Sue Hollis has every reason to be arrogant and obnoxious:  she was a powerhouse corporate warrior for both British Airways and Qantas before realizing she wanted to make a bigger impact with her work.  That's when she stepped down and co-founded TravelEdge, a corporate travel management company now valued over $250 Million, 20 years ago, making her one of Australia's Top 10 Female Entrepreneurs. 

 

But even that began to wear on her so she listened to her heart, stepped down from the CEO position and rode her BMW superbike solo around the Pacific Northwest for three months, eventually writing a book about the journey, “Riding Raw”, released in August 2018. 

Sue is now a coach and an adventurepreneur (a term she coined), based between Whistler, Canada and Sydney, Australia. 

When she came to my house she was coming from a motorcycle race track where she trains at speeds close to 200 mph... at 60 years of age!  She has raised two successful boys.  For all of her accomplishments, she could not have been cooler, kinder or more passionate and compassionate.  What I loved about her is that she lets her values define her, not her accomplishments.   

 

I dare you not to love her and be inspired by her courage to listen to her heart and impact the world. 

 

SHOW NOTES: 

Sue's current day pursuits as an Adventurepreneur, (4:00). Sue's journey from corporate warrior to doing her own thing, (6:20). Realizing that she couldn't make a difference in people's lives in the corporate world, even as a CEO, she knew she had to make a drastic change, (7:35). "As a mother, I wanted to be spending more time with my son.  I didn't want him growing up with me being on an aircraft constantly", (9:23).  “Our houses were so close in those days, we could literally knock on each other’s kitchen window...we would knock on each other’s window, pass business plans across the window and say, does this make sense?  And after a couple of weeks... we both looked at each other and went… let’s do something together,” (10:38).  The surreal quality of being considered one of the Top 10 Female Entrepreneurs in Australia, (11:58). “And I really wanted to create an environment where we could enable to be the best they could be, personally and professionally and then to do something amazing for clients.  Oh, and by the way, hopefully this makes money.  'Cause we were really doing it for us”, (12:53). The humble beginnings of a company that grew to $250 Million and beyond, (14:44). Two things: 1 - Letting go of ego, 2 - continuing to get up every morning and knowing that what we were doing was going to make a difference, (18:34). Sue's business coach, about her book, Riding Raw: “If it helps one person, would you write it?" Sue:  "Of course." Coach: "It'll help one person. Write the book," (23:29). The influences of early life on Sue's warrior mentality, (25:50). The realization that her warrior ways could only take her so far - the perils of perfectionism, (29:24). How Sue's body broke down to protect her from her own perfectionism, (33:23).  "Okay, girl, you are going to be slapped down and slapped down hard", (38:45). You only get to true happiness when you let go of control, (40:15). A new look at the word surrender, (40:50). The power of opening yourself up, (44:10). Sue's two interpretations of the word "No", (46:40). The joy of connectivity, (48:15). Intention and making conscious decisions to connect, (50:53). Advice to Younger Self:  in her late 20's, "You are not your business card.  That is your title, it's what you do, but not who you are," (52:00).  

 

LINKS: 

Website:  More About Sue  

Twitter: @SueHollis 

Riding Raw:  A Journey From Empty to Full (Sue's Book on Amazon) 

Article:  SheSpark Magazine Feature on Sue 

 

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