Satrina Crigler has an optimistic outlook on life, and she gives much of the credit to Greater Harvest Worship Center, where she has attended services as long as she can remember.
Calling Greater Harvest “the platform of my life,” she said growing up in that fellowship gave her the faith to get through anything.
“It actually teaches you to value other people, yourself, being able to trust in God, keeping the faith no matter what goes on around you in your life,” said Crigler, who manages the Rent-A-Center store on Park Avenue.
Crigler, 38, was born in Greenwood. She was raised by her grandmother, Christine Crigler, in a household that included a sister, three brothers and eight cousins — but she said it wasn’t competitive, as some large families are.
“Growing up in a bigger family, we valued sharing,” she said. “We knew how important it was to share and to get along.”
Her favorite activities growing up were going to church, doing other people’s hair and spending time with family.
After her mother, Shirley Crigler, married James Livingston, Satrina Crigler and her siblings moved in with them. She said her mother and grandmother were both excellent role models, and she still lives near her mother today.
After graduating from Greenwood High School in 2001, she studied elementary education at Mississippi
Valley State University for two years before entering the workforce. She spent six years as a substitute at Gilliam Head Start, and for a while, she also served as a lab specialist at Milwaukee Tool.
“When you’ve got kids, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” she said.
However, after two years working at both places, she decided to drop the Milwaukee Tool job so she could spend more time with her family. Five years ago, she took a job as sales manager at Rent-A-Center.
She said she enjoys interacting with customers, so working in sales made sense.
“I’ve never been a shy person,” she said. “I can meet somebody today and know how to interact with them the same day that I meet them, because I’ll talk.”
After the store’s manager left, the regional director decided to promote from within and asked Crigler if she was interested in the top job. She said yes, reasoning, “Basically everything she’s doing, when she’s not here, I’m doing it. So why not?”
She said her first day as manager didn’t feel different from the previous day; the biggest difference with having the new title was the increased amount of paperwork.
More recently, because the current sales manager is out on maternity leave, Crigler has temporarily taken on that job as well as the top manager’s position, meaning she has only one day off a week instead of two. But she said she’s up to it and has a good staff that works well together.
“I’ve never been afraid of leadership,” she said. “If it was put in front of me to do it, then I was going to go on and do it.”
She plans to return to MVSU next year and pursue a degree in elementary education. She also hopes to own a business one day, doing deliveries for Amazon and DHL, and she is confident she has enough experience to know how to run and staff such a business.
But her top priority is her family, which includes three daughters — 18-year-old Nakayla Peoples, 12-year-old Gabriel Crigler and 3-year-old Morgan Stroud — and a son, Jarquarius Moore, who is 16.
She said distance learning during the coronavirus pandemic has been difficult for them at times, but they are disciplined, and she stays on them to finish their work.
In her spare time, she enjoys reading and going out to eat with friends, but Sundays are reserved for family time. The family also takes a summer vacation each year.
At Greater Harvest, she sings in the choir, and she was involved in door-to-door ministries before the pandemic. She is grateful for the influence of her pastor, Bishop Earnest Miller.
“My pastor watched us grow up from babies to teenagers to adulthood,” she said. “He’s still my pastor. I love him to death.”
Greater Harvest has enough space to conduct in-person services with social distancing, but Miller has also preached via livestream for those who can’t be present. In the past, he has gone to people’s homes to pray with them if they asked, and during the pandemic, he has continued to offer prayers over the phone, Crigler said.
“If we needed prayer, we could call him,” she said. “He’s one of those types of pastors (who) doesn’t care what time of day — morning, afternoon — if you call, he’s going to pray.”
Even during difficult times, her faith has provided a foundation for her: “I still haven’t lost the faith of getting up knowing tomorrow is going to be better than yesterday.”.
•Contact David Monroe at 581-7236 or dmonroe@gwcommonwealth.com.
