Meet Suzi Freeman | Speaker and Educator on Emotional Intelligence and Mental Resilience

We had the good fortune of connecting with Suzi Freeman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Suzi, as a parent, what do you feel is the most meaningful thing you’ve done for them?
Being a Mom of five with a significant age gap. My kiddos range in ages from 28, 25, 23, and 11-year-old twins. I have found that being honest about situations in my life can help my children with life lessons or making decisions about something, and of course, I keep it age-appropriate.

I continue to teach my kids to be aware of their surroundings, how people are treating them and how they are treating others. I highly encourage my kids to follow their intuition, whatever that means to them. If they don’t prefer a specific friend group, then they can nicely decline to hang out. I want my kids to find their people, their tribe, the group that lifts them and makes them happy regardless of popularity.

I encourage my kids to do what makes them happy for a career and life, experience different things, and not box themselves in.

But, in the end, the most important thing I have done as a parent is to be there. I am always there, and I am always accessible. I make it very clear to my kids that no matter what I am doing, if they need to talk or need help, I am there. I promise them I have their back 100%, but they must always be 100% honest with me.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My business is a dream come true. I am a public speaker and workshop creator in Emotional Intelligence, Mental resilience, and Suicide Prevention. I work with women-business owners/leaders, parents, and the next generation of young adults/teens.

I am launching the Elite Minds Academy in November 2022. This will be a space for parents and the next generation to access monthly trainings and masterclasses in topics such as emotional intelligence, mental resilience, and suicide prevention. In addition, they will learn techniques to help reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. Overall we want people to learn how to control emotions, releive stress, and anxiety so that they never enter a place of depression or suicidal ideation.

Elite Minds Academy will not only have these masterclasses with very valuable lessons, but our members will also have access to experts in parenting, leadership, mental resilience, trauma therapists, marriage therapists, lawyers, and more. This access will consist of monthly live virtual meetings with our members so they can talk directly to the experts and get their questions answered. Our members can also directly access me for questions, concerns, and help.

Elite Minds Academy is different from any other membership site. We are using Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Hypnotherapy, Trauma-Informed Leadership, Mental Resilience Training, and more to build this platform.

Imagine having a Mental Strengths Trainer, Life Coach, EFT Practitioner, Emotional Intelligence Trainer, Sound Healer, and more in your pocket.

Our goal here at Elite Minds Academy is first to teach emotional intelligence & mental resilience, We believe emotional intelligence and mental resilience are the most important things people should fine-tune in life, and we want to start young. We also want to give people different ways to help them manage stress and anxiety and reduce traumatic situations when they happen. Let’s face it, we will never have a therapist or a Dr. sitting next to us when a traumatic experience occurs, so we need to learn different modalities to help us at that moment reduce the effect of that negative experience.

Let me share with you my why for building Elite Minds Academy and what its purpose is, My oldest son is in the military, and my youngest son is a civilian police officer; you dang well know they will experience very traumatic situations and events more regularly than most of us. My boys need something; they need to know what to do to help minimize the effect of those situations, so they don’t fester and build up in their nervous system. I also want my daughters to have a way to step out of a situation, get some relief from test anxiety, friendship problems, etc. I want my children to have emotional intelligence and mental resiliency so that crappy or traumatic situations are not as severe as they would be for those that don’t have these skills and this mindset.

Allowing traumatic events to fester in our system lead us to massive stress, anxiety, depression, rage, anger, fear, worry, the list goes on – it leads us to so many emotions that we can’t handle and this creates a breeding ground for depression, severe anxiety, panic attacks and ultimately can lead to suicidal ideation. Let’s learn how to break that cycle and release our trauma’s and negative emotions properly and regularly.

Fostering a growth mindset, mindfulness, emotional intelligence and mental resilience is the basic groundwork we all should be working on, and Elite Minds Academy is here to help you with that.

So you asked me if this was easy, I want to say yes, but in reality, it was not. This has been a long work in progress, and It has taken me to be extremely vulnerable with my life story. I was abused sexually and physically. I also struggled with suicidal ideation. I never want my children or grandchildren to have to go through that.

Was building my business easy? No, rewarding and amazing, yes!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well, we would float down the salt river on our paddleboards. Seeing the wild horses and stopping at a few beaches along the way to grab a snack and chat are magical.

I live in Gilbert, so a quick visit to downtown Gilbert is worth it; I love the growth we are having and the cute, fun little places to grab a coffee and eat at.

Not to be cliche but let’s be real, we would have to visit Sedona for a night or two and enjoy all that it offers, from the fun shops and the fantastic hikes.

The final stop would be Flagstaff because who doesn’t love a cozy (middle-sized) ski/mountain town? I love Flagstaff for so many reasons. It is quiet; it has mountains, pine trees, snow shopping, and great places to eat and stay.

But as an alternative, if we were lucky enough to plan and grab tickets to hike down and camp in Havasupai at the Grand Canyon, that would be the best trip ever, a once-in-a-lifetime trip. I was fortunate to do it in 2019 and have never experienced anything like it.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Who I am today is all because of my kids, the career paths they have chosen, and who they are becoming. These are the things that continue to drive me forward in my personal growth and my business and to continue to be better every day.

My husband is an extremely supportive person when it comes to the kids. He came on board when my three oldest were approaching the teen years and he has embraced them and treated them as his own for over 13 years. Shawn supports me in my business venture and is always there when I need him to be whether that is to listen, take photos, or set up, he is there.

Last but not least, my tribe, my friend groups, we all need to find our tribe and I have.
Website: www.suzifreeman.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suzifreeman

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzifreeman

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/meetsuzifreeman

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EliteMindsConsultingCo/

Other: www.elitemindsacademy.com

Image Credits
Images done by FemForce