MEET SUZANNE
I believe life is supposed to be lived.
I’ve spent much of my life fascinated by people—what motivates us, what gets in our way, and what helps us make changes that actually last.
Today, as a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) and a member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM), I get to bring together decades of experience in business, healthcare, behavior change, and Lifestyle Medicine to help people explore a question I happen to love:
What might be possible for you?
FROM BUSINESS TO BEHAVIOR CHANGE
For more than 25 years, I worked in sales and marketing with some of the world’s best-known consumer brands, including Mattel Toys, Colgate-Palmolive, The Quaker Oats Company, and PepsiCo. For almost a decade, I led the National Grocery Accounts Promotions Team for Gatorade.
I loved the work—and I learned a tremendous amount about people. What gets our attention. What motivates us. Why some ideas inspire action while others don’t. And perhaps most importantly, that simply knowing what we should do doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll do it.
Those lessons stayed with me when my career took a very different turn.
For the next 12 years, I worked in a psychiatric clinic serving people living with severe major depression. As Practice Manager and a TMS Technician, I worked closely with more than 200 TMS patients and created a mindfulness-based curriculum to support those patients throughout their treatment.
That experience deepened something I had already begun to understand:
Behavior change is deeply human.
People don’t need more judgment. They need to be heard. They need support. And sometimes, they need someone beside them while they figure out what might actually work in their life.
WHEN HEALTH BECAME PERSONAL
At 55, I was told I needed a hip replacement.
Chronic inflammation and osteoarthritis in my right hip had progressed to the point that lifting my right foot became incredibly painful. For more than a year, I compensated by dragging that foot behind me. In the process, I put additional strain on my left leg and damaged my left knee. Then came a fall—and a shattered wrist.
Not exactly the wellness journey I had planned.
That experience taught me something I will never forget: when your health begins limiting what you can do, it doesn’t stay neatly contained in one part of your life. It can affect how you move, how you feel, what you participate in, and what you imagine might be possible for your future.
It also changed the way I think about waiting for “someday” to take care of ourselves.
I don’t believe health is about pursuing perfection. I believe it’s about doing what we can, where we are, with what we have—and recognizing that even small changes can matter.
HEALTH IS ABOUT MORE THAN A NUMBER
Over time, I came to understand that health is about so much more than a number on a scale or a diagnosis on a chart.
It’s about having the energy to do the things you enjoy. Being able to move your body. Sleeping well enough to face the day. Managing stress. Eating in a way that supports your health. Having people in your life who matter to you. And having a sense of purpose and connection.
That perspective eventually led me to Lifestyle Medicine and its Six Pillars: nutrition, physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, positive social connection, and avoidance of risky substances.
And it led me to health and wellness coaching.
I became a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach because I wanted to help people do something that can be surprisingly difficult: turn what they know into changes they can actually live with.
Knowing what to do and actually doing it are two very different things.
I believe people are capable of far more change than they sometimes realize. Sometimes we just need the time, space, support, and encouragement to discover it for ourselves.
And one thing you should probably know about me:
I don’t give up easily. And I won’t give up on what’s possible for you.
No judgment. No perfection required.
A LITTLE MORE ABOUT ME
I’m an optimist, a people person, and a lifelong learner. I love good conversations, new ideas, and people who make me think.
When I’m not coaching, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll find me outside. I’m an organic vegetable gardener, a beekeeper, and someone who can get ridiculously excited about what’s growing in the garden—or what the bees are up to.
I love learning new things, meeting new people, and finding reasons to laugh. I have a high energy level, a lot of curiosity, and what I like to call a serious zest for life!
Around here, giving up isn’t really our thing.
Years ago, someone compared me to the “Unsinkable Molly Brown.” I decided I liked that.
Life doesn’t always go according to plan. Mine certainly hasn’t. But I believe there is almost always something we can learn, something we can try, or another possibility worth exploring.
I don’t ever want to give up on what’s possible.
WHAT MIGHT BE POSSIBLE FOR YOU?
Let’s find out together.
Maybe you’re ready to make some changes in your health. Maybe life has changed and you’re wondering what you want this next chapter to look like. Or maybe you simply have the feeling that something could be better—you’re just not quite sure where to start.
You don’t have to have it all figured out.
You just have to be willing to explore what might be possible.