The BOLD and Brilliant Podcast with Tracie Root

The Bold and Brilliant podcast w/ Guest Suszi McFadden

• Tracie Root • Season 1

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🎧 Episode Summary:
What happens when you trade the safety of corporate life for the creativity of entrepreneurship? In this inspiring conversation, award-winning portrait photographer Suszi McFadden shares how she transformed her lifelong love of photography into a thriving business that empowers women to feel strong, beautiful, and unstoppable. From her leap out of tech to her signature, client-centered portrait experience, Suszi shows us that photography is about so much more than images—it’s about confidence, presence, and boldly showing up in the world.

✨ What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

  • How Suszi pivoted from tech marketing into full-time photography.
  • The bold decision that sparked her entrepreneurial journey.
  • Why professional photography is about experience as much as the final image.
  • How Suszi creates a safe, empowering environment for women in front of the camera.
  • The role of community and creativity in sustaining joy as a business owner.

🛠️ Actionable Tips from Suszi:

  • Don’t underestimate the power of professional photos—they’re an investment in your visibility and confidence.
  • Build an experience around your service, not just a transaction.
  • Step onto the other side: try being a client yourself to learn what it feels like and how to improve your own process.
  • Surround yourself with community and collaborators—you don’t have to do it all alone.

🎤 Memorable Quote:
"If I can make women leave my studio with images that say ‘heck yeah,’ then I’ve accomplished something." – Suszi McFadden

🔥 Bold Moment of the Episode:
When Suszi chose to leave behind the security of her tech marketing career after layoffs and go all-in on photography—a leap that completely transformed her life and career.

📱 Connect with Suszi McFadden:
Website: https://www.suzmcfaddenphoto.com/
Instagram: @suzmcfaddenphoto

🚀 Join the Bold and Brilliant Podcast Community:
Stay connected, get inspired, and discover how to take BOLD action in your own life and business by visiting The Gather Community.

🌟 Rate & Review:
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xoxo
Your host,
Tracie Root

Are you ready to take bold action and live a life of brilliance? Welcome to the Bold and Brilliant podcast, where women leaders share inspiring stories about daring decisions that shape their businesses, their lives, and their careers. Today I'm with the fabulous and amazing Suszi McFadden. Suszi McFadden is an award-winning portrait photographer based in Sunnyvale, California. She strives to make her clients feel strong, powerful, and beautiful the moment they walk in the door and hold onto that feeling long after they leave. Suszi specializes in beauty portraits and in headshot and brand photos, and her work has been displayed in galleries, published in international magazines, and included in New York Times bestselling books. Still her most gratifying recognition is from her happy clients. As we talk, you'll hear Suszi share her journey of entrepreneurship, including one bold decision that created her path of what was next. Her story of resilience, risk taking, and transformation will inspire, encourage, and support your personal and professional growth. Please join me in welcoming Suzy to the bold and brilliant podcast.

Tracie:

Suszi, I'm so excited to have you on the podcast. Welcome.

Suz:

Thank you. I'm excited to be here.

Tracie:

Yay. Okay. I am super stoked because we've been connected for a couple of years and I'm realizing because we all have rich lives, I'm realizing that there's things about you becoming who you are now. I know some of the story, but I don't know all of the story. So for people who've never even met you, let's go back a little bit. Okay. And talk about who is Suszi? Where did you start out? Like, where did you grow up? And maybe how you got into photography.

Suz:

I love it. Great. You want me to just jump in and start ing?

Tracie:

Yeah. Tell me, tell me a story.

Suz:

Fantastic. I. Live in Sunnyvale, California now. Took me a while to get here. I grew up in Southern California, suburb of Los Angeles, and came up to go to uc, Berkeley when I was straight out of high school, I guess. Mm-hmm. And fell in love with Bay Area. Called my parents after three weeks and said, I'm never coming home.

Tracie:

Never coming home.

Suz:

Which is like now that all of my friend's kids are going to college. I'm like, oh my God. I didn't even think about how that would sit with my parents. I got here and went, I am a Northern California girl. I am done staying here. Never coming home.

Tracie:

How was it different from where you grew up in Southern California and Southern California has, you know, the entire gamut, soup to nuts of all of the different opportunities. How was the Bay Area different?

Suz:

So I grew up in a suburb that I felt like every, I knew everybody since I was five.

Tracie:

Yeah.

