#101 The Journey From Burnout to a Dream Life of Success, Happiness and Balance with Suzanne Sheridan

0:00
Welcome to the 360 leadership podcast, the top rated show for driven women in senior leadership with new episodes released every Wednesday. I’m your host, Lucy Gernon, a multi award winning executive coach for women leaders and the founder of 360. Leaders Club exclusive high level membership for career driven family orientated women just like you. I created the 360 leadership podcast to share practical tips, actionable step by step strategies and inspiring stories to support you to unlock the power and belief within to accelerate your impact and potential so you can build a life filled with success, balance and happiness. So are you ready to achieve 360 degree success? No more excuses. No more waiting. Your time is now. Hi there and welcome back to another episode of the 360 leadership Podcast. Today I am delighted to be joined by a very, very special guest. Her name is Suzanne Sheridan. Suzanne is the VP of commercial operations in Thermo Fisher Scientific, who specializes in laboratory consumables and equipment. She’s an Irish working mom of two girls, she leads up the commercial organization and is basically one of the nicest most smartest two people that I’ve ever had the pleasure of coming across. She is responsible for a team of 160 people and has been very fortunate to have a long and successful career in Thermo Fisher Scientific, where she joined the company in 2007, when they set up a greenfield site in Ireland to current day where she is now she had the opportunity to relocate with the company to the US and spent almost 50% of her career in the US. Her girls are very important to her and her husband, her girls are four and six right now. And they made a decision to move back to Ireland because they wanted to help their children grew up in Europe. And so they’re back in Ireland since last June. Then not only that, but Suzanne is is a past and current client of mine. And I thought it would be really good for her to come on the podcast because Suzanne is at an executive level. And Suzanne is a mother of three and is a mother of two. And this whole debate comes up all the time about can women have it all and Suzanne has found a way to recover from burnout to be in a space where she truly has literally created her dream career and life. So Suzanne, you are very welcome to the podcast today. How are you?

2:36
Well, I’m blushing after that introduction, Lucy, it’s so good to see you good to spend time with you. Yeah, I almost didn’t recognize myself when you were going through that. So thank you very kind,

2:46
but it’s not so funny. Like when you write out like I obviously would have asked you for an introduction and like I pulled bits from your profile and stuff. And I think sometimes as women, we forget how much we’ve done. Like, is that what was coming up for you when I was reading that out?

3:03
Yeah, I mean, you you think back to, you know, when you start your career, and then the journey that you take to where you are now. Yeah, you just, if I think back to the start, I would never have envisaged where I am today. And yeah, so it was it was a lovely introduction. Thank you.

3:22
You’re so welcome. You’re so welcome. Okay, so let’s just rewind. So I suppose right now you are like living your dream life. So let’s just talk about that first where you’re at right now.

3:35
So I as you mentioned, I am living at actually living just outside Nice. So I moved back to Ireland last June. And I basically was I mean I we can we can talk through, I guess the the journey to where to where I am now. So I experienced burnout actually twice, right. So 13 years apart. And I genuinely thought when it happened once that I had learned enough about the warning signs, etc. But I didn’t which led me to really an incredible journey over the last year, which is to steal your mantra, it really is around. How do you get success, balance and happiness, and which I’ve achieved now but it’s been it’s been a journey. So if I take a step back and just like talk about what burnout is because, you know, not everybody knows what burnout is even in even in this day and age, but it’s basically it has been categorized as a syndrome and it’s chronic workplace stress that is just not managed successfully. And I first experienced it in 2010 when there was a lot less known about it, so I really didn’t know what was going on. I Am I was doing my Masters while working, I’d received a promotion at work. And between work and study, the only time that I took off was about two to three hours on a Sunday evening. I wasn’t exercising, I wasn’t eating well, sleeping well. And eventually it led to a complete state of burnout. Where I was feeling exhausted, I was I had extreme negativity, I wasn’t efficient in my in my job. And I got to the stage where I needed to take five weeks at a work and postpone my masters to recover from from burnout. So that that was the first time and I thought, I’ve learned so much going through that that it would never happen again. But if I fast forward 13 years to last year, life, life had changed dramatically, right. In that period of time, I was married, I had spent eight years in the US I was promoted to vice president level, I have two amazing daughters. And life was really good. We made the decision to move the girls to Ireland. So in January 2022, I started a new role, which was a promotion to a part of the business that was new to me, the role had European responsibility. And I basically spent six months getting up between 230 and 330, working European Time. And I it affected my, my my entire life. Because basically, in the meantime, I was packing up my life in the US with to two small kids. And I just really was putting all this pressure on myself. And from a work perspective, I historically have always placed so much worth around my career success. And I told I was Superwoman despite everyone around me telling me, I needed to be careful with the crazy hours I was working. It wasn’t my company that was asking me to do this. It wasn’t my boss, who was asking me to do this. They’re both incredibly supportive. But it was it was me. And it was me placing myself work on my career, and that I had to do better, I have to do more. So I did this for six months, moved back to Ireland, I was definitely experiencing feelings of burnout, and which is when I reached out to you. And at that time, I thought I’ll get over it, it’ll be fine. So we had an initial conversation. And then I said, I can figure this out. I’ve gone through it before. But it really came to a head in October, where I needed to take time out of work to recover. Because I was neglecting everything in my life. I wasn’t spending time with my family, or being present with my kids or my husband, I wasn’t exercising, I wasn’t sleeping. And, and in the end, I you know, family is the most important thing to me, and I’ve gotten my priorities completely wrong. So that’s really, you know, the catalyst to the last year. And, um, what I’ve had to do to get to where I am now.

