Bison Trailblazers | Roxborough Mih Seh

by Anna De Cheke Qualls

As a triple Howard alum, Dr. Monique Caruth’s journey to starting Caruth Staffing Agency in 2016 was a marathon effort. Her epiphany came from playing and watching sports both here in the United States and her home country of Tobago.  

“It made me more aware and fascinated by the human body and its capabilities - how it recovers, heals and how to improve performance, leading me to study exercise science and kinesiology,” says Caruth, who hails from the village of Roxborough on the Eastern end of Tobago.

Sports is a part of Trinidad and Tobago’s identity. A country of roughly 1.5 million, it has 19 Olympic medals, and competes in cricket, soccer track and field, and rugby on a world class level. Caruth grew up surrounded by athletes – her father, godfather, cousins and sisters – so when it was time to pick something she went all out, soccer, cricket, field hockey, and rugby.

“Although I played competitively, sports in Tobago was how we bonded as a community. It's a big part of our culture, and still is for me,” remarks Caruth. “Growing up every day after school my cousins and I along with other village kids would play in the family yard or in the street or on the beach. We would pick our teams, usually the best players were picked first. It was also a way for adults to spot talent early so they organized mini sporting events to observe how fast we ran, how high we jumped etc. We got prizes whether it was snacks, books for school, toys, stuff that families needed.”

People noticed early on that Caruth had focus, discipline and talent.  She ended up training under the National Men’s Soccer Coach Bertille St. Clair for soccer – and ended up in the U.S. on a sports scholarship.

“My mom didn't want me playing soccer. She didn't believe it was a game for women, and she tried very hard to discourage anything that would make me comfortable being gay. Our society judged harshly anyone and their parents who dared to be open. She was okay with cricket, field hockey, track and field but in soccer the stereotype is that only gay girls played it,” recalls Caruth.

While soccer was her ride to the studying in the States, it was actually cricket that inspired Caruth’s interest in physiology. When she was getting ready to graduate from high school, she had to look outside the Caribbean for the degree and ended up at Campbell University.

“I chose a PWI that offered me a full ride but guess it was written in the stars that Howard was where I needed to be. I transferred to Howard on a full ride in 2001 and never looked back. At Howard, I felt at home, like I belonged. Being here showed me the value of my existence, reinvigorated my purpose, taught me to be creative and resourceful and formed lifetime friendships,” says Caruth.

From here, she pursued her Master’s and doctoral degrees in Physical Therapy at Howard, while working full-time. She hoped to gain knowledge in applied research,  evidence-based approaches to treatment and to improve her analytical skills.

Within four years of the DPT, she started her own business. Like building a sports team, Caruth went about building a community – a network and relationships. She had academic credentials but business was new to her - profit and loss statements, key performance indicators, and metrics. She self-taught, sought mentors, asked a lot of questions, and observed.

“I also worked long days, sometimes seven days a week to save so I didn't have to borrow money. I started small with very little overhead expenses. Overhead expenses even to this day, remain lean. So do not get scared about starting up. Even Apple, Microsoft and Amazon started in garages. Connections are definitely important and valuable so be very genuine when seeking them out and maintaining them. Do not be transactional. Help people, that's how you show value. Zig Ziglar said, you get what you want when you help enough people to get what they want. In any service industry, your value is determined by how many people you can help,” advises Caruth.

And it wasn’t always easy. Caruth had to be adaptable and flexible to survive and thrive. As a Black-owned small business and Black professional, she had to constantly prove herself even with a doctoral degree. She came to accept those moments as an opportunity to educate.

“My mindset has definitely evolved over the years. I had to become less egocentric, be able to get past the self-doubt, fear of inadequacy and execute my SMART plans. Jeremiah 29:11 I trusted and hoped in, believing that this was God's plan for me. I learned I had very little patience and it was something I definitely had to work on improving to relate with my peers and colleagues and millenials and Gen Z as staff. I also discovered and surprised myself at times at how resilient and tenacious I was,” recalls Caruth, whose business thrived during COVID, because it adapted to the circumstances.

Coming back full circle, Caruth recognizes that her athletic mindset has been invaluable. She approaches her work and professional life with the same competitive spirit and disciple as soccer or cricket.

“Learning how to deal with a loss, problem solving with your team, scouting and studying competitor's strategies and plays. Stepping up at any given moment. Training day after day to be consistent, structured and disciplined - all that I learned playing sports,” remarks Caruth.

In a little over eight years, Caruth Staffing has grown from a one-person team to 28 clinicians including physical therapists and physical therapy assistants, occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants, a speech therapist and a medical social worker. The business has contracts to staff 15 home health and residential agencies in Maryland and since its inception has seen over 3500 patients.

So the venue may have changed – from the streets of Roxborough to the market place  – Caruth continues to draw on her Tobagonian identity. With thoughts of political leadership in her future, she is one of Roxborough’s many successes.  

“To this day, a young man I grew up with carries on the [sports] tradition by hosting village sports. We take huge pride in our village because it has produced national athletes, scholars and leaders. Which one of the reasons for the famous slogan "Roxborough mih she.” It’s a local slang basically boasting about my home village similar to ‘I’m him or I’m her,’” says Caruth.