Success Without Sacrifice for Female Executives with Suzanne Sheridan

Lucy (00:00)
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been talking about confidence, self doubt, imposter syndrome, and the hidden patterns that keep so many brilliant women in senior leadership playing smaller than they’re actually capable of. And one of the biggest objections I hear from women is this. Lucy, this all sounds great in theory, but is it actually possible to have a successful career, to accelerate your success and be present at home and still enjoy your life? And today’s episode answers that question.

Because you’re about to hear from Suzanne Sheridan, one of my long-term clients and friends, a vice president of commercial operations, a mom of two and a leader of a team of more than 500 people across multiple countries in a Fortune 500. Now, when Suzanne and I started first started working together almost four years ago, like many women in senior leadership, she was carrying an enormous amount of responsibility and pressure both at work and at home.

And what I absolutely love about Suzanne’s story is it proves something that I believe deeply is that success does not have to come at the expense of your well-being. You don’t have to choose between your career and your family and your personal interests. You do not need to spend your entire life in survival mode. And as you listen to this conversation, I really invite you to pay attention to what’s changed for Suzanne. Not just what she’s achieved, and she’s achieved a lot.

How she thinks, how she leads, what tools she’s been using, what support she sought, how she feels in herself. Because that is where the real transformation happens. So I can’t wait for you to meet her. Here she goes.

Can you really lead at senior level and also have time for the things that are most important to you in life? That’s exactly what we are going to be discussing today. I am delighted to be joined by the incredible Suzanne Sheridan, who has been a long-term client and friend. And she has really broken through that glass ceiling in terms of showing women in leadership that you can absolutely have a tremendously successful career at senior level.

while also being present with your family. So today we’re going to be diving into Suzanne’s secrets as to how she’s been managing it all and also sharing her experience in working with me in 3SIXTY Leaders Club and how that has played a role in her transformation as well. So Suzanne, thank you for being here with me today.

Suzanne May Sheridan
Thank you so much, Lucy. It’s so good to be here. Always good to talk to you.

Lucy Gernon
my God. So let’s just get into it. We are streaming live right now on LinkedIn and I’m hoping on Instagram as well. And you might even be listening to this in a replay somewhere. So if you are, everybody is welcome here. If you are watching live, if you can just comment into the chat, I’ll try and keep an eye on the chat. Let me know, you know, if you any questions for Suzanne or if anything comes up afterwards, you can pop them below as well. And myself or Suzanne will do our best to answer anything from you. So Suzanne, do want to introduce yourself to everybody here today? And then we’ll jump into the story.

Suzanne May Sheridan (01:18)
Sure. So my name is Suzanne Sheridan. I am a mom of two girls. So Cara is nine, Erin is six. And I’m a wife. I am a friend, sister, daughter, all the different roles. And I’m also the vice president of commercial operations for the distribution business of Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Based in Ireland, I moved back here about, actually it’s three and a half years ago now, it’s crazy, it’s gone really quick, but I moved back from the States, I spent quite a bit of time working over in the States and moved back and I now lead an incredibly talented team of 500 team members and we have responsibility for Europe, Middle East and Africa. So that’s me.

Lucy Gernon (02:08)
So

you’re not a bit busy then, no? Sounds like it’s a breeze. Like you didn’t just arrive back from on a flight an hour and a half ago.

Suzanne May Sheridan (02:16)
I did just arrive back in an hour

and a half ago to note that my email’s broken and my team’s broken, but you know what? It’s all good. We figured it out.

Lucy Gernon (02:22)
It’s all good. We’re here together.

So thank you for being here. And for anyone watching who doesn’t know me, my name is Lucy Gernon. I am an executive coach and founder of 360 Leaders Club, a professional development membership for women in senior leadership like Suzanne and lots of you are watching who want to lead with confidence without actually sacrificing yourself and, you know, really accelerate your career without self-sacrifice, which is what we’re going to talk about today. So, Suzanne, let’s start with your story. The first time we met, I…

distinctly remember us being on a call and you were in the US at the time and you know, you were feeling burned out. Let’s go back to that point as to where you were maybe three three and half, four years ago.