Suz:

And I was just ready to get out. I was ready to be kind of my own person. There's a Bay Area vibe and I just don't know how to articulate that for people who don't know the Bay Area. But I came up here and it was just freer and looser and. More casual and a little more hippy dippy. And a lot of it, like if I really think about it, a lot of it was it's where I became an an, an adult. Sure. Right. So I could have gone anywhere quite possibly and said, okay, this is me. Yeah. For forging my own path and I love it here.

Tracie:

You were ready to create this adult identity for yourself, right?

Suz:

Yeah. And I knew from a very young age I wanted to go to Berkeley, so it was just one of those. Kind of, I got there, I was very lucky. It's harder, it's much harder to be a, a high school senior right now than it was back in my day. And I got to go there and it was everything I wanted it to be. And I just fell in love with the Bay. So I lived in East Bay for a number of years and graduated from college with a liberal arts degree. Didn't know what I wanted to do. Got very lucky that. A company looked at my extracurriculars and I got hired as an event planner. Okay. And the timing worked in such a way that it was right around the.com boom. So I was able to kind of get into tech as an event planner back when companies were throwing these big events. And through my career in marketing for tech people fi figured out I could write based on my, you know. College education, all of that. And I wound up getting into strategic marketing for a software company. I always did photography kind of for fun, but I, I was never a film girl. I never did the Dark Room. It was always dropping off my film to get double prints. Right. And hoping they came out.

Tracie:

Oh my gosh, yes.

Suz:

Right at which I still have, I need to go through those and purge a little bit. Ooh, that would be fun. I was with the same tech company for years in their marketing department and made a name for myself there. So as the years went on, I decided I wanna do this kind of a little less and focus on photography. And the way this came about is my sister had kids and they got to an age where they were too fast for my point and shoot. And so I looked at my husband and said, I wanna get a good fast camera. And we know a lot of photography wonks in our circle. And his response was, not a problem. Let's do this. I just don't want you to become, turn into one of those lens people.

Tracie:

Oh, right. I've heard this part before.

Suz:

Fast forward,

Tracie:

what that means.

Suz:

Fast forward now we have the lenses, we have the studio lights, we have the, you know. All of the whole thing. So I was doing half and half. My company very graciously allowed me to go to halftime. That was not policy, but again, I had been there a long time. I had made a name. And in tech, as we know, layoffs are kind of part of the culture, sadly rollercoaster and, a a, a round of layoffs was announced and I said, okay, I'm, I'm gone. I'm halftime my champion, my champion has left the, the building. I haven't met the new VP yet. Like there's, and it did no surprise to anyone and I was really kind of lucky to be able to say, okay, now what do I want to do? Do I wanna go back into this? Do I wanna get another corporate job? Do I wanna focus on the photography that I've kind of been doing half cocked for a number of years and I was really lucky and privileged and I count my blessings that we were in a place where I was able to say, let's see if we can make this work. And I haven't looked back.

Tracie:

Awesome. And how long ago was that? How many years ago?

Suz:

Getting close to 10. Since I was, just, since I, since it became all that I'm doing.

Tracie:

Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. And how fortunate, like, so it was before all the COVID stuff, that was five years ago.

Suz:

Yeah.

Tracie:

And so you were able to kind of make that decision, get established, have your situation figured out before everything went wonky. Crazy

Suz:

ish. I am not gonna claim that I had my situation figured, figured out that quickly. It's a very different experience to go from working for someone else.

Tracie:

Yes.

Suz:

To working for yourself. Yeah. And I was in marketing. I should know how this works. Right. Marketing yourself is a very, very different thing

Tracie:

Yes.

Suz:

Than marketing. A company

Tracie:

for sure, especially a corporation that has a history. I mean, you'd, like you said, you'd been there for a long time. You know, in my corporate world I was in facilities and so I worked with the branding people and stuff to do signage projects and all of that kind of stuff. And this is why we get along so well.'cause I always thought my second chapter was gonna be in marketing. Okay. Yeah, in corporate marketing and branding.

Suz:

Mm-hmm.

Tracie:

You know, you. There's parameters and there's guidelines and there's a structure already created that you follow and update. But when you're creating it for yourself, how much time do you spend to create it? You just kind of jump, right? Yeah.

