[00:00:06] Speaker A: Welcome to from caving in to crushing it, the podcast for those who find themselves immersed in adversity and choose to write their story instead of having others write it for them. I'm Drew Deraney, and I'm your host. Today's guest is Suzanne Taylor King. Meet STK, the catalyst for unique business transformation. In a world that often pushes for conformity, Suzanne Taylor King stands out as a beacon for those who dare to be different. Suzanne is not just any business coach. She is a fervent advocate for challenging the status quo and embracing the power of individuality. With a firm belief that the magic happens when you step boldly into the confidence of being unique, Suzanne is here to guide you in amplifying your distinct qualities, strengths and gifts. Drawing from a rich history of life experiences and a profound mastery over personal habits and emotional intelligence, Suzanne offers more than just coaching, she offers a transformative experience. With STK by your side, you're not only poised to change your business trajectory, but to reshape your entire business journey, understanding that each individual's journey is as unique as they are. Suzanne's coaching approach is custom, co created and packed with actionable steps. With a treasure trove of resources at her disposal, she provides the straightforward motivation and momentum you need to propel forward, dive in, and discover the transformative power of truly bespoke business coaching with Suzanne Taylor King. Enjoy the show. Suzanne Taylor King I have been looking forward to this ever since I saw the email that said Suzanne booked time. And I have to say this because obviously I'm 55 years old. I've known people for most of my life and there's a time and I'm sure you've experienced this as the entrepreneur you are, where you may have met somebody and known somebody for two weeks, three weeks and talked with them, and there's something that clicks and you feel like you've known them for years and are somewhat closer or more in tune and aligned than some people you've known your whole life, including family.
[00:02:26] Speaker B: What do you think?
[00:02:27] Speaker A: Has that happened to you?
[00:02:28] Speaker B: Absolutely.
That's an energy thing.
[00:02:31] Speaker A: It is an energy thing and I feel that connection with you, which is one of the many reasons I wanted you to come on.
One of the other reasons, obviously, as I have people on who have gone through something in life that I call my moments faith shaking. Some are soul shaking or whatever and made a decision not to give up.
As you know, when we growing up, we're taught a lot of things. We're taught that life is linear and it's not like a malicious teaching from our parents or their parents. It's just what people know. And so we're told, if you do a plus, b plus, c plus, de is going to happen. And we believe it because we trust what we're learning. Inevitably, something gets in the way in between those letters, and we have never seen it before, and we have to make a decision now. I know you are one of the people who decided not to give up and retreat. You decided to move forward, and you have become a stronger human being for your adversity, not despite it. If you could reach back as far as you need to reach back and find that one or two defining moments that for you, Suzanne, were either a tap on the shoulder or, like, what I needed was the two by four upside the head that told you, Suzanne, there's a better way to live. And you heard that and you went for it. If you could share that with the audience, would really appreciate.
[00:04:01] Speaker B: My dog's.
Sorry, my dog's barking. That's okay.
Magic of being at home.
Well, for me, there was a time when I owned a very successful business. I was young, started that business at 22 years old, and within the first year, had done a million dollars in sales.
[00:04:26] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:04:27] Speaker B: Within two years, we were hitting the $5 million mark.
And when you're young and you know nothing about business besides having a paper route when you were a teenager, that amount of money kind of propels a lifestyle of fast cars, vacations, and parties and the genre of business. It was a snowboard and skateboard store that we brought a California concept to New Jersey in 1992. Okay, so it was before social media, thank God.
And after about four years, the relationship that I was in, I was married to my business partner, became not less than ideal, let's just say. And I, one night was in a situation that really, I couldn't believe I was in.
And it was in a split second where I knew I was attacked and physically assaulted.
And it was at a party. And it was because of the business and because of the situation that I was in and who I was at that time.
And I had to drive myself to the hospital, bleeding, confused, very upset.
And I don't even remember where I was. I was in Philadelphia somewhere. And I made the decision that no amount of money, no physical material thing, the house, the cars, the vacation home, whatever I had was not worth my physical safety. And these people that were hanging around me because of what I had.
[00:06:47] Speaker A: Right.
