Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Suzanne Mathis McQueen. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Suzanne Mathis, thanks for joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

Off the top of my head, there are two things I do differently from the self-publishing industry standard, and there are two things I do differently from the “hormones and wellness” industry standard. With my work, the two industries are intertwined in a way that creates a unique problem. Yet, that unique problem has led me to the unique-for-both-industries business model solution I’m currently creating.

My business sprouted from my non-fiction book, <i>4 Seasons in 4 Weeks </i>(<i>4s4w</i>). Published at the end of 2012, the book has helped thousands of women and couples worldwide find day-to-day balance and happiness by aligning themselves with the female monthly hormonal sequence. The 4s4w cycle-tracking method makes the hormonal journey easier to understand (and even fun!) while providing useful information for both the woman and her partner.

The personal benefit for her is often life-changing as she naturally gets better at making optimal decisions in health, business, and relationships. For couples, this approach leads to better communication, intimacy, and teamwork. I teach this empowering-to-all, feminist-focused system through books, workshops, retreats, courses, and social media. I’ve just begun to create partnerships with health practitioners and nature-based youth programs to incorporate the cycle-tracking basics into their curriculums and prescriptions.

The “Non-Fiction Publishing” industry standard:

Books are often seen as the “business cards” of the online marketing world. Book sales alone don’t leave much money for the author after the cost of producing (editing, designing, printing, etc.) and distributing, so offering numerous ways to access the information through audiobooks and eBooks is a common practice to increase sales.

However, to make a good living, the publishing industry’s standard for most non-fiction book businesses (especially self-published) is to have a super high-end product, such as one-on-one coaching, higher-priced courses, and/or subscription or membership programs to offset the low return on books.

This model makes sense for most “self-help” or “how-to” businesses.

But this model didn’t work for me with my particular body of work. After spending a decade and tens of thousands of dollars on group programs and private coaching to find a good marketing path to sell my books and courses, the methods I learned were just rearranged versions of the same marketing model, and none of them resonated with me.

It wasn’t that I had a problem charging for my, or my work’s, worth. Had I been promoting and selling my <i>business</i> book series, I wouldn’t have thought twice about pitching expensive programs.

Instead, I had to face what I knew all along but failed to recognize consciously: I have a core belief that girls and women shouldn’t have to pay much for education about their bodies, especially when it comes to a monthly cycle they didn’t ask for and are forced to manage. This month-long hormonal rhythm is the cause of so much upset and stress for those with girl bodies from the onset of their periods through menopause.

Dilemma: I had a super easy system that could not only help to ease the suffering underneath what feels like a betrayal of the Feminine but a system that could also improve every single aspect of one’s life, such as health, business, relationships, and sexuality (even beyond hysterectomy or menopause). I had answers but felt totally overwhelmed by the plethora and expense of the marketing that needed to be done just to make the work known.

I wanted anyone who wanted this to have it, no matter their financial status.

So, somehow believing, wishing, and hoping it would all magically work out financially, I sold my offerings for low to no cost.

THIS was the FIRST thing I did that differed from the industry standard.

Obviously, it was a terrible business model, and my finances hung in the balance, but I had a strong drive to stick with it. I knew I was onto something. This work became my purpose. I took appallingly low-paying part-time side jobs to keep it all going.

Because here’s the thing:

Content-wise, the book, <i>4 Seasons in 4 Weeks</i>, has been a great success. While my testimonials are low in numbers (I hated the hustle and hassle of asking for them), they are stellar in praise, and the book has sold consistently at full price, mainly by word-of-mouth since it was released. That’s enormous!

Word-of-mouth is the goal!

Business-wise, from the start, I finally now know what I did; I misidentified my entire “WHAT” and “WHY.” Because of that, I went down the wrong marketing path.

Sometimes, it takes making big mistakes to figure out what is needed.

2) The SECOND thing I did that differed from the publishing industry standard was to start a nonprofit and roll my entire body of work into it.

A nonprofit provides a structure where, if fundraising efforts succeed, I can offer books, coaching, courses, workshops, and outreach programs at low to no cost. Yet I’ll also get paid a decent wage, hire an admin assistant, and have a Board and volunteers to help. Funding can come from multiple sources, such as the proceeds from the sale of all mentioned products (books, workshops, etc.), donations, grants, and sponsorships. I’ve already received a few donations, so I’m encouraged that this path will be a win-win, even during these uncertain political times for nonprofits. I’ve joined the Nonprofit Leadership Lab, which, so far, has proven to be a phenomenal membership program run by Joan Garry. I’m learning best nonprofit practices and have access to an enormous support system of staff and other nonprofits in the program.

