Today we’d like to introduce you to Natalie Susi.
Natalie Susi is a teacher by heart, a writer by trade, and an entrepreneur by choice.
A former English and writing teacher, Natalie Susi founded Bare Organic Mixers after she was laid off in the CA budget cuts from her position as a teacher at San Diego State University.
In 2009, Natalie decided to explore the world of entrepreneurialism when she recognized a large gap in the marketplace for low-calorie, all-natural cocktails. She navigated the sourcing, bottling, manufacturing, and distribution process and created Bare Organic Mixers. In 2014, Bare was acquired by a leading natural foods company and Natalie continued to work with the company as the face of the brand. Natalie and Bare were featured in some notable press outlets to include: Forbes.com (Top 10 Female Entrepreneurs to Watch in SD), Pacific Magazine (Top 30 Under 30) The LA Times, E! Online, People Magazine, and Bravo’s, The Millionaire Matchmaker.
In 2015, Natalie exited the company, so she could go back to doing what she loves, but this time the content she wanted to teach was much different than English literature.
She returned to education with a unique experience of how to build a business with limited resources and no previous business education. Like so many other first time entrepreneurs, she spent 6 years learning all of the life lessons the hard way through her biggest failures and mistakes. During this learning process, Natalie became fascinated with human behavior and psychology and concepts in the personal development space like how to recognize your blind spots, how to overcome limiting beliefs, and how to get out of what she coins, a “ditch moment.”
Currently, Natalie combines her educational background as a teacher and her experience as an entrepreneur to provide personal development coaching and consulting to individuals, creative entrepreneurs and businesses. She specializes in helping people overcome their limiting beliefs, so they can step into who they are meant to be and achieve the life and career they’ve always wanted. She uses a program that she developed called “Creating a Conscious Culture” to guide people through a step-by-step process that helps them get from where they are to where they want to be in any area of their life in the most efficient and effective way.
Natalie also teaches the “Entrepreneur Mindset” course for teens at SOUL Charter School and a writing course called “The Pursuit of Happiness” at the University of California, San Diego.
A little more informal details on the story:
I learned most everything I know about personal development coaching through a process of– living through my own experiences, finding the best teachers, tools, and strategies to navigate through these experiences in the most productive way, and then reflecting on how I could learn and grow from the unhappy moments and how I could start to create more of the happy moments.
I always say I’m a teacher by trade and by heart. Teaching is what I’m meant to do on this planet, however, I was also fascinated with starting my own business. When the CA budget cuts made it challenging to find a teaching position and easier to start a business, I decided to take the risk and began my entrepreneurial journey.
In the eight years, it took to create, build, and sell my company, I lost a boyfriend, a best friend, all of my life savings, and all three of my mediocre jobs that were keeping my life and business afloat. In one month, my entire life fell apart and turned upside down. I was experiencing what I now call a major “ditch moment.”
I recognized that I needed to start exploring how I had landed there and what exactly I was going to do to climb out of the ditch and step into a better, stronger version of myself.
I became fascinated with human behavior and psychology and personal development concepts like how to recognize your blind spots, overcome your limiting beliefs, and step out of your ditch moments. I wanted to learn everything I could about why we do what we do, how our experiences shape our reality, how our brain functions, and what motivates us from a mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical perspective. I went down the personal development rabbit hole– learning from books, videos, weekend seminars, and retreats. I also worked with many healers, therapists, mentors, and coaches– all with the intention of learning the foundational knowledge that would allow me to create my own methods for teaching this content to people who want to experience quick shifts and massive growth and change in their life.
“In this process of self-discovery, I learned that ALL of my moments of suffering lead back to the same root cause– the stories I was telling myself.
I had created a bunch of fear-based stories about myself, my life, and what I was capable of doing (or not doing). The main characters were all of my own limiting beliefs, triggers, and patterns, and they were causing me to retell and relive the same storylines over and over again.
“I began to see that in every old, negative story, there is an opportunity for a rewrite– to find the value, the lesson, and the positive outcomes, instead of just retelling the same old version.”
We can choose to rewrite our past. We can choose to shift our perspective. And, then we can choose to start writing a whole new chapter.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
This leads into another lesson which basically states– that if your business is constantly making you feel like you’re pushing a boulder up a hill like you’re always taking five steps forward and then another 10 steps back, it might not be the business you’re supposed to be in. When you’re not doing what you’re meant to be doing, it is much more difficult. We constantly see these messages that entrepreneurialism is all about grinding and hustling. Sometimes, this is true. There is definitely a time and a place to work hard, but if your hard work really just have you running in circles, that’s an indication that something is not working. And, you have to stop and pivot, not keep plowing forward.
One of the main goals, when I work with people who want to make big life shifts, is to first help them uncover and become aware of the limiting beliefs, triggers, and patterns that repeatedly hold them back, so they can replace those old beliefs with new ones that better serve them and reflect their confidence, value, and worth.
There are many more lessons that are all detailed on my an about page story under my bio. I can go on and on in this section, but don’t want to overwhelm!
Please tell us about your work.
I combined my educational background as a teacher and my experience as an entrepreneur to provide personal development coaching and consulting to individuals corporate businesses, and creative entrepreneurs.
Ultimately, I specialize in helping people uncover the limiting beliefs, triggers, and patterns that are holding them back, so they can step into who they are meant to be and create the life and career they’ve always wanted. I also designed a step-by-step program called “Creating a Conscious Culture” that helps people do three things:
1. Become aware and reflect on where you are and how you got here (uncover the limiting beliefs, triggers, and patterns that are holding you back).
2. Get clear on where you want to go (intention setting and goal setting for gaining clarity on what your ideal life looks like).
3. Put a practical game plan together for getting from where you are to where you want to be.
I also present these teachings and principles to corporate settings to help managers and business owners navigate team dynamics and strengthen and build connection amongst their team and their clients, so they can pivot, grow, and create success in the most efficient and effective way.
Often it feels as if the media, by and large, is only focused on the obstacles faced by women, but we feel it’s important to also look for the opportunities. In your view, are there opportunities that you see that women are particularly well positioned for?
I had the most incredible parents who have always loved and supported me unconditionally. I am very close to them, and they were amazing role models for me.
Even with all of this, my childhood has hugely shaped how my life looks now because our childhood is where we create all of our beliefs around life. I spend the most time teaching this concept to clients because many people do not truly understand just how impactful the years of 0-8 are in the development of how we see and interact with ourselves, other people, and the world.
In short, I am totally clear that some of the family dynamics that I witnessed as a child plays a huge role in why I am healthily obsessed with learning about why people do what they do.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.nataliesusi.com
- Phone: 302-562-9455
- Email: natsusi@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nataliesusi/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nataliesusi
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/msnataliesusi
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliesusi/
Image Credit:
Tim King (professional photos)
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