[00:06:49] Speaker B: And it was a really pivotal moment, even though I was bleeding and hurt, and it was an empowering moment.
[00:07:00] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:07:01] Speaker B: And I remember getting to the hospital, and any young woman comes in with a black eye and a bleeding mouth, they're going to think that your boyfriend or husband did this to you.
[00:07:16] Speaker A: Right?
[00:07:16] Speaker B: Exactly right. It's a domestic situation. First thought, and I pleaded with the nurse and the police officer, and I was like, no, I'm not that type of person.
I'm not on drugs. I don't drink. I don't do drugs. I was just at a party, and this happened.
And it was in that moment of them not believing me.
And I just said, I'm starting over. That's it. I'm done. I'm done with this business. I'm done with this lifestyle. I'm done with this partner. So it was in a split second decision of leaving a marriage, leaving the circle of friends, and leaving a $5 million a year business and just walking away, starting over with nothing. And I said, that is worth it. To start over with nothing is worth it if I'm still me on the other side.
[00:08:21] Speaker A: So I have a question. So do you think that if they, the police and whomever, if they believed you, do you think you would have gone through that transformation and decision?
[00:08:36] Speaker B: Don't know. I mean, it was the lack of them looking at me with, oh, she's on drugs, she's partying. Her boyfriend beat her up. It was like, oh, God, that's what they're seeing.
[00:08:51] Speaker A: They didn't look at the real Suzanne. They made their mind up of what this Suzanne was. Understood. Understood. So you made that decision. What happened next?
[00:09:04] Speaker B: It was a lot of standing my ground. A lot of very quick, very pivotal decisions, from changing the locks to walking away to turning in the car to getting a job.
[00:09:24] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:09:25] Speaker B: I mean, I needed an income, and I needed it quickly, right.
To standing my ground. With the breakup and a divorce and ultimately a bankruptcy three years later, because of the whole divorce situation and the business, it was really a time in my life when I didn't like who I was very much, but I knew where I wanted to go, and I knew that I wanted something different. I wanted a life that wasn't built on material things, that to stay in a bad relationship because of the amount of money that you have, absolutely. There's nothing that's worth that.
[00:10:17] Speaker A: I'll tell you, for you to realize what your worth was and have that belief in yourself going through that is a testament to you and to walk away from everything. It sounds like it's an easy decision.
Sometimes not. There are a lot of people who stay in that, because it's not an easy decision. So you thought enough of yourself, thank God, to move on.
How was that transition? How did you get through that?
[00:10:51] Speaker B: I would say my parents were pivotal.
I remember flying to Florida and to tell them I was getting divorced and leaving the situation and fill them in, basically.
And as soon as the words started to come out of my mouth, my mom looked at me and said, thank God.
[00:11:18] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:11:19] Speaker B: And that was another confirming moment for me when I, instead of being met with, oh, you're screwing your whole life up, what are you doing?
They supported the decision.
And my dad, being ex Military, looked at me and he's like, do I need to hurt anyone here?
[00:11:44] Speaker A: I love that. I love it.
[00:11:46] Speaker B: Which was great, me and dad.
So I think that was very confirming.
And then I had gone to school to be a dental hygienist.
[00:11:59] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:12:00] Speaker B: And I got a wonderful job at an office in the town I moved to.
[00:12:06] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:12:07] Speaker B: And ultimately, I worked there 15 years.
[00:12:10] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:12:10] Speaker B: While starting other businesses.
[00:12:12] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:12:13] Speaker B: And when I got hired, there was a question of, why haven't you worked in the past five years?
And I was honest with my boss and told him the story, and he hugged me and said, you're hired.
[00:12:34] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh.
[00:12:35] Speaker B: And we still have a relationship today, and I haven't worked for him for 15 years.
[00:12:41] Speaker A: We need people like that in our lives. Right. That was the universe or God or whoever you believe in or whatever you believe in, presenting somebody in front of you who wanted to help raise you up.
Wow.
[00:12:55] Speaker B: And my best friend from high school, I called right after the incident happened, and I said, I'm going to blow up my life and I'm going to have nothing.
Can I borrow $5,000 to buy a car? And she said, absolutely.