8:05
Thank you for sharing that, like so openly and honestly, because I think so often, you know, especially women who are looking up to women at your level, think that you have it all together, and everything is fine. And, and a lot of the time like it’s not because there’s there’s a lot of pressure, but you mentioned something there, which is something I would see as well as a common denominator is it’s not necessarily your company putting pressure on you or your boss, the pressure is coming from yourself. So I think that was really powerful. And so how did you come to that realization?

8:39
Yeah, so the first thing I mean I’ve had to do anything is that a lot of them have been tools and strategies that you’ve helped me with. But the first thing I had to do was completely reframe my mindset. So my mindset was, I put a direct linear correlation between the number of hours worked on the success rather than productivity and results. So that that was the first thing was literally I was measuring hours equals success, and that was completely wrong. And I told I have to work every night, I worked weekends. And I told I was sacrificing family time to provide my kids with everything they could possibly want. Rather than realizing actually, all they wanted was time with me, which I wasn’t doing. And and you know what, I think probably one of the biggest things that I had to do was really layout what my vision was for the year. And as you know, I created a vision board, which a lot of people would say is like, a bit a bit on the lunatic side. But anyway, the vision board basically and I have it here behind me It covers the things that I wanted to achieve professionally and personally. So it has Things like a new house son, and I’m sitting in my new house right now Drew, just moved in last weekend, it has someone finishing a marathon on it, I’m running double a marathon and Sunday. It has lots of family time, it has success, teamwork. And I really strongly believe that if you plan you will achieve. But if you don’t plan, then life ends up passing you by. And you realize, actually, I didn’t do all of the things I wanted to do. So planning is really important to me now. And I use the head plan journal, anyone who doesn’t have it, get it. It’s amazing. So I write down every week, what do I want to achieve from a work and a personal perspective? So what do I want to achieve in life for that week, and then I put in plan in place, you know, strategic time and, and then I’ve also taken South care to the absolute extreme, to make sure that I’m the best version of myself to the, to the people that matter most. So my husband has said, you’ve got the other extreme now, so it’s all good.

11:04
But look at their like, look at the results. So like I am honestly like as your coach, I am honestly, you know, this, I get, I am so proud of you for all the work you’ve put in because I remember, like, for me, it’s so rewarding to see you sit in the house and to know you’re running the marathon this weekend, and all of those things, because I was with you on that journey. When you know, I remember I told you about the vision board, and you were quite open to it actually. People are skeptical, you know, because it sounds a bit woowoo. But it’s actually backed by science that when we have you know, images on a board, our brains have a process called Value tagging. And we place more value on images. And the more we see the images, the more we aligned to try to do I have a vision board myself every year. So I know that’s been a very, very important component for you. And you are literally sitting in the home, like you’ve manifested your home, you’ve manifested everything because of I suppose you took you took it seriously, didn’t really tell you when we work together, you were like I’m making changes. So tell me like, why couldn’t you have done this by yourself? Or do you think you could have done it by yourself actually,

12:17
not not to the level that I feel I’ve I’ve come over the last year, I probably could have recovered. Ultimately, I would have recovered from from burnout, I would have recovered from that. But it could have happened again. And now I’m in a place where it definitely won’t happen again, because I have all of the tools and strategies that I need. I didn’t have those tools. Right. When I suffered from burnout and 2010. I was reading books on burnout, it really wasn’t as commonly known what it was. But honestly, you know, having you as a coach, and then now being part of the 360 Leadership Club, where you actually connect with like minded women, that that has really been like, the the game changer for me. And then obviously, putting in the work, right? It doesn’t mean it doesn’t just it doesn’t just happen.

