The Juggleverse - Moms Balance It All

From Classroom To Finish Line // Episode #4

• Season 1 • Episode 4

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What if the life you want is hiding inside the choices you keep postponing? We sit down with Suzie Bacon — a mom to two, international school teacher, and dedicated triathlete in Singapore — to trace a journey that began with a single volunteer shift and grew into a new career, a global race start line, and a calmer mind.

We follow the leap from the GB to Singapore, where safety, community, and the simple gift of a pool downstairs made space for reinvention. Suzie shares how a temporary classroom role became a teaching qualification and a calling, and how triathlon transformed from “maybe I could” into a World Championship experience in Lake Taupo. Along the way, she opens up about the funny, messy moments—like a very ill-timed car podcast—and the serious ones: plantar fasciitis, rebuilding from near-zero, and learning to let consistency beat ego. Her mindset tools are practical and portable: break big tasks into small intervals, build systems that protect your time, and use her favorite mantra—be the pond—to hold emotions without being swept away.

This conversation is for anyone balancing parenting, career change, and personal goals. We explore the logistics of two athletes in one household, carving intentional time with kids, and starting a triathlon CCA at school to give more girls a joyful first start line. Suzie’s core belief shines through: you can start late, go slow, and still go far. Whether your “hard thing” is a report deadline or a humid tempo run, the same habits work—plan ahead, keep it simple, and show up.

Press play for a story that blends growth mindset, injury comebacks, and the everyday discipline that turns dreams into routines. If this spoke to you, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs encouragement, and leave a quick review to help more listeners find us. What passion are you ready to start this week?

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Host: Edit Kerekes, former diplomat, senior strategic advisor, mom of two.

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Suzie:

Being an athlete and the relationship with my own kids is an interesting one. And I'd be I would like to hear what they would say about me being an athlete because

Edit:

What would they say?

Suzie:

T hey know it's something that's very important to me. And I think that again, I talk from my perspective, I think it sets them a good example that you can have passions in life and you can go for them, even at the advanced age of in your forties.

Edit:

Welcome back to the Juggleverse. A heartfelt thank to everyone who has been following the podcast and an extra special shout-out to those who took the time to comment, share, and engage with previous episodes. Your support and feedback mean the world and truly help build this vibrant, supportive community of jugglers, balancing life's many roles. Today we are excited to welcome Suzie to the studio. Suzie is a remarkable mom to Katie and Ben, a year five teacher at an international school and a passionate triathlete who has beautifully blended family life, career, and personal well-being into an inspiring journey. In recent years, she has realized that looking after herself is just as important as caring for her family and career. A lesson that shines through in how she balances motherhood, teaching, and triathlon training. From her roots in Jersey Channel Islands to embracing a new life in Singapore, Suzie's story is one of transformation, juggling commitments, and finding joy in both the chaos and the quiet moments. Get ready to meet a guest whose energy, humor, and big-hearted approach reminds us all that balance isn't about perfection. It's about celebrating every messy, meaningful moment along the way. Suzie, welcome to The Juggleverse.

Suzie:

Thank you. What an introduction. That's very kind words from you.

Edit:

Of course, of course. Tell me something about your roots, how you ended up in Singapore, you and your family.

Suzie:

So I was living in Bristol with my family, which is where my children were born. My husband was working for Dyson, who are based not far from Bristol. And one day he said, you know, we could go and work in Singapore, if you like. And it took a while for it to hit home. And just as autumn was approaching in the UK and it was getting cold and dark, I thought, hang on, I could go and live somewhere where it's never cold and dark. Let's give it a go. So that's how we ended up coming here with my husband's role.

Edit:

But was that the only reason for that you wanted to have some sunshine in your life?

Suzie:

I guess we've always been open to new opportunities. We love travel. And we had heard that Singapore is a great place to educate your children. And having a three-year-old and a five-year-old at the time, it was it seemed like all the factors are in our favour and we had nothing to lose by giving it a go.

Edit:

And what has been the most surprising in expats' life? Far from home.

Suzie:

Great question. I think what's dawned on me over time is that it doesn't feel as foreign and as different as you'd think. And so now it's just like home. We might eat slightly different food, we might go to different places on the weekends and travel in different places, but we're still our family doing our things, our traditions in the same way. It's just the location has changed.

Edit:

You decided to shift actually from accounting to teaching.

Suzie:

Yeah.