Suzanne May Sheridan (03:04)
So I was living in the US and COVID had hit and we made a decision as a family that we were going to move back. We wanted to move back to Europe and I was looking for roles to basically get the family back to Europe and I took a role.

But I also had to, you know, sell our house with, we had to get the kids sorted with new schools and the role was on the European time zone. So I was living in the U S and I thought I was super woman and I could get up at two or three every morning, work on European time zone and then continue to work until, you know, 5 PM U S time. And I did that for six months and I just got to a point. It was a, it was a new job.

There was so much going on in our personal life with getting everything organized to move back and moving. If anyone has moved from overseas, it’s a process. It’s quite intensive anyway. And when you’re trying to learn a new job, a new team and work in a different time zone and think you’re superwoman, it just all came crashing down. So I really felt that I needed, I couldn’t do it all.

I kept saying, well, when this happens, it’ll be fine and I’ll get balance again. But that never happened. And my final tipping point was I said, well, when I’m on the right time zone, when I’m back in Europe and I’m on the right time zone, then I’ll have the balance that I want and everything will be fine. But that didn’t happen. We moved back and I just felt like completely overwhelmed and not myself.

I needed to do something different, is when I reached out to you for the second time, which was when I realized that actually moving back was not the answer and I needed

Lucy Gernon (04:58)
Mm.

Suzanne May Sheridan (04:59)
some additional support.

Lucy Gernon (05:01)
OK, well, thank you for sharing that. And, you know, I’m curious to understand you said that, you know, obviously you were literally working on a different time zone. You were in the middle of moving your family halfway across the world.

You were, you know, embedding into a new role, all of the things. So it was very obvious. Obviously, at the time, it made sense to wait and just be like, well, obviously, I’m this is an atypical time. I’m going to be able to manage it. But then I’m also here. And then when you got back into the time zone and when everything should have been fine, it wasn’t. So what was missing for you?

Suzanne May Sheridan (05:33)
I think for me, I didn’t have the tools that I needed to really put structure in my life that would protect what was really important to me. And I had to do a ton of work, right? So, I mean, when we, when we started working together, which was July, 2023? Was it 23? Yeah.

Lucy Gernon (05:56)
Yeah.

Or 22, what year are we now? don’t even know.

Suzanne May Sheridan (06:00)
22 actually,

no it was 22. When we started working together, I I really had to go back to the basics and say, well, why do I think I need to put in these hours? Like, why do I think it’s necessary to work 16 hour days? It’s like, is that in line with who I want to be? Is that in line with who I want my kids to see me to be? So I had to really, first of all, the first thing I did was,

look at my values and really determine what is the most important things to me and ultimately that is my family and I was not spending any time with them. So I was just totally misaligned with what was important to me and it just, it made me also

think about like, do I need to make a different career decision? Like, because to your point, I actually thought, you know what, maybe it’s not possible to accelerate my career and be a good mom and be a good friend and be a good wife. And I mean, I’m certainly not good at all at the one, all of the time, but there is a way I know now there’s a way that you can actually do all of the things that you want. You just have to be really strategic in how you do it.

Lucy Gernon (07:22)
Yeah. Oh my God, I love that. And I think that’s that’s a big thing that I would see as well with loads of women. And the only reason I know is because I was that person. This is the thing is that I, you know, I think it’s when you experience something yourself and then you see the light like you did and I did. It’s like, OK, you can absolutely do it. But when you’re in your own little bubble and you’re you’re you’re on the hamster wheel and you can only see it’s nearly like I always say, I feel like for me, I was when I was in corporate a lot of the time, I was kind of brainwashed by the

by the energy around me and like buying into other people’s urgency, feeling like everything is important because I was afraid to say no, because I didn’t want to disappoint people and all of those things. But I think once you, know, one thing that changed my life was and I know that we talk about a lot in 360 as well as the whole results focus thinking like applying Pareto’s law and actually focusing on the things that are going to move the needle. Because

if you’re working, any of us are working 16 hour days, there’s no way you’re adding value for that time.

So when you talk about tools that you use to get more strategic and intentional, what kind of tools or tips did you use?

