We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Susan Hohlman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Susan below.
Alright, Susan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.
Life is series of choices and those choices lead to being a calculated risk taker. The best gift my mother taught me was to be a calculated risk taker. She would say to me when I was young…”What is the worst thing in the world that could happen to you if you tried that”? That simple instruction taught me to be a person who thinks outside the box and takes paths that I would not have initially thought to take. By being a risk taker, my life journey has been filled with many blessings. As a woman, I am passionate about seeking to empower women to be risk takers. The best fruit on the tree is at the end of the branch. Early in my adult life in my late 20’s I resigned my position in higher education as an administrator for Northwestern University to pursue my entrepreneurial dreams of running my own business. God deposited me into Mary Kay Cosmetics to build my business in a direct marketing model as an independent business person. I had a lightening bolt experience and within a few hours I had embarked on one of the most rewarding career choices of my life. I grew a highly successful National Area of Sales Professionals with Mary Kay. I was active in growing my career in Mary Kay for 38 years and retired in January of 2020. ( the company requires us to retire at 65) My greatest passion as a Senior National Sales Director with Mary Kay was to seek to empower and train women to own their greatness and build successful careers that change the lives of their families and so many others who’s lives they touch in the course of growing their business. *As a entrepreneur, I knew at 65 , with the energy level of a 30 year old, that I still had a mission and a purpose to carry out. I started ITWOEYE Consulting in 2019 to instruct individuals how to sell themselves and their businesses. I’m a servant leader, communicator and business person. I’m here to pour into others so they can be a better , more successful communicator and human being. We all sell, at all times, in all area’s of our lives. Understanding that selling is a construct of interpersonal communication takes the fear out of sharing with another person. My mantra is ….”.Selling isn’t brain surgery”. I offer my services to individuals who want to learn the skill set of being a more effective communicator and build more productive relationships. Life and business is all about relationships, relationships , relationships. My target market are small business owners, independent contractors and entrepreneurs. I also contract with businesses to train their teams and I am an adjunct at three colleges/universities where I teach sales, marketing, entrepreneurship, sales leadership and effective networking. I’m on a mission to empower others to know how great they are and to take calculated risks to create the quality of life that they are seeking for themselves. I’m in the chapter of my life where I have learned, earned and now I’m in the returning phase to give back and empower others to step out, take a risk and create the life they want through being a better communicator and risk taker. Nothing happens in life, if we are not willing to step out and take a risk.
Susan , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I believe that I covered this in my first paragraph. I followed the traditional path of college, graduate school and finding what I thought was my “dream job” right out of graduate school. I always thought that I would pursue my career in higher education in administration or the arts. I was hired at 23 years of age to be the first administrator for The Wirtz Center of the Performing Arts for Northwestern University. I was honored to hired for this position and I worked with dedication and passion for the University. In my mind and in my heart, I always wanted to start my own business. I believed that is where I could make the biggest impact on the lives of others. I wanted to make an impact on the lives of others. I also felt a yearning to work with women and support their growth as human beings and business persons. When Mary Kay was deposited into my life, I determined this business model was where I wanted to make my mark in the business world. It fit my criteria of being an independent business owner who could run my own “ship” , generate a large income and make an impact on the lives of others. I have both an academic, corporate training and experiential background to teach individuals in how to be effective communicators, sales professionals and business persons. I grew my Mary Kay career from a “case and a first face” to a global organization that was closing over 2 million in wholesale sales for Mary Kay on an annual basis. Mary Kay rewarded me with over 4 million in direct commissions as an active National Sales Director and a retirement program from the company that is worth 1.6 million. I have both an undergraduate and graduate degree. My bachelors degree is in Communication and Theatre. My Master’s is in Art Administration ( business of running arts organizations) . When I started ITWOEYE , I discerned that I wanted to start my consulting/coaching business to utilize and be a hybrid of my skill sets of communication, selling , teaching and knowing how to start and run a successful small business. I create all of my own content for my programs and classes. I work with each client on an individual basis to support them where they are and what skill sets they want to accrue. My coaching is highly individualized. I do not offer a “canned” program or a “evergreen” program. I’m all about customization in working with my clients.
