Feeling burned out?
Try doing in-home health care for 25 years. That's what Susan did before selling the paper.
"I loved doing it," she explains, "But you just get to the point where you can't take it anymore."
Now, four years later, Susan is regaining her energy and is practically a Real Change celebrity. And her plate is pretty full, if you ask me: she's a vendor, a Vendor Representative, a member of the Board of Directors, and a "Women of Real Change" participant.
She often jokes that the only reason she holds so many positions is because she "doesn't know how to say no," but the truth of the matter is a lot of people look up to her.
Case in point: Susan has been elected "Vendor Rep" countless times by other vendors, who respect her for her even-handedness and courteous nature.
"They say I'm good at it," Susan says humbly, as if she needs further convincing. "So I keep running."
Her ultimate goal: "To get more women involved," she says. So Susan leads by example, with the hopes that other women will be inspired to one day fill her shoes.
When she's not volunteering at the office or attending meetings, you can find Susan selling Real Change outside the Bartell's Drugstore at 45th and University Way, where she has a loyal clientele.
"It's just amazing, the people that you meet," Susan says of her customers. "Sometimes I get to talking to them for half an hour or more, and we just have great conversations."
To her regulars, she says, "Thank you."
And as for Real Change, she laughs: "It's a very good organization...but once you get involved it's kind of hard to stop."