Edit:

How was that, this journey? And what was the most difficult part in retraining?

Suzie:

I was just so lucky to have the opportunity to make this change. When we moved to Singapore, I had been working as an accountant and I decided to stop working at the time we moved to help my family settle in. And I also wasn't sure how it would work getting a job in Singapore as a trailing spouse. Um, so I didn't work, and for the first year that was fine. I helped my family settle in, but I began to get a bit bored. I felt the pressure of always having to uh find something to do in the day or people to go for coffee with. And I realized I need I need more than this. My children are fine at school, my husband's settled, I've made some friends, I'm ready for more. And so one day I just wandered into school and I said, I'm very up for volunteering anytime, just let me know. And somebody working in the school office said, send in your CV. And I said, Well, I mean, I can, but it's just an accountant's CV with a little bit of girl guiding on the side there in my spare time. And so I did. And before I knew it, I was working as a classroom assistant in kindergarten on a temporary contract, and it just evolved over the years. As a classroom assistant, I realised I loved my job. I was maybe a little bit good at it, good enough to be kept on. And I just started to feel that amazing feeling of doing something every day that you really enjoy. And I had never felt that in my previous career. I had enjoyed aspects of being an accountant, especially the people I worked with, the values of the organisations I worked for, but I couldn't truly say I just loved being at work. As a classroom assistant, I didn't have any formal teaching qualifications, but I was given so much experience working across the early years up to year two. And then the opportunity came up to apply to take a postgraduate qualification through a university in the UK, but doing my teaching placement in Singapore at Nexus International School where I was already working. And it was as if all the pieces just fell into place. So I took the opportunity, and it was a very hard year of working, studying, completing, teaching practice. Um, but but I saw it through. I had some amazing mentors and cheerleaders along the way. In fact, I probably wouldn't have even applied if one or two people hadn't said you would make an amazing teacher, and that was just what I needed to give me the confidence to give it a go.

Edit:

It seems that it was a it was an easy shift as you were talking about it, but I suppose it wasn't that easy, right?

Suzie:

Do you know it just happened so quickly? It felt so right that uh there wasn't a particular challenge. I mean, of course, there were bits that were hard in the course, um, but only the same as anybody else would find studying and doing academic writing after so many years of not doing that hard. So um yeah, probably I felt bad during the school holidays when I had to spend a lot of time writing like a dissertation, and I felt guilty not spending the time with my children. That might have been the hardest part. And as mums we know, the the guilt is always there when we're trying to decide how to spend our time.

Edit:

You're a working mum, and uh you have a hobby as well, which has become a rather professional how to say, not a hobby, but a passion.

Suzie:

Yeah.

Edit:

We're gonna talk about it later. But how do you juggle um day by day? I think Do you have to juggle day by day?

Suzie:

I do have to juggle constantly. Um, but um there are a few elements to making it successful for me. The first is just being really organized. I think it's a carryover from my accountant days. I have spreadsheets of things, I have uh sort of lists ongoing and sort of always just looking forward to the next week and the week ahead for my family so I can plan what commitments we have, what food we need to eat on what day, and then what training I can fit around all of that, and of course what's going on at school as well. So, so yeah, being really organized is definitely one of them. The other is that my family is incredibly supportive, and my husband works in a stressful full-time job as well, but he absolutely pulls his weight around at home. He helps me to achieve what I want to achieve, and he is fully behind me, and I can't underestimate the importance of that enough.

Edit:

Can you share any funny story in this uh beautiful chaos that happened to you?

Suzie:

I'm trying to think what I might have written down. Can you remember?

Edit:

Um, that was maybe um you wrote about um a story that happened in a car, maybe that you were listening to some podcast, maybe.

Suzie:

Yes.

Edit:

How was that was that story?

Suzie:

So we had we were piling off somewhere to go in the car as family. I happened to have my 80-year-old father-in-law staying and his partner as well. So in the car with my husband, my kids, and the the senior generation. The last time I'd been in the car, I was alone and I was listening to a podcast. I think it was something to do with the relationships, something that I would only listen to on my own. And this particular episode of the podcast doesn't reflect my general listening, but it it was perhaps of a more intimate nature. And so I'd listened to the podcast great, switched the car off, gone upstairs. When we got back in the car as a family, all belted in, started the car. Of course, the podcast came straight back on, full of language that I didn't want my uh older generation or the younger generation to hear, or even my husband, to be honest. And uh it's amazing how long it feels like it takes to press pause on that thing. And then I realized even the title flashing up on the console in the middle of the car looked a bit, a bit unexpected for the rest of the family, just trying to make it go away. Um, but I mean, we all laughed about it afterwards. My children didn't even notice, and I doubt my father-in-law did, to be honest. It gave me and my husband a chance to have a good conversation about what I was listening to and why.

