An Interview with Senator Donna Frett-Gregory- A True Public Servant: Part I
Here at Extra Is My Ordinary, we embrace any opportunity to celebrate the areas about ourselves that make us EXTRAordinary! June is Caribbean American Heritage month, and as a proud Virgin Islander living on the mainland, I’m excited to highlight an EXTRAordinary member of my “Home community”. You’re gonna want to take notes to capture all the gems in this two-part interview with sitting Senator Donna Frett-Gregory.
“Hello...hello...can you hear me?”
I had waited quite some time for the opportunity to speak with and interview U.S Virgin Islands Senator, Donna- Frett Gregory and it would’ve been really disappointing if the connection failed once our schedules finally synched.
“Yes, I can hear you.”
With two persistent individuals on the line, we waited until the line was uninterrupted from a choppy phone signal. After all, it’s not everyday that I have the esteemed opportunity to speak with a leader of the community that played such a significant role in molding me into the person I am. As a politician's daughter, I understand what it means to be a true public servant and I have immense respect for individuals who choose to live a life of service as well as for the profession. I had learned of Senator Frett-Gregory while following along with local, Virgin Islands elections back in 2018 when she was a first-time candidate in St. Thomas, running for a seat in the Senate. From her bio, campaign, and many speeches I could tell that she was EXTRAordinary!
Immediately, I began the interview by seeking to learn who she is outside of the senate chambers.
EIMO: As a parent, I know how much effort goes into raising one child. Please share with us how were you able to raise four successful children?
DFG: I would never take all of the credit for the success of my children because I believe that I’ve been very fortunate to have what we call a village. That village was within my family; my mother, in laws, children’s dad. They really supported me and my kids/children. Although you have support for your children, you still have to embed certain qualities in them, so I always push my children. Have you ever heard of the Moxy Attitude? You have to have Moxie. I taught my children to always strive for the best, never give up. I always say to young people, and I say it to my kids that they could be anything they want to be. So, I invested a lot in my children. Sometimes when I reflect back I’m like, wow! I invested a lot of money in my children. I provided them with a lot of experience and I also held them accountable. I made sure that if they made commitments that whatever they committed to do, they followed through and got it done. It’s important for me to show gratitude and I always made sure that my children showed gratitude. Sometimes somebody would do something for them nicely and I would say, to my daughter in particular, “send them a nice card and say thank you” because at the end of the day that’s what really develops a person; the way you treat others. I invested a lot of time and resources. Of course, you can invest a lot of time and resources but you also have to make sure your children have values. I really worked hard to make sure that my children knew what good values were. You can train your children whatever way you want and it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are going to follow. But, what I will say is with raising children, you have to instill a little bit of fear in them. They have to know what respect is. They have to respect that parent and those around them. I never really allowed my children to disrespect others. Sometimes your children may find themselves in a situation in school with a teacher, and depending on what they say, the teacher may have been wrong but I would never show that in front of my kids to the teacher. I would have that conversation on the side and say, “well I really didn’t appreciate…”, but I never let my children feel like it was okay to disrespect teachers or anybody that they had interactions with. I made sure that in the Summer time they were involved in a lot of activities. I kept them very, very much engaged. I remember sometimes when there was that break between the end of Summer camp, but before school started back, I would make sure to purchase workbooks and give them assignments to work on at home. So, although it was Summer, we continued our educational work. We did not lay off of education because it was Summer. I made sure that my children had a good time, but I made sure that they remained engaged from an academic perspective without burning them out. It’s a balance.
EIMO: I’m not surprised that you mention balance. Creating a balanced life is a critical component to success. What is your formula for a balanced life?
DFG: You know, I’m gonna be very honest with you. I didn’t necessarily have a formula for a balanced life until I started my fifties. When I say that, I mean, i’m a hard worker, so I worked a lot and I made sure that I took care of my children as well. I can’t honestly sit here and say to you that while I was raising my kids, my life was a balanced life. What my life was though is that I gave my all to everything that I did, but I made sure that I always took care of me. So, I did take care of me in the sense that I spent time with my friends, I did a lot of volunteering (I’m a member of AKA, I’m an Alpha Kappa Alpha woman), I also read a lot, and I’m also very outgoing. Sometimes my mom would say to me, “You have these young kids and you don't’ miss anything. How do you do it?” (laugh) I stayed engaged with my community, with my friends, and I traveled a lot. I basically did what I wanted to do. Although sometimes it seems very selfish when I was raising my kids even though I did a lot for them, I still did me. I did me! Now that I am in my fifties, my balance is a lot better. I exercise, read, and still travel a lot; I live! I was guilty of bringing my work home and I separated myself from that. I don’t bring my work-life home like I used to before. Serving as a Senator it’s very hard to do, so what I started to do is that I set aside time to do my research and make sure to do my work, so I can live. I don’t find myself being very unbalanced and completely stressed out. Because, I tell you, you can find yourself really getting caught up in the stressors of life because you always have to be going. But, I have really worked on and made a conscious decision to balance my work and personal life. This is something that I think about and I make an effort to separate these areas. Sometimes you feel like you’re all things to all people, but you have to recognize that you’re not. That’s something that you recognize that you can’t be all things to all people. But, what you can be is a person who gives as much as you can of yourself with limitations and barriers.
EIMO: Tell me a little about how you define success for yourself?
DFG: Giving of myself is how I define success. Sometimes it’s easy to look at success by degrees and having nice jobs, but I define success based on how I’ve given of myself and how I’ve raised my children.
A true public servant and woman who knows who she is! The first part of our conversation highlights that Sen. Frett-Gregory exemplifies what it means to live a life of high integrity, which yields EXTRAordinary results.
Senator Donna Frett-Gregory is a proud graduate of the Charlotte Amalie High School Class of 1983. She has served in various capacities, to include senior management in public finance and administration in the Government of the Virgin islands for well over 30 years. She has served as Chief Financial Officer for the Virgin Islands Port Authority, Commissioner of the Department of Education, Assistant Commissioner of the Department of Education and Director of Operations in the Virgin Islands Department of Justice. She holds a Master of Business Administration from Western Governors University, Master of Arts in Public Administration from the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Morgan State University. A dedicated public servant, Senator Frett-Gregory is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. Sigma Theta Omega Chapter, where she served as President. She has been recognized for her dedication to education and to her community, receiving several awards, to include the Department of Education Commissioner’s Outstanding Leadership Award and the SPARKS Youth Group Flames of Inspiration Award. Senator Frett-Gregory is a mother of four, and a grandmother of two beautiful grandbabies whom she credits as being one of her reasons for her political service.