Suz:

And I know that photography isn't unique this way. There's a lot of industries right now where, you know, people say, oh, I have a camera, hence I'm a photographer. Mm. Or I have a phone, hence I'm a photographer, or I have an online design membership, hence I'm a graphic designer. Right. So there's all of these kind of different things and I had to learn what it meant to be a professional, high level photographer. Yeah. And I found a photography education platform that. Changed my world really focused on the way that I wanted to take photos and did that. Talked about pricing. Pricing is hard when you're going out on your own, figuring out the value and what you're offering and all of the things. And I was actually very lucky and I got to do a lot of that really focused during COVID. You know, when I, when I first started in photography, I was a shoot and burn photographer. It was not a viable business.

Tracie:

Mm. And what does that mean when you say shoot and burn photographer? What does that mean?

Suz:

A shoot and burn photographer is when you meet with a client, it's a, it's at a low price point. You give them all their digitals and they go, that's the end of it.

Tracie:

And that's the end of it.

Suz:

Okay. And I realized that I wasn't. Enjoying that kind of photography.

Tracie:

Mm-hmm.

Suz:

And I had this, you know, years long'cause when COVID hit, I shut down like some more than I think a lot of other people. And you know, people were like, you can come out now. I don't wanna and I really drilled down. Into how to create a portrait experience for folks when they come into the studio and switch to being a studio photographer and really niching down and saying, I don't enjoy event photography as much. I don't wanna focus on that anymore. Mm-hmm. And I was lucky in that the photography education platform, I had had so many wonderful videos and online courses and, you know, I could keep busy for years just kind of learning. And I did.'cause I couldn't, I was very much an in-person business and could not do that for a number of years. I could not convert to video to zoom

Tracie:

right

Suz:

to virtual..

Tracie:

So talk about the, how you're saying you're learning like these different ways Yeah. And the experience cre deciding that you wanna really focus on the client experience Yes. Part. Talk about what that's like, like how are you differentiated from what other people might have experienced from other photographers?

Suz:

Oh, thank you. Yeah, I will. I will say straight off the bat, there is nothing worse than standing by yourself. In front of a camera, like walking in the door saying, you know, hi, my name is Suszi. Go, go stand there and clicking.

Tracie:

Mm-hmm.

Suz:

As I'm talking to clients and to leads, I say, if you remember when Facebook first launched, every profile photo was somebody where you could very visibly see, they'd cut somebody else outta the photo because. That's when we're most comfortable, right? We're being ourselves, we're with our friends, we're doing our thing, and, and standing by yourself is, is hard. And if you've got any sort of, I don't like my this, or I'm not confident or whatnot, it's tough. I don't know what to do with my hands. I can't tell you how many times I hear. I don't know what to do with my hands. So I decided I wanted to create an environment where people walk in the door. And start to feel comfortable before the camera even comes out.

Tracie:

Mm-hmm.

Suz:

While I do photograph men, the bulk of my clients are women. They're usually business owners, solopreneurs, fempreneurs, people who know that showing themselves to the world is a critical part of marketing. Yeah. Their logos aren't gonna carry the weight. Right. We're not one of those big corporate entities where we see the logo or we see the colors and say, we know what that is.

Tracie:

Yeah.

Suz:

And who have different channels that they use, social media, blogging, podcasts, all of these things where they want multiple photos that are on brand, but that they're not using the same photo for everything so that people get, get tired of seeing their faces. So,

Tracie:

or even if we get tired of seeing our own faces.

Suz:

Own faces, yeah. Seriously.

Tracie:

Which is probably more accurate even. Right.

Suz:

Oh my God, seriously. I, I, in fact, and we, we might get to this a little later. I, I need new photos. Like mine are, you know, a few years old now and

Tracie:

mm-hmm.

Suz:

I've kind of come into my own brand a little bit more since I got them taken and it's time to upgrade. I've created this experience for my clients where we meet beforehand, we do a zoom, much like you and I are doing to talk about them and what they're looking for and what they wanna do and, and how they wanna do it and what it means. And then as part of of my session offering, I offer a one hour wardrobe consultation with an image consultant. And that. Shelly Golden, I'll give her a shout out. She's an amazing stylist and image consultant will go through their closets with them and say, here are the colors that works for you. Here are the shapes that work for you, and more importantly, from my perspective, and here's what works on camera.

Tracie:

Yeah.

