October 29, 2025 • 32 mins
What if a thousand-pound mirror could show you who you really are? Through the wisdom of horses, Sue Willoughby helps women over 50 move from self-doubt to grounded power. This is reinvention, leadership, and healing — all in one unforgettable story.
In this episode of Aging with Purpose and Passion, Sue shares how horses read our energy, boundaries, and truth without judgment — and how that reflection can unlock confidence after 50, emotional resilience, and real self-trust. We talk about midlife reinvention, calm leadership, and what it means to step back into your own authority when life has shaken you.
You’ll hear Sue’s path from quitting high school twice, to breaking into tech, to building a completely new chapter through equine-assisted coaching. You’ll also learn how this work helps women in major life transitions stop performing, stop people-pleasing, and start leading from presence.
✨ In this episode you'll learn how healing with horses can reconnect you to purpose, power, and who you actually are.
Resources
For a similar story on the power of being heard check episode 144 and you might also enjoy Wellness Wednesdays hosted by gerontologist Sally Duplantier. These webinars feature topics about healthy aging. Visit MyZingLife.com to learn more.
Sue Willoughby – Coach, Speaker & Founder of Willoughby Coaching
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Beverley Glazer – Life Transition Coach & Host of Aging with Purpose and Passion
📧 Bev@reinventImpossible.com
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🎁 BONUS: Take your first step to clarity, courage and momentum. Your free checklist: → From Stuck to Unstoppable – is here.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Announcer (00:06):
Welcome to Aging with Purpose and Passion, the
podcast designed to inspire yourgreatness and thrive through
life.
Get ready to conquer yourfears.
Here's your host,psychotherapist, coach, and
empowerment expert, BeverleyGlazer.
Beverley Glazer (00:33):
What if the clearest revelation that you've
ever had was when you lookedinto the eyes of a horse.
That's right.
A horse.
Welcome to Aging with Purposeand Passion.
I'm Beverley Glazer, a catalystfor women who are ready to
raise the bar in their ownlives.
(00:53):
And you can find me onreInventimpossible.com.
Sue Willoughby is the founderof Willoughby Coaching, where
she helps break through personalbarriers to the practice of
equivalent coaching.
Drawing from her background incorporate training, real estate,
and a lifelong bond withhorses, Sue blends deep
(01:17):
awareness with practical toolsfor growth.
Her personal story is one ofgrit, reinvention, and healing.
And you'll discover a freshperspective and a new sense of
what's possible for you if youkeep listening.
You're welcome.
Sue Willoughby (01:35):
Beverly, thank you so much for the
introduction.
And I loved how you talkedabout, you know, looking into
the eyes of a horse because itis very, very powerful.
Beverley Glazer (01:46):
I know.
I've seen that.
It's wonderful.
Take us back though, because Idon't think of you as growing up
on a farm.
You lived in upstate New York.
What was your childhood likeback then?
Sue Willoughby (02:01):
Yeah, I did grow up in upstate New York.
Um, my parents divorced fairlyyoung.
You know, they stayed togetherfor the good of the child.
That's not a that's not a thingfor people who are listening.
Yeah.
Uh and I chose to go live withmy mom, and um, she was a pretty
severe alcoholic.
Um, and you know, but that wasmy choice.
(02:23):
I just chose to go with her.
I I chose to stay in New York.
And um, but horses have alwaysbeen kind of a thread for me.
I remember as a little kidgoing to bed early, you know,
and the lights aren't, you know,it's still daylight out.
And I'm, of course, I'm not inbed.
I'm staring out my back window.
And we lived in sort of a ruralcommunity at that time.
And there were two horsesdrinking out of the my kiddie
(02:43):
pool in the backyard.
And I was like, I thought allmy dreams had come true.
I'm like, yes, I have horsesnow.
My parents are like, no, goback to bed.
They just escaped from theneighbor's property.
Um, but I was always beggingfor, you know, riding lessons
and stuff, and we didn't havemuch money.
I mean, we didn't have a lot ofmoney.
So, you know, I would go to thebarn, I'd beg my mom to, you
(03:04):
know, upstate New York.
We had a lot of snow, threefeet of snow.
I'm like, take me to the barn.
I just want to be there allday.
