Hey, it's Dawn McGrewer, the business growth coach and welcome to dawn of a New Era, the podcast where we talk.
Speaker BAll things health, wealth and happiness and.
Speaker AWhere founders share the good and bad and ugly of being an entrepreneur.
Speaker BSo welcome to dawn of a New Era podcast.
Speaker BSo excited to have you here on the private island.
Speaker CThank you very much.
Speaker BWho knew that we could have a private island in Lancaster?
Speaker CExactly.
Speaker BAnd I only met you a week ago.
Speaker BI feel like I know you already.
Speaker CThat's so kind same.
Speaker BBut I know that there's so much that you've done and you always shy away from your achievements.
Speaker BSo I really want to explore the life and times of Suzy.
Speaker BBut like, let's go back because anybody who's obviously following you, they probably know a little bit of your background.
Speaker BBut let's assume we've got some listeners that don't know anything about Suzy.
Speaker BSo where did it all start?
Speaker BSuzy.
Speaker BAnd you can choose from where you want to start.
Speaker COkay.
Speaker CSo I had a wonderful upbringing and I think that was a real solid base for me and really hard working parents.
Speaker CMy mum worked for the Ministry of Defence.
Speaker CMy dad was a professional boxer artist.
Speaker CAnd I've always watched the two of them sort of help each other when times have been hard.
Speaker CAnd it actually turned out that my mum ended up being the breadwinner.
Speaker CAnd she's extremely fierce and she's very, very strong and I think I always used to take that the wrong way and now I just see why she is the way that she is.
Speaker CFrom a very, very early age, I always wanted to be an air stewardess.
Speaker CI just knew at maybe 4 or 5 I knew I wanted to be an air stewardess and I was so focused on that.
Speaker CAnd on my year, year six leavers book, you see, everybody just say, I see you see you on the airlines.
Speaker CAnd then as soon as I could be an air stewardess at 18, so there was various hotel jobs and things like that before I started applying for the airlines and yeah, had a really nice career on the airlines as well.
Speaker CSo I think that was wonderful.
Speaker CAnd at the same time I met my now husband and yeah, things have, things have sort of gone from there.
Speaker CSo I always look back at that actually and always remember that I was so focused on that.
Speaker CI knew I wanted it and it happened.
Speaker CAnd I just think like you were saying before, if you've got laser focus on wanting something, you do anything to make it happen.
Speaker CSo yeah, that was, that was how it started.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BIt's all about conscious alignment, isn't it and really kind of leaning into it.
Speaker BAnd we were saying before that when you're a child, when you really want something, you pull out all the stops.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BAnd you get it.
Speaker BAnd it's the same in adult life.
Speaker BSo you started work obviously on the airlines.
Speaker BWhich airline were you on?
Speaker CMonarch.
Speaker BOkay.
Speaker CDoes anyone remember Monarch?
Speaker CI do, absolutely.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CIt was such a great airline, yet really, really high standards, run by.
Speaker CIt's run by the Italian mafia, actually.
Speaker CReally, really high standards of everything.
Speaker CSo again, that was a. I would reckon if any, if any young girl wants to go and work on the airlines and people sort of shun it off, I would always say do it.
Speaker CIt just, it teaches you so much.
Speaker CIt teaches you communication, customer service, dealing with a whole bunch of people, how to present yourself, getting up early at 3 in the morning, traveling, like all of those incredible things it teaches you.
Speaker CSo I just think, yes, it was a really, really good base for what then came.
Speaker BAnd was it as fun as they say?
Speaker BBecause I have so many friends who used to be crew and things and they used to have a wild time.
Speaker CIt was amazing.
Speaker BAre you going to share any stories?
Speaker CI mean, it was very tame because as soon as I started on the airlines, I'd already met my husband, so there was no wild doors.
Speaker CAlthough I think in his head, every time I used to do a long haul, I'd have, you know, captain on one arm and first officer on the other, lying on a beach somewhere.
Speaker CThat never happened, but it was wonderful.
Speaker CAnd yeah, I remember pinching myself, we'd go to the Maldives and we'd get.
Speaker CEvery time we went on long haul, we got paid per hour that we were away, double what we'd be paid, just normal.