Suz:

Because they are not always the same thing, so they get that opportunity. Come in with multiple outfits. We do multiple outfit changes, and when they arrive in the studio, they get professional hair and makeup. So it is somebody really help. And all of my branding clients are like, I'm a little nervous. I don't wear a lot of makeup. I wanna look like myself. And Michelle Montez, my makeup artist, who again, another shout out, fabulous, fabulous talent, listens to that and creates. A makeup look for them that is natural, looks like them, but again, translates to being on camera. I know you have theater connections, so you know, theater, makeup, right? Like it's a different

Tracie:

Right. Well, and I've gone through this process for photo shoots. Yeah. For, you know, hitch hop projects as well. And same thing, it's like Yeah. The, way that a professional stylist, makeup artist can see you and know how to sh have you show up. As your best self. Right. Whether it's for an event or for a photography session, like it's a different result. It's a different process. Mm-hmm. But they have the tools and the experience and the, the perspective of a different person's point of view than what you're used to seeing in the mirror.

Suz:

Mm-hmm.

Tracie:

Which I think is probably the biggest part of it, which is the value of having professional photos too. Right. Is, you know, we all take selfies. Right, and we know maybe how to make. How we are happiest with our own selfies, but as soon as someone else is taking pictures, we're like feeling like out of control and therefore uncomfortable. Yes. And so, but a professional, like, that's like at a party, someone's taking pictures. Right? Right, right. But when you go for professional photography, the having that experience be from start to finish, knowing that you have professionals behind you the entire way culminating with this. Time in front of the camera from you, like there's nothing like it.

Suz:

And one of the added bonuses, which isn't even part of that whole thing, is that while my clients are getting their hair and makeup done, we can just sit and chitchat.

Tracie:

Yeah. Talk more.

Suz:

So we talk more, we get to know each other. So before the camera even gets out, we're kind of hanging out. We're having fun together. It's not. You're walking in and a stranger's snapping photos at you we're, you know, I, I, I provide an no,'cause it usually goes over lunch, so before the lipstick we gotta, you know, get a little, a little food in everybody. I've got that. Something in you. Yeah. And we just kind of hang out. We make it fun.

Tracie:

And you do like a one person a day. Like it's not like you have a bunch of clients in a row. Right? Right. It's a whole like day or a half day. Right. But in the middle of the day kind of experience. Right,

Suz:

exactly. As long as the client wants to be there. So the client drives the time. I also I think, which I think, you know, I think we've talked about this, I have a full studio wardrobe Yeah. Of kind of fun dress upy kind of things. And I offered that to all my clients. Like, Hey, we took all your brand photos. We've got those. Do you wanna have fun? Yeah. Do you wanna play? Some people take me up on it. Some people are like, no, I'm just here for the business. Thank you very much. Others are like, oh my God, look at all that fluff and, and you know, I wanna wear the feathers and I wanna wear the headpiece. And we just have fun at the end.

Tracie:

Headpiece. Oh my God.

Suz:

Oh my God. I've got, I love headpieces.

Tracie:

How fun.

Suz:

Oh yeah. And flowers and crowns and all of the things. And then as the, at the end, once my client is getting back into the clothes, they're gonna wear home, I am immediately downloading all of their photos and we are going through them together. So before they leave, they are choosing the ones they want.

Tracie:

Wow. So fast

Suz:

and super fast. And then we talk about how they want to be retouched. Okay. Some people are like, I'm really insecure about this eyebrow. Right. And some people are like,

Tracie:

it don't match.

Suz:

Right. Right. And some people are like very minimal. Every wrinkle, every spot. This is who I am. Leave it.

Tracie:

Yeah.

Suz:

Well, and so we talk

Tracie:

about that, right? Like that might be a very integral part of, you know, maybe you talk about healthy aging and Exactly. You know, the anti-D diet culture or whatever, if that's really important. I was thinking, I'm thinking about someone specifically who's a speaker and she recently had new pictures.'cause I can tell,'cause I, they're very current. Compared to, you know, four years ago. Right. Picture, I'm like, she looks different. She looks more wrinkly, but she looks amazing because, and her whole thing is about being, you know, vibrant as you age. Exactly. So like, don't polish it too much, but then Exactly. Folks who are just like this, right? This.

Suz:

And it's funny how many people walk into my studio saying, can you make me look younger? Can you make me look thinner? Yeah. Shoot from above with the whole younger thing. My first question is, do you really wanna go back because I was a hot mess when I was younger. Like, own the fact that you're probably in a much better place now and you don't, you know, like you don't wanna go back. And for the folks who want to look thinner, that's all about posing. There are poses that can kind of hide and, and do the things and other people come in going, this is me, this is my body. There is just no need to do anything. I am comfortable in that experience.

