~in navigating loss and overcoming social constructs

A dental surgeon, biologist, content creator and entrepreneur, Dr. Cindy M. Streete has tackled seemingly every challenge life has thrown at her.
Facing social constructs, navigating loss and building a business, the 26-year-old, in a recent interview with this special edition of the Guyana Chronicle, shared that her journey to success is merely now beginning.

Taking life by the wheels, Dr. Streete has worked tirelessly to achieve her girlhood dreams of being in the medical profession and with the support of her family, particularly an older brother, she pursued studies in biology and, later, dentistry.
“The reason why I chose dentistry in particular has a lot to do with me being a woman.”

Her goal was to shatter the proverbial glass ceiling and etch her name into the history books as a woman of science and medicine.
After commencing her studies in biology at the University of Guyana, she quickly discovered how gruelling the medical profession is.

“People were busy and tired, and away from their family a lot. People were on call, people had to wake up in the middle of the night and go somewhere. I thought that was really scary. I thought it was something that I didn’t want to do, especially as a woman. I do want to have a thriving home life, I wanted to have a husband and children one day, but I also wanted to be a career woman, and I didn’t want my career to take away from that.”

Caught between her desire to work in medicine, and the joys of womanhood, Dr. Streete had begun questioning her dreams.
“I met up with an obstacle, which was, how do I merged my womanhood and the things that I want for myself as a woman with wanting a big career, and I had a decision to make. Do I still want to be a doctor? Yes. But I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to be doing what these other people were doing… I started exploring other fields within the medical sciences, and I stumbled upon dentistry,” she said.

While doubts lingered, Dr. Skeete suffered the unimaginable, one of her biggest supporters, her brother, passed away. It was melancholic period in her life as she tried to navigate the prospects of her career and while grieving.

It was during this period she found hope in creating content on social media that lifted her spirits, and brought her back to a place where she continued to pursue her career while also embarking on a new journey to inspire others.

“There was a big part of me that didn’t want to do anything… I was young and scared, and I felt really trapped in all of this pain and mourning and frustration. But at the same time, I still wanted things for myself, and I knew [my brother] wanted those things for me too; and the only way to honour him would be to push through.”

While taking her career to newer heights, Dr. Skeete recently launched her business ‘Unorthobox’ through which she provides unique and customized care kits.
She also inspires and motivates her customers by leaving notes with kind words.

These products include rare lip glosses/lip balms, unique jewellery, hair care items, eco-friendly bags, and a list of other unique finds. Unorthobox can be found on Instagram: @unorthoboxgy.

“Where you start your journey is by discovering you. Taking the time to understand who you are. What is it that you love, and how can you make it into a career,” she said while sharing plans to advocate for women on her platforms.
To see more content from Dr. Streete, persons can follow her on Instagram @the_hungry_toothfairy and @thetoothfairygy, and on TikTok @thehungrytoothfairy.