I want to be with the big fuzzyhorses and, you know, smell
their grain and sniff theirbreath and all that kind of
stuff.
And I didn't realize why thatwas so important to me.
I just loved being around them.
They made me feel good.
Um, you know, I would get onany horse and like ride off into
(03:25):
the woods by myself.
You know, I just didn't care.
And it just felt so good and soreal to me.
Fast forward, we moved toConnecticut and barely out of
the car.
The apartment complex we wereliving in, or that we were going
to be living in, was rightacross the street from a riding
stable.
So, of course, I ran across thestreet, begged the guy to let
(03:47):
me muck stalls for the you know,the privilege of riding, and
you know, he did, and then he'dget me little project horses to
work on, and it was great.
Uh, so they've always been athread in in my life.
Um, I later went on to work inum answered an ad in my late
teens, early twenties uh for acamp for special needs
(04:11):
individuals in to be part oftheir horseback riding program.
I didn't know what therapeuticriding was at the time, but it
was amazing.
And I would do it summer aftersummer, quit my job, go to
summer camp for peanuts, uh,just for the pleasure to be
around horses.
So that was just that's kind ofthe a little bit of the
backstory.
(04:31):
Right, right.
Beverley Glazer (04:32):
But it was a struggle before you got to that.
A big struggle.
And so the horse was somethingthat really gave you solace and
and and you know, from your lifebecause you ended up quitting
high school twice, not once, buttwice.
Sue Willoughby (04:50):
Funny you should bring that up.
Yes.
I just I don't know if it's,you know, I mean, the way I grew
up or whatever, but I mean, I'mnot a stupid person.
I was bored in school.
I just did not connect.
I didn't connect with it.
Um, I loved art, I loved theart classes, so I'd skip my
other classes and I'd either,you know, I'd be in the art
(05:13):
room.
I'd art teachers like, what areyou still doing here?
I'm like, I have free time.
A lot of free time.
But yeah, I quit in my junioryear and then I went back in my
senior year and found out Ineeded like four credits in gym
because I never went to gymeither.
And uh I was like, yeah, nope,I'm out of here.
So I actually got my GED beforemy real class graduated.
Beverley Glazer (05:38):
So stupid you were not.
No, just not at all.
Yeah.
Not challenged.
Not exactly, and that's formany children, unfortunately.
Yes.
Okay, you came out at 17.
And did you finally feel thatyou belonged now, that you could
claim it to the world?
Sue Willoughby (05:58):
I mean Yeah, I wish that were the case.
I you know, I did and I didn't.
I mean, I I I had known for Ithink forever, you know, crushes
on my third grade teacher andyou know, my friends and all of
that stuff.
Um, but coming coming out, andthen I was like, okay, great,
now I have to figure out how Ifit into this new community.
(06:19):
And I and now I feel likeanother outsider.
So I felt like an outsider inthe real world.
I felt an outsider in the inthe queer community.
Um, you know, so I startedbartending and DJing, and that
was kind of my in-road, not thebest choice, but still it got
me, you know, I tend to immersemyself in things um in weird
(06:43):
subcultures a lot of times, likeroller derby, uh, another
story.
But um, but that was kind ofthe way that I went about it.
You know, it wasn't thehealthiest way to do that,
spending a lot of time in barsand so forth.
Beverley Glazer (06:55):
But then again, you were only 17.
Exactly.
Yeah.
You know.
And you spoke also aboutstruggling and attempted
suicide.
I mean, you really went throughdeep, dark rabbit holes.
I did.
Yeah.
Uh what was the turning point?
Sue Willoughby (07:12):
I wish I could say it was attempted suicide,
but it wasn't.
That was just uh it wasn't, Idon't think, it wasn't that I
wanted to die.
I just didn't know how I wanthow I could live and how I could
go move forward.
Literally, I was, you know,probably 18, 19, and um I had
been in love with my firstgirlfriend, and that ended, and
(07:37):
I just it was I was devastated,and it was just it was a really
just dark time.
I was drinking a lot, I waspartying very heavily.
So you're not having clearthoughts around that.
Um, but my turning point or mypivotal point was gosh, uh, not
until I hit my 30s, I'd say.
(07:59):
Um my mid-30s.
