pod bites: Unapologetically Successful with Suzanna Helia
“I always used to ask how come this hand earns $5 and this hand earns $5000?
What makes someone become an Olympian and another to give up? I was always intrigued by that.”
Suzanna Helia was either going to write a book or start a podcast, the audio format felt easiest.
With a CEO background Suzanna is intrigued by what makes people successful.
In this episode you can learn the contrasts Suzanna has experienced, from communism to opulence, what changes she’s already made to her life and career and what podcasts she listens to for inspiration.
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Prefer to read? Read the transcript below.
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Alison: [00:00:00] welcome to pod bites where we go behind the scenes with podcasters.
And today's guest is Susanna Helia, who is the host of unapologetically successful. Welcome to the show, Susanna. Thank you
Suzanna: very much. This is so exciting. Thank you. Can you
Alison: please tell us what your podcast is about?
Suzanna: Yeah, so, um, it is called unapologetically successful, and I know it's a little bit arrogant, but it truly is not about the arrogance, it is about empowering and encouraging people to Hear stories of people who have achieved various levels of success.
And the unapologetic aspect of that is that if you have achieved something and you have mastered something, you definitely should not or don't want to be and. Um, uh, apologetic about that and it's, it's, uh, I guess a little bit of this Australian or maybe it's also in New Zealand. I'm not sure, [00:01:00] but it's about that whole tall poppy syndrome.
Um, I'm actually calling it out if you like with this because. We are very quick, especially in Australia. I don't think it's happening in America as much or in Europe. When people achieve something, there tends to be sort of that, I don't know, finger pointing a little bit. Yeah, it's pretty
Alison: big over here
Suzanna: too.
Yeah. So that's where the name comes from. And the aim is about encouraging and showing people that everything is possible, that you can, you know, no one was born a successful person. They usually have worked on it. There was a strategy behind. And I like to interview people who are Not only financially like billionaires and, but also sports people, but even, you know, I interviewed a holistic healer because success comes in so many different forms.
And, um, and also, um, [00:02:00] I assume it's going to be released a mother who just started her own business. At the age of, you know, in her 40s, it's, it's, it's about actually just encouraging and showing people that everything is possible. And we all have our level of success. And I think we all learn from it. What
Alison: was the, the trigger to you starting this podcast and where have you come from to go from what you were doing before to putting this podcast out there?
Suzanna: Okay. So from action comes clarity and truly it is just that. I had a choice of starting a book and write a book or start a podcast. English is my fourth language. Wow. I can ride, but I just felt it would be, I don't know, I just was like, it would be easier if I do a podcast.
Plus I always have been inspired and I always have been wondering what makes one person [00:03:00] succeed and another person sort of, you know, I always used to say that, how come this hand earns $5 and this hand earns $5,000? Like what is the difference? I was always intrigued by that. I also have been incredibly lucky.
Very, very fortunate from a very young age. I have been exposed to a very stark contrast. I was born in a communist country and then I escaped when I was 17 and I was truly two weeks later in the residence where the Prime Minister of Germany. So I escaped to Germany. Within a really short period of time, I'm suddenly sitting in Manchin or in the, you know, the top echelon of Germany, but I still remember what communism was about.
And, and I always have had sort of that contrast right in, in front of me. And so I was always fascinated by what makes one person become, you know, Olympiad and [00:04:00] another person Gives up. And, and I know, like, it's actually very simple. It's very, very simple. And the aim is to show people that it's simple. And once you decide whatever you want to do, you can do it.
Alison: Sounds like you've had lots of memorable guests on your show. Do you
Suzanna: have I've only started. So it's, we are not there yet, but some of the, look, there are a few, few who have been incredible. There are a few that I've already recorded and I have not released yet. But there is so much inside out of, out of what, what they talk about, just the energy when you speak to them and interview people, I actually get some such a high out of that.