Suzanne May Sheridan (08:31)
So, I mean, the first thing I’m actually now super structured and that’s intentional. So I’m very focused on my goals. I remember someone that I used to work with. He’s retired. I always ask people that are retiring, I feel like you’ve got a different kind of perspective when you’re retiring. I said, give me some advice, right? I’m not close to retirement, but give me some advice. And he said, just make sure that you don’t sleepwalk through life. And I think it’s super.

easy to sleep walk through life if you don’t get incredibly intentional about your goals. So I do quarterly goal setting, do annual goal setting, I do weekly goal setting and I don’t just react to my calendar. So I’m the one who controls my schedule. I schedule my priorities. The other thing that I’ve shifted a lot is

I actually thought that success was measured on activity and it’s absolutely not. It’s measured on results and I have got more balance in my life than ever and I’m achieving more than ever. I’m getting better results than ever while actually working less. So I think it’s all around if you focus on the results, if you’re really strategic with your time, if you put, if you’re very clear on your boundaries, like I’m very clear on my boundaries as well.

And the other important thing, I just, it really hit home this year and I’ll tell you why, is around perfectionism. So like most successful women, total perfectionist. And I’ve had to really, really let that go. And a good example of it was we just had our annual sales meeting last, the week before last, and

The old Suzanne would have spent days and like every weekend in January preparing and planning and rehearsing and making sure that it was perfect and every word I said was perfect. I didn’t do any of that. I was absolutely prepared. I spent the necessary time getting ready for it, but it didn’t matter if I didn’t say it exactly how I’d written down or if I, you know, made a mistake.

I could cover up what I needed to do and I didn’t spend any weekends working on it and it was a great success and we had a fantastic sales meeting. So I think it’s a combination of multiple things. There are just a few of them.

Lucy Gernon (10:57)
I love that. love what you said about, you know, you used to think success was measured on activities when now you know what’s measured on results. And I think if anybody

Suzanne May Sheridan (11:05)
Yeah.

Lucy Gernon (11:05)
needs to take one thing

from this live, it is that because if you are really able to focus on what are the results or the outcomes, what am I actually trying to achieve? The rest of it is noise, right? The rest of it is noise. Right. But there’s one thing that I would see, obviously, a lot with women as well. Not all women, obviously, but women like me or you who have struggled with this.

is especially the high achievers, right? So when you’re a high achiever and you’re a high performer, you get this like dopamine hit from the recognition, right? So you’re constantly trying to be better,

Suzanne May Sheridan (11:37)
Yeah.

Lucy Gernon (11:38)
do better, be the best. So you get the recognition. But what happens then is you get the recognition and then very quickly that dopamine hit goes away. So it kind of inspires you to do more. So two things I’d love to know from your perspective is

You know, you’re still a high performer, like you’ve just won a leadership award, like you’re doing incredible work, all of that. How do you, you know, remove the need for that, maybe that external validation that maybe you used to have needed? And what I mean by that is I don’t believe anyone doesn’t crave external validation. I do. Of course we do. We’re human. We want to connect. We want to belong. But it’s when you’re putting all of your worth or all of your power in someone else’s hands, it’s a dangerous place to be. So how did you break that part?

Suzanne May Sheridan (12:23)
So I really focused on what makes me happy. it’s like, I think about it almost like I was a big car person, right? I loved like a new car and this, you know, the joy with having a new car, but it wears off so quickly, right? So it’s kind of like that, right? It’s absolutely great. And of course you want to know you’re doing a good job and it’s always nice to hear that you’re doing a good job, but

If that’s the only thing that motivates you, there’s going to be days where you don’t do a good job and you need to be able to reach inside and know that actually you’re good enough regardless and you don’t need that external validation and that there’s something deeper inside that’s actually driving you. So it’s again, it’s around my values and

I like it and of course it’s important, but it certainly isn’t, I definitely don’t crave it. It’s not something that I necessarily seek out. same way as like, I don’t really need a new car every year anymore. it’s…

Lucy Gernon (13:32)
Did you not, hang on, did you not just get a new car last year?

Suzanne May Sheridan (13:35)
Well, that was when I was

years old, and it was last year. I mean, I still like them, it’s not…

Lucy Gernon (13:40)
Okay, we will talk about that.