Uh, I met someone and I wasliving in New Haven, Connecticut
at the time, and I uh they weremoving across country.
We hadn't been together thatlong.
Uh, they were moving acrosscountry and asked me if I wanted
to join.
And I'm like, um, I havenothing here keeping me here.
(08:19):
So I said yes, and it was thebest thing that ever happened to
me.
Um, I was now in a differentcircle of people and friends uh
that were challenging to me uhbecause you know, a lot of them
were Ivy Leaguers and, you know,physicians and, you know,
people that I was reallyintimidated by and but at the
(08:43):
same time challenged.
And I also got differentopportunities uh to go back to
school, which I really wanted todo at that point, and um start
a new career and explore newopportunities.
So it really did change mylife.
Beverley Glazer (09:00):
You definitely changed.
Sue Willoughby (09:01):
Yeah.
Beverley Glazer (09:02):
From there, you built a career in tech, you
were doing corporate training.
And what attracted you totechnology and all that, that
whole world?
Sue Willoughby (09:12):
Well, you know, it's interesting, uh, Beverly.
When I went back to school, Iwent to a community college, and
this was like in the kind ofearly, early mid-90s, and you
know, websites and all of thatstuff was just starting to
bubble up.
And I was always interested invideo technology and training
and you know, or you know, videoproduction and stuff like that.
(09:33):
I used to have an eightmillimeter camera that I was
always shooting goofy videos on.
So that's kind of the mediapiece of it, was what I was
interested in.
But that sort of led me into uhweb development and media
production.
So I I did a dual major in inboth of those things, um, video
production and also likecommunications and web
(09:55):
development.
So that was kind of like myin-road.
And then, you know, I uh got ajob in in high tech as, you
know, like a little baby foot inthe door kind of uh job.
But I was like, oh, this isinteresting.
I never thought I would behere.
I always thought I'd be aretail rat for the rest of my
life, which I hated.
Uh but that opened the door.
(10:18):
And then at that time, tech wasgrowing so much that all of my
other skills kind of came intogether as well.
And I would go on to the nextjob.
And that was when the they'dgive you signing bonuses.
And all of a sudden I went fromyou know, $35,000 a year to a
six-figure job.
And I was like, whoa, okay, notbad for a high school dropout,
(10:39):
you know.
Beverley Glazer (10:40):
Well, you weren't by then.
Sue Willoughby (10:42):
Yeah, no, it didn't happen overnight, but
over, you know, over the courseof my career.
So sure.
I was, you know, had impostersyndrome too.
I'm like, okay, when are theygonna realize it?
Beverley Glazer (10:53):
You know, sure, sure.
But but it takes a while afteryou start, you know, not feeling
much of a person to all of asudden be a respected person and
in industry among people thatnot only respect you, but you
respect them.
And it takes a while to getcomfortable with that.
(11:15):
And you did so many things toearn accolades like flying
planes, Sue.
I mean, this is this issomething, right?
Yeah, flying planes, stand-upcomedy, you know, roller derby
referee, no less.
Okay.
Tell us about that.
How did you just go in forevery single challenge?
Sue Willoughby (11:40):
I love a good challenge, clearly.
Um, I just I like to go throughlife curious.
And um, I think, you know, likeI was talking about when I was
a kid, I think I probably hadundiagnosed ADHD.
I don't know, but I am alwaysif something pops up, I'm like,
that is interesting.
Let me check that out.
And like I said, I do tend todo a deep dive into whatever
(12:02):
little weird subculture orsomething.
Like, for example, when I gotmy somebody gave me a um flying
lesson for my birthday.
Okay, that was fun.
Okay, now I want to really wantto take flying lessons and get
my license.
And then, of course, I'm notgonna release a plane because
that would be stupid.
I'm just gonna buy one.
Okay, well, so I found a coupleof partners and we bought a
(12:24):
plane.
You know, that's the kind ofdeep dive I do.
Uh, roller derby came into mylife.
I I used to watch roller derbyas a kid.
I was Saturday mornings, I wasglued to the TV, you know,
watching the Bay City bombersand you know, those women
flipping around the rails, andit was awesome.
And my um landscaper was uh,she's like, hey, I'm also a
(12:46):
roller derby.