Speaker CAnd I'd just be there on a beach in the Maldives and.
Speaker CAnd even at a young age, you know, I mean, I was 20, 21, just thinking, wow, like feeling absolute gratitude.
Speaker CSo I think that's something that I've always managed to do before.
Speaker CGratitude is a huge thing.
Speaker CI always used to feel it.
Speaker CSo yeah, it was, it was fun.
Speaker CYou know, I always got laid off during the winter there.
Speaker CWe were a sort of season, so every winter we'd have to go and do another crappy job.
Speaker CAnd then that's what led me into going into property and construction.
Speaker CSo in one winter, started working for a big construction firm, Carillion, in the center of Manchester.
Speaker CAnd they were looking for an air stewardess style person type of person to sit on reception.
Speaker CAnd then I came in for a job with my bun in.
Speaker CI Think I had, like a ribbon.
Speaker CAnd within five minutes they were just like, you've got the job.
Speaker BThis is the lady.
Speaker CThis is it.
Speaker CLike, I just walked in and they were like, this is.
Speaker CThis is who we've been waiting for.
Speaker CAnd so I just started on the reception there, and then I was going to go back on the airlines to join on the summer.
Speaker CAnd I told them all I was leaving, and they basically just said, how much do you want to stay?
Speaker CAnd I was like, no, I want to be.
Speaker CI want to be flying.
Speaker CAnd then when you start to ask friends and family, they were like, susie, I think it's time, you know, you settle down now and then.
Speaker CSo I stayed in that job and very quickly became building manager and then just saw incredible projects in and around Manchester and construction and I was around architects and designers and big directors and so learn a lot from that.
Speaker CAnd then we had some apartments in the city center and they weren't selling very well.
Speaker CSo my manager gave me the company credit card and she just said, suzie, go out and just buy a load of stuff and stage these properties, these apartments that aren't selling.
Speaker CAnd I didn't really know what staging was, but I went out and I got loads of bits and bobs and cushions and throws and we hired in a load of furniture.
Speaker CAnd as I was doing it, and I was just left to my own devices to do it, and I just thought, this is.
Speaker CThis is definitely.
Speaker BSo this is where it all changed, is where it all changed, your passion.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BSo when you were there, then, obviously making all of these apartments look beautiful, you went back, did they sell?
Speaker COh, they went.
Speaker CThey all just sold within about a week.
Speaker CAll sold.
Speaker BSo thinking then about what age you were at this point then.
Speaker BSo you were in your flying career and then what age did you have this pivot moment?
Speaker CI was, I'm gonna say, around 24, 25, something like that.
Speaker BAnd then did you have a feeling that this was gonna be the next thing?
Speaker BThat, like, this was gonna turn into an actual full time?
Speaker CI just, like I was saying the other day, I very, very quickly on that day, in that hour, in that minute, knew that things were going to change as soon as I was there in these apartments on my own, without a boss, without anybody, I just thought, this is exactly what I should be doing.
Speaker CAnd straight away I was.
Speaker CI was like, I did a interior design degree and home staging courses and things like that.
Speaker CAnd I just.
Speaker CI just knew.
Speaker CAnd I was trying at that point not to siphon contacts, but everybody then that I spoke to.
Speaker CI just made sure that I aligned it to doing something, something of that nature.
Speaker BSo when did you branch out and, like, start your first business?
Speaker CSo it didn't actually happen.
Speaker CSo I had my.
Speaker CI had my son, who's now 13, and I'm probably getting the timelines semi confused here, but Benjamin, and when he was six months old, we moved to Brazil.
Speaker CSo my husband's Brazilian.
Speaker CWe moved to Brazil and we were there just short of two years.
Speaker CSo that took me away from Carilian.
Speaker CAnd they.
Speaker CThey always said, you know, you can come back when you want.
Speaker CAnd that was probably one of the hardest things I ever did.
Speaker CI sort of, you know, semi newborn, didn't speak the language, had no friends, but very quickly learned the language.
Speaker CSo such a blessing.
Speaker CNow I can speak fluent Portuguese, which is great because now I can communicate with all of my husband's family.
Speaker CAnd, you know, that was a wonderful thing that came out of it.
