When it comes to your work, you shouldn’t have to choose between clarity & connection
From communication nerd to leadership coach.
How I Got Here
People tell me working with me feels like therapy for your work life—only with fewer couches and kleenex, and more aha moments. Fair enough. I may not be the buttoned-up consultant type, but what I bring—clarity, humor, honesty, and a willingness to sit in the messy middle—has helped people grow as individuals, and as teams.
This business started as Love Your 5, a nod to helping people embrace their Top 5 Strengths. But over time, the work deepened—and so did I. The rebrand to Work Well was about more than a new name. It’s a clearer reflection of who I am and what I help people do: work well with themselves, their teams, and the humans they lead. At its core, this work is about helping people better understand themselves, do the work to become the best version of who they already are, and extend that same effort and grace to the people around them.
Hi, I’m Susan
Coach, facilitator, and believer that real conversations can change everything
I’ve always been fascinated by people—their quirks and their patterns, what brings them joy and what scares the heck out of them—the way one sentence can land like magic or a brick. For a long time, I didn’t realize my fascination could actually be a career. But the more I studied communication and organizational psychology, the more I saw the inevitable: I wanted to spend my days helping humans understand each other better.
Once I discovered CliftonStrengths, it gave me a framework to match what I already knew in my gut: when people understand themselves, they can show up differently with others. And that’s what drives me. Not the big, flashy transformations, but the ripple effect—a person makes one small shift in how they show up, and suddenly their conversations at work (and even at home) feel lighter, clearer, more productive. That change spreads further than either of us can see, and that’s what keeps me hooked.
Because when individuals show up with more self-awareness and teams create space for growth—instead of perfection—that’s when the real magic happens. That’s when people Work Well—Together.
People Are My Favorite Subject
Because we’re all delightfully complicated
The fun stuff
- If I’m not working, you’ll probably find me on the pickleball court or out on our vintage Ski Nautique.
- My Minnesota accent sneaks out sometimes… my kids never miss a chance to roast me for it.
- I lead a local women’s singing group—think fewer choir robes, more laughter.
- I’m the person who (along with the chocolate-covered pretzels) packs discussion questions for every road trip… apparently I don’t get enough during the work week?
