Today we’d like to introduce you to Seba Raquel Suber.
Seba, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in Fort Worth and Arlington Texas with a mother who worked two jobs and an entrepreneurial grandmother who was in the Nation of Islam during the Civil Rights era. She spoke heavily about black empowerment, entrepreneurship, and what she believed was best for the black community. I moved to Houston at 17 to attend the University of Houston and graduated with a BBA in Management Information Systems and minor in African Studies. My career began at NASA- JSC as a budget analyst where I began learning about financial systems, budgeting, and finance in the government sector. In my mid 20’s I eventually moved to Harlem, NY to explore life and find peace after dealing with years of trauma from a long-term relationship. I was also not satisfied with staying in one place with one “good job”. This was different from my upbringing because I had always been conditioned to be content in a “stable” position and be able to pay bills and take care of yourself and family. I knew that was not me at an early age and wanted to more especially arts and culture. I began working at AFS-USA as the Director of Financial Reporting and Analysis and Natural Resources Defense Council all while pursuing my creative side by selling jewelry in SOHO.
I started my first business called The Mustard Seed Collection as a way to connect with my creativity and for healing. While in NYC I was in a really quiet and reflective headspace and I began to connect with my passion for African American Studies which eventually led to me being in graduate school at Columbia University’s Institute for Research in African American Studies. Living in Harlem and its rich history and attending a church that was heavy in black politics was a huge catalyst for transformation. While in the IRAAS program I interned at the Schomburg Center for Black Culture and Research and the Urban Bush Women Dance Company and was in the program to explore black cultural expression. I eventually left the program and NYC because I was diagnosed with Epilepsy after my first year of graduate studies and could no longer live alone at 31 years old. I moved back to Houston and married my husband Anthony Suber who is an artist and educator.
While in NYC, I began researching Black arts and cultural institutions to try and merge my business with my passion for arts and culture. Later in my career ended up working for the Houston Museum of African American Culture and Project Row Houses in management roles while continuing to grow my consulting experience. Eventually I established S. Suber Consulting Group, LLC because after 15 years of experience working in the non-profit sector and seeing the challenges, I realized the lack of capacity non-profits were facing due to a lack of resources (staff, money, capacity building, access to capital etc.) which causes an inability to plan for future sustainable growth. I began consulting with organizations on financial planning, strategic planning, operations, as well as arts and culture consulting. SSuber Consulting has now grown to address ways organizations can begin to dismantle systemic racism through internal organization reviews and policy changes. It is time for organizations to reimagine their core values, systemic change, and how they want to interact and engage with the community.
I eventually decided to leave my previous CFO position and consulting after an appointment as CEO of the Houston Museum of African American Culture in February 2020 which was unfortunately short lived due to the pandemic and philosphies during uncertain times. I have since renewed my track with S.Suber Consulting Group, and recently moved to the CAMH (Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston) as the Director of Finance and Strategic Resources guided by a specific mandate to ensure CAMH’s resources are aligned to our mission and strategic goals of directly supporting artists and promoting equity.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Being disabled with epilepsy has been a huge challenge in my career along with having two young daughters, Channing – nine and Ellington Rose – five. Stress and lack of sleep increase my chances of seizures and the medication keeps me in a fatigued state, but somehow I have been blessed to push through. I am not supposed to work at all in my condition, but I refuse to be defeated and believe heavily in fulfilling my God inspired purpose in life.
In 2015, my seizures had gotten to a place where I was considering brain surgery to address my condition. My husband and I decided that it was not best to take that kind of risk because my daughter Ellington was not even a year old at the time. I am still working with a neurologist on finding ways to mitigate my condition and manage it because medication alone does not work. I have always believed in a holistic approach, so I take every opportunity possible to learn about different approaches to successfully living with my condition.
Because of the type of work which requires long hours and the stress of entrepreneurship and full-time work, I have to practice mindfulness and have learned how to incorporate self-care and meditation. Learning this balance due to health reasons has been my biggest challenge. I a stubborn, passionate risk taker, which doesn’t help my stress levels and self-care routine.
S. Suber Consulting Group – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
www. ssuberconsulting.com I started S. Suber Consulting Group, LLC after more than 15 years of experience working in the non-profit sector and seeing the challenges. We realized the lack of capacity that small businesses, especially non-profits, were facing which causes an inability to plan which has become my professional strong suit and something I pride myself on in the consulting firm. What sets us apart is that I know both sides of “the house” meaning the business and the creative spaces that both must exist.
Because arts and culture are so integral to all sectors of society we have grown to specialize in the creativity, black culture and arts, and programming aspects of black owned-organizations. We also pride myself on asking the hard questions that most organizations do not want to face but are needed to survive and be successful to create a viable succession plan. Many black businesses have to continue to recreate the wheel partly due to systemic racism which affects our overall capacity to sustain and continue to be a firm footing in the economic landscape and ecology of black communities to create jobs and long-term wealth.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite memory from childhood was not one at the what spme may call a positive one, but when I reflect now at 41 years old, it is the one that stays in my brain the most. At 10 or 11, I somehow convinced my family to go to a Christian church because I was jealous of the kids that went to vacation bible school. We began attending a very Southern, traditional church and at times the minister would speak against other religions which made me upset. When they would pass the collection plate, I would write notes to the minister about not judging other religions and people’s life choices. I eventually got called into a conference with the minister and deacons which scared me to death. My family was in shock but also found my bravery humorous for being so willing to address a group of older clergy men about something I thought was unjust at such a young age. My family and I still laugh at this memory.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ssuberconsulting.com
- Phone: 8324999055
- Email: info@ssuberconsulting.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/s.suber_consulting/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Suberconsulting/
Image Credit:
Brian Ellison, Anthony Suber
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