She Did What?! Susan Spencer, President of Susan Spencer Consulting
For those of you who know me well, you know that I’m a huge believer in the power of self-evaluation and reinvention, which is why I’m so excited to use this platform to share the radical pivots, risks and experiments of women I admire with you all. We’ll dig into the moments that led the people in their lives to go, “She Did What?!” and ultimately, to their personal or professional metamorphosis.
Susan Spencer is a powerhouse. The former editor in chief of Woman’s Day - the best-selling monthly magazine with a print and online audience of more than 20 million women, author of When Action Follows Heart and now President of Susan Spencer Consulting. After three decades of hard work, Susan decided to leave the magazine world at the beginning of 2020 and launched her consultancy in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic. If that’s not a radical pivot, then what is? She exemplifies the ethos of She Did What?!, and I’m thrilled for her to share her reinvention story with you. On deciding to make the leap, she says:
In the New York magazine world, editors in chief (EICs) either jump ship to another title, flame out dramatically, or are quietly shown the door. It’s rarely pretty, and it’s never nice to have your name splashed all over Page Six. I was eager to avoid these scenarios, so I did something that EICs at the top of their game rarely do—I resigned. That sounds simple, but it was the result of a year of planning and deep discernment around my life and my goals (both personal and professional). I wanted to work for an organization with social impact at its core—and personally, I wanted to create or find a working life that was in line with my values.
I left my job in February 2020, intending to take a 3-month sabbatical then launch into the process of reinvention. My ultimate goal was a fulltime job in the nonprofit or foundation space. The universe had other ideas, however, and the pandemic knocked me off that track—and onto another. (One that I arguably needed to be on in the first place.)
What strikes me about Susan’s story isn’t just that she trusted herself to fully reinvent her career after Woman’s Day - more women should trust themselves when reinvention calls! - but her process for doing it.
I talk a lot about the through-line of my career. I’ve worked for many different media platforms and had the human equivalent of nine lives in the turbulent magazine industry. But what I actually did was essentially the same, no matter where I worked—I informed and empowered women in their everyday lives. As long as I continue to do exactly that in whatever comes next, my reinvention will have been a success.
While the mechanism for my reinvention has stayed the same—a January list of goals—the process itself has ebbed and flowed over the years. This process consists of a deepthink around what I want to learn in the coming year, then distilling those ideas into a few actionable items. Not too many—that’s overwhelming.
There were times when, out of necessity, because I was working in a rapidly evolving business (hello, digital), my goals were more about keeping up with change. Other years, my goals were driven by curiosity and a desire to try something new (like the year I spent reviewing children’s books). Honestly, my motivation has ebbed and flowed as well. But when I look back at the years when I hit most of the goals on my list (like 2017, when I published a book and did a series of extraordinary interviews, including one with an astronaut in space!), there’s a massive feeling of accomplishment, and that is motivating in itself.
I’m the most pragmatic person on earth, and those early panicky days of the pandemic didn’t seem the right time for a major career pivot. So I decided to build on my experience and go in a more entrepreneurial direction. I built a website, opened my content and communications consultancy in May, and landed my first two clients in June.
I’ve talked before about my annual self-evaluation process, and Susan’s resonates with me and what I’ve found to be true in my own life. I similarly set goals across all areas of my life. From the French lessons I’m currently taking with my son (more on that soon) to when I similarly decided to alter my career path and start a business, my annual reinvention process begins with thinking about what I want to accomplish that year, which skills or pieces I already have in place, what skills I need to hone and how I can get there. You have to be truly honest with yourself about where you are, and that can be a really humbling experience.
One of the hardest tasks for me when I started my business was defining what I could do. I had to translate a specific set of skills that I’d built over 30+ years in media into scalable business offerings. For example, I’m fast and decisive after years of managing deadlines. How would this benefit a nonprofit, or a social impact movement? Figuring all this out required a great deal of thought and support, and that meant tapping into both my network for advice and leaning heavily on people who know me well. I like to say that I’m sleeping with my lawyer, gave birth to my web developer, and have known my IT guy since the day he came home, squalling, from the hospital. (Yes, I’m talking about my husband, daughter, and brother.) The point is, you don’t have to know all the answers. Sometimes stepping out of your own head and asking others what they think can help move you forward.
Finally, and this is super important: Don’t be too hard on yourself. Women tend to be their own worst critics. And never, ever compare yourself to anyone. You are you, and you bring you. That’s more than enough.
Do you have an annual self-evaluation process? Share your process in the comments!
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