I feel like I’m finally in the right place with this work.

~~
The “Hormone and Wellness” industry standard:

No matter what monthly cycle-tracking method a school, church, coach, or doctor’s office is teaching (IF ANY), almost all of them are teaching the science of the hormonal sequence. This is a great thing, right?

1) YES and…
If a person is lucky enough to get good sex education in school, then everything they learn about female hormones is about the <i>journey of the egg</i>. But this is only half the story. The other half is <i>the girl or woman’s experience</i>. This is what my book, <i>4 Seasons in 4 Weeks</i>, is about.

THIS is the first thing I teach that differs from the “hormones and wellness” industry standard.

Science shows us the rhythmic pattern of the female hormones.
4s4w shows us the relevance of that science to a woman’s daily experiences.

Here’s an example: Science will tell us that the first half of the cycle month is the “follicular phase.” That’s true. But honestly, so what? How is that helpful to your day-to-day life? You, the woman, are not walking around “folliculating” (I made that word up, but it works)! During your first week, you’re bleeding and need to rest differently than usual. During the 2nd week, you’re high on estrogen and sexually intoxicated as your hormonal sequence heads toward ovulation. You’ll say yes to things when no might be a better choice. Major mindfulness is a superpower during this week.

Make no mistake, the female human experiencing this monthly rhythm has been left out of the equation and conversation. I claim this is the reason female humans are left out of social and political conversations about their wombs. It’s time to change that, and 4s4w addresses this.

2) I include hormonal sequence guidance for partners, especially men (or boy bodies). Because they don’t have a period or cycle experience, they don’t really understand the whole thing, even though so many want to. The point is to help them be good teammates.

To sum things up:

What I do differently regarding the “Publishing” industry standards:
1) My products are low-to-no cost
2) I started a nonprofit to have a Board and volunteers to help, receive funding, get paid, and be able to hire an assistant.

What I do differently regarding the “Hormones and Wellness” industry standards:
1) I have a cycle-tracking method based on the science of the monthly hormones but created around the woman’s experience.
2) I include information for partners within the monthly hormonal experience so that they may be great teammates.

Suzanne Mathis, 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?

For starters, as of this writing, I’m in my late 60s, which I know probably sounds ancient! But I’m here to tell you that I love the age I’m at. In so many ways, I’m at the best I’ve ever been because I’ve had a very big life and, therefore, a lifetime of experience to draw from. I’m clear about mistakes I don’t want to make again (not that I won’t!) and much choosier about where I want to spend my time. The work I’m doing now feels like I’ve finally found my purpose in life, and I’m on fire with it! I only wish I had another sixty years to keep writing books and doing my best to create a kinder-for-all world.

A big part of that purpose is “not going back” and supporting women of all ages to value and defend the rights they have (for themselves and future generations). I lived in the times when women had to ask their husbands for money, when they were “allowed” only three professions (secretary, teacher, & nurse), and when they could not legally obtain birth control or their own credit card. Through the generations, girls and women have been gaslit and brainwashed into believing, deep down, that they, or other girls, are inferior or evil. Test it on yourself. Notice the next time you blame the woman before you blame the man upon hearing about a scandalous situation. Notice when you “love it” when another woman fails.

Ultimately, my cycle-tracking method, 4 Seasons in 4 Weeks (4s4w), is far more than it sounds. This is a method that helps you to undo the suffering of your female lineage and gives you the opportunity to reject the false, negative narratives passed down through those generations about who you are as a human because of being one who bleeds or has bled. You are not crazy, and you don’t have mood swings. You are literally lunar rhythmic. You are living in a body that has an approximate 28-day body clock. It’s doing what it’s supposed to be doing. Your job is to learn how to align with it- how to surf its waves with grace and skill.

It’s not the actual hormones I care about or am interested in. I’m interested in the code within the month-long sequence that carries a different superpower each day for you to tap into. Your female body is powerful beyond measure, and YOU are powerful beyond measure BECAUSE of your female body. It’s time to reject every bit of this nonsense that causes you to “cycle suffer.” It’s a patriarchal hex that started so long ago that it’s hard to trace since it began in different places at different times to keep girls and women down and from leadership in society. It’s up to every single person in a girl body to release and burn those embedded negative stories so that they can transform and allow your empowered Feminine to emerge. The planet needs YOU!