13:13
Yeah, amazing. Um, so what tools so you said there, you said that you didn’t have the tools and strategies in 2010 that you do that you have now. So I know you’re a big fan of a lot of the productivity tools that I would have kind of taught you and stuff. So talk to tell people what worked for you in terms of managing your workload in particular.

13:33
So effectively, I mean, there’s a number of things. So I’m much better at delegation. I always taught that I had to be involved in every part of the business and know exactly what was going on. So that if somebody asked me a question, I knew I knew the answer straightaway. And I discovered when I had to take time out of work, actually that I knew I had an amazing team, but you see it more when you’re out of work, and people really step up and like take over and lead in your absence. So I tried to delegate a lot, a lot more. I have I use the CEO power hours, as you know, right? Where I take out an hour every month and define what do I want to achieve? What is my strategy? And have I achieved my goals the previous month? What do I need to do to change that for the following month? And I really do listen to my body as well. When before this, I completely ignore the symbol or the signs where, you know if I was if I was feeling exhausted, I’ve worked through it. Whereas now if I feel tired, I’ll take a break. I’ll go for a walk because ultimately I’m not productive, in that in that space. So I need to do something different. And so I do that a lot. Planning has been the key though I am an Uber Uber planner now. And I really plan my week so that at the end of the week, I feel I’ve accomplished a lot, not because I’ve done 100 things, but I’ve done three things that are really important for the business well, and so they’re just, they’re just some of the things I do listen to your podcast religiously. Every week, I will, I will say that, and I’ve gotten a lot of tips from that as well.

15:34
Amazing. And so how did you shift your mindset? So again, it you know, I, I am asked all the time for tips and tools and all of that, but you and I both know that unless you are in the right mindset, none of those tools are going to land because you know, you were on the hamster wheel, you had beliefs that you had to know everything you had to have all the answers, you have to say yes to things you wanted to say no to. You said there was a direct correlation between your you know, success and hours worked and all these things. And so the only thing that’s changed with anything really is how you’re thinking about paying. So before I dig into the tools, just talk to me about the mindset shifts, because I know we would have done work on like saboteurs and all those kinds of things. So talk about the mindset shifts that you had to go through first.

16:23
Yeah, so I have, the first thing I had to do was to really dig deep in terms of why I had that mindset, and why I was placing so much of my self worth on work. And it really came down to I, I wanted to make sure that I was financially secure like that, that was ultimately my my biggest driver that I really wanted financial security and for my, my family, never to one for anything. But I was sacrificing so much to get there. And I ended up realizing that actually, that wasn’t the most important thing to I always talk career was the most important thing to me. But when I did, we went through the value exercise, right? And what truly do you value most. And when we went when I went through that I realized it was actually it was family. And what I was doing was in complete contradiction to what I value the most. So not spending time with them. And then being the most important thing without a shadow was just completely floored. So once I have that realization, i i Now I’m very much much more present with my family. So I now spend I have breakfast with my kids, we have a chat in the morning before they go off to school. And I don’t work weekends, never never worked weekends now unless there’s an absolute catastrophic emergency, which thankfully, you know, there’s been one this year, right, but I don’t do that anymore. And I truly am present when I’m with when I’m with my family. And I switch off in the evenings when I need to make sometimes after the bath bomb, obviously. But when I’m there, I’m there.

18:27
Oh my gosh, like this is why I do what I do. I could actually cry because literally, like, it sounds like talk to me that what’s different in your home life, what’s different for your family and your children, your husband, since you’ve gone through this transformation.

18:43
They, they’ve I mean, they’ve noticed a huge, huge difference. Because I wasn’t I was there, but I lost them there. Right? So at times, even when I was there, I was thinking about all of the emails I have to do or the project that I didn’t get finished or something like that. So although even when I was present, I wasn’t present. And so they’ve noticed a a complete shift. And I even said to my husband this morning, I was like Oh, I’m doing a podcast and I’m burnt out today and he was like I’m really proud of you because you know you’re completely different person to the person you were a year ago and if you can help other people that’s great. So that’s that’s all I’m really looking for is if I can help someone else avoid burnout then this it’s all worth it right?