Suzanne May Sheridan (13:43)
The novelty goes very quickly. it’s

Lucy Gernon (13:44)
It does.

Suzanne May Sheridan (13:46)
things or external people, the novelty does wear off pretty quickly.

Lucy Gernon (13:51)
Yeah, 100 percent. And I remember, you know, obviously in 360, we focus a lot on mindset. And I think that’s foundational, right? Like it’s foundational to to really understand yourself. And I remember when I did my coach training, my it was a question I do ask you guys that sometimes if we’re doing deep reflective sessions or things like that. But, know, who are you without the

work? Like, who are you without the title? And I love one thing.

that you do Suzanne is, and I’ve noticed it consistently, is you always introduce yourself first as a mother. You don’t give your job titles. So you’re here right now in a professional capacity, you know, semi professional capacity, talking about, you know, your leadership. But you start with I’m a mother. And I love that about you because it makes me know that you don’t have to come in and, you know, talk with the title, whereas sometimes, you know, maybe in the past, I don’t know, maybe you would have because I think a lot of us do. So how did you?

Suzanne May Sheridan (14:46)
Yeah.

Lucy Gernon (14:47)
You know, the identity shift for you, it’s what’s so interesting to me is you now don’t need the validation or the recognition as much, but you get it anyway. So you’re getting it, but you’re not like seeking it

Suzanne May Sheridan (15:00)
Yeah.

Lucy Gernon (15:00)
out, which is like a bit of a paradox.

Suzanne May Sheridan (15:03)
I think I was almost the opposite, would say, Lucy, in that I didn’t feel deserving of the position that I had within the company. I never would have. So I would have said what I do, but I never would have used my title because I didn’t feel that I was worthy enough for the position that I had. So I think the shift for me now is.

I use my title, but it’s because I’m confident and I own it and I know I deserve the position that I have. the most important thing to me is my family. So that’s who I’m going to introduce myself as first is I’m a mom and I also have the opportunity to work with this amazing team and have a great job. And yeah, but it always

Lucy Gernon (15:53)
Yeah.

Suzanne May Sheridan (15:53)
starts with what’s the most important.

Lucy Gernon (15:56)
Love this. my God, guys, I hope you’re all taking inspiration from this. So you spoke earlier on, Suzanne, about obviously you’re very protective and structured of your time and I’m exactly the same and boundaries and prioritization and all of that stuff, which is like critical. But boundaries can be challenging, right? Setting those boundaries can be challenging. So what advice would you give to women listening who find it hard to set boundaries? First of all, let’s talk about team.

first because I think it’s different for different who depending on who is with.

Suzanne May Sheridan (16:29)
So I am super transparent with my team. And when I actually took over my current role, like one of the first things I did was New Leader Simulation. And I was very clear that these are my boundaries. I said, guys, I get up at five every morning because I like the morning. I’m a morning person. So I get up at five. So I’m going to be on emails. I don’t expect you to answer. Don’t answer. A lot of people don’t like getting up at five. Totally fine.

but you’re also probably not gonna get me from the hours of six to eight because I’m gonna

be doing family stuff, there’ll be some activity, there’ll be dinner, and then I might pop on later in the evening, but don’t like guarantee that that’s gonna happen. But you’ll always get me between the hours of five and seven, and then during the day obviously I’m always available.

I don’t, I don’t work weekends, unless it’s an absolute emergency and there’s very few emergencies. And I also really try to minimize what I do on holidays. So I really try to instill that and say, and I have the same expectations of my team. Like I don’t expect them to be working 16 hour days. I expect them to deliver on their results. So we all have KPIs and as long as they’re delivering, then.

they decide what works for them and they deliver the way that works for them. The other thing that I’ve also really focused on is, know, there used to be this, I guess, perception that multitasking was a sign of strength. I actually see it as a sign of a lack of focus. So, you know, things like multitasking, digital hygiene, I have zero notifications.

So I have to purposefully go in and check if I have a text message. I have my husband as like an emergency contact. So if he rings it, it bypasses everything else. But I don’t have teams pinging me. I don’t have emails pinging me. I don’t have, because it’s just so distracting. So you have to just focus on what you need to achieve and spend the right level of time doing that.