Tracie:

Yeah. I love it.

Suz:

And we talk about all those things and, and so that by the time their final photos come to them, they know. They get exactly what they're expecting. Plus, yeah. And I offer all those photos in different sizes and different formats and in banners and all of the things. So that, that, that cross channel, cross media usage is,

Tracie:

so you're doing, like a banner, someone might, you know, have their photo kind of off to one side, but you're gonna send them the banner whole like, correct. Format size and everything.

Suz:

Every banner on every site is a different size. All different sizes.

Tracie:

I know it's

Suz:

crazy, but I will send them a banner. And then they can always come to me saying, I need this. Can you resize it? Yeah. But you know, things like, to me that are like so super easy, you know, ex extending a banner, that is something that people who don't do photography, who don't do design. That could be really, really stressful. Yeah. It's like, oh my God, that'll take me three minutes. Just send it me on this size. It.

Tracie:

Did you, is that like your marketing background that allows you to like comprehend? Because I haven't heard of a photographer who offers more than just like, here's the photo.

Suz:

It was a lot of what I learned. Yeah. Oh, okay. And I also, you know, I talked about like what are some of the bold decisions? I made a bold decision that when I wasn't necessarily feeling my best, I went and had my own photos done, and I found a mentor and a photographer that I had been following for years is not in my state, but she was gonna be at a conference I was at and signed up to get the full treatment from her. Awesome. A terrifying. Be super fun and c kind of learned when she delivered to me. I'm like, that's brilliant. I love how, you know, I love all the ways I can use this. And just learned so much about what it feels like to be on the other side of the camera. Yeah. Oh, that's great. And, and also what it feels like to pay for a service. And pay for an experience. Yeah. So as I went into this, I'm like, wow, that, that, that's a lot of money to spend on me. Like I will spend that on other people. But for me to have a day like that, that seems, Ooh, do I deserve that? Do I need it? Can I justify it? And I've done it a couple times now, and the first time I justified it totally like, oh my God, that was the best learning experience. I learned so much. And then the second time I went is. I got great photos and I feel awesome and totally worth it because people are seeing me now. I'm putting myself out there and I am a part of my own brand.

Tracie:

Yeah,

Suz:

and that's one of the reasons I wanna update them. I, I never got any photos taken in glasses and I'm a big glasses girl. I change them all the time, as you know, like I need a bunch that kind of just show me. Going big and bold

Tracie:

right as you show up every day. Yeah, right. As opposed to just like perfect or exactly whatever. Yeah. So that's on my to-do list. Will you go back to the same Galligan?

Suz:

Probably not. Just because I am very, very fortunate. I know a lot of wonderful photographers. You have a lot of community. I have a lot of contacts here locally that I can work with, and that's actually. I love the spirit of cooperation over competition. So, you know, I don't market myself to be a photographer that people travel to. See. I would much rather say, oh, you know, you're in Asheville. Don't come here. I know a great, phenomenal photographer in Asheville. Let me give you, you know, let me give you her information. Yeah. So if I had the opportunity to be in the same. Place and time and city as Saray who did my photos, who is just amazing. Absolutely. I would go back to her in a heartbeat, but. Again, since I'm not traveling for that,

Tracie:

probably more likely a Bay Area based person somewhere. Yeah. And you've talked with me personally. We've talked about this community of photographers that you're connected with and you do things together, and you have days that you spend together and stuff. And so talk about the community, you know, but as a photographer, you have your support folks, Michelle, Shelly. Mm-hmm. But you are the delivery person, right? And it sounds like you're doing not only the photography, but the after photography, everything yourself too. You're not having someone do editing. You're not having someone do create the banners for you based on the photos to give to your client. You're doing it yourself.

Suz:

Mm-hmm.

Tracie:

So with your. Photography community that you have. Mm-hmm. Talk about that value.'cause I know the other thing we haven't touched on is you do branding photography, but you also do kind of fine art photography, for lack of a better term. Mm-hmm. Is that the right term? Or just creative photography. I, creative photography.

Suz:

Fine art sometimes has a boudoir slash nudity. Ah, gotcha, gotcha. Depending on who you talk to. It's one of those weird terms is Yeah.

Tracie:

But creative based on the. Have created. Yes. So talk about the community factor for you in what photography means to you.

