Dr. Stephanie Fletcher-Lartey is a Public Health Epidemiologist, transformation coach, speaker, author, and Marketplace Minister. Originally moving to Sydney, Australia on a University of Technology Sydney (UTS) scholarship to earn her PhD, she brings over 25 years of extensive public health experience across research, bio-preparedness, and frontline infectious disease management.

Operating at the intersection of faith, professional excellence, and leadership development, Dr. Stephanie serves as the Convenor of the Waymaker ALLIANCE and leads initiatives focused on breaking the sacred-secular divide. As a career reignite strategist, she equips Kingdom-minded professionals to leverage their secular expertise, align their work with divine purpose, and operate as authentic overcomers in business and culture.

Driven by an unwavering dedication to integrity and purpose, Dr. Stephanie's work empowers leaders to shift from passive execution to active Kingdom impact. Her multi-faceted journey spanning high-level health intelligence, community capacity building, and ministry leadership positions her as a compelling voice for building lasting legacy, advancing truth in the public square, and catalyzing transformation across global marketplace spheres.

Links

• stephaniemahaliafletcher.com
• Marketplace Missions Movement | Transform Your Workplace Into Your Mission Field
• My Career, My Calling - YouTube
• Amazon.com.au: Dr. Stephanie Fletcher - Lartey: books, biography, latest update

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Praise God for you, Dr. Stephanie Fletcher-Larty.

It's a great pleasure to connect with you.

What part of the world are you in today?

Today I'm speaking to you from Sydney, Australia.

I am originally from Jamaica.

I'm from the northern section of Jamaica.

Very cool.

So tell me, how did you come to meet Jesus?

I met Jesus when I was a little girl growing up in Jamaica in the northern rural areas.

I grew up in the church and I remember when I was about 10 years old, I had this consciousness that I wanted Jesus in my life.

So I asked my parents permission if I could get baptized and they said yes.

So I got baptized when I was, I think just before I turned 11 years old and I've been working with Jesus since then.

Hmm, that's amazing.

What do you think is part of the contribution of that level of awareness at that young of an age?

I think the main thing was I grew up in a very godly family.

I was very much planted in the church.

We always went to church with our parents who were very active and I think I had this strong love for being in the house of the Lord with my family and among the other brethren.

But the word of God was taught in a way that was accessible to me as a child.

So we had really good Sunday school as well and I was a very ardent student.

So I believe I learned, I learned to have an appreciation for the gospel from very early in life.

And I think I was an intelligent child.

So I realized that the message that they were preaching was not just for adults, that it was, it was for me as well.

So yeah, I fell in love with Jesus quite early.

Do you see a connection to that habitat, that environment, the power of influence in that setting to what you do today?

Absolutely.

I believe that when it comes to influence, you learn that from the environment that you grew up in.

Just like our child learns how to walk a certain way or speak with a certain accent from people around them.

I believe my faith practice was also influenced because I was in an environment of faith.

So growing up as a child, I saw other people practicing their faith.

I saw the joy, I saw miracles, signs and wonders.

And I believe those things pulled me, pulled me to a recognition and understanding that what my little mind was able to understand at the time was that having a relationship with Jesus was something to be desired.

So I really wanted that for myself.

Growing up and working through my professional life, I've always felt a sense of responsibility to share that with other people.

So throughout even my professional life, I've always taken opportunities to share the gospel.

But later on, especially now in my adult life, I've realized that that passion that I had from that tender age has carried me through even up until now.

So I believe the seed was sown from very early and what, you know, the forest that I'm helping to grow now is as a result of that very early seed.

I love that.

I love the imagery and how you created that.

So chunk me up into time blocks.

So we have the one to 10, which is the young girl going to church, and then give me other time lapses that when you look back are very potent.

After that age, I went to high school.

I was really very active in my teens in the church as well.

I'm a singer, so I was singing from very early and had many opportunities to, you know, get on stage with some of the big artists back then as their little opener with my small group that I used to sing with.

And after high school, I got a scholarship from the government to go to study as a public health inspector.

And I went to the Western School of Public Health to train as a public health inspector.

And I served my country for 14 and a half years after my graduation.

Throughout my professional life, I was basically located in the Northeast region for my entire professional life in Jamaica.

So most of the time was spent in St. Mary from internship.

Then got promoted and went to the St. Anne for a short stint, and then got promoted to the regional level.

And my office was based in Ocho Rios.