Uh I also do roller derby ifyou ever wonder.
I'm like, yeah, I want to comewatch.
So then, of course, I, youknow, volunteered for the the
scoring team, and I'm like, no,I want to get out there and
skate.
And I'm like, I'm a little tooold to be doing that.
But being a referee, you kindof get to skate around the
center and watch everything andand not not get hurt too badly.
So I did that.
(13:07):
I mean, I'm serious.
It's just, I like to becurious.
Um, I got into cycling.
I met a friend of mine when Iwas in uh college, uh community
college, and did the trained todo the California AIDS ride,
which was from San Francisco toLA.
And seven-day ride, that was abig deal.
(13:27):
Um, and I had never done thatbefore.
I barely rode my bike aroundthe block.
So yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
I love challenges.
I love to learn new things.
Yeah.
Beverley Glazer (13:38):
And another huge challenge is stand-up
comedy.
I mean, that's raw.
So when did you realize thatyou don't he had something to
say, something people wouldlaugh at?
Sue Willoughby (13:50):
Well, uh, I don't know, I don't know.
I've always been I being anonly child, I entertained myself
a lot.
And I think that my sense ofhumor got me through a lot of my
dark times.
And I always was, you know,cutting the fool in school and
and just being making peoplelaugh.
I love to make people laugh.
So I when I was doing, I wastaking some acting classes, and
(14:12):
then there was a stand-up comedyclass, and I'm like, sure, I'll
do that.
I think it would be fun.
And you know, I'd go to openmics and it was mortifying.
So yeah.
But it, you know, and it'sfunny because now I think, you
know, I was also reallyself-conscious at the time I was
doing it.
And not all comedians areself-conscious, all comedians
are self-deprecating, allcomedians are have, you know, uh
(14:36):
imposter syndrome and are thinkthat they're not worth
anything.
I mean, you know, that's wherethe comedy comes from.
But I think now that I have alittle bit more sense of myself
and emotional intelligence andconfidence, it would be
interesting to go back and tryit again and see how, you know,
how things work out.
But it was one more thing thatjust added to my confidence or
(15:01):
whatever.
I mean, it was just really itwas a it was a good experience.
Did I want to do it forever?
No, I don't want to be a youknow comedy club rat.
Beverley Glazer (15:10):
And you didn't want to be in technology forever
either.
Sue Willoughby (15:14):
No, I, I didn't want to be in corporate America
forever.
I love technology still to thisday, and I do embrace it on a
daily basis.
Um, but I just didn't want tobe in corporate America anymore.
Um, my last corporate stint waswith a big aircraft
manufacturer, and it was I wasin uh flight training, and um it
(15:35):
was pretty, it sounds sexy, butyou know, it's still corporate
America.
And I just couldn't go intothat gray office every day and I
couldn't do it anymore.
So I literally jumped out of anairplane, uh, which I said I
would never do, having been apilot.
Uh and I went I went skydivingwith a bunch of my real estate
(15:55):
uh friends, and that was it.
I'm like, that's it, I quit.
So I walked away from a verylucrative six-figure career to
go into real estate.
Beverley Glazer (16:06):
And now let's talk about ecotherapy.
Equivalent coaching and horses.
Tell us about that.
How did you get into that fromreal estate, or are you still in
real estate?
And this is just what you alsodo to help people.
What is this about?
Sue Willoughby (16:26):
Yeah, that's a good question.
Um, I am still a licensed realestate agent in the state of
Washington.
Um, I also teach real estate.
Um, I've recently developed acourse for real estate agents to
start their own podcast becauseI think it's a really important
way for them to get theirmarketing message out there.
So with the real estate, I'mmoving into more of a coaching,
(16:47):
mentoring, training kind of arole.
So once again, getting back tomy roots in that uh and you
know, working with young agentsto help them, you know, start to
get their careers off theground.
Yeah.
Um, but and the horse coachingcame into, I think I told you
that I was in, I had donetherapeutic riding.
(17:08):
Um, I did it for a number ofyears uh after moving to
Washington State and at a littlebit therapeutic riding.
And I did that for a number ofyears in their volunteer program
and helped train theirvolunteers, work with the
horses.