19:38
Absolutely. Absolutely. You’re off I just love it and talk to me that like walked is different in work for you. Like have your team notice a difference or like what’s kind of different what’s happened in work because I remember sorry, now back up a bit. I remember like obviously one of the biggest fears that you had if it’s okay that you share and don’t worry I won’t be too deep or anything and was around like, I hear to a lot of own getting off the hamster wheel if I if I don’t work the hours or if I’m not if I don’t know everything, I’m gonna drop a ball and something bad is gonna happen. And now it sounds like you’re being really strategic what you’re tying, you’re taking a step back you’re planning planning has become super important which is the key to everything is getting off the hamster wheel. So how How did everything pan out and work?

20:24
I loved my job. And I didn’t love my job before because I was I was devoting just too much time and it was it was just soaking all of my energy. I love my job now I am I’ve got a great team, I’m, I wake up every day, I enjoy going to work. I am definitely you know, I’m getting positive feedback in terms of the the work that we’re doing. And yeah, it’s just it’s night and day from from the way that it was because I’ve actually taking the time out to make better decisions rather than, as you said on that hamster wheel just like firefighting all the time. Now I basically take the time as that I need to make the right decisions. I’m so mean, like, like all of us, right? There’s, there’s still areas of opportunity that I have that everybody has, but at least I’m present enough to know what they are and, and work through them.

21:34
And so how do you like how do you actually carve out the time to be? So I know, obviously you so first of all, we work together, obviously one to one, and then you’ve been in 360 leaders club since since the start, which is amazing. So how was that supporting you to kind of stay on the right track.

21:51
So first of all with with 360 leaders club, and we went on this amazing retreat, as you know, right, and spending time with other women at similar levels within other organizations that have exactly the same struggles and exactly the same juggling and balancing act between family and career was really game changing, because we just had so much in common, and we’re in different companies. So you can you can share openly, right in terms of what your challenges are. And we’ve helped each other we’ve gone to networking events together. And we actually I organized a night away, we had a September with the other the other ladies so we could spend some, you know, downtime with like minded women. And as someone who had moved back from the States, I didn’t really have that kind of a network in Ireland, I had my friends, obviously, from from school and all of that, but I didn’t have kind of more of a professional network, which, which I definitely have more of that though.

23:05
Oh, I love that. And I just love seeing the camaraderie with you or with you all as well. Because obviously, like we you know, we have our coaching calls every month, and you got to catch up and you got to, you know, openly share challenges. So like, how, how do the, I suppose how does the membership support you, every single month on a month on month kind of basis with our guests and all that kind of stuff, too.

23:27
So, for me, I had one of the other things that I neglected right, I mentioned in 2010, I postponed my masters and I’d really neglected actually, professional develop professional and personal development for a year is like all I was focused on was, was effectively my job. And now I care about that time every month to focus on me and the guest speakers are always relevant and that the topics are always relevant to some aspect of your role and your life. So I really enjoy those and then having that time to also bounce ideas off people or if you’ve got a challenge that you’ve got, you know that you have that opportunity to actually bounce it off people has been has been really helpful.

24:20
Yeah, amazing. Unlike you just you wouldn’t have that network either really and work because a lot of the women in the group are obviously working in a lot of them are in more male dominated environments. And so what’s like, how does it feel knowing that you have that community when the shit hits the fan and work?

24:38
It’s it’s great to know I mean, there’s people in the group that if I had a major issue in work, I know that I could pick up the phone and bounce ideas off them and and I get great advice and understanding so yeah, it’s been it’s been it’s been great.

24:59
Yeah. Brilliant, brilliant. Okay, so just to kind of go off that topic a little bit for a second, I wanted to ask you about women who are listening to the podcast who want to strive for those more senior roles who want to strive for that executive level. But they are a lot of women don’t necessarily want to do that, because they see or think it’s really challenging, or they think that they don’t have the skill set, or they think this and the thing that what would you what advice would you give to women who want to get to that your level?