[00:13:13] Speaker A: For you even asking.
[00:13:16] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, I think that's half of it. Right?
Asking for help?
[00:13:21] Speaker A: It is. Asking for help and not feeling shame and guilt and all that kind of stuff and knowing the right person to go to who's going to be there for you, and thank God for her, too.
[00:13:35] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:13:36] Speaker A: So now you borrowed the money, you had the car. So what were you thinking? You had that entrepreneurial spirit in you. This should be good. What happened next?
[00:13:46] Speaker B: Well, I remember driving to work one day in my less than $5,000 car.
And it was cute. It was a little old Volkswagen convertible.
My previous car had been a very luxurious, almost $100,000 suv.
[00:14:11] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:14:12] Speaker B: So it was a moment where I just said, driving around in a piece of junk.
It's getting me where I need to go.
And I feel happier than. I feel safer and happier and more connected to who I am as a person.
And I just set a small goal of buying a house, a new house just for myself. And I just started putting that into place, and that happened within about eight months. I put a deposit on a cute little 200 year old row home in the town that I worked and was able to buy a new car somewhere around that same time. And I just thought, okay, I'm doing this. And it was those little steps.
[00:15:15] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:15:16] Speaker B: And after about, I'd say, three or four years out, the other side of everything.
[00:15:23] Speaker A: Beautiful. Right.
[00:15:25] Speaker B: I met someone, and we had a business idea, and I was like, oh, dear God, do I do this again?
[00:15:34] Speaker A: A male.
[00:15:35] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:15:37] Speaker A: You're thinking, okay.
[00:15:38] Speaker B: And I thought, do I do this again? Okay, let's check in.
What would you do? Different partnership agreement, nondisclosure agreements, corporate documents, shares in the company. So that if I walk away or he walks away, we split the money. Right.
[00:15:59] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:16:00] Speaker B: So I really did it very intentionally with a whole different mindset, and it turned out really.
[00:16:13] Speaker A: And what was that venture in?
[00:16:17] Speaker B: Actually, he started off with a wholesale company. He imported sunglasses from China, Japan, and we turned it into a retail business again.
[00:16:33] Speaker A: Wow. Did you bring back the whole surfboard California?
[00:16:37] Speaker B: A little bit. A little bit. So some sunglass companies from California that I had pre existing relationships with, and I was able to pull some of those old vendor relationships and get them into this business.
[00:16:52] Speaker A: Beautiful.
[00:16:53] Speaker B: And it's still in existence today?
[00:16:56] Speaker A: Oh, it is.
[00:16:57] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. I'm 20 years removed from it, but still in existence.
That's where I get all of my glasses.
[00:17:07] Speaker A: Wow. Now you still have stake in it, where you get, like, I don't. Passive income. No, you see, you sold it completely, but you still get to go back and get this buy stuff. I love that. And those are nice glasses, by the way.
[00:17:19] Speaker B: Oh, thank you.
Yeah, I get pretty much anything I want in the store.
[00:17:24] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:17:25] Speaker B: And these in particular were sitting on a shelf, and I walked in and I said, oh, I'll have those.
And he said, of course you will. They're the most expensive pair in the store.
Once you have that talent, it never.
[00:17:41] Speaker A: Some things don't change.
So why'd you leave that business? It sounded like that was right up your alley.
[00:17:49] Speaker B: Ultimately, it wasn't the relationship that I wanted. It wasn't the business of my dreams. It was something I was talented at, but not something I wanted to do long term.
[00:18:06] Speaker A: You talk about stepping stone before, right. The first step was get the car. And then it was, get that house, and then you got your car.
All right. So now you're on your way.
What's next in Suzanne's life?
[00:18:19] Speaker B: Oh, gosh. Well, I got to be. I guess I was hitting 35 at the time, and I thought, okay, I might be ready to be married and be a mom, and I should get serious about meeting someone.
[00:18:43] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:18:44] Speaker B: And at the time, I was very successful with a network marketing business as well.
[00:18:49] Speaker A: Wonderful.
[00:18:50] Speaker B: So I had become a leader with young living and selling essential oils, had a huge team and doing all those things.