Lucy Gernon (18:40)
Love that. Oh my God. Yeah. Such a game changer. I’m the same with the notifications. How anybody can work with things like you just, you just can’t. But I

Suzanne May Sheridan (18:47)
I don’t know how.

Lucy Gernon (18:47)
think sometimes people are, you know, afraid to look like if they’re unavailable, that they’re, I don’t know, like skiving off or not working if they’re not on teams or, you know, especially let’s say with your superiors. I find a lot of the time, you know, what would you say to people who find it difficult to say, to say no to above or to really challenge?

the above because sometimes our superiors don’t actually know what else we’re working on. And like the impact this request is going to have really like, so how would, how would you recommend people handle that?

Suzanne May Sheridan (19:20)
I’m fortunate that I’ve always had incredible leaders. I’m super fortunate. My current leader is absolutely incredible. I was actually out for dinner with her last night and she said to me, we were just chatting about general things and she said, you really do have a good balance. And the old Suzanne would have taken that as an insult. Like, I’m not doing enough.

or I need to work more, need to put more hours in. And now I think, you know what, that’s actually the best compliment you could have given me because I know I’m getting the results that you expect and I’m able to do it in a way that is healthy and shows good role model leadership. Now, I did, when we started working together, I did say to her that I do have some pretty strong boundaries around like weekend working and

I’m not going to respond at weekends, but I’ll be on at 5am on Monday morning. So if you send me something, she works weekends, I don’t. So she sends me something on a Sunday, I’ll respond at 5am on a Monday morning. As long as you’re really clear that this is how you work and this is how you’re most effective.

most leaders are going to respect that. I totally respect what my team say to me. I have to go and pick up my son from football at 5.30. So I’m not going to be on a call that starts at five. Okay, that’s fine. We will just we’ll work around that. So I think you just have to be honest about what works for you and what doesn’t work for you. And again,

Lucy Gernon (21:00)
Yeah.

Suzanne May Sheridan (21:00)
results, it doesn’t matter.

Lucy Gernon (21:02)
Yeah, and I think it’s even reminding your I think it’s having the courage to remind if you if you’re not as fortunate as Suzanne to have an incredible leader who’s your boss

and you have somebody who’s not and who maybe is a bit of a micromanager or who has a fear like I’ve worked for bosses who have been like, you know, tyrants going around the place because they’re trying to like, you know, not allow certain things to trickle up and it gets all of this pressure that is kind of being pushed down to a horrible place to be. And you’re kind of going, but I think

I find what’s effective in managing people like micro-managers or people who put pressure on you is just to make them feel like you’re clear on the goals and the outcomes that they’re trying to get you to achieve, like your KPI, you’re solving this problem, and make them feel safe, that, hey, listen, if I can’t make this call today, don’t worry about it, because I’m going to solve this problem this way. I think back-to-back meetings and calls are just the worst.

use of time for teams because you’re usually going around in circles, right? So I think it’s about challenging yourself in that space. So I’d love to talk as well. know, you you talk a lot about, you know, work-life balance, work-life blend. And, you know, you mentioned earlier that, you know, you do five o’clock, you’re available at certain times. And I think one of the biggest misconceptions, I think, what work-life balance is, work-life balance is not about I work from nine to five and then I have the perfect life in the evenings. For me,

Suzanne May Sheridan (22:25)
Well.

Lucy Gernon (22:25)
balance is about

a feeling within you that you’re feeling energized most of the time. Of course, we’re going to be tired. That you’re not burned out, you’re feeling joy in your work and that you have time for the things that you love in life. For some people, that might be working 12 hours a day. Everybody is totally different. So how do you… I know you’ve a bit of a beef with the word balance, right? Even though you’ve said it a couple of times, I know it is Suzanne.

Suzanne May Sheridan (22:53)
I do. I know it’s a word that people use.

Lucy Gernon (22:56)
Everyone does, yeah.

