts or anything that you want to share or
talk about that I didn't ask or that Audrey didn't
bring up.
Speaker 4 (37:53):
No, I think you guys brought up everything. Like I said,
I I want to tell my story because I think
it is going to help other young kids, other young
girls see that they're not along in that the testimony
of I have a cousin that he was just like me,
(38:15):
trying to get in and get her doctorate degree, and
I struggled just trying to get into graduate school. I said,
I went to a lot of rejections, and she started
going to the same thing. But I'd already had gotten
my degree before her, and I kept telling her, you
got to keep going, you know. She would say, but
I keep getting rejected. And I said, well, come back
(38:36):
to me when you've got rejected for the eighth time.
Speaker 3 (38:39):
Yeah, I.
Speaker 4 (38:42):
Said so. When she was in I said, but you
don't give up.
Speaker 3 (38:46):
You keep going.
Speaker 4 (38:48):
And I'm I'm so happy and honored to say that
come June, she'll be walking down the aisle getting her doctor.
Speaker 3 (38:54):
Had give up.
Speaker 4 (38:57):
Also, you know, we all have stories to tell. We're
all going to go through our own journeys. We're all
going to go through rejections, humiliation, embarrassment. You're gonna feel
like you're embarrassing hum But the thing is what I
keep telling myself now. But God was trying to get
something to me. And so when I look back on
(39:18):
the lessons I've learned even with all of this, I
thank Him for it because I couldn't be where I
am now if it wasn't for God taking me through
and what I have to go through. So I don't
take nothing for my journey. If I had to all
over again, I'll do it again. Beautiful again.
Speaker 3 (39:34):
Wow, listen to somebody who's experiencing rejection. That's how Ruth
ended up with Boas. Let me just help somebody right there.
That's how Ruth y'all want a Boas. She had to
be rejected first. I hope y'all understand that. And she
also had a Naomi, who was a mentor to her
was her mother in law. So catch something in this
(39:55):
show today, Roy, get you a Naomi, and don't worry
about the rejections because God, God has something greater and
we're wonderful for you. And I'm excited too that on
the next podcast we have a black female engineer and
person in the C suite in business and so and
(40:16):
then we'll have a tech after that, we've got a
tech savvy person. I mean she's she's a beast and
she can build as she shares. And that is the
Audrey Belkenny. So stick with us. You all there are there.
We're here for a purpose on this podcast. I'm not
here just because I wanted to start a podcast, but
this is faith based and we've got to encourage one
(40:38):
another and let people know that God has something for
you to do and there's a place for you. I
don't care if you as they call it, slay hair
and you want to come on this show and you
want to talk about something that where we can hear
from God and hear your journey and it will help
somebody reach out to us. And speaking of which, we
(41:00):
have a class coming up reaching out to us. Speaking
of that coming up, and it's called Spiritual Truths to
understa Biblical Truths of Spiritual Warfare, and this class. I've
taught this class for over nine years, and so I
want you to go to our website and register for
that class. And this is why I'm saying that I've
(41:22):
seen t shirts, placards, desk thing of my Jiggi's on
people's walls and saying be patient with me. God is
not finished with me yet. But then I heard this
in my gut too. The devil is patient and he's
not through with you yet either. He's still trying to kill,
still destroy families purposes, right if he could keep you
(41:43):
feeling rejected. So, as Shannon was saying, doctor Anne was saying,
I kept going, she encouraged her cousin keep going. You
have to know how to fight, and when you get weary,
you have to have someone who will fight for you,
and they can tell you you go sit in the
corner you rest right now. I'll fight for you right
whichever way that is. So I want to thank doctor
(42:05):
Shanner for coming on. And I will call you doctor
Ham and doctor Shanner because it is who you are.
And I hope that some of you are listening. And
know someone who could use the encouragement that's in her.
You can reach out to me in the meantime until
she gets her her website and her calls up right
(42:27):
and her podcast right produced by Audrey Bell Canny. But
so I want to thank you again, and I just
want to say thank you, and Audrey, you can just
take us out now, please.
Speaker 2 (42:39):
All right, listen if you enjoy them. Doctor Chen has
a series of great people coming down the pike. And
this is so important because right now we're living in
some strange times, right, biblical times, but strange times for
a lot of us because some of us don't read
the Bible like that, so they're very strange.
Speaker 4 (42:54):
So let me just say that part.
Speaker 2 (42:56):
So that's why this is important, because you need to
know what you need to know. You need to know
how to understand texting me to unknowing, to understand biology.
You need to know how to grow your food. My listen,
my husband have planted us a garden, don't. I don't
like dirt under my fingernails at all.
Speaker 3 (43:11):
But here's the thing.
Speaker 2 (43:12):
We don't know what's gonna happen, so we need to
have some food growing. So he Doug got a big
old patch and we got a little garden back there.
So you need to know all of these things, and
I'm constantly learning. So I'm so grateful the doctor Chen
has decided to do. She does great, she does a
great show every two weeks, right, but when she starts
speaking my real language, I get excited.
Speaker 3 (43:30):
And this is my real language.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
So thank you, thank you doctor Hand for being here.
I didn't even know you were a doctor. Your husband
is just as humble as you are. He never said that.
He said you did real estate. That's all I knew.
So I'm so glad that you got on hand shared
this because people need to see you, They need to
hear your message, they need your voice, So thank you
for doing that.
Speaker 3 (43:49):
We gotta go.
Speaker 2 (43:50):
If you like this episode, be sure to subscribe to
the channel and shared with two friends. It's free, doesn't
cost You're done, shared with two.
Speaker 3 (43:57):
Friends, all right.
Speaker 2 (43:58):
We'll be back in two weeks, same place, same time,
so put it on your calendar so you never miss
an episode. And if you want to support the show,
go to Lindtenmanistries dot com, Lindatenministries dot com, Lindedtenministries dot com.
We'll be back in two weeks, so you guys stay
safe out then until next time, My friends, until next time,
make it a great day.
Speaker 3 (44:16):
Bye everybody, By bye Biggs.
Speaker 1 (44:23):
You've been listening to Keeping It Real with Doctor Linda Chin.
If you enjoyed this episode, hit the like button in
share it with a friend. Be sure to support the
show by going to Lindachinministries dot com. Subscribe to the
show so you never missed an episode, and tune in
again in two weeks at two pm Eastern Sanatime. Until
next time, keep the faith and keep it Real.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.