Speaker CAnd then when we came back, when Benjamin was about two and a half, I went straight back into Carillon.
Speaker CAnd then again was.
Speaker CWas learning more about.
Speaker CMore about interior design.
Speaker CAnd then I got pregnant with Nina.
Speaker CAnd while I was pregnant with Nina, I thought, okay, on maternity, I know I'm going to.
Speaker CI know I'm going to go off and do it on my own.
Speaker CAnd it was honestly down to my husband, who was just so supportive.
Speaker CAnd a lot of people ask me for advice on this that don't have supportive partners, and I know it's a million times harder, but he just said, listen, if we need to eat baked beans, if, if you need me to go and work at Tesco, we'll figure this out.
Speaker CAnd my mum as well, she'd just be like, susie, you.
Speaker CIf you want to do it, you will do it.
Speaker CYou know, take a night shift, I look after the baby.
Speaker CAnd it was.
Speaker CIt's always, if you want to do it, it's incredible.
Speaker CYou do it.
Speaker CYeah, yeah.
Speaker BAnd there'll be people listening to this, right, that don't have that support.
Speaker BSo, you know, people might say, oh, you were very lucky.
Speaker BYou know, you got the support, you were allowed to go off and do things.
Speaker BWhat would be your biggest piece of advice?
Speaker BLike, if you found your passion and you know that you want to do something, but you don't have the support, you might have kids, you might be single mum, you might not have a partner who understands or is willing to kind of go without or put it all in.
Speaker BWhat's your advice there?
Speaker CSomebody will help you.
Speaker CAnd people are scared to Ask and scared to talk to people, and they're scared to talk to people about their dreams and their goals and, you know, something I have to do and not.
Speaker CI'm sure we'll come on to this.
Speaker CNow, in my current role, we raise a lot of finance.
Speaker CYou know, I've raised over half a million in private finance.
Speaker CAnd at the.
Speaker CThis is only since last year.
Speaker CAnd it was all about forgetting and coming out of your head of asking for help and asking, you know, it's all just about talking to people.
Speaker CAnd, you know, I talk to people in shops, I talk to people in restaurants, I talk to people everywhere.
Speaker CAnd there's somebody out there who will support you and help you.
Speaker CAnd it doesn't always have to be financially.
Speaker CIt could be, you know, say it is somebody with a baby and they don't have the support.
Speaker CThey never know if they might talk to somebody who runs a nursery and says, do you know what?
Speaker CI believe in what you're going to do, I'll take your child in and you'd have to pay me.
Speaker COr as soon as you get successful, there's always somebody that will help and always believe that because they're out there.
Speaker BAnd I talk to a lot of women who feel that they have to go out alone and that everything is on them.
Speaker BAnd it's not like.
Speaker BI think the biggest thing is that if you share a mission and vision with somebody and they can see the passion, often when I talk to them, the pivotal moments in a story is I met a person and I was at the absolute depth of despair or the biggest challenge or whatever, and there's always a person in the story that's moved in.
Speaker BAnd I think about this all of the time because we either have people who've inspired us or we've had people who've helped us along the way.
Speaker BAnd then even when I trot back all of the times of, like, awful challenges and massive growth, they're almost like combined.
Speaker BBut there's always a person in that story who, outside of your family has been like, the biggest inspiration for you or someone that you've admired or helped you along the way.
Speaker CI would say our very first investor.
Speaker CAlso my business coach.
Speaker CI mean, my business coach.
Speaker CI could talk about him all day and he's change my life massively.
Speaker CSo two men, actually, funny enough, because my.
Speaker CMy mum's a huge inspiration, but she's family, so two men specifically.
Speaker CSo my business coach, but our very first investor.
Speaker CSo when we decided to start flipping houses, because I'd already had my we're sort of jumping back and forth here.
Speaker CBut I had my design firm by then.
Speaker CMy husband had quite a big construction firm.
Speaker CAnd everybody just kept saying to us, why aren't you guys in property?
Speaker CWhy aren't you doing property?
Speaker CAnd it was always that, well, we don't have that initial capital to buy the first house.
Speaker CAnd again, just talking to people, and we had a good friend, wealthy friend, and he just said, guys, I believe in you.