Edit:

Yeah, embarrassing stories that happens to all of us, right?

Suzie:

Yeah. It's funny though, as you get older, I find things less, you know, mortifying, and I I find they're just an opportunity to laugh.

Edit:

Yeah, exactly.

Suzie:

I get less embarrassed by them.

Edit:

In my intro, I um I introduced uh you as a passionate triathlete as well. Um, how did this journey start and and when? And uh how did you end up actually in this sport? Do you have any sport background from your um childhood?

Suzie:

Not really. Um, and it would be a surprise to any of my PE teachers from primary or secondary school to hear that that um that I was performing at any kind of level in any kind of sport. I've always enjoyed sport and I've always enjoyed giving it a go. And my effort grades always reflected that I tried and I was up for trying anything, but I just wasn't very good at much sports. So I, although I might have played on the girls' football team for a bit, it was more just for the experience. So yeah, I went down the more musical route at school. But just as a sort of a young adult, once I left university, I got a little bit into running, tried some half marathons and things like that, inspired mostly by my husband, who I'd already met at that stage, and he was a bigger runner than me and got me into it. But I still wouldn't have called myself any form of athlete, I was just someone who went running occasionally. And then I had my children and obviously did a little bit of exercise where I could here and there. But I began to realize that people were encouraging me to go out for a run and leave the baby at home because it was good for me to have time out. And really quickly it became, oh, this is a good excuse for me to go and do something else, have some time away from the baby, as lovely as she is, it's exhausting. And I can do something positive for myself as well and feel like I've achieved something else in the day. So I already had a little bit of that running habit when we moved to Singapore when the kids were three and five. Just before we left, my husband had done a couple of trial triathlons in the UK. And although I was watching him swimming in a quarry in a wetsuit, thinking, Oh, that looks awful, there was a little bit of me that watched the women doing it and thought, I could I could do that, I could give it a go. And then we came here where every condo has a 50-metre swimming pool, and it's always good enough weather to go running.

Edit:

And the humidity is unbearable sometimes.

Suzie:

I mean it is, yes. You just get used to that. But um, it was it's safe to go running at five in the morning in the park, and nothing bad's gonna happen to you. So the environment here was just really conducive to it. So I think we've probably lived here about 18 months when I did my first sprint triathlon, which is a shorter distance. And I think I probably came third or something, and I was like, Whoa, here's something I can do.

Edit:

That's an achievement.

Suzie:

I can do. Wow. And alongside the entry to that triathlon was an invitation to join a training session with the company that organizes the triathlon and also has a sort of a training arm as well. So I started going along to swim sessions, and I just thought they were great fun because ever since I was a kid, I hadn't been to something where you're told what to do, and you're there in the pool with friends, and you do it, and you really enjoy it, and then you're done. And I just thought this is this is brilliant. We made more friends, my husband joined. And as you get to know more people in triathlon, your sense of what's normal starts to change. So for me, it was quite extraordinary to do a sprint triathlon when I first did one, and I thought this is the fittest I'll ever be, this is the most I'll ever do. I'm just glad I've completed it. But then I met people who had maybe done an Olympic distance triathlon, which takes more like two and a half hours, and I thought maybe I could aim for that. And then, of course, I met all the people who were doing half Iron Man triathlons and decided to work towards doing one of those. So that was sort of how my journey evolved.

Edit:

How has uh sport um changed your life? I mean, mentally, physically, of course, it's inevitable that probably it changed your body, yeah, even after giving birth to your kids. Yeah. But how did it change you mentally?

Suzie:

It has definitely taught me to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Oh. Um that feeling of sweating constantly in Singapore or just always pushing yourself that bit more. It's it's taught me that I can do things like that and I can do hard things. Uh just this morning I was squeezing in a set on the bike before work, and it was really, really hard. But I, you know, you develop a mental technique of how you're going to get through these hard things, and it might just be, well, I know I can do this for two more minutes, so let's focus on the two more minutes, and then after that, I'll try to see if I can do it for two more minutes. And the sense of achievement when you finish the session and did everything you hoped to is just, you know, I start the day having achieved something I wasn't sure I could before I've even interacted with my family or gone to school yet. And it's it just helps me to feel a balance in life and some achievements for myself that aren't related to my family or career. It's incredible.