Suzanne May Sheridan (22:57)
Yeah, I I try not to use it, but it slipped in a few times. I don’t like the whole concept of it being like up and down, like a seesaw, like a balance that, you know, you’ve got, as you said, nine to five work, then you’ve got like your evening and you’ve got your weekends. And because it doesn’t work like that. really there’s times when work is

absolutely insane and that’s okay right you know that you have to put in the the hours that you need to get it done but then there’s other times where you you’ll need to prioritize your family things and it’s about that whole blend of your entire life and the thing that actually I thought about on Friday last Friday I knew that I had accomplished strong work-life blend when I didn’t even know it was a Friday

When you don’t even know it’s a Friday, then you can say, I’m not living for the weekends. I’m just living my life. It’s just another day. that to me was kind of the epitome of work life blend, not knowing it’s a Friday.

Lucy Gernon (24:03)
I love that. absolutely love that. And guys, know, Susanna’s a living like I’ve worked with Susanna for

about three and a half years. And like this is consistent. Like you have been running marathons. She is present with her kids. You’ve moved house. You’ve delivered exceptional results in work. And what I love is there’s so many women hopefully watching this right now, maybe in your organization or others that are more junior and they look at executives and they go.

I don’t want to do that. Like all the data is showing that, you know, this generation does not aspire the way we did. And that’s an issue for us as women because, you know, our our ancestors, the women who’ve gone before us fought so hard for women, women’s rights. And I’m not a feminist, but it just pisses me off. Excuse my French, if I can say that LinkedIn, because now a lot of women leaders are showing are not doing the things you did because they don’t know another way. And as a result.

the next generation, we’re not going to have as many women leaders. And that’s my biggest fear. So please know guys that it absolutely is possible. And she’s on his living testament that it is absolutely possible. So I’d love to know Suzanne then obviously you’ve been in a member of 360 leaders club since the start. And how do how has the support and the tools and the training and the coaching supported you over the last couple of years to stay on track, I guess.

Suzanne May Sheridan (25:19)
enormously. mean, I wouldn’t be here without the support that you’ve given and the community within 360. And there’s multiple ways. So the first one is I was listening to every podcast under the sun. I was listening to Val Robbins. I was listening to Jay Shetty. I was listening to all of the personal development podcasts you can imagine.

It’s very difficult to listen to a podcast and change your life. You really need to be held accountable. I certainly did. You need to be held accountable. You need to have frameworks, practical ways of actually applying that. Because if you’re just listening to it, it’s really unique. You need more. I certainly needed more than that. So all of the tools that you have, they’re super practical. They’re

not resource intensive, they fit into a busy life and they just make it easier. And then obviously the community, the community is just fantastic. I’ve made some great friends, people I would consider now lifelong friends and the great thing about it, I was thinking on when I was delayed coming back today,

The great thing about the community in 360 is everybody is in the same boat. So everybody is someone who wants to accelerate their career, someone who has other priorities outside of their career and they want to make sure that they’re accomplishing both. And they know that you don’t have to be in touch every day of the week because we don’t have time to do that. But when you do, there’s just a community there that’s there to lift you up and support you. yeah, those are definitely some of the ways.

Lucy Gernon (26:58)
Amazing.

Suzanne May Sheridan (26:58)
And I would highly

recommend it to anyone who’s thinking, I really am unsure whether I want to accelerate my career and I think I’m going to have to give up too much. Try

this before you make that decision, because there is a way.

Lucy Gernon (27:13)
Yeah, absolutely. is always a way, always a way. And I’m curious, Suzanne, like, obviously, you you mentioned all of the podcasts and I was I’m the same. Like, I think I’m a podcast junkie and I think I can change everything. But it’s that accountability piece that you that you I think we all need. I mean, I have coaches now for bloody everything because I’m like, I am not going to hold myself accountable if I don’t have that support. But I’m curious, what do you think?

You know, obviously in 360, we have the CPD leadership training. have the group coaching. do the bonus mindset calls. We have all the tools. What do you think is the biggest difference between what we do in 360 versus, you know, leadership training that you might do in work?