And I didn't want to be ariding instructor uh in that
capacity.
(17:28):
So I got, I wanted to be withthe horses.
My heart is really with them,and I wanted to support them
because they do so much work tosupport humans that I went into
I get certified in equinemassage therapy and specifically
structural integration, whichis like Rolfing for horses.
Um and that kind of led me,like I said, I'm always eyes
(17:55):
wide open, curious about things.
Um the somehow working withhorses in a coaching capacity
came into my sphere ofawareness.
And I reached out to someone atthis, at the time it was the
COEL Institute uh for uh Equustraining, and now it's um Center
(18:18):
for Equus Coaching.
One of the instructors and oneof the mentors was here in
Seattle, and I got together, hadcoffee with him, and about a
year later it took me toactually join the program, and
it was unfortunately rightaround the time of COVID.
So um we did a lot of ourtraining online and then we had
(18:39):
our on-site trainings, and Iwent through the program uh to
become a certified Equis coach,and then I went directly into
the master facilitator trainingto do group coaching.
So, you know, corporatecoaching, uh, grouped coaching,
whether it be retreats, youknow, themed retreats or or
whatever.
Um, but it was just, I knewwhen I was there, I'm like, this
(19:02):
is everything came together,all of those pieces, and all of
my love for horses, all of thehelp that I have received
knowingly or unknowingly fromthem over the years, like this
makes complete sense to me to bein this, in this, in this
career.
Beverley Glazer (19:21):
Why do you think that horses are so special
when it comes to readingpeople?
Sue Willoughby (19:25):
Oh my God, so much.
Uh basically they are at theircore, right?
They're prey animals.
So every cell in their body isabout awareness.
And they're always curiousbecause it may mean life or
death to them.
Uh they're also herd animals,so the way that they communicate
(19:49):
in their herd through well,sort of verbal, but mostly
nonverbal communication, um, isreally important.
That's also a really good umthing that they do.
And then also the fact thatthey don't judge.
So if another horse gives themfeedback, like for example, one
(20:13):
horse goes over and tries to eatthe other horses.
Hey, the other horse is likeeither bites at them, kicks at
them, whatever.
The offending horse then walksaway and says, Okay, I got the
message.
Thank you very much.
I'm I'm clear now.
And then they let it go.
That's the other thing, is theydon't hang on to things.
So we do all the time.
(20:34):
And there's also some sciencein there about the kind of like
the heart math uh connection,heart math institute, if you're
familiar with them, but there isa very deep heart connection.
So when you connect with ahorse, when you're in their um
sphere of awareness, when you'rein their being in their in
(20:54):
their little bubble, uh, they'reconnecting with what's inside
you, not what you are puttingout there to the world, not the
facade that you show up with.
So they don't care.
They don't care what kind ofcar you drove up in, they don't
care what you're wearing, theydon't care if you've got $4,000
(21:14):
cowboy boots on so you can lookcool at the barn.
They're just concerned with,not even concerned, they're
they're curious about what youare bringing to their
conversation with you.
And their conversation isnonverbal.
So how you're showing up inrelationship, how you're showing
(21:35):
up with them in thatrelationship.
And how you show up one placeis how you show up everywhere.
So they also help you get backinto your body because, like I
said, every cell in their bodyis awareness.
It's they're constantly takingin information through all of
their senses and they'reprocessing it and they're
(21:57):
saying, Am I safe?
Am I not safe?
Do I need to run?
What are my herdmates doing?
Are they, you know, are theygetting riled up or is it just
me?
And then once they process thatinformation, realize that
they're safe, then they can goback to what they were doing,
maybe grazing, it may bewhatever.
So they're just beingthemselves.
(22:18):
And when they're working, whenI work with a person and a
horse, I'm observing the horse'sbehavior and how the human is
showing up and how they'reinteracting.
And it gives me the opportunityto ask some really valuable
coaching questions.
Beverley Glazer (22:39):
I was gonna ask you how you intertwine the
coaching with the animal.
Yeah.
So it's the person that'sanswering the question, and I'm
assuming relating to the horseas they're doing that.
What do you think?
Sue Willoughby (22:57):
Yeah.
Yes, it's interesting whatpeople will bring to the horse.