Speaker CHe literally just said, go and find a house.
Speaker CI'll fund the whole thing.
Speaker CWow.
Speaker CAnd we were like.
Speaker CAnd that was just through talking.
Speaker CJust through talking and sharing our vision.
Speaker CAnd so my husband found this house, 97,000.
Speaker CAnd we went.
Speaker CWe said, here are the comps.
Speaker CAnd he just said, okay, and just transferred the 97,000.
Speaker CHe said, I don't want anything.
Speaker CI don't want any interest.
Speaker CHere you go.
Speaker CDo well, guys.
Speaker BWow, that's incredible.
Speaker BIsn't it?
Speaker CSorry.
Speaker BThat's incredible.
Speaker CThat's incredible.
Speaker CThat's incredible.
Speaker CAnd he's.
Speaker CYeah, he's what.
Speaker CWhat a thing to do for somebody.
Speaker CAnd that's just through.
Speaker CI understand that's because Romeo and I so hard working and we've built a lot of trust that, you know, I understand our part that was played in that.
Speaker CBut, yeah, I'll never, ever forget what he did for us.
Speaker BSo that was your first house and your first business.
Speaker CYeah, that was.
Speaker CSo we'd already.
Speaker CWe already had our.
Speaker COur businesses.
Speaker CSo I had an interior design firm.
Speaker CRomeo was in construction, but we wanted to start getting into property, so doing flips and being property developers.
Speaker CSo that's how that started.
Speaker CAnd then we sold that one, made a good profit.
Speaker CHe's now stayed our investor.
Speaker CAnd now obviously we do.
Speaker CWe do give him a really good return on his.
Speaker COn his money.
Speaker CBut that was the start.
Speaker CAnd then it just rolled from there.
Speaker BSo if you think about someone starting a business, I think the biggest fear is the financial instability.
Speaker BAnd obviously you had the backing where it was like, whatever we need, we can make it happen.
Speaker BWhat did you do to sort of fuel and finance that first business to get it off the ground till you got to that consistent cash flow?
Speaker COh, my God.
Speaker CConsistent cash flow is something that we are in as property developers now coming into.
Speaker CBut just going back to starting my staging business, because that's how it all started.
Speaker CI was pregnant with Nina on maternity leave.
Speaker CI then said to Krillin, I'm not coming back, and started with home staging.
Speaker CAnd gosh, Don, you should have seen the sort of projects that I was taking on and I was dealing with.
Speaker CI had like a little, a little advertisement in a Stockport magazine and an old lady found me and she was like my first client and she was a hoarder and she just.
Speaker CBecause I advertised that I did decluttering and she just wanted me that I had to pay for a girl to look after Nina.
Speaker CAnd it didn't even cover what this lady paid me and she just wanted to talk to me.
Speaker CAnd I used to go there every week.
Speaker CBut at the time, even while I was doing it, I thought, I know bigger things are coming and I know I'm going to be telling this story one day.
Speaker CAnd I remember in her attic there was always a floor.
Speaker CAnd I was like, oh my God.
Speaker CShe's like, can we do the attic?
Speaker CAnd I found a book all about manifestation, A really, really, really old book.
Speaker CAnd I just sat there reading this book and then I took it home and I stood, got the book now and I wrote so many things in it.
Speaker CIt was all about visualization and yet that took me on a, on a whole other journey.
Speaker BSo when you were obviously in the staging business, what was the pivotal moment when you were like, oh my goodness, like I've made it like this is it.
Speaker CI staged a really big house.
Speaker CSo funny enough, our first investor, the one that, you know, just helps us with everything, it's his brother and he had a very, very big house in, in Bowdoin in Cheshire and he needed it fully renovating.
Speaker CSo Romeo's team did the full renovation.
Speaker CI looked over the interior design and staging and it was just phenomenal.
Speaker CAnd then a footballer ended up taking that one and it was just great for my portfolio.
Speaker CMade good contacts with this footballer and then everything just rocketed from there and then it went from staging to doing full on interior design for quite high net worth clients, lots of footballers.
Speaker CAnd I ended up getting a studio and a team and yeah, it's, it really did snowball from there.
