Susan Fennema is the Chaos Eradicating Officer (CEO) of Beyond the Chaos, a consultancy helping small business owners to simplify their operations and manage their projects so they can grow their businesses and get their lives back. With 30+ years of operations/project management experience in professional service industries, Susan is on a mission to improve American society exponentially. When not making multi-course dinners, she enjoys Texas A&M football games and Blackhawks hockey. She lives and works from her home in McKinney, Texas, with her husband, dog, and cat.
I had the opportunity to have an amazing conversation with Susan Fennema at Beyond The Chaos today. From talking about SEO for Websites, Susan agreed to a quick interview.
She took the time to talk to me and answer some questions so I could get to know her better and hear more about the things that have helped shape her business success to date – let’s get stuck into it!
Whenever I am feeling overwhelmed, I get up, step outside, do some deep breaths, and then sit back down and sort out my list. Usually, you get overwhelmed because your priorities and calendar are messed up. So, taking the time to restructure the place you’ve gotten to is really my reset.
Hiring experts to help me – most notably in the marketing area. Not struggling to do those things that someone else can do better and faster is a huge, worthwhile investment!
You don’t have to be an overwhelmed small business owner. GET HELP!
I once pierced my left ear to wear a second earring. And I wore a toe ring for years in my 30s. That’s about as rebellious as I get… but my mother hated both things.
My first client was a pure fail. It was like I started my business to be in a worse situation than I was at the job I left. The client was a sociopath – literally. What it taught me, though, was what I wanted my business to be. I ended up firing him. And that was the best thing I’ve ever done.
Save money! Do the 401K. Don’t get into debt. If you do, you won’t be struggling at 40 to make sure you’re ready for retirement. Arg! The amount of money I wasted on things that didn’t matter is atrocious. If I had just put 1/10th of it into long-term planning, it would have made things a lot easier later.
Hard work really does matter. Being able to show poise in tough situations is one of the most valuable skills you can muster. And make sure you know how to write properly. As to what to ignore? You don’t need to work 70 hours. Just be really good at managing your time.
Beyond the Chaos helps overwhelmed small business owners simplify their operations and manage their projects so they can focus on growing their business… and getting their lives back.
I’d love to put together conferences.
My dad. This man, at 80, is still running his own small manufacturing company. He knows more about theology than most priests. He is well-read, successful, loving, honest, funny, and tells great stories. He is well-travelled too – very adventurous. He is a great photographer and is in a band, playing trumpet at gigs. He runs his business with great integrity, and he taught me that you know you’ve made it professionally when you “don’t do anything” – you just set the tone. He loves life and is open to so many experiences.
Calendaring. Although, I think quite a few people practice it. I just don’t know how to be successful without it!
Definitely LinkedIn. You don’t have to weed through the non-business stuff there. Everyone is there to be professional. (Except for the occasional nuts here and there who think LinkedIn is a dating site, but they are easy to ignore.)
How to write a process for how something is executed.
Southern Cross by Crosby, Stills & Nash.
Red.
Anywhere I can SCUBA.
Social Media. I dumped Facebook, Twitter and Instagram a few weeks ago. I feel like I have so much more time to have REAL relationships!
Virgo.
I’m horrible at package wrapping. I love gift giving. But having to WRAP them is a whole ordeal.
Protein shake with a date, chia seeds, strawberries and cashew milk
Pearl Lemon are an SEO, PPC, PR, and B2B lead-generation agency. We are based in London but service clients around the world.
We have taken the time to interview entrepreneurs and experts (like Susan) in this new series.
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