Um for example, I've seenpeople, you know, uh sometimes
people will set an intention.
I want to make sure they'regrounded as well.
So we'll do a little safetydemo.
Um, horses are really good atgetting you out of your head and
into your body because we spendso much time in looping our
(23:21):
stories and all of that, right?
And then the horse is like, Inone of that interests me.
I have no idea what you're eventhinking about or whatever.
I don't care.
I just want to know how honestyou are with yourself.
So they want to know, they seewhat's inside, not what's on the
outside.
So you may go into the arenawith one intention and realize
(23:43):
it's something completelydifferent.
Um, I've seen, you know, and sothe horse is at liberty.
They're not, you're notconnected to them in any way.
They don't have a halter orlead rope on, they're just
wandering around being a horse.
Uh and you have the ability togo in and interact with them in
however way you feel isauthentic to you, or whatever it
(24:06):
is that you want to do.
Some people may want to get thehorse to move around, some
people may want to just be standnear the horse or get the horse
to be close to them.
But I've seen people walk inand if the horse is over in the
corner kind of doing something,or if it's an outdoor round pen,
they may be trying to get thelittle pieces of grass that are
on the other side of the fence.
And I've seen people walk inand go, Oh, they kind of dismiss
(24:31):
it, right?
The horse doesn't like me.
The horse is bored with me.
I hear that a lot.
The horse doesn't like me, thehorse is bored with me.
The horse, the horse, thehorse.
Guess what?
Not about the horse.
They're transferring all ofthese things onto this horse
that they're experiencing intheir real life.
(24:51):
That they're they think andthey feel that people don't like
them, that people are boredwith them, people don't want to
talk to them, whatever it is.
So they're putting that on thehorse.
It's really interesting.
Say, you know, why do you whydo you say that?
Well, he's standing over there.
Well, why do you think he'sstanding over there?
I don't know, he's eatinggrass.
(25:13):
Could that be just what he'sdoing?
Right?
He's just being a horse.
That's all he's doing.
So it's really interestingbecause a lot of a lot of that
stuff, horses are really goodalso at teaching leadership.
They're also really good atteaching boundaries.
A lot of people have problemswith boundaries.
Um, and horses are really goodat detecting those things and
kind of pushing the buttons in asafe way, usually.
Beverley Glazer (25:37):
Beautiful.
And looking into the eyes ofthe horse, think your reflection
in the eyes of the horse.
Talk to me about that.
That's very special.
Sue Willoughby (25:47):
Yeah, yeah.
They are very so their vision,they have almost 360-degree
vision.
So they only have two blindspots, one right in front of
them and one right behind theirtail.
So when you're moving aroundthem, that you have to be aware
of that.
But they will turn to look atyou, right, with their eye.
And when you look at them, Imean you're you're kind of
looking into their soul, andthey're also looking into yours
(26:10):
as well.
And like I said, they'reconnecting with what's going on
inside you.
They can sense your heartbeat,they can sense your biorhythms,
like how you're really feeling.
So a lot of times people willcome in and they'll just be in
the space with the horse andimmediately release and start to
(26:34):
cry or something because theyfeel safe, they feel uh
understood, they feel supported.
And the horse is just being ahorse.
And when, you know, when youhave that facade up, the horse
may stay away because the horseis like, I'm not sure.
I'm I'm I can't get throughthat wall.
(26:56):
Once that wall evaporates, thehorse may come right over and
just stand next to you becausethey know that's what you want.
But they will mirror ourbehavior.
So when you say a reflection,sometimes it's not a reflection
that we enjoy because they'rekind of calling you out on your
stuff.
So it's an interestingreflection.
Beverley Glazer (27:17):
It is, and it's totally nonverbal.
Yeah, yeah.
So what final message can youleave to a woman who's stuck and
way down in the past?
Sue Willoughby (27:27):
So after all this, yeah, after all this.
Um I would say, and this is notan easy thing to do, um, but to
be quiet.
Just get quiet.
And the thing is, when you getquiet, things get really loud.
And listen to what comes up andstart being curious about the
(27:53):
things that you hear and thethings that you feel when you're
being quiet.
And if you can look into theeyes of a horse, it's even
better.
Um, but just be outsidesomewhere, try and be quiet.