Speaker BAnd what was the biggest challenge you had along the way?
Speaker BThe point where like you thought, maybe I don't want to be in this anymore.
Speaker CGosh, clients.
Speaker CYeah, you know, it sounds, it sounds incredible.
Speaker CWork before footballers, the pain of working for some of these footballs and you know, the high net worth clients, it's incredible because, you know, the cash is coming in but with anything it just adds so much stress and the demands and you know, we were dealing with 2,000 pound rolls of wallpaper and then, you know, one would come to sight and it'd be wrong and it's funny.
Speaker CEven talking about it now makes me nervous because I remember having so many awful conversations with clients to say, I'm so sorry, but the wallpaper's wrong, and they'd be so mad.
Speaker CAnd I remember very, very famous Premier League footballer, Portuguese.
Speaker CI won't say any more.
Speaker CBut here we had a table deliver to his house, Solid marble table.
Speaker CAnd he was there, all his family were there.
Speaker BAnd there was a big thing because.
Speaker CIt was going to be a big dinner.
Speaker CAnd it came on the very day and it was all very stressful.
Speaker CAnd then we opened up the box and it was shattered.
Speaker COh, my God.
Speaker CAnd I just looked his wife, who scared the hell out of me, and she just sort of turned it back.
Speaker CAnd then I went outside.
Speaker CI was crying my eyes out to remain.
Speaker CAnd I was saying to her, please, can you just go to my studio?
Speaker CCan you get the boardroom table?
Speaker CCan you get it in your van?
Speaker CCan we?
Speaker CAnd, you know, they could have just gone and bought a table at origin, but no, I was like.
Speaker CAnd then we had another table delivered and the same thing happened.
Speaker CIt was fully shattered.
Speaker CSo those are some of the moments that I thought, what am I doing?
Speaker CWhat am I doing?
Speaker CI'm dealing with the uber wealthy.
Speaker CShaking, scared.
Speaker CWhy am I doing that?
Speaker CWhat's it?
Speaker BYeah, Living with anxiety.
Speaker CWhat's it for?
Speaker BYeah, yeah.
Speaker CAnd I think my husband saw that day in and day out, and I didn't quite see it.
Speaker CAnd that's when he kept saying to me two years ago, he just kept saying, I think you should start to come out of it.
Speaker CI was like, look at where I am and look at my.
Speaker CLook at my team and look at the clients.
Speaker CAnd then he did get into my ear and then I came to my business coach, 2023, end of 2023.
Speaker C2023.
Speaker CAnd so said, I'm going to close down the business.
Speaker CI'm going to close it down.
Speaker CWe're just going to focus on property.
Speaker CAnd he just went, you closing it down?
Speaker CI was like, yeah, yeah, I'm closing it down.
Speaker CI'm going to close all my projects.
Speaker CAnd he was like, you're going to sell it?
Speaker CI was like, who would buy an interior design business?
Speaker CLike, I am the face of it.
Speaker CWho buys an interior design business?
Speaker CAnd very long story short, I don't know whether we should go into that, but it was bought.
Speaker CAnd yeah, it was a.
Speaker CAgain, that was.
Speaker CThat was quite stressful, but such an achievement.
Speaker BSelling's never as I think some people expect.
Speaker BI've gone through lots of Sales with clients.
Speaker BIt's a process.
Speaker BWow.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BBut.
Speaker BAnd there's also, like, you know, there's lots of things you can do in advance of selling.
Speaker BLike, the more clients I've seen, like, the more I realized that, you know, if you get those foundations right in the business.
Speaker BAnd I know you said that you had like amazing systems and processes.
Speaker BIt makes.
Speaker CIt was ready to passover, thanks to my business coach.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker CWhen I, when I started working with him, I did an incredible Tony Robbins seminar.
Speaker CThree day, very, very intense seminar.
Speaker CAnd one of the things he just kept talking about was mentorship coaching.
Speaker CHe was saying things like, if your kid is going to get tennis lessons, get the best tennis teacher out there.
Speaker CIf your child wants to play the piano, get the best piano teacher out there.
Speaker CLike, if you really want them to do well, spend that extra money.