Edit:

But can you use these tricks in everyday life as well?

Suzie:

I believe so, yes.

Edit:

Yeah. Would you share us an example?

Suzie:

For just for example, um, thinking at work, tasks that are really large for teachers. We have to write reports. We know they take a really long time. We want to do a really good job of them, we want to reflect the learners that we know so well and really come across, have that come across in our written reports that we write about them twice a year. But it's a big old job. But I know you just have to get started, just like in a training session, and then you just chip away. And you I know that I can't train for a half iron man in a week, and the same way I know I can't train for or I can't write my reports in a week, but I know if I just chip away consistently, I will get it done. And it's I guess having that confidence and that self-belief and knowing how to start something that seems hard.

Edit:

What has been your greatest achievement in the in the triathlon?

Suzie:

I've got two greatest achievements. I hope that's okay. The greatest achievement that I just really treasure and I'm so proud of is starting the triathlon CCA at school and having the opportunity to pass my passion on to learners who might not have otherwise ever tried the sport, especially girls. Um, so the the amount of pride I feel when children who might have only joined the CCA because they're in my class and they'd heard me talk about it and didn't even really know what a triathlon was, when I see them on the start line of a triathlon or you know, running past me, having a great time with their family supporting them, it's it's just the best feeling. That feeling of being able to pass your passion on to someone else or at least give them an opportunity to experience it is indescribable. So that is my greatest achievement for sure. Um second to that, personally, the achievement that um I'm still buzzing from to this day is competing in the World Championships just over just under a year ago in uh in Lake Taupo in New Zealand.

Edit:

Wow, that's an achievement.

Suzie:

It was amazing. So I guess there was the achievement of qualifying for it, which involved having to place very highly in another half iron man triathlon. And I was never sure if I would be able to do it or not, and it depends who else turns up on the day.

Edit:

What are the distances?

Suzie:

Let's clarify them first because it's it's called a 70.3 because it's 70.3 miles, but unfortunately, I think in kilometres. So I'll explain it in uh the metric system. It involves uh 1.9 kilometre swim and then a 90 kilometre bike and then a half marathon, 21.1 kilometre run. So for me, it could take me between five and six hours, depending on the conditions, to complete the whole thing. Um, so it's a long event, and it's not just about swimming, cycling, and running fast. There's a whole mental element to it, and also nutrition elements keep your body going as well. But for that long, you need to eat and drink the right things at the right stage. So it's a it's a big deal.

Edit:

Absolutely, absolutely.

Suzie:

So, yeah, I was lucky enough to win my age group in a race in Malaysia two years ago, and that was enough to get me a slot in the upcoming World Championships at the end of the year. The day itself went, it's second only to my wedding day in terms of best days of my life, it really is. I think just being around all these other amazing women from all over the world. Um, there was a real sense of celebration. There were lots of opportunities to get to know the other athletes who were there. The professional athletes were there too. It was their world championship, so there was that really serious side to the race, and we were racing just after them, so we weren't in the same race, but we were on the course at the same time as them with the helicopters buzzing around and the commentary, and that gave it that extra buzz. The crowds were amazing, the support we got from people standing in their gardens, waving hoses at us because for New Zealand it was a hot day, so they were trying to cool us down, people playing music outside their houses, and just the claps and cheers along the way were incredible. But I think the the way it parallels with our wedding day is the support I felt from everybody I know. So people from school said they were gonna watch it on TV, and others were tracking me on the tracker, and people were calling me from the staff room to wish me luck the day before, and then you know it was just that feeling of wow, everyone's got me here. I like I can't ask for more than this.

Edit:

And can you can you explain the feeling you felt uh when you reached the finish line?

Suzie:

Mostly amazed because they had a person at the finish line waiting for every finisher to basically give them a big hug. Wow, ask them how they were, and then of course, the minute someone asks you how you are and you're emotional, you just start crying. And I cried and I cried for quite a while, and it it wasn't sadness, it wasn't happiness, it was just emotion coming out that I'd had this amazing experience. And the this person sort of chaperones you into the finisher's tent, gets you whatever you need to eat or drink, and doesn't leave you till they know that you're you're fine and you're gonna be able to walk out the other end. So even that in itself, I'd never experienced before in a triathlon. And the day after, I was just a bit sad that it was over. Oh, okay. Which is different from other triathlons where you're thinking, oh, that was hard. Now I've got to recover and get back to normal life again. I was just this time, I was just sort of in awe of the day I'd had and the experience I'd had. It was incredible.

