We recently connected with Susan Crawford and have shared our conversation below.

Susan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

Meraki is a Greek word I came across several years ago and translates into: “the soul, creativity and love put into something, it’s the essence of yourself in everything you do”.

It’s like when you have a delicious meal and feel as though you can “taste the love” – that’s how I want people to feel when they experience what’s possible at Meraki Inspired.

When I started my business, I knew that my company name needed to be powerful enough to remind me of who I am and why I do this work. I know I didn’t choose a conventional path and the name needed to hold deep, personal meaning so that no matter what, I knew what I wanted to create.

Meraki Inspired gave me permission to be myself, to show up fully, powerfully and intentionally in every aspect of my life and it is how I lead clients (leaders, teams, and organizations) to do the same. It has allowed me to create a space for people who are ready to Be and Do different.
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Meraki is my personal and professional North Star!

Susan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I go by a lot of “labels” including woman, mom, wife, entrepreneur, and leader, as well as an ambivert, sh!t disturber, and Capricorn (to my core). When you dig a bit deeper, you’ll know I’m a trailblazer, multi-passionate creative, and intuitive who has spent a lot of years disrupting generational patterns of being a people-pleaser, high achiever, and perfectionist so that I can design a life I love.

I believe that we are the sum of all of our beautiful, imperfect, and messy parts and I bring each one of them to my work because I know it will give someone else permission to do the same.

In 2017 my coaching journey began while struggling in a soul-sucking job and caught in an identity crisis fueled by motherhood. I was desperate to find a sense of self and a way out of the pressures I was drowning in on a daily basis.

Stuck at a crossroads between what I wanted and what was expected of me, my transformation began from the inside out. I discovered the process (and power) of deep self-exploration, healing, and unlearning which allowed me to find my truth, my voice, and myself again – and I wanted to help others do the same.

In 2018, I “escaped Azkaban” (aka my cubicle) and quit my 9-5 job so that I could pursue a career that set my soul on fire…and I haven’t looked back since. My careeer hasn’t been linear, in fact, every step has contributed to the path I’m on.

I hold a Masters in Social Work, a certificate in adult education and am a lifelong learner.

Since starting Meraki Inspired I have described myself as: a Mentor to the Unconventional; Wayfinder for the Soul; and Voice of the Authentic Leader. I work with people who dare to Be and Do different and choose an unconventional path.

The work I do is as multifaceted as I am. I help organizations, teams, and leaders leverage the power of Emotional Intelligence and DiSC to transform workplace relationships, culture, and performance through deep self-awareness. I also love working with individuals who are navigating this complex, often times overwhelming life, and longing to find their way back home to themselves.

I believe that everyone deserves to discover who we they and what they want so that they can design a life that is uniquely their own and it is an honour and privilege to do this work.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think that building a business starts with developing what’s known as the “know, like, trust” factor but I’ve learned that it’s so much more than that.

With social media, there’s so much saturation – with coaches, entrepreneurs, thought leaders and self-professed gurus. One of the things that has allowed me to stand out is my consistency and commitment to myself.

At the beginning of building my business, I was looking externally – to others in the field to help guide me to success. I spent a lot of time and money learning their strategies, short cuts and tips to trick the system and something always felt off. What I came back to, time and time again (until it really sank in) was that I can only show up as myself, consistently, to build the reputation that I want to have in this field.

Once I was able to find and trust my unique voice, I have been able to commit to the type of coach and leader I want to be and that is what ultimately builds the “know, like, trust” factor. I am unapologetic by choice; unconventional by nature; and unf*ckwithable by design. These are the pillars I try to live my life by and this is what those who engage with me have come to expect.

If this is my reputation, my only goal is to stay consistent and show people, by example, what is possible.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I think the biggest lesson I had to unlearn in my business was how to deprogram the societal conditioning that taught me rest was for lazy, unmotivated, and unsuccessful people.

I’m impulsive by nature and to be perfectly honest, a recovering high achieving, people pleaser. This was a troublesome combination as an entrepreneur because I tried so hard in the beginning to do all the things and be everything for everyone. I felt I always had to be creating, building, delivering, or doing something of “value” to be successful.

I did a lot of personal work in therapy and coaching to understand these behaviours and unpack where they came from and had to make an intentional decision to include rest as a personal and professional goal. As an entrepreneur, I have learned (and continue to learn) how important it is to slow down even thought it feels very counter intuitive.

When I got curious about where this pressure came from, it didn’t take long to realize that society conditions us to keep moving, hurry up, hustle, and “do” in order to be/feel successful. I was feeding into the capitalistic ideals that tied my worth to my productivity.

It’s no wonder it was so hard to rest – not only was rest never modelled for me in my home or work experiences (as a waitress the common saying was “when there’s time to lean, there’s time to clean”) it was never encouraged as an option.

It was only when I began to challenge the idea that rest was connected to laziness that I discovered that rest is in fact inextricably linked to sustainability. Sustainability, is a goal for me and the work I do. I came to understand that without rest, there is burnout, feelings of failure, and low self worth.

Like nature, we all deserve time to slow our pace, turn inward (or hibernate) so that we can prepare for our next season. I’ve been practicing the art of slowing down more intentionally over the past few years so that I can model for other entrepreneurs, people, and my daughters that we all deserve rest. It is not something that has to be earned, it is our birthrite.

By interrupting the belief that my worth is tied to my productivity I have freed myself to create boundaries in my life and business that make space for rest. I slow down, block my calendar, take Friday’s off, and listen to the flow of my energy throughout the day as a few examples.

Rest has been the most liberating and powerful gift I have given myself and my business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.merakiinspired.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susancrawford1223/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susancrawford11
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-crawford/