[00:19:01] Speaker A: Great.
[00:19:02] Speaker B: And again, still, I was not really on social media for any of my businesses.
[00:19:08] Speaker A: Unbelievable. Yeah.
[00:19:10] Speaker B: And I thought, okay, what do I want to do next?
What is the thing? And I got a nutrition certification, and I was teaching exercise classes part time to hold myself accountable to going to exercise.
If I'm the teacher, I have to show up.
[00:19:32] Speaker A: Yes. Right. You got to walk the walk.
[00:19:35] Speaker B: And I had a couple of people approach me about coaching them.
[00:19:41] Speaker A: One of those for the physical.
[00:19:45] Speaker B: Yeah, the physical. And nutrition.
[00:19:47] Speaker A: And nutrition training. Okay. Got it.
[00:19:49] Speaker B: And one of those people happened to be a pro NFL player.
[00:19:55] Speaker A: Oh, okay. Okay.
[00:19:56] Speaker B: I didn't know.
[00:19:58] Speaker A: Right, right.
[00:19:59] Speaker B: And we worked on his mindset and his breathing and his athletic ability, and I was like, oh, this high performance thing didn't even have a vocabulary word in my head, but I loved it.
[00:20:15] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:20:15] Speaker B: And a couple of years later, he started a restaurant chain and called me for advice.
[00:20:22] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:20:23] Speaker B: And I was like, all right.
I love this.
[00:20:27] Speaker A: Wow. Yeah.
[00:20:28] Speaker B: I don't know what this is called. I don't know what this is a.
[00:20:32] Speaker A: Name for it, but I know what it makes me feel like. So good.
Yeah.
[00:20:36] Speaker B: So it was ideas and innovation and doing something different at a really high level, and I just kind of followed that crooked path of what's next and being excited about what was next.
[00:20:58] Speaker A: I love that because many of us have that fear of the future, fear of failure, fear of success.
That's a great message, Suzanne. What's next?
And also the way you say it. Right. It's not one of those, oh, what's next? It's like, what's next?
And I think if we embrace that, what's next? That keeps us in the moment and not focusing on things that didn't go well. So I love that.
May I use that? What's next?
[00:21:27] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:21:28] Speaker A: All right. Thank you. Because I'm going to start using that today.
All right. So you're helping him and what happened then? Because now you got this itch that you're doing something. You don't know what it's called, but you're loving it.
[00:21:39] Speaker B: Well, then somebody said, and I can't remember what year it was.
Well, why don't you go on facebook and talk about what you do?
And right at that same time, I met my husband at the dentist's office, which is a great story.
[00:22:01] Speaker A: Were you still a dental hygienist at that time? Okay.
[00:22:04] Speaker B: I was three days a week, making great money, doing all my other stuff on the side.
[00:22:11] Speaker A: Right.
[00:22:12] Speaker B: And I met him.
[00:22:14] Speaker A: Okay?
[00:22:15] Speaker B: He tells it one way, I tell it.
That's what he says. But no, that was not true.
[00:22:22] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:22:22] Speaker B: I was not. No. And from minute one, we sat at lunch, he asked me some incredible questions.
[00:22:33] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:22:33] Speaker B: And I thought, wow, he actually wants to get to know me different.
[00:22:40] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:22:41] Speaker B: And we saw each other. We had our first date.
We talked on the phone every day. By the time we had our second date, we saw each other every day.
[00:22:52] Speaker A: Yeah. Wow.
[00:22:53] Speaker B: And within six months, we were engaged. And within a year, we were married. And then we started on the journey to have a baby.
[00:23:02] Speaker A: That is wonderful. How'd that go?
[00:23:05] Speaker B: Not great.
Not great. There was many hardships along that way, being older, there was miscarriages and IVF, and ultimately our journey led in adoption.
[00:23:21] Speaker A: Oh, wonderful. Because I know you have that process, that adoption process. I actually have. My godson and his wife are going through that, and we just got news that they found someone and the baby is going to be sometime in March of this year.
Because you said that. How was that process? Tell me that gift and what it was like, that journey?
[00:23:45] Speaker B: It was wonderful, actually.