Edit:

But I'm pretty sure you set already uh another uh goal.

Suzie:

Well, unfortunately, uh in the months leading up to sort of between qualifying and actually going to the world championships, I developed some pain in my foot. Oh, okay. And um it got a bit frustrating. It didn't go away after a period of not running at all and resting. I saw an osteopath, a doctor, um, a specialist sports doctor, um, and eventually started seeing a physiotherapist who I'm still working with. Um and it turned out it was planty fasciitis, um, which is caused by repetitive strain and not having strong enough muscles in my legs and my glutes to kind of sustain that strain. So it puts a lot of pressure on a certain uh fascia in your that joins your calf to your foot. And so it was there was a real pressure to go to the world championships and be able to run the half marathon. And I ended up having a steroid injection in my foot. I felt a bit like a professional footballer just to alleviate the pain so that I could compete. And then since then I've really had to strip my running back to nearly zero and build it up very, very gradually. So I had signed up for some short events at the start of this year and I wasn't able to compete in some of them. Um, but in two weeks' time I'll be competing in an Olympic distance triathlon, which will be the longest one for me this year, and I'm just really excited to be back competing again.

Edit:

Good luck for that then.

Suzie:

Thank you.

Edit:

Where will it be?

Suzie:

Um where

Edit:

Where?

Suzie:

In Bintan.

Edit:

Oh, in Bintan.

Suzie:

Yeah, so not too far from here. I'm hoping the sea might be a bit clearer than it is when you swim in the sea here, and it should just be a lovely weekend away.

Edit:

Who helps you in this uh in this uh sport journey in Triathlon? You mentioned that your husband is also um doing the same sport.

Suzie:

Yeah. It really is him that helps me because he completely understands what I'm doing and why I do it. Um, so there's no resentment um about me leaving the house to go for a run because he knows he needs to do the same the next day. Um we it's a bit of a juggle for us. We don't have a helper, we don't have anyone to look after our kids, so we can never enter the same triathlon because then there'd be no one to look after our kids. So we tend to take it in turns with our triathlons. Um but even that is lovely because I get to support him, he gets to support me. Um, so yeah, I'm incredibly lucky to have a partner who enjoys the same passion as me. And it actually gives us something to talk about other than our children, which I find can be a bit of a problem sometimes, where you get some time together finally alone, and all you want to talk about is your children. At least we have something else.

Edit:

How has um um being an athlete and coach enriched your relationship with your own kids and with the students at school?

Suzie:

Being an athlete and the relationship with my own kids is an interesting one, and I'd be I would like to hear what they would say about me being an athlete because

Edit:

What would they say?

Suzie:

Well, I'm I wonder. I think they both they know it's something that's very important to me, and I think that again I talk from my perspective, I think it sets them a good example that you can have passions in life and you can go for them, even at the advanced age of in your 40s. Um I think um it's it's great to see that you can have a family, you can have work, and you can still do something that you really enjoy as well, and you can make time for it. But I guess being someone who has to be organized with their time and tries to fit in training every day, it means I'm quite organised and intentional about the time I spend with my children as well, because I'm not always there. It might be kids, while you're eating your dinner, I'm popping down for a quick swim, but afterwards we'll make sure we spend some time together. So we have to be quite intentional about it. But that might be a good thing, I don't know. As for teaching at school, I think the learners like to hear about the triathlons that I do, and I like to hear about what they do as well. And I think it's really nice to be able to connect with them about a hobby that I have that's a sport, which is something I have in in common with a lot of them. They might be into their their football or whatever they're into, but it's still we can all talk about sport that we enjoy doing. So I think it helps them to relate to me a little more.

Edit:

Um but it could have been any sports, I think, or any hobby, right? It's what they see is your passion about that and your that you are motivated in something that you really like.

Suzie:

Exactly. So, and often, you know, if we're trying to give an example of uh a time we've had to be resilient, then I might use a a time from my personal experience where I might talk about being on the start line of a triathlon and looking at the sea and thinking it looks a bit scary, but diving in anyway and trusting my preparation, things like that, I guess.