25:35
I would say you, you can absolutely do whatever you want to do. So I, I actually pulled that. Because when I started out in my career, it was much more male dominated than it is now. And actually, a lot of the senior leaders that were female, did have to sacrifice family for their career. And I did go through a stage where I thought, you know, I don’t know with like family is in my future, because I was really career oriented. And I didn’t know if that was going to fit into into my life. And if I could have it all, but you absolutely can I so I have two amazing, amazing daughters, who are my world, I’ve got an amazingly supportive husband. And I, you can absolutely have it all. I mean, I spend all my weekends having having fun with friends family, I have joined a running club, which I go to religiously, and I’m also successful in my career, and I plan to continue to be successful in my career, and I plan to continue to progress. And like that’s not going to stop. And I don’t believe that I need to sacrifice. My, what’s valuable to me to have a career because I think you can have it all. And I think it’s really important. When I think about having two daughters, like I want them to see me as a role model. And I don’t like it’s I’m not a good role model, if all I’m doing is working, like that’s not sending the right message to them. And so, you know, that’s, that’s super important to me. I would recommend to anybody that you do coaching, I mean, not just saying that, because I’m on I’m on here, but you know, having someone that can really help you reframe how you’re thinking about things, that is, you know, more neutral than a friend or family really, really does help. And yeah, if you if you reframe your mindset, I think you could do anything.

27:47
Yeah. Oh, my God, amazing. And it’s so funny like, because obviously, I’m a coach, and I support you, but like, I have two quarters, one for our mindset, mindfulness, and one is like a business mentor. And I will always invest now in coaching. It’s like, I’ve got the book, but I didn’t realize it was a thing. Like I didn’t even know, I would never have considered coaching when I worked in corporate because I kind of thought it was like, I didn’t know for for C level executives and like, who am I to have a coach, but now I’m like, God, if I had just known that it was available to me when I was back there. Like I just wonder what could have been different. So talk to me about like, your what you think about that?

28:28
Yeah, so I was that. I mean, I was definitely the same I would have never considered. Well, first of all, I never would have considered investing in myself. Which that’s what it is, right? It’s an investment in your in yourself, I would have, I would have never considered that. And, yeah, it’s it’s, I mean, the, for me, it’s just been a game changer to know that it’s okay to invest in yourself. And actually, you should invest in yourself. Because if you can be a better version of yourself and be happier than then then why not invest in yourself. So yeah, I would I would recommend that everyone. Everyone should try it. For sure.

29:15
Yeah. I’m like, how did you get over that mindset block because again, I remember my very first coach I ever worked with, I just remember like, working with her. And she told me like how much it was, and I nearly fell off the chair. And I was a bit like, oh my god, I could never invest that myself. But it was actually my What was so funny was actually my husband that talked me into it. I think he was so sick of me trying to figure it out by myself. He was like you just whatever you need to pay to get yourself sorted. Just do it. And since that time, it’s so funny like now I’ll invest higher and higher and higher every single time I work with someone because I know. One thing I’ve learned is like the more you invest, the more money you invest, the more you’re invested in the results. And so I just think for me, that’s been really powerful. What do you think?

30:05
Yeah. So I, we connected right last July. And it was? No, it was earlier than that. But I know we started working together last July. And when we first met, and we talked through it, and then, you know, we went, we went through the costs, and I was like, no, like, I just can’t justify that. I mean, I need to use that money for for other things, I need to put it away for the kids college education, or I need to do something else with that. And then it just really got to a head where I realized that if I didn’t do something different, then I was not going to be able to continue on the I would definitely wasn’t able to continue on the path that I was on write that something had to change. And I also I mean, I was at a stage where I was thinking, do I need to take a step back in my career? Because it’s not possible to have it all. So I was like working through financially, if I have to take a step back then, like, how can I justify spending this money on coaching? And it had the complete reverse effect, right, so I just signed up, I went through the program. And now I am accelerating my career, rather than taking a step back. So if you invest in yourself, and you spend money on yourself, you will make sure that you, you get value out of that.

31:38
Exactly, yeah, I absolutely love that. Because that is the truth. That is, you know, so often, and I would have been the same we see it as a cost. But it’s actually like, what’s the cost of not doing anything? It’s usually far greater than and like, for me, it’s it’s always like, when I invest when I first started, I was like, oh my god, I can’t do what I just when I when I see, can I just like pay it monthly, but actually, no, I’ve much prefer like, I just invest, it’s done. It’s and then I’m all in. I’m all in there, I’m getting the value. So I love that you’re saying the same thing. So I’m conscious we’ve been on for a while I am just what I’m trying to think of I covered everything with you. So we talked about burnout and your you we’ve talked about your journey. We’ve talked about the tools we talked about how you know how you got to the level you’re at, and and that kind of thing. And I know that you’re a massive advocate for coaching, which is FOB. And so now just tell me like, if there’s anyone listening right now, who is feeling like they’re like you were you were on the hamster wheel and you’re they’re about to burn out, or they think they’re close to burnout, or they just don’t see a way out of their current situation. What would you say? What, what advice would you give them.