As soon as we made the decision to go down that route, everything lined up. The universe just opened up. Lined up. I'm getting goosebumps now, as I say that, I was at my boss's house for a party, and we got a phone call on a Friday that said, birth mom has picked you. Baby's going to be born this weekend.
[00:24:12] Speaker A: This weekend. Oh, my gosh.
[00:24:15] Speaker B: We had tentatively a day's notice, but he was a couple of days late, so we ended up with five days notice and my maternity leave started immediately.
[00:24:28] Speaker A: Love that. Okay.
[00:24:29] Speaker B: And that's when I dove 100% into coaching. I just said, I'm not going back dentistry. I'm not going back to starting anybody else's business.
I'm going to start my business.
[00:24:44] Speaker A: Good for you.
[00:24:46] Speaker B: Got to stay home.
Finished a coaching certification.
[00:24:50] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:24:50] Speaker B: At nap time.
[00:24:52] Speaker A: Unbelievable. See? When you want it. When you want it, you do what you need to do to get that I love that story, Suzanne. Okay, so now you're a new mom, you got the certification, and what are we doing now?
[00:25:05] Speaker B: We're health coaching and mental performance coaching, all based in positive psychology.
[00:25:12] Speaker A: I love it.
[00:25:13] Speaker B: And for five years, build a really successful health coaching practice. Facebook group community around that healthy lifestyle and mindset.
[00:25:25] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:25:25] Speaker B: And all along that way, so many other coaches, service providers, were attracted to what I was doing. Oh, how'd you build that website? Oh, how do you have that Facebook group? Oh, how do you book people on your calendar? And I happened to be very tech savvy, and I would freely answer those questions.
And one day, somebody came to me and asked me about franchising a business. Do you know anything about that? Well, yeah, I do. I've done it twice. Oh, you have? Can I pay you to help me?
Oh, I can get paid for the experience that I have for what's here.
[00:26:12] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:26:13] Speaker B: That's amazing.
And that was my first consulting gig. And I remember adding up how much I made from that relationship in relation to how much time I had spent. And I saw the Roi of being able to sell your knowledge, not a meal plan or exercise plan, with me. So I was selling something tangible, but yet the time thing wasn't in there.
[00:26:54] Speaker A: Right.
[00:26:55] Speaker B: And I just saw the potential of doing that. Absolutely.
[00:27:02] Speaker A: I love how you're able to touch you pull back some of your wisdom from your experience, and then learn how to monetize it. Or really, somebody asked you about it. And there's a lot of stuff. The intellectual property that we have, it's a challenge for some people to think you can monetize that and it's okay.
[00:27:21] Speaker B: Well, I think that's one of the reasons I'm so passionate about doing that for other people now, is because I had to do it. For me, it felt like I was being called to take all of that experience from having those two businesses and being in network marketing and being online and having grit and resilience in my personal life.
[00:27:47] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:27:47] Speaker B: I really have the mindset of an entrepreneur.
You have to be full of grit, full of resilience, not take no for an answer and not be affected when you receive a no.
Right.
And I think when I finally realized that that could be something that I monetize, I was kind of in shock.
[00:28:19] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:28:20] Speaker B: And it felt almost too easy.
[00:28:24] Speaker A: And that's interesting because I was just talking to somebody. They talked about the word resistance, and that when you're working on something, you feel resistance, then maybe that's not where you should be going.
And they also same thing. When they found their place in life, it almost came too easy. And we're taught to struggle and that we're supposed to struggle, right. Pain and to the grind hard, work hard. And I'm learning now it's the opposite. That when things go smoothly, don't wait for the other shoe to drop. There is no other shoe.
It goes this way because it's meant to go this way.
I love that story. Anything else you want to tell the audience before I promote you here?
[00:29:13] Speaker B: Well, I would say my biggest disbelief. When I first started in the online space and being a business coach and leaning into my unique genius, I thought I needed fancy. I thought I needed the Paris photo shoot and the Birkin bag and the Louboutins and all of the things right. And then my mentor said to me, when have you made the most money in your life?
And I said, my biggest business deal. Like, my biggest deal? She said, yeah. I said, okay, I have it in my mind. She said, what were you wearing?