Background: As a lifelong entrepreneur, I had a 20-year career in the salon and day spa industry. I was a hairdresser and eventually owned two small salons before designing, building, and creating an award-winning day spa along with my husband at the time. We had thirty employees and also co-founded a facial licensing school to go with it. We sold the business as a profitable turnkey operation in 2003. I’m also a certified Peace Ambassador, a trained ceremonialists for women’s circles and water ceremonies, and have been on the faculty at Breitenbush Hot Springs for holding retreats. One of my favorite things about being a business owner is networking with other business owners to support one another. I was the President of Women Entrepreneurs of Southern Oregon in the early 1990’s. Many of those women became lifelong friends.

I was born in Honolulu and was raised in So. California before moving to Big Sur when I was twenty-two. There, I married and had kids. Eventually, we moved our family to Oregon, where I still reside. Between it all, I married twice and had three kids total (all home-birthed), who are now wonderful adults. Life is good.

Books: I’ve written several books: 4 Seasons in 4 Weeks, The Perfect Kiss: 50 Ways to Kiss Your Lover (pen name is Sym Scott), The Business Shaman (this is the pilot book for a future series), and three children’s books on body rhythms: The Sun and Me, The Moon and Me, and The Seasons and Me. All can be found on Amazon for now. Distribution, especially for books printed in color (as 4 of mine are), is tricky. However, I’m working on other distribution channels. It’s complicated but doable. Stay tuned.

What I’m working on now: I’m about to finish the first in an 8-book series for adolescents with girl bodies, which I’m super excited about! Because I’m rolling my business into a nonprofit model, I’m building an entirely new website that will hold all of my work including merch, blogs, and courses.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

The types of businesses that can be started today vary wildly, especially now that we have online and physical building options. Because I’ve started many businesses throughout my 45 years of being an entrepreneur, as well as being a business consultant to a few upstarts, I can tell you that all of them had one thing in common: a solid business plan.

It’s easy to hold your vision in your head. But until you start laying everything out on paper, so to speak, you won’t truly understand what you’re doing.

A business plan sounds hard, but it’s not. And please don’t make it hard. It can actually be fun once you get started, and you’ll be incredibly happy when you finish it.

Find an easy template to follow. If you want suggestions, search online for free business plan blueprints or contact your local small business association, university, or Chamber of Commerce to see if they can refer you to business plan resources. There is no need to pay for it, especially at first. Answer the questions. You will have not thought about a lot of the questions, but you’ll need to. A huge part of a business plan is crunching or guesstimating the numbers. If you feel you can’t manage to crunch numbers, find a free YouTube video or an inexpensive online course to teach you how.

Whether you’re bootstrapping your venture with your own money or need to get funding from another source, you need a realistic idea of your costs and financial backup needs. No lender, entrepreneurial sponsor, or company giving out grants will talk to you without you being able to talk numbers.

Get good at writing business plans. You’ll never regret it and you’ll feel smarter and more confident about the business you’re thinking of embarking on.

Any advice for managing a team?

The most important thing about managing a team is twofold:

1) If you’re the leader, it’s your job to be clear about the vision and goals of the business, especially the non-negotiables, as well as each team member’s job description and expectations. Make sure each person understands and agrees with all of it. Answer all questions and always be open to questions down the road.

2) Support each team member in being successful at their job.

3) Make it your job to know what gifts each person brings to the table and utilize them, especially if they are better at the thing than you are. You want to surround yourself with people who can make your job easier by doing a great job themselves.

4) Always ask their opinion about how their job is going and whether there is anything you can do to make that job more doable for them. They are the ones doing the job, so learn to listen, learn, and act on suggestions that support the vision. If their ideas don’t support the vision, explain why so that they’ll look at the business from that point of view.

5) Notice stuff that is going right every day and acknowledge those things. Give thanks to the workers. Consistent appreciation goes a long way to keeping a staff long-term. In the long run, people don’t stay for the pay; they stay for whether they feel valued and are allowed and able to contribute their best qualities.

Contact Info:

• Website: 28moons4s4w.com and new website coming soon: suzmcq.com
• Instagram: @4seasons4weeks
• Facebook: Suzanne Mathis McQueen
• Linkedin: Suzanne Mathis McQueen
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgch4X3fAif_ayqim8FMh3w
• Other: You can find my books on Amazon and my gift store. Part of my restructuring will be to get away from my distribution and printing dependence on Amazon for independent bookstores and more aligned online outlets. Stay tuned. I’m in the process of building a new website (suzmcq.com) – launch projection is spring 2025. I’m also in the process of rearranging my social media accounts and giving my YouTube channel a total redo. I left X and am on Bluesky: Suzanne Mathis McQueen I’ve just pulled 15 years’ worth of posts off of FB and am trying to decide how to move forward there. This is a year for rearranging my business as I transfer everything into my new nonprofit: Connect with Nature, Inc.

Image Credits
Tamara Cummings and Talisman Groovemaker