Meet Susan J Schwartz, a CASA State director, Life coach, and Self Defense Instructor who works to empower and support women in their journey of self-discovery and helps transform their lives.
In a time where women are always perceived to be ‘jealous’ of each other, Susan Schwartz is doing everything possible to create a safe space for women to empower and lift them. “When one woman rises, we all rise”, Susan strongly believes in these words and has made them her motto in life. She is using her passion and skills to create this ‘ripple’ for women by dropping the pebble into the pond. These are the ripples of self-confidence and empowerment.
Growing up, Susan was loved deeply and had supportive parents. As she turned 5, she realized that life was different for her as she was a girl. This is one of the reasons she joined Soul Selah, LLC. During the initial years of her career, she worked as a police officer and carpenter. As a female in these ‘traditionally male’ roles, she had to work twice as hard to earn half the respect as her peers.
Talking about her current roles, Schwartz is a life coach at Soul Selah, LLC. Selah means ‘pause’, it gives a safe space for women to grow from within through one-on-one coaching. They organize events like women’s weekend retreats and women’s circles of support to facilitate them. She is also the State Director at Wisconsin Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Association. They appoint good advocates to help abused and neglected children find a safe and permanent home. Susan is a passionate game-changer who challenges societal expectations that put constraints on women and deter them from being their own person.
Susan likes to keep it authentic, and this is one idea that changed her life. She works to create a path for others to see how authenticity allows them to live true to themselves, creating happiness from within to live a life of joy. Her authenticity helps women open up themselves and embark on their journey towards self-discovery. The customer response towards her efforts has been overwhelmingly positive. She has witnessed real transformations, had many ‘ah-ha’ moments and is proud to see women and girls use the self-defense techniques taught by her to ward off an attack.
Schwartz has several awards and recognitions to her name but for her “true success come from watching women walk taller, embrace the beauty of their authentic selves instead of what society expects and the awareness that they carry the pebble to create even more ripples of self-love, empowerment, and true joy..”, she says. She knows that it would be a long journey for the women to heal the pain of the past by allowing them to feel it deeply and to stay with it so the wound doesn’t bleed again. She is rooting for them to rise again and fall madly in love with themselves.
After being discriminated against in the initial years of her career, Susan has come a long way. Presently, all her challenges lie within, the barriers her thoughts and feelings of self-worth put before her. “It’s a daily challenge to remind myself of how truly powerful and wonderful I am!”, she says. This is even more important for her line of work because unless she realizes her self worth, she couldn’t help other women discover it.
Leaving an inspiring message for all the women out there, she says, “Our joy, our happiness lies within us…take the time to fall madly in love with the incredible woman you are… your life will transform in incredibly life-changing ways!!”