I said, jeans, flip flops, and an indian motorcycle t shirt.
And she said, so your outfit didn't matter that day? I said, no, they were buying this.
And she said, stop it with the nonsense. Stop holding yourself back because you don't have the fancy website and the this and the that, and you don't need any of those things to be a business coach. And I was like, oh, my God, I don't need any of those things. I already have everything I need. So if I could go back and say, maybe 2009, 2010, just give me a little shake and say, you don't need all that stuff.
[00:31:00] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. Well, the audience certainly has harnessed the essence of Suzanne Taylor King, and they're going to want to get in touch with you, so I'm going to make it easy for them.
[00:31:12] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:31:12] Speaker A: All right, folks, Suzanne's doing this. It's called a revenue revolution challenge. November 27, it's a three day challenge, and what you'll get is one of her bonus items, and it's a guide to standing out on LinkedIn. Now, I find this very ironic, since throughout this whole discussion, no social media, and I'm not. I'm resistant. Then it's this Facebook group that blows up, and now you are giving people who reach out to you a guide to standing out on LinkedIn. I'm impressed.
[00:31:47] Speaker B: Well, ultimately, it's a guide to standing out with your unique genius no matter where you are. I love that. So, social media is great, and I'm on three platforms now. All right, my advice to my clients is always pick one platform where your ideal clients are.
Be consistent, build up your followership, and start making money from that one platform with one offer before you move to the next one.
[00:32:22] Speaker A: Very good advice. Absolutely wonderful advice.
All right, so I have two final questions because I could talk to you for, like another 30 hours straight, but we're going to wrap.
[00:32:35] Speaker B: Well, you're stuck with me now.
[00:32:36] Speaker A: I love you. I love you. All right, so two questions. All right, so, Suzanne, you now have the opportunity. You're sitting down with young seven to ten year old Suzanne, and you want to give her advice about life. What are you going to tell her?
[00:32:54] Speaker B: To not worry about looking younger than you are, that someday you'll be thankful for.
[00:33:05] Speaker A: That. All right, so now you're going to put a different hat on. And now you've got the opportunity. You're sitting down with young Suzanne, the young entrepreneur, young businesswoman, and you want to give her advice about business. What are you going to tell her?
[00:33:20] Speaker B: Document everything.
[00:33:24] Speaker A: Non disclosure.
[00:33:27] Speaker B: Document everything.
And have an awesome accountant from day one.
[00:33:35] Speaker A: I love that. Yeah. Surround yourself with the experts who are going to protect, you know, you can be the most trusting person in the to just protect yourself. Well, Suzanne, I have to say I'm grateful for know I usually highlight the people who introduced us and I know you and gonna, I think I'll give the credit to. It could be either Frank Aegan. It could be.
I've seen you in those. So I'm gonna give, I like giving credit to Frank Aegon. I'm going to give Claire to Frank Aegan.
[00:34:08] Speaker B: Might have been Mason, too. Do you know Mason McDonald?
[00:34:11] Speaker A: No. So I don't think it was then.
[00:34:13] Speaker B: I'm going to connect you with him.
[00:34:14] Speaker A: Because conversation with him, that'd be awesome. Anyway, I'm grateful to God.
[00:34:21] Speaker B: Me, too.
[00:34:21] Speaker A: That's who I believe in. And that I've got a chance to meet you. And I feel like we've known each other for a long time. And I certainly will say this is hopefully the second or third of many times you and I are going to be speaking with each other, because I know that I want you in my community because you're a great human being and you're doing wonderful things. So please stay who you are, keep doing what you're doing, because you're a gift to this world and people know that.
[00:34:51] Speaker B: Right back at you.
[00:34:52] Speaker A: Thank you, Suzanne. All right, everybody, take care of yourselves. Be well.
Thanks so much for listening. If you enjoyed the episode, please subscribe and give us a review to help others find it. If you find yourself immersed in adversity and would like to find support from other men in times of struggle, please become a member of my men's supporting men collaboration tribe by emailing me at
[email protected] expressing your interest. And I'll get in you. Speak to you soon.