Speaker CAnd if you're going to get a coach or a mentor, get the best.
Speaker CI remember finishing this, this big seminar and I contacted, I don't know if you know, Salim from Glossy, contacted Saleem, who just knows everybody.
Speaker CAnd he was my first point of call.
Speaker CI said, salim, I need a business coach and they have to be the best out there.
Speaker CAnd he just, he just replied with my coach, Karl Morris, and he just put Carl Morris.
Speaker CAnd I was like, okay.
Speaker CAnd yeah, Carl really took my business, which was almost like playing interior design.
Speaker CAnd he, he made sure that it was a business.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker CFully systemized.
Speaker CAnd, you know, I know we were talking about feeling comfortable.
Speaker CThere was a time it got so perfect and good and I'd have a session with him.
Speaker CI said, carl, I just feel it's too comfortable.
Speaker CAnd he said, okay, well, let's set another goal.
Speaker CSet a goal to go and speak somewhere.
Speaker CAnd I was like.
Speaker CHe was like, no, set that scary goal because then you've got something else to focus on.
Speaker CSo, yeah, so it was a systemized business.
Speaker CIt was ready to just hand over.
Speaker CSo, yeah, I always say that to all my girls now who do interior design.
Speaker CAnd I always say, where are you going with this?
Speaker CDo you want to do interior design for the rest of your lives?
Speaker CBecause they complain about things.
Speaker CI said, start getting everything into product process now or your systems and think about when you're going to sell it.
Speaker CAnd I think that's good.
Speaker CThey're starting to really think about that now.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BAnd the thing is, is if you, if you get all of the process in early, it's not just for the sales.
Speaker BIt's the fact that everything feels more in flow, everything's easier for sure.
Speaker BClients are happier, employees are happier.
Speaker BSo you've done really well obviously in business and you're now into your full on property development side of things.
Speaker BSo tell us a little bit about that and where you see that going.
Speaker COkay.
Speaker CThe great thing about what we're doing in all of my background is that we've started full pelt with property development with a very business like mindset and I know a lot of property developers sort of it's very willy nilly and they're not quite sure of any strategy.
Speaker CBut from the, from day dot, both myself and my husband, because we're in this together, we had roles and responsibility, we set meetings with each other and we've got a whole strategy planned for the next five years.
Speaker CAnd that's really, it's, it's happening.
Speaker CSo it's just wonderful.
Speaker CAnd it's.
Speaker CAnd it's wonderful waking up and not worrying about the clients and the stress.
Speaker CIt comes with its, its own stresses.
Speaker BYeah, sure.
Speaker CAlthough I don't.
Speaker CWe're sort of not allowed to use that word at home.
Speaker CI never feel stressed.
Speaker CIt's a really funny one.
Speaker CI was talking to somebody the other day and my oura ring says different.
Speaker CMy a ring says I'm constantly in stress mode but I really don't feel.
Speaker BIt was actually at dinner on Thursday we were talking about this when I first met you properly in person and I think it is interesting because there's different types of kind of being in flow and there's types that we enjoy and then that's, that's a positive like you know, dopamine hit and then there's others that puts us into obviously the cortisol.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BSo I think the thing is, is our bodies like being in high activity and that doesn't mean necessarily it's a bad stress.
Speaker BIf you think about being a woman in business then and the stresses that we go through.
Speaker BDo you see the difference between women in business and men in business?
Speaker BBecause I talk to a lot of female founders who have either had societal norms or other stigmas applied to what they're doing in business.
Speaker BThey've either come up a barrier, you know, for being a woman or a challenge.
Speaker BWhat's your view about women in business now?
Speaker BBecause I obviously talk a lot about the fact that only like 1.8% of women ever hit seven figures.
Speaker BLike where do you see the positives and negatives for women in business right now in 2025?
Speaker CI mean I love using my sexuality and you know, all of those things.
Speaker CI really don't mind ever walking into a room full of men and networking event and just holding my own.
Speaker CAnd I think that's a massive mindset thing as well.
Speaker CBut in terms of.
Speaker CIn business, gosh, I just think women are so powerful.
Speaker CAnd I was just thinking today, you know, we've done all these beautiful things today.