Edit:

But do you usually talk about the ups and downs as well of this uh this sport or any other sport you would do for the kids?

Suzie:

For sure, for sure. Something that's really important to me and my teaching is um developing a growth mindset in the children I work with. And for them to develop a growth mindset, I think they have to see others displaying it. So displaying it myself by talking about failures I've had, times when things haven't gone so well, and how I've shown resilience in bouncing back from them, how I've learned from my mistakes and grown from my mistakes, I think can only be a good thing whether I'm talking about the spelling of what I'm writing on the board in a vocabulary lesson, or whether I'm talking about experiences I've had in sports.

Edit:

I think you also learn from your um your own mistakes and failures and you can step over them quite easily. Isn't is it the truth?

Suzie:

I think so, yeah. I think um perhaps learning a sport later in life, you know, it's it's good to carry on learning uh whatever whatever age and stage you are, and perhaps now I'm learning that I can embrace the mistakes and step over them, and they're not the end of the world, and they're just part of a journey and part of a process. That's uh something I I can do more now than when I was at school.

Edit:

Do you have any advice or takeaway for for those mums who who are just considering about starting something new in their life, maybe in their 30s or in their uh 40s? Um is it worth starting anything new in that age with family?

Suzie:

Yeah, don't be afraid to give it a go. You have you have space in your life to do more than you think. Um, but there are there are always bits of time you can find for yourself to do something that's important to you. And I think making that time to do something that you're interested in or just want to try is really important for your own personal growth and sense of satisfaction in life. Yeah, and just to to have that balance in life. I'm I'm really lucky that I can, and I hope other people can can find their way too. It might not look like mine does, but to have something you're passionate about and hopefully have some support from your family to pursue it. Um I I think it makes me a more balanced person so that when I come to work, I'm fully focused on work. When I come to family, I'm fully focused on family. Yeah.

Edit:

Do you have to say no to anything? Um because as I'm listening to you, it looks to me that uh you have more than 24 hours a day.

Suzie:

Maybe I say no to uh having lions at the weekend. Okay. Um, it's pretty common that we're our whole family is up pretty early nearly every day of the week. But that's fine. It's our routine, it's what we're used to, it's our it's our body clock. Um I find it a little hard sometimes when I want to do other things like socializing in the evenings with friends. And I might even say to myself, I don't have to do training tomorrow, but it's just so ingrained in me to get up early and get out that I invariably do end up doing it and I and I get tired, or I let the worry of that perhaps make me leave a little earlier than I'd have liked to, go home, get into bed earlier than I'd have liked to. So it's probably made me a bit more boring and sensible in some ways. But I I think I get to do most things I would like to do. It's not being bored and boring, right? It's predictability. Predictability and routine, um, feeling that need to stick to the routine. Um, you know, if you get up late in a day, maybe then you're quite tired, you don't eat the breakfast you normally would because you're not really thinking straight, you get to school and you've not done anything for yourself in the day. Um, so I guess there's always that thing in my mind. If I've done something first thing for me, no one can take that from me, no matter how my day goes.

Edit:

Um, is there any uh practical thing, a book, a podcast, or a song that motivates you?

Suzie:

In general, podcasts are my go-to. A lot of my training is done on my own, whether it's swimming, biking, or running. And I have headphones that work for any of those three scenarios. And it's often the thing, the little extra thing that I need to get me out the door. So I'll always plan what I'm going to do the day before. So tonight I'll be planning tomorrow evening swim session. And I'll one of the things I'll do is write out the swim set that I plan to do and get my swimming clothes out. But the thing I'll do to help build excitement is have a browse of my favourite podcasts and make sure I've got one downloaded and ready to go. So really, when I'm at home tomorrow, I've just cooked dinner for the kids and I'm going, oh, can I be bothered to go to the pool? I'm really thinking, no, I really want to hear this podcast and off I go. I listen to a real variety of podcasts from following professional triathletes to parenting podcasts to some comedy podcasts, which causes a problem in the swimming pool. If there's anything too funny, you end up swallowing water if you try and laugh. But um podcasts in general have been great for me. I do sometimes listen to music, but it's for some reason it's the podcast that can I can just really enjoy listening to as I'm doing any of the three disciplines.

Edit:

Is there any mantra for you, um, especially at the beginning of a big race, for example? Or maybe you might use it in everyday life when there is a stressful situation, even at uh at school, at your workplace?