Um, we all humans, we all have something to share, a gift to, you know, give to other people around us, as long as we are kind and as long as we are open and have our heart open to [00:05:00] everyone around us. That's how I see it. I
Alison: suppose when you come off those interviews and you say you, you were on that high, it means you can then do whatever you choose to do yourself.
'cause you're, you're already in that really good vibe.
Suzanna: I was not going to talk about this, but I'm going to because I am about empowering people. I actually. Since starting the podcasting, I have left a corporate career. That's how much I'm loving it. And that's how much I believe I can do something bigger and better.
Um, yes, it's the high end. I've actually have developed now a methodology that will help people to, if you like, go step by step. If you follow this. It's sort of few steps. It's about seven steps, but you can actually shorten them to only five. You can set whatever goal you want to set and you can achieve it.
And it's based on the interviews from the people that I've interviewed. [00:06:00] For example, um, Olympiads, they tend to spend a lot of time with a sports psychologist and you know, they really shape them and bring them. And there is so much insight and wisdom in, in what they actually can share and. It's incredible.
And, and having the aim is that I'm actually the podcasting is only now one aspect of what's, what's coming up is I'm now building a media company, because what I've realized is that the podcasting is if you like the introduction or the, the, the credibility and the baseline for what can come up and the, the sharing of the knowledge and empowering people to do.
Amazing stuff. So my background is my corporate background is I used to be a CEO. I have a expertise in turning around organizations and improving their performance and growth. And [00:07:00] one thing is that any organization if you want the organization to succeed, you can't just come in. And I'm not saying that consulting firms are not good or anything like that.
They are. But what the aim is, is that you have to bring the leadership to the level of owning the success and believing and really seeing the success of the organization. Once the leadership has that level of understanding and owning it and believing it, it cascades all the way down. And then you can come in with all of the data and all of the artificial intelligence and all of the processes that you need to improve.
But it will, it has to come from the top, which is what I've seen, at least in the corporate world. It used to be done slightly different, but yeah, as a turnaround specialist, that's what I say is that, and why the podcasting comes into it is because I believe that everyone can learn from individuals who have achieved exceptional [00:08:00] achievements.
Alison: I'm with you on that a hundred percent, Susanna. What tip would you give to a brand new podcaster based on what you have learned so far?
Suzanna: Just do it. And I said, just do it because technology is not my strength. And if I have mastered to pull together a podcast, anyone can. Step one. Step two is from action comes clarity.
And I will own this until I die, because it doesn't mean that you end up being, you know, the ritual or whoever is the biggest podcaster on the planet, but something else will come out of it that will enhance your life and then actually bring a value and enrich your family. And
to, to, to bring actually value and also Especially for women. And I'm seeing this so much recently. There is so many women [00:09:00] now leaving their corporate jobs and starting some, you know, cooking or whatever businesses. Um, you don't know where the, where it starts. And if you, if it's podcasting, start, start with podcasting.
If it's writing a book, write a book, but do something. Don't think that You're not qualified or don't believe that someone else knows how to do it better, because we all are starting where we starting and I actually think, and this is what I'm really really passionate about is, um. Women in 40s and middle aged women and 50s, we have an opportunity to, I guess, do what we were not able to do when we were younger.
And there is no such thing as too late. So whatever age you are, Give it a really good shot because maybe there is actually an opportunity that as the person like, for example, myself, I [00:10:00] hope that I relate better to someone who is my age compared to that person listening to a 25 year old. So don't believe the digital space or social media is only for the young ones and the really pretty ones.
Alison: Very wise words there. I, yeah, I like what you say, especially because it reminds me of that analogy about, you know, the best time to plant a tree. The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.
Suzanna: Exactly. You know, I, there are, it's actually on my Instagram. I hear in the post something about, you know, just yesterday I posted something about grandma Moses and for those people who don't know, she was an artist, but she started painting in her seventies.
And when she dies, she died at the age of 101, but she, she's in the world art galleries. Like she is incredible. And so I always [00:11:00] say there is, you know, there is always grandma Moses.
Alison: Yeah. And Oprah was in her fifties before she hit. Oprah fame.