Speaker CI can't tell you how many messages, phone calls, all from men needing me.
Speaker CAll.
Speaker CThey all need me.
Speaker CAll the trades need me, the architects need me.
Speaker CThey're all just like.
Speaker CThey look up to me like this mother figure.
Speaker CSo I think men massively look up to women, whether they think it or not.
Speaker CWe lead them, they know we're powerful, we guide them.
Speaker CAnd I don't think women should ever.
Speaker CDon't ever forget that.
Speaker CYou know, to any woman that feels like, oh, it's a man's world, I really don't think it is.
Speaker CAnd I think I love men.
Speaker CI love the balance of men.
Speaker CI get on with them very, very, very well.
Speaker CAnd I think because I've got that equality in my head and the balance, I don't.
Speaker COf course, you know, of course, you see men get different opportunities than women, but then I think we get better opportunities than them as well.
Speaker CSo it's a sort of balancing Ying and Yang thing.
Speaker CAnd I don't think we should feel too wounded when we see a man get something that we don't because we get a lot that they don't get.
Speaker CSo.
Speaker CAnd they would say the same thing.
Speaker CSo I agree.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BSo has there been a book or a podcast that you think like, absolutely everyone has to read that changed your.
Speaker CLife for a business?
Speaker CI would read the E. Myth.
Speaker CWhat's the rest of it?
Speaker CThe E. Myth.
Speaker CSomething rather.
Speaker CAnd again, it was the.
Speaker CIt was the very first book that my business coach gave me and it was all about taking your.
Speaker CYourself out of being in the labor of.
Speaker COf the business.
Speaker CTaking yourself out and being able to run a business and overview it.
Speaker CAnd I read that and I listened to it all the time in the car and that helped.
Speaker BI think.
Speaker BI know what you mean.
Speaker BIt's about stepping up as a true CEO, isn't it?
Speaker BAnd it's how a business comes a business.
Speaker CYeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker CAnd I like.
Speaker BYeah, I've.
Speaker BI can't think of the end of it, but we'll put it on the screen.
Speaker CYou missed something or other.
Speaker CYeah, it's very, very, very good.
Speaker CIt's very good.
Speaker CAnd it's also about finding, you know, yes.
Speaker CIf you are the CEO, but what you really enjoy Doing, you know, I really didn't enjoy doing the counts.
Speaker CI didn't enjoy that much doing the sales side of it, Although I could sell the.
Speaker CWhat we do very well.
Speaker CI'm extremely creative.
Speaker CSo it was all about delegating and really stepping into what you're good at.
Speaker CNot trying to wear all of the hats.
Speaker CAnd I think.
Speaker CI think that whole delegating word is being used a lot more now, which is super cool.
Speaker CBecause it's crucial.
Speaker CIt's crucial.
Speaker BAbsolutely.
Speaker BGifting and empowering others to do things that they are good at.
Speaker BI love that because I always gifting you this responsibility.
Speaker BI'm building you this because you love it and I don't.
Speaker BAnd I said to you before that if something stays on my to do list, I either have to delegate or declutter.
Speaker BSo share with us then what your embarrassing story is.
Speaker BBecause I always ask my guests to share something and it has to be juicy, Susie.
Speaker BIt has to be juicy.
Speaker BAnd I know you've got stories.
Speaker CI'm really struggling with this one.
Speaker CAnd you threw this at me at the beginning.
Speaker CAnd I'm thinking, what's my embarrassing story.
Speaker BDawn?
Speaker CI don't know.
Speaker COkay.
Speaker COkay.
Speaker CI'm just.
Speaker CI'm just thinking about what somebody said about.
Speaker BI love the fact that you are so embarrassed now.
Speaker BI love it when someone gets the cringe just before the story.
Speaker BThen we know it's going to be a good story.
Speaker BSo just go for it.
Speaker BSay it.
Speaker CI think when I was flying.
Speaker BAnd.
Speaker CWe were coming back from a long haul and it was my friend and I on the trolley and we were taking drinks and I had like a really bad cold or something that happened, and she made me laugh.
Speaker CAnd as I laughed, like all this snot from my cold just came pouring out of my nose into the money tray, which then she was just laughing at and all the passengers saw and.