Suzanne May Sheridan (27:54)
For me, it’s practical, it’s honest, and it’s action oriented. So I’ve done some great leadership development programs and they focused very much on career. And what I really like about 360 is it’s about life. So it’s about the ability to be able to…

focus on things that’s gonna make you a better leader, but also have a better life. So it’s the balance of both of them that I hadn’t found anywhere else. I found you can go one way or the other, but I couldn’t find somewhere where you could work with people that had the same career aspirations as you, but also wanted that, you know, the rest of their life to be in harmony as well, I guess.

Lucy Gernon (28:45)
Yeah, amazing. Because there’s no point in having all these leadership skills. Like most of the women in 360 can, you know, they can teach me leadership. But what’s usually missing is it’s the self leadership, right? It’s how we set boundaries. It’s the tactical, you know, easy things that are supposed to be easy that unless you have a tool or a framework, you know, you can default to old ways. And, you know, what do you think is the biggest misconception people have about joining something like 360 or actually

seek and support.

Suzanne May Sheridan (29:17)
There’s a couple. the first thing is people don’t invest in themselves enough. either if you don’t invest in yourself, nobody else is going to. And the investment that you put in yourself is going to bring you so much more in terms of a more fulfilled life, in terms of more time to do the stuff that you want to do, in terms of the ability to actually

earn more because you’re going to accelerate your career with practical tools to do that. So people see the investment as, I couldn’t possibly invest

in myself. I’ll figure it out myself. And then they end up prolonging and never really accomplishing what they want to do. So I’d say investment is one. And then

The other one is, as I said, it’s, it’s, think you can do it yourself and you can do it all alone. And leadership is, is lonely. mean, as you accelerate your career, it becomes more lonely because you go from, you know, having a lot of peers to having fewer peers. And this is a great way to a safe place that you can discuss leadership challenges that you can learn, you can get your CPD accreditation and you can also.

focus on things like nutrition and fitness and things that are just good for life in general. So it’s combination of it all.

Lucy Gernon (30:42)
Fabulous. I love that. why do you think, you you mentioned the investment and you mentioned, you know, we don’t invest ourselves enough. And I don’t know. I often say I think a lot of that is an is an Irish thing. I don’t know. Maybe it’s not. I think it’s a women woman thing as well. But who do you think in art? Why do you think that women in general, like we deserve to invest in ourselves? Like what what has investing in yourself done for you?

Suzanne May Sheridan (31:08)
So it’s given me a significantly better life than before I did. So, I mean, there’s no price to put on that. If I hadn’t invested in myself, I really actually don’t know where I would have been. I was at the point where I was looking, do I need to take a demotion? Do I need to ask for a different role? Because I didn’t believe that you could.

do it all. So it’s just, made my life significantly better and it’s worth every penny and more. And I continue to invest in different ways. And now now I’m like on a fitness gig, so I’ve like invested in a coach. And so it’s just a different way of investing, but it’s all in making your life better.

Lucy Gernon (32:02)
Yeah. And I think, you know, I think investing in yourself, it opens up something in you. I see I’ve seen it with myself and I’ve also seen it with most of the women in 360, especially who, if they haven’t actually invested in themselves, there’s something really magic that happens when you for the very first time in particular, when you said, you know what, I am going to invest this money in me because for me, what it did, I remember my first coach, she told me it was like eight K to work with her for three months and I had never invested, you know,

Not like not the color of that in the past. My organization would have always, you know, luckily invested in me or whatever. And I remember it was such an alien concept for me. I was like, that’s a holiday or that’s like that’s like a car for my son or like it’s such a huge amount of money. But the second I did it, two things happened. The first thing was it literally boosted my confidence instantly, my self-worth, because all of a sudden I was like, OK, I’ve literally put this money into me as a first thing.

And then the second thing it did was it made me go, OK, girl, you’ve invested in yourself. You better get the return. So I was super, super committed. And since that time, it has now opened this gateway, like you said, to investing in other things. I have a nutrition, had nutritionist. I had a health coach. All of these things that I never thought I deserved. And as a result, it has totally changed my life.

You know, you me, I’m all about 360 degree success, which is why we call it 360 leaders club. It is it’s just astounding. And I just think I want all women to know that, you know, you you deserve to invest in yourself, whether it’s in 360 or something else. But please don’t allow any limiting beliefs around money or not having the time or not feeling like you’re good enough to hold you back. So what would you say to somebody who is sitting here thinking, OK, this this 360 thing sounds great investing in myself. OK.

you know, maybe will it work for me? Should I wait? What would you say to that person?

