✊🏾 Women's HERstory Month with Patricia Jaggernauth ✊🏾
If CP24 is a news source for you, then you will recognize this EMMY® Award Winning vivacious TV Host, Patricia Jaggernauth aka Patricia J!
Her story made national headlines when she decided to walk away from Bell Media. It takes incredible courage to close a chapter on something you love when you feel your value is being taken advantage of. It is for this very reason, we decided to stand behind Patricia J by highlight her for Women's HERstory Month ✊🏾
✊🏾 PATRICIA J INTERVIEW ✊🏾
CBS: How did you know media was the path for you / what pulled you into this direction?
PATRICIA: "I always had a knack for performance. Music, acting, modelling. STORYTELLING. COMMUNITY! I realized as I stood upon the stage at the Miss Guyana Canada Pageant and answered my TOP 3 questions. I knew right then, as I looked into the crowd, seeing those I didn’t know cheering me on, those who were younger than me listening to my every word, those who were already trail blazers standing and applauding. I knew right then I was being shown my purpose. My destiny. To be before the community to share, enlighten, inspire, empower! THIS was when I realized I was on my path to greatness and found my true purpose and love for public speaking!"
CBS: When did you realize that Bell wasn't giving you the opportunities that you felt you deserved? What were the signs? How can others identify that they are being sidetracked?
PATRICIA: "I realized early in my career at Bell Media… ask ask ask, never get. Then thrown a bread crumb to sort of shut me up, then back to the hole filling. It was so heartbreaking. Many of my friends and family members knew what I was truly feeling, but I had to remain a professional. I was brought onto this earth as a fighter. Fighting for it all. A survivor. I held on because I had it in me, but so many wouldn’t…many just couldn’t. I doubted myself. I was depressed. Cried so much, but you’d never know it. Not because I was being inauthentic, but because I knew what I had to do to make it through another day.
My survival instincts always kicked in, but it was so hard…knowing everyone but those with the power were uplifting you. Those with power talk the talk, but never EVER bet on me. When others identify these signs and realize this is happening, you gotta nip it in the bud. Ask those hard questions, respectfully and make them tell you why. They’ll gaslight you, make it as if YOU are why YOU aren’t progressing when in reality they already have their plan for you. It remains up to you: stick around and live out their plan for you OR walk away and towards your divine plan and path set out for you, via destiny and divinity!"
CBS: Do you wish you walked away sooner?
PATRICIA: “I held on…held on to hope that my many MANY meetings with management, executives and leaders would amount to growth. Walking away was NEVER something I EVER wanted. I’m a graduate of Journalism. I’m a proud storyteller. I’m an EMMY Award Winner. I am grateful for all of my blessings, but after a while, when you watch so many walk in and walk past you, enough becomes enough. When you’re told that you’re the very fabric of the brand, ‘You are the P in CP24’, when future faking is used to keep you as a filler, you wake up and you walk away from what no longer serves you. Walking towards your greatest unknown blessings to come.”
CBS: Was there / is there a silver lining that you can take away from this experience?
PATRICIA: “The silver lining concept can also lead you to hold on to nothing. Remaining hopeful, then all of a sudden, 12 years has passed you by. BUT, I will say the silver lining in my time at CP24 was definitely the community I built and still have. My tribe. My PJ HIVE! As well, regardless of being a 12 year freelancer at CP24/Bell Media, filling in and working all sorts of days and hours, I ALWAYS made the most of it. I ALWAYS pushed for more, ALWAYS asked to do what I was more than capable of doing, pitching, sharing and showing up because regardless of the false hope, gaslighting and future faking, I got myself into that newsroom and I shaped a way for ME and those to come. Yes, my way in that environment may be different, unconventional and non traditional. I have a soul that shines and an energy that is meant to be shared, to turn frowns right side up, to bring sunshine to a gloomy day. No one, no matter if they like me or not, can EVER change that. EVER!”
CBS: What is your biggest piece of advice from this experience?
PATRICIA: “I knew my time long expired at CP24, but you hold on when it’s a part of your dream. My biggest piece of advice from this experience is to have conversations. Talk to your colleagues. Ask questions. Challenge the corporation and don’t be afraid to ruffle a few feathers. Everyone may not like you, but those who are meant for you will always find you. That goes for opportunities as well. Breaking through the negative talk and thoughts have turned into an outpouring of love, support and opportunities I would have and could have never accepted, enjoyed or embraced if I remained handcuffed. Know when the chapter has closed and bet on yourself. BREAK FREE!”
CBS: How can our community show up for you / support you at this time?
PATRICIA: “Community is such an important part of who we are! Big or small, the community will show up when you build that love, that trust! In this time, I ask to not make up false narratives, don’t pass judgement and do understand that my journey has its challenges, but that I am not a product of the circumstances created by that place and that I always made the most of it. If you don’t know, ASK. Assumptions are not cute. Like the old saying goes: ‘to assume is to make an @$$ out of you and me.’ Simply ask and be kind.”
CBS: How has this experience made you pivot / how has this experience made you stronger?
PATRICIA: “What I was always afraid of was walking away from what I thought was my top dream. Holding on to what I believed would always grow into more, especially as managers told me those very words and shared those false promises. This experience has truly UNBLOCKED MY BLESSINGS. What has positively poured into my life would have been continuously pushed back if I kept on at CP24. As I mentioned, the final straw was being told I had to ask permission, as a freelancer, to partake in other opportunities and other gigs outside of the corporation, in exchange for… nothing but control. Not being granted a promotion, an extra day a week, a raise, nothing. I will never ever again allow anyone to scare, bully or threaten me into saying no to my blessings. Not happening. Not ever again.”
CBS: What can we expect from you / what is coming down the pipeline in 2023?
PATRICIA: “2023 has already been so blessed. Your girl is booked and busy! Expect even more growth, BIGGER opportunities, the release of my TED Talk, international recognition, TV gigs in the US and European markets, collaborations with many empowering and supportive brands and corporations and VICTORY! Ultimate victory!!”