Suzie:

There's something that I work on with the learners quite often, um, and it's a phrase we have called be the pond. So we've we're a pond, our pond is full of fish that are different emotions. And sometimes it might be the angry fish that's swimming around, sometimes it might be the happy fish, sometimes it might be the really nervous fish. But as long as we stay as the pond and we acknowledge those emotions and we see it as just a part of who we are, and it's not us right now, then you're able to take that step back and evaluate the emotions you're feeling and um sort of yeah, take it from there. So be the pond is a mantra I say to the learners quite often, and it's something I also say to myself.

Edit:

Have you received a small act of kindness for someone in your community that um made a lasting, lasting impact in your life?

Suzie:

People are kind to me all the time. I can't think of a particular one that sticks out, but um whether it's um just going the extra mile to help me with something that's happened at school that maybe shouldn't fall onto their shoulders, but they do it anyway.

Edit:

But maybe it's a mirror, no? That's what they see you see in them.

Suzie:

Possibly, possibly, I don't know. But I I see kindness all the time. People are constantly kind, whether they're bringing in some snacks to share with the team to brighten your day, whether they're um, I don't know, picking up some stuff on the floor that they see in your classroom and putting it away. I'm always grateful for that. So yeah, there's there's kindness everywhere, and it's something I really like to help the children I work with to notice as well. It's too easy to feel like the world's on top of you. But if you look around, people are being kind all the time.

Edit:

Looking ahead, uh, what are your hopes uh for your children and for your students as they watch your journey, even in private life, even in your sport life unfold?

Suzie:

My hope is that they will find their thing, whatever their thing is. Um, my daughter's made it very clear she's not at all interested in triathlon. And that's absolutely fine. And it must be really annoying being in a family where your mum, your dad, and your brother are really into a sport and you're not. Um, but I I don't want her to be into triathlon, I want her to be what she wants to be into. So as long as I can see her pursuing and enjoying a passion, it's not about achievement, but it's about giving it a go, not giving up when it gets hard and hopefully finding some joy from from it, then that's what I want. Same, same for my son who has decided he'd like to be a triathlete. He's already experienced some bumps on his road to uh competing and competing at a level he would like. But again, I'd it's not important to me whether he wins a triathlon or not. The only time that would be important is if I can see that he's feeling uh reward for the effort he puts in. I just want him to give it a go and enjoy it. And the minute that something's not enjoyable, even after you've tried and you've tried, then I'm I'm happy to support them in not following that passion and doing something else. Life's too short to pursue things that that aren't enjoyable to us in some way.

Edit:

Well, that's a good takeaway, absolutely, for everyone. Um, my last question is what's your um next challenge in your life? You mentioned that you're gonna have um uh competition very soon, but this is your sport life. But let's talk about your private life. What's your next challenge?

Suzie:

Oh, such a great question. I think um the next thing coming up on the radar for us as parents is our children transitioning from being children in primary school to teenagers in secondary school. And we're already getting a taste of that from my daughter who's just about to turn 13. And I can see, yes, they don't need me as much in a physical way or doing things for them, but there are many other challenges ahead for us in terms of how we raise our children with the values that we want them to have in a world that is so vastly different from the one we grew up in. Um, you know, how we help them to choose careers that probably haven't even been invented yet because the jobs don't exist yet, because the world will have changed so much. That is a big challenge and not one I can prepare for as easily as a triathlon, but one that's definitely on our minds.

Edit:

But I suppose your work um assists you in that or might assist you in that because you can see other children as well growing up.

Suzie:

For sure. Um, and I have amazing colleagues who have you know lots of experience in working with children of different ages, and it it's great to have those colleagues, some of whom are also parents, to bounce ideas off, not just professionally, but personally as well. So it's yeah, it's a really supportive environment for that.

Edit:

Thank you so much for the conversation, Suzie. I'm so glad that you you could make it to be here. Yeah, no, thank you for having me. It's been lovely. Thanks. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Juggleverse. Suzie's journey reminds us all of the power of embracing change, carving out of time for ourselves, and sharing laughter along the way. If this conversation resonated, please consider liking, subscribing, and sharing your own stories or questions in the comments. Your participation helps build a warm, encouraging community where we all learn and grow together. Until next time, keep laughing, keep juggling, and keep shining brightly. Remember, you are never alone on this journey.