I’m very proud of the clients who have and who are allowing me to be of support to them to understand their personal communication style, how to read the style of the person they are talking with and how to make an impact when communicating with another human being. All relationships will be strengthened with more effective communication tools being used on a daily basis. In selling, once a person learns the construct of selling, they will be more effective in their professional role and reaching their goals. Sales is all about being in service to your client and to add value to the life of our client. Sales today is about “partnering to create value” for the client and for the seller. It is all about relationship selling today! It is about the “double win”. If I help enough of my clients to learn new skills, fill a need and help them to reach their goals…..I win …as a servant teacher and communicator.
When I’m done, I want my client to walk away and say…I learned some new skills and I have had the blessing to enter into a relationship with my coach. The relationship will continue. I always share with my clients I’m here for you….just text or call when you need me.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Life and business is a series of pivots! If you are in business and you believe that all will be smooth sailing and your plans will go according to your business plan on an ongoing basis, you are in for a rude awakening. A good business person will have a good business plan. That plan will be reduced to a micro focused plan of action that you follow on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual basis. Every year in business requires the ability to be proactive and responsive and reactive to change. In my new business ITWOEYE , I had a full calendar of classes and events for the first quarter of 2020. I was ready to run, when the Pandemic arrived. My calendar cleared quickly. I did have the blessing of transferring clients to zoom, but my events and collegiate classes fell off the calendar. *My pivot was to use the time to hunker down and navigate through LinkedIn to make connections. I also utilized all options to connect and learn on line during the first 6 months of the pandemic. From my interactions and connections during this time, I connected with a woman business owner who then reached out and hired me to hire, train and run her sales team for the summer of 2021 in the harbors in Chicago. I would never have met her on line, if the pandemic had not happened. . During this time I took two graduate classes on line that lead to me being hired as an adjunct for The College of DuPage. If it had not been for the pandemic, I would not have engaged in these events on line and I would not have made the connections. These connections lead to gainful contracts for my business.
Early in my career as a Sales Director, I had a sudden life change when my husband of 12 years announced he wanted a divorce. We had a three month old son and we had just bought a townhouse in Chicago. I was 100% financially responsible for my son and myself. I worked 100% on commission, so the sudden change was a strain in both my personal life and my career. I refused to “go back to education”. I was determined to continue to grow my business. It was a tough two years. I worked with intensity to provide and grow my business. I was blessed and I succeeded in growing my business. I was in a constant state of pivoting in those two years, but it all paid off and I went through an accelerated growth progression. I always found away , to make away , to keep moving forward. I worked in a state of faith, trust and belief that I would be blessed and succeed. I was “ALL IN” and there was only one way to go…..forward.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
I learned early in my life and in my career that “school is never out for the pro”. If you believe that you have learned everything you need to learn to be successful, you are in trouble. I’m always on a constant learning curve to accrue new information that will support me to grow as a person and expand my business. I’m always reading books, joining on line learning events and attending training sessions. I’ve always been a devote of John Maxwell. I’ve read many of his books and I attend Live to Lead once or twice a year. The books I’m currently reading are: Unlock your Freedom by Kevin Kepple, Communicating for life by Dr. Quentin J Schultze, **A New Kind of Diversity by Tim Elmore and 9 Ways to Develop Highly Effective Salespeople by Dr. Stephanie Boyer and Dr. Andrew Artis. Everyone should read A New Kind Of Diversity for a perspective on how we are all working together in the workplace today. There are five generations working in the marketplace today. We all work differently. I start each day of my life with reading scripture and journaling.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.susanhohlman.com www.itwoeye.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/hohlman
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/susan.hohlman
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/susan.hohlman