32:53
So I, if there’s anyone out there that’s listening, right? That is feeling burnt out or close to burnout, I would say there is absolutely a path for you to get out of this. And you can get to a much better place. If you had said to me a year ago, that I would feel that I’ve got success, balance and happiness, I would have said you’re crazy because I was really feeling completely negative and totally burnt out, reach out and get get some help. Right. Like, that’s the most important thing, whether it’s a whether it’s a coach, if you’re if you’ve gone really extreme, obviously, like go and go and see your doctor. But there is absolutely a way for you to feel better, and that you can have it all. And if I can help anybody, you know, ping Lucy, she can give you my contact details. I’m happy to speak to anyone, and and provide advice from from what I’ve gone through myself.

33:56
Oh, amazing. I think that’s so important is you know, reach out for support. It doesn’t have to be, you know, you might not need a coach. But you know, even talking to your partner or talking to your best friend or even just knowing that you don’t have to bear this burden all by yourself. Like that can be so so powerful. And then obviously if you’re at the stage where you’re like I just need someone to talk to I just cannot get out of this. My husband doesn’t understand like, obviously, definitely reach out to me for sure. I’m just wondering,

34:24
just just one other thing that I think is really important, because it’s a mistake that I made. And I would I’d hate for other people to make that mistake. Do not assume that your company or your boss is not going to understand because ultimately, the people that experience burnout are generally high achieving individuals who wants to do more and want to do better. And they have got an incredibly strong work ethic and it’s gone to the extreme. So they’re generally employees that your company doesn’t want to lose and that your boss values so I put off for quite a while explaining what I was going through to my boss, and when I did, he was incredibly, incredibly supportive. So I just don’t think that you’re not going to get the support in your company, because I bet that you will.

35:14
Okay. And so one last question, I probably should ask you this, it’s probably like a bit for me, it feels a bit icky, but I’m going to ask it anyway. Like, how did you find working with me like as a as a, as a coach? Like, what did you like about working with me?

35:27
For me, it was the accountability side of it. Because when you’re in, when you’re in a state of burnout, you, you honestly don’t have the energy to do a lot of things because you’re just completely emotionally exhausted. And you definitely don’t hold yourself accountable. And you think, okay, it’ll just figure itself out, right? It’ll be it’ll be better next month, or it’ll be better than month after all, when this happens when I moved back, and I’ve moved in, moved all my stuff that will be better than with you, you kindly helped me very accountable for what needed to change. And if you do nothing, nothing is going to change. You can’t manifest change without doing something without taking action. So that was that was the key thing is, what are you going to do about it? When are you going to do it? And then on our next call, did you do it? So the accountability thing was was super important. And then obviously, all of the tools and tactics and strategies that I built into my life now they’ve already helped,

36:41
brilliant, and we had a bit of fun along the way, too. I mean, I made the madness.

36:46
And you know what, the other thing I would say is that, you need to really connect with your coach, like you have to have a relationship where you trust them that that they have your best interests at heart that it’s not, you know, just a business enterprise that there’s truly caring about their, their clients. And and I got that from you. So that was also really important.

37:08
Yeah, and that’s sorry, that’s a really important point. Like, I don’t just work with anyone, because if I don’t feel like I have that connection, or I can support someone, it’s against the code of ethics at the ICF anyway, so only code two aren’t worth their salt will not take you on if you know if they’re if you’re not the right fit. Okay, so finally, Suzanne, just before we finish up, what is the best piece of advice you have

37:32
ever received? Say yes to things that scare you. I truly believe that you only regret the things that you don’t do. Like if I think about myself, we moved to the States knowing no one we move back to a new area in Ireland knowing no one I’ve took on roles that scared me. I took on roles that I didn’t believe I was qualified for. And it’s truly when you’re in that state of I’m really scared about doing this that you that you learn and grow. And then the other final thing I’ll leave you with is a wise friend of mine said once that life is not a dress rehearsal. So you got to make the most of every day you’re here because it’s you know, this is it.

38:16
This is this. This is this. Oh my god. Fabulous. Fabulous. Fabulous. Suzanne, thank you so much for sharing your story so openly and honestly, I know that you’re going to inspire so many women’s Suzanne thank you so so much for being here today on the podcast and I’ll talk to you again soon.

38:33
Thanks, Lucy.