Suz:

Awesome. Thank you. Yes, I love it. I'm one of those weird photographers, I love retouching. To me that is part of the artistry. It's part of the creation. Mm-hmm. A lot of photographers outsource and outsourcers. You work with your outsourcer to make sure that they know your style. Like it is a very, yeah. You build that relationship, intimate relationship. Yeah. And so I do not belittle that at all, but I actually have fun kind of doing that. I, I enjoy it very much. I, as you said, I have this community I that I started like meeting through meetups of all things where people would open up their studio saying, I have a model, I have a theme who, you know, and multiple photographers come in, pay to pay the model. And so I did a number of those things. I also got to do some creative photography at the conferences I went to and started saying, this is somewhere where I can just be my most creative.

Tracie:

Mm-hmm.

Suz:

When I'm taking brand photos. If I were taking your brand photos, I couldn't come to you saying, and what if we did this with your makeup and then we did this with your hair? And that's not my role. And so with creative, it's entirely. Collaborative Michelle saying, I'm thinking of this for makeup and really bold colors and streaks and, and things, and the, the model saying, you know, either being a part of the process for being, you know, just saying, Hey, whatever you guys wanna do, kind of coming up with, let's do this. Look, what about this headpiece? Or, I have this concept. Great. How do we find all of the. Fabrics and things to bring that concept to life. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And that is kind of what I do when I just need a creative outlet. Yeah. And it is so fun and so glorious and I have had the privilege of showing my creative work. I partnered with an abstract photographer by the name of Brandon Stauffer and we created a gallery show. Where we paired one of my portraits with his abstract photography. Ooh. To tell a different story. And we showed that in a couple different galleries here in the Bay Area. I'm hoping to find more but have not had the time to go research where we can, where we can show. And it was so, it was just a very different way of. Of exploring photography love, and that was super fun. I love that.

Tracie:

Okay. Well so a make sure you tell me when that happens, because I'm there. I will do, yeah, that sounds amazing. And it reminds me of you know, in San Francisco they have that like flower show where it's like there's an piece of art and then they make flower arrangements. It's, it

Suz:

was almost, it was exactly like that. Yeah. And it sounds just like that. We had a couple people make that comparison.

Tracie:

Oh really?

Suz:

Because, and his abstract work was phenomenal. And I will say that he did. The lion's share of kind of taking my portraits and you know, in most cases he would create an abstract to match it. In some cases I would say, oh my God, look at this. They already match. And in some cases I would color grade my photos to match his. But yeah, super.

Tracie:

Yeah. That's super fun. And what, and having you talk about this, and I'm glad that I asked the question'cause having you talk about it just shows you that, you know, many of us are really passionate about the joy that our work brings to us.

Suz:

Mm-hmm.

Tracie:

And while your work, like client work isn't that creative outlet, but it's, it's all intertwined.

Suz:

Mm-hmm.

Tracie:

Right? You, you, it's the, it's the act of creating imagery. Whether it's for a client that you can be proud of because you, you know, help them show up versus for yourself or for the model or for a gallery or whatever. Same thing though, it's you're creating this image for this purpose and it's sounds like you are just so joyful and like, so fun. And who wouldn't wanna work with you?

Suz:

Oh, you are so kind. I. Absolutely love it. And I will say, it always cracks me up because I'm a pretty casual person and one of the struggles I went through when I launched this is I'm offering this experience. It's very elegant, it's very, and and I am, I can think of a lot of wonderful adjectives to describe myself. So this is not self-deprecating in any way. I am not elegant, I am not glamor. Like that's just not my. That's not my brand. That's not who I am. Yeah. So here I am just Beau just working with these women and making sure that they feel beautiful and at their best. And I'm in overalls and a tank top and I'm barefoot and,'cause I'm, you know, I'm running around, I'm moving. I'm, yeah, it's not about me. Yeah. And,

Tracie:

They're the ones that are supposed to look like Ggl, but for a good reason. Exactly. And you're, I one,

Suz:

when I finally figured out that I don't need to welcome them in, like they're welcome to my studio, right. That, that's not me. Like, come on in, we're gonna have fun. And and it's, I'm just really lucky. I mean, that's really all I keep saying when I, when I'm doing this, is I'm just so lucky to do what I do. And and to have had this kind of second chapter opportunity to focus on, on this. And I meet so many fabulous, fierce, successful, just really, really awesome women. And if I can make them leave the studio with images that say, heck yeah, then I've accomplished something because, and I've met so many wonderful. People through it and love following their businesses and their careers and have become friends with many of them. Yeah,