So through that period, I worked as a public health inspector and became regional environmental health officer.

And my work was very much focused on building the tourism product to be a healthy one for Jamaica and the routine environmental health tasks.

And in that period, especially the latter part after I did my master's in 2007, and around that period, I really had a deep desire to write, to explain the concepts in a more theoretical way.

And so I started to write, you know, and publish my work.

And that really helped me to have a deep appreciation for the work that I went on to do later on when I did my doctoral studies.

But before I left Jamaica, I had a few great opportunities, including working in the regional office at the Caribbean Public Health Agency, as it is now, but before that it was CAREC.

And the Lord opened many doors for me to be able to take his word.

And my very presence was like a representation of him wherever I went.

So I've always had a deep desire and a deep passion that wherever I went, that God's presence would be there with me and that that presence would influence whatever I did and the outcomes.

So that was a really very important part of my mid-formation, I would call it.

After that period of time, I got a scholarship from a university in Sydney, Australia, after I finished my master's in Jamaica.

And I moved to Australia in 2009 to pursue the doctoral studies at the University of Technology, Sydney.

And that period was between 2009 to 2013 when I graduated with my doctorate.

And I decided to stay in Australia because I felt like this is where God wanted me to be.

Is it challenging to teach people who are walking in faith in Christ to do what you've done by incorporating the both things where your professional and your spiritual life are interacting?

I'd say yes and no.

Yes, challenging in the sense that there are many Christians who are not necessarily ready for that kind of bold step.

So the way I live out my calling and I genuinely believe that what I do because it comes with an ease and a grace that I find that, you know, I love it.

And there's ease and grace with it.

I don't struggle.

But when it comes to the other people on the other side, for some people, they really see that they have to separate their faith from everything else.

And it's understandable because society has made a lot of effort to distinguish between, you know, certain state and so on.

And in many places, for example, in Australia where I live, it's not something that is necessarily embraced.

So for those individuals who are not necessarily open to that or they are scared of repercussions or what it might look like, or they think they might look over religious and so on.

Those people can be challenging to help them to see why their faith and their professional work can go hand in hand.

Then the opposite now is where you have people who are genuinely looking or they're genuinely desirous of connecting their faith with what they do in the marketplace.

And these people can probably fall into about three different categories.

One would be the persons who are already quite open.

They are brave enough to step out and apply the kingdom principles to wherever they are.

Those ones are so easy.

You know, you connect with them right away, you spot each other, you see each other, you know.

Then the second group are those people who are genuinely interested, but they don't want to be loud and proud about it like the way I am.

And they're happy to do small things or attend events, but they don't want to be upfront.

And they'd rather just, you know, take a back seat and not be too obvious.

And then I guess it's a third group are those people who genuinely would love to, but they have no idea where to start, a little bit hesitant, and they need a bit more guidance.

So when it comes to these three audiences, I feel like that's where I've been able to probably make some inroads there and still working with some of the other people who are still not ready yet.

So I try to help to make the message appetizing for them so people can understand that there's no conflict of interest between, you know, serving the Lord wholeheartedly.

You don't have to preach and Bible bash people.

It's really around owning the fact that you're a God and not be apologetic about it.

Five years from today though, given what you've accomplished, given the journey you've been through, what's a message you'd leave for future you?

I'd love to let the future me know that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

I must be relentless in pursuing the assignment that has been given.

Do not shrink back.

Do not be afraid and do not be ashamed of owning and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ because this is indeed my first assignment as a believer.

And so I want the future me to know that the work I'm doing is worthy.

So keep doing it.

When all else fails, this work must continue.

In closing, is there anything else you'd like to share?

Yes, I'd love to say to the next generation of young believers coming up that the world actually does need believers who can help them see Jesus.

What I'm seeing currently is that we are at a point in history when people are actually looking for answers.

And I feel like this is the best time when we should use what we have, our knowledge and understanding of what Christ did and what he continues to do to help get that message to those who really need it.

And I believe that the best place to start is in your workplace because you spend a lot of time there.

Most of your relationships are there and it's a ripe place to reap the harvest right now.

So go ahead and do it and don't be afraid.

Amazing audience, links are in the show notes.

If Dr. Stephanie's voice has resonated with you, her story, there's so many other layers that goes with who she is.

Please visit the show notes and you can connect with her.

Dr. Stephanie Fletcher-Varty, a pleasure, a treasure.

Thank you for being on What is Inspired by 12 Miracle Books.