Speaker CYeah, that's my only real timer that I remember was so embarrassing but hilarious at the same time.
Speaker CI think maybe I just deal with things well and I always just laugh it off.
Speaker CI think even if I falling or whatever, I can laugh it off, but I can relate.
Speaker BI definitely have a funny airline story.
Speaker CWell, tell me it's bad.
Speaker BI can't.
Speaker BI don't think I get through the full story.
Speaker BI'm gonna.
Speaker BI'm gonna.
Speaker BI'm gonna save that for the white party.
Speaker BOkay, cool, cool.
Speaker BAnd I. I will definitely fill the listeners in later, but for some of the girls who are watching, they will know my story of trying to leap over somebody on an easy jet flight.
Speaker BAnd just let's say I didn't complete the leap.
Speaker BAnd over a chair or over a man?
Speaker COh, my God.
Speaker BYeah, over a man.
Speaker BAnd obviously my 6 foot 2 partner made it look really simple so I tried to emulate it.
Speaker BBut when I leapt, I landed.
Speaker BI didn't go over.
Speaker BStraddled.
Speaker COh, no.
Speaker BAnd got legs stuck under armrest.
Speaker BEither side lodged, couldn't get out.
Speaker BAnd the man woke up as I was writhing.
Speaker BYeah, it was, it was a, it was a bad story.
Speaker BBut there's plenty of those I love that I wish I have, I have, I have a stream of them.
Speaker BSo as your parting gift then, for our listeners, what would be like the one thing that you would just want women or anyone in business to, to remember when, you know, sometimes, you know, life is a bit challenging?
Speaker BWhat's your piece of advice you'd like to gift that?
Speaker CIt always works out.
Speaker CYes, it's the most simple thing, but it always works out.
Speaker CAnd I think if you just keep that in your head, it'll work out, it'll be fine.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CAnd then you just have this absolute faith and you know, we're talking about religion and things like that.
Speaker CI'm not personally very religious, but I believe in, in, in a higher power.
Speaker CAnd I know people with religions have so much faith that they just, they just know that they're in the hands of something.
Speaker CAnd yeah, I would always just say that.
Speaker CJust, it'll always, it'll work out, It'll work out.
Speaker BAnd there's always been times, like I've spoken to lots of people this year who've had really challenging times in business and I've almost kind of like cathartically burnt the business to the ground and started again.
Speaker BBut like six months later they've said, like, this is the best business I've ever built because they're learning.
Speaker BAnd I think sometimes we've just got to remember that, you know, in business things aren't personal.
Speaker BSo when things change, like team or, or it could be, you know, a deal doesn't go to plan, it's kind of like it's meant to be.
Speaker BAnd sometimes we push quite hard, don't we, because we, we feel that we want it right now.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BBut it just means that we're just meant for a different trajectory for sure.
Speaker BSo how can people follow you, Susie, and see the journey of the property development?
Speaker CSo my Instagram handle, which I use more than LinkedIn, although I should really do more on LinkedIn, is RS, which is Romeo Suzie Benjamin, Nina RSVN Developers.
Speaker CAnd that's it.
Speaker CThat's.
Speaker CThat's how you can find us on Instagram.
Speaker CAnd I always try and do as many stories as possible and uploads and things like that.
Speaker CSo that's where you'll find me.
Speaker BWell, thank you for coming in today and.
Speaker BOh, amazing.
Speaker BI did not know that.
Speaker CYes, my first one.
Speaker BAnd we get to.
Speaker BAnd we get to go on a private island, have a white party, private.
Speaker CChef in a glass of cool.
Speaker CIt's a pretty cool first place podcast.
Speaker CThank you.
Speaker BAmazing.
Speaker CThank you.
Speaker AThanks for listening to dawn of a New Era, the podcast brought to you in association with the Her Power Community.
Speaker AThis initiative was founded by myself and it's all about empowering female founders to recognize their limitless potential and pursue their ambitions with confidence.
Speaker ANow there is less than 1.8% that goes into investing in female founded businesses and we are here to make positive change.
Speaker ASo come and support us on Instagram at Her Power Community and find out more about what we're doing to support female founders to scale and grow their businesses.