This love led me to everything good in my life.
There’s a lot of talk about balancing motherhood with careers and entrepreneurship. My experience is a bit different. My pursuit of being a mom and the long journey there actually made me into an entrepreneur.
I don’t know if I ever would have taken the “leap” to go out on my own and build my own company if I hadn’t been chasing the idea of being a mom. I was told and shown in no uncertain circumstances I couldn’t do it in my corporate job. I tried anyway.
Losing my first pregnancy and facing the reality that I could only have my “dream life” and become a mama if I wrote the rules myself I stepped away. The love I had for her before I ever met her gave me the courage I never would have had otherwise.
It’s not lost on me that one month after leaving my career of 17 years I became naturally pregnant with her (after trying everything under the sun for almost a decade).
As she grew in my belly I wouldn’t let any other company control my time or dictate my days and how/ if I would get to spend them with her. So I made my own company. I never wrote a business plan , SHE and my time with her was the only plan. Make a company where I would get to be her mom before anything else and no one could tell me differently.
Turns out that was a multi million dollar plan. It’s funny what love for a child can do. Especially when it becomes the spark to drive beyond your own comfort zones and take wild swings.
So if you ever hear me turn down an opportunity because my kid needs me you’ll get it- it’s never been about “balance” for me and im not “missing out on bigger opportunities”. THIS is the dream. Right here. I did it. I built a life that made space for her , gives me every day with her , falling asleep as she holds my hands , waking up to her silly songs , taking her to school every morning , picking her up to hear the days stories. It’s all the exact fuel for every success I’ve had.
Being her mom hasnt slowed my career growth , it rocket fueled it to the next stratosphere.
Here’s to the reminder every single thing I do all stems from this love.
#motherhoodunfiltered #femalefounder
Peeling back the curtain on what it’s REALLY like to build at break neck speed. The wins , the losses and the lessons as we go.
Hi 👋 I’m Susannah the CEO & Founder of @brightbeautyconnect . By day I run a multi million dollar beauty agency for some of the world’s buzziest brands across the US. At night I’m building and launching the first ever beauty talent network for brands to find “their people” from in store teams to world class photographers to creators to bring their brand to life.
I’m either crazy , an idiot , a visionary or a mix of all three. Either way it’ll be a lot of fun while we find out together ☀️
📸: @annalaurasommer@sommer.media
👗: @andreaserranocurates
#beautycommunity #femaleentrepreneurship
I will die on on this hill. You don’t need an army you need 1-2 ride or dies who have built AHEAD of where you’re going and hold the door open for you.
Hang on to those friends like GOLD and most of all don’t forget to pay it forward when you can.
#femalefounder #femaleentrepreneurlife
You’ll never get anywhere by playing with beauty products all day. Ooooooop can’t hear you over the sound of my multi million dollar, award winning beauty agency. 😘
You don’t know how to code, stay in your lane. Sorry couldn’t hear you over the sound of us shipping the dream version of the app we built ourselves.
Go ahead tell me what I can’t do next , it’ll be fun !
#femaleentrepreneurlife #beautycommunity
Don’t be jelly! We really mean it when we say “above all else have fun”. Team Bright Beauty Connect had a blast helping launch @biodance_official new jellyfish mist in NYC this past weekend. Want in on the fun ? Check@out our link to join our talent network to get paid while having a blast in beauty ☀️
#beautycommunity #biodance #kbeautyskincare #sephoralife
What REALLY happened in Gloria Steinem’s living room ? I’m sharing it all in my latest substack. Link in bio
Don’t like reading? I’ve got a podcast dropping tomorrow 😉
TLDR : stop waiting for outside validation and build the world you want, the power has been inside of you the entire time
#powerofbeauty #modernfeminism #beautycanchangetheworld
Spring breakers , memory makers. From churches and haunted tombs to palace gates and devils with impeccable taste all topped off with the best beauty hunting across the pond, London you’re always so good to us 🇬🇧
Trust me on this one. Validation, approval and permission are shell games. Empty, distracting and completely useless.
Fill your cup , listen to your soul and drown out the noise. Throw in a little cartwheel in a field of daisies now and then as well and you’re got the secret to an extraordinary life.
Surf’s up 🏄! Never in a million years would I have guessed that the biggest skill set I would need to hone as an entrepreneur would be learning to ride waves 🌊
There’s a unique skill we all learn pretty quickly in how to take the wipeout , keep getting pounded as we attempt to catch those waves that others call us crazy for even trying , but the quicker you learn to ignore the bystanders on shore and just keep going for it despite constantly almost drowning the sooner you achieve what others can’t even dream of !
#femaleentrepreneurship #founderlife #corelipresspublish
Who the heck am I? It’s a question that definitely rears its head when you’re standing in @gloriasteinem living room doubting yourself and wrestling major imposter syndrome.
Here’s the simple truth of who I am and how I get into rooms like this. The answer is Love.
I’m someone who fell deeply in love with the beauty industry over 20 years ago and has poured my heart and soul into building inside of it while desperately wanting to shape it into the best version it can be for the world.
Yes I’m an entrepreneur and a CEO , but I’m also a mother, a daughter and a wife- areas that fuel me and pour love into me in ways that have shaped me into a completely different and more powerful version of myself each time. One thing remains consistent , it all stems from love. I believe deeply that the more you center love at anything you do the more you can achieve. 💕
#beautyindustry #beautylover #femaleentrepreneurlife #corelipresspublish
Some rooms change the trajectory of an industry.
They impact culture and influence change and expansion.
Earlier this month, we gathered in @gloriasteinem living room in New York City for a private Talking Circle.
Founders. Editors. Investors.
Women who have spent decades shaping culture in beauty, media, and beyond.
The conversation centered on a question that feels increasingly relevant right now:
Can the beauty industry be a tool for feminism?
The first wave fought for women to have a voice.
This generation is building the companies, platforms, and capital structures that ensure that voice lasts.
The room held legendary beauty founders, editors from Vogue and Allure, and investors who believe culture is not something we observe from the outside.
It is something we build together.
The evening was co-hosted with one of our own, @susannahdellinger , founder of @brightbeautyconnect , alongside @gloriasfoundation .
Susannah has spent years inside the beauty industry advocating for women across every stage of leadership, and she understands something we often talk about inside Maison:
Culture is shaped quietly.
Through the rooms we gather in.
The conversations we protect.
The standards we choose to uphold.
More from this evening soon.