Tracie:

I love it. I love it. And the, you know, being able to be a piece of their development and the next steps for them and like you're, you know, as a coach, I always said that, you know, my goal is to help people move forward, right? Mm-hmm. Coaching wise from where they are, but. I didn't realize when I started coaching that I wanted to change the world. And the reason that that's a world changing act and what you're doing is the same, is that the more women we can help uplevel themselves to reach more people, that those people can uplevel themselves in whatever it is, whether it's a coaching thing or just, or a product that mm-hmm. Helps someone bring joy to someone else. Right. The ripples of all of those. Points of contact from you to your client, to their clients, to their, because if it's women in business, this is how the world changes.

Suz:

I love that. I've never really thought of it that way, so thank you. That's a beautiful way of, of kind of thinking about it and you know, women have changed the world, are changing the world and will continue to change the world. Yep. And the more we can kind of put ourselves out there and empower ourselves to do things is.

Tracie:

A hundred percent.

Suz:

It's exciting. So,

Tracie:

yes, absolutely. Well, I think that that's probably a great place for us to wrap up. We're changing the world and that's just the way it is. I love that. Yeah. This is the evergreen situation. So what we know about you as a photographer is that photography is available whenever it is, that it is right for you to have it. So we'll make sure that people know how to reach you, how to find out more. Get your website on there, your portfolio of amazing women behind there. By the way, that picture of Marie is amazing. I don't know if I've seen that one before

Suz:

Thank you. I actually think you may be mixing somebody else up because Really? Yeah, it's not Marie. I know which one you're talking about, but it is, that is actually not Marie.

Tracie:

Oh, how funny. Okay. Well maybe it's just'cause I'm blind, but

Suz:

Well, and they're small behind you and you

Tracie:

know, so they're all lovely and I particularly like the one where the hair is in her face because that's so interesting and fun.

Suz:

I had so much fun with that one. And as somebody who has. Not as much hair as she might like. When I have clients who have the hair, I'm like, come on, let's play with it. And I love it. That was a great culmination. That's a great example of we did a full brand shoot and at the end said, let's do some that are a little bit more.

Tracie:

Yeah, casual and fun. Casual. Casual water and artistic. Yeah, I love it. And so obviously not everyone's listening on Zoom, but if you check out on the YouTube channel, you'll see Susziy's background where she's got a number of her clients on her background, some of who I've met before and others who just are amazingly beautiful. And the whole thing is just all great. So I'm so thrilled. Thank that. We had a chance. Thank you so much to have this conversation today, my friend. And I can't wait. You too. And I'm so grateful

Suz:

to all that you do and in bringing the community together and supporting the folks in your community. And you are awesome, and I feel like I just blah all over this today, but I really just love chatting with you and you were just so awesome.

Tracie:

Yay. Well, that was the, that was the point is for you to come and, and tell us all about you and because, you know, when we're talking about women being bold and brilliant, like that's the podcast, right? Bold and brilliant. Mm-hmm. The. The changes that you made, the way that you decided to adjust, how you brought this service to your clients, but just even the whole, we all have this like. Linear, semi linear, you know, path that we're on from who we were to where we were, to then who we became and who we are now. And it's never straight line. And it's always interesting. And to have someone like yourself who's clearly so. Joyful about, it's just the word that keeps coming back because your energy is so infectious when you're talking about what you do, that it's like you can't deny that it's the right place for you. And that makes be,

Suz:

ah, you're, you're wonderful. Thank you. I, as I said, I am, I blessed, grateful every day that I get to do this and it's, it's a joy and working with people. Yeah. As you know, bringing a whole community together, right? Just bringing fabulous people together to have an experience was, yeah. Fantastic. It was just everything.

Tracie:

Thank

Suz:

you.

Tracie:

Thank you. And thank you again, and I guess we're done. Thanks, Suszi. We'll talk to you soon.

Suz:

Okay. Thank you.

Tracie:

Bye. Thank you for listening to the Bold and Brilliant podcast. I'm your host, Tracie Root, and I wanna invite you to check out the show notes, find out where you can connect with our guests, find out more about what I and the Gather community have to offer you, and be sure to subscribe to this podcast on your favorite platform. Thanks so much.