Suzanne May Sheridan (33:56)
I would say if you’re watching this and you’re thinking that something needs to change, but I don’t know where to start. You need to start today. you, you have to make, you have to make that leap and trust it and realize that you really have nothing to lose. I mean, if you’re someone who has invested so much time in your career, which is clearly why you’re listening to this. You’ve invested so much time in your career.

it’s now time to actually invest in yourself as well. And I would really, really encourage you to do that. And I guarantee that you’re not going to regret it. I mean, I did it for years and the sacrifice is not worth it. So hopefully if I can help one person realize that actually it is possible to have success, balance and happiness. It’s taken.

Taking me a long time, I’m mid 40s now, just don’t be the person that’s standing in your own way. That’s what I would say.

Lucy Gernon (34:56)
Love that. Suzanne, thank you so much for your time. Guys, anyone who wants to reach out to me by 360, please just feel free to send me a DM. We can hop on a call, have a chat through and see if it’s a good fit for you. Or if you want to send Suzanne maybe a message either, I’m sure Suzanne will be happy to share anything

Suzanne May Sheridan (35:13)
Absolutely.

Lucy Gernon (35:14)
once she’s a busy lady now. She has her boundaries, so you might have to wait some time. I might have to fit in her schedule, but that’s okay. It’s what we want.

Suzanne May Sheridan (35:21)
I will make time for what’s important, which is helping other people. So yes, definitely reach out.

Lucy Gernon (35:25)
God. Amazing.

Suzanne, thank you so much for for sharing this. I, you know, I just genuinely think you’re one of the most inspirational women and leaders I know, because I know where you were before. you just you should. You’re such an inspiration to your daughters who are looking at you and all the women in your organization. So thank you for taking the time to talk to us today on this. I appreciate you.

Suzanne May Sheridan (35:48)
Thank you, Lucy. I appreciate the opportunity and you, of course.

Lucy Gernon (35:52)
Amazing. OK, right. Well, we’ll leave it there, guys. We will talk to you later. Thanks again, everyone. Bye.

Suzanne May Sheridan (35:57)
Thank you.

What a powerful conversation. And what I really hope that you’ve taken away from today’s episode is this. The goal simply isn’t to become more successful. Because most of you who are listening, you’re already successful. The goal is to feel successful, not just as a leader, but as a mother, daughter, sister, wife, partner, friend, dog mom, whatever it is for you. It’s to feel it. It’s to trust yourself. It’s to stop second guessing every decision. To lead with confidence.

To set boundaries, to get strategic, to shift your mindset into creating impact and results and really controlling that inner critic, to be present with your family, to give yourself the time to focus on you and your health, to really enjoy the life that you have worked so, so hard to build. And I hope that that’s what Suzanne’s story has demonstrated so, so beautifully. It’s not perfection, it’s not about having everything all figured out.

None of us do. I definitely don’t. But when you have tools and when you stop trying to do everything alone and start investing in your own growth, that is when the magic happens. And so if you’ve been listening to this season and you’ve been finding yourself in these conversations, applications for 360 Leaders Club will be opening soon. So all you’ve got to do is head over to LucyGarden.com forward slash

3360 and you can join our wait list.

Now, the beauty of getting on our wait list is when a spot opens up, you will be first to know and you get an exclusive wait list only preferential rate. Now I screen everybody personally. It is a curate a group of women just like Suzanne who have high energy, who are non judgmental, who are really lovely, who care about not just leadership, but they care about their life as well. And it is designed for ambitious women in senior leadership in a commercial environment who want more success.

More balance and more happiness. Women who are ready to stop doubting themselves, to increase their impact and become the calm, confident, and in control leaders that they know they are. So all you’ve got to do is go to the show notes, you’ll see the link there, or go to lucygarn.com forward slash 360. Next week on the show, we are wrapping up this season, and I cannot wait to share the five signs that you are good enough to lead at senior level and you always have been. So until then, same time, same place. Bye for now.