Suzanna: And um, Esther Perel, her story is actually quite fascinating as well.
Esther Perel was a psychologist, if I, or psychiatrist, if I believe, if I'm correct. And then, um, she actually wrote some quite controversial article in some nothing big magazine apparently, but it took a fame. And today she's Esther Perel and everyone loves her. So where I'm heading with this is that first of all, We always believe that men should provide or I'm not saying we all but a lot of women believe that.
And yes, we as women also, we believe that we need to be the good mothers, the cooks, and the professionals and, and I used to be in the corporate world for all of my life. So I'm one of those. But [00:12:00] it's a challenge to step into something suddenly go like, I'm an entrepreneur now, I'm actually having my own business and I'm going to support myself.
And yeah, maybe on a way I have to do a here and there contract or turn around an organization, which is great. I love it anyway. And maybe that will be my deliverable, but the podcast allows me to actually keep on going and have a starting point.
Alison: And also to be creative. And I think we all need to have that outlet too.
Yeah.
Suzanna: I like the fact that you were a journalist and you came back into podcasting. Yeah. I think you should share that.
Alison: Oh, I, that's the story for another podcast. But Susanna, you've come to podcasting. You must have listened to some podcasts yourself before. So can you share with us a podcast that is on your playlist for listeners to maybe discover for themselves?
On my playlist. Yeah. [00:13:00] Which podcast do you like to listen to?
Suzanna: There are so many. I actually don't have one that I, I, and I think this is what happens to most of us, to be honest. I think we all go through phases. So I go through phases of needing to listen to someone who is really into self development and I want to know how they're interviewing, what they're doing, what can I learn more about me?
Um, and then I could go into You know, everyone loves Andrew Huberman. Um, although I find his podcast a little bit too long, I think we also need to learn how to allocate the time, what are we listening to? Because There are so many podcasts that we want to listen to.
And do we have the time? The benefit of podcasting is that you can listen to a podcast [00:14:00] and still cooking dinner or driving or whatever else there is not that need. But, um, I quite like Andrew Huberman and Ritual. Cool.
Alison: I will put a link to that in the show notes along with your podcast too. So helping people to discover more.
Suzanna: I'm sure everyone else with Andrew Hume, I think he's on like 3 million subscribers or something. Oh,
Alison: wow. Yeah. Yeah. He's huge. I'm constantly adding podcasts to my playlist and, you know, just listen to one or two episodes. See what, you know, whether I like it or not. I think it's good to have a wide range.
You say, you know, some you do go through phases. There are some I listened to years ago, which I don't listen to anymore, but some are pretty much constants.
Suzanna: I haven't done any. mini episodes where I speak myself, but that's coming up actually from the first week of September where I want to start sharing my personal story and [00:15:00] also some of the insights.
And I'm passionate about art and anything to do with art. I used to paint when I was younger and about also part of being successful. So this is my theory and you can laugh about it or you might want to delete this later on. But so I also believe that there is a lot of successful people or a lot of people who become.
wealthy, but what's lacking is them stepping into that level of how to actually interact and behave and live that life to the fullest. Because money or fame doesn't necessarily mean that there is the substance underneath. And so part of mine, and please don't laugh about this, but part of my sort Passion is and is about sort of education about etiquette, and a bad, [00:16:00] not saying what's right and what's wrong, but about expanding the, I guess, the living of life through art, beauty, music, and also believing that you can do anything so it's not only for people who are trying to do something but it's also for people who.
Um, who have made it, but also sharing, I guess, and staying on course. I think that sounds awesome. We'll see.
Alison: I shall look forward to those episodes.
Cool. Thank you so much for your time today, Susanna. It's actually been really awesome to hear the, you know, the backstory to Unapologetically Successful and to learn more about you. So good luck with the rest of the podcast.
Suzanna: Thank you so much. And I truly appreciate what you're doing [00:17:00] and can't wait to see and hear more of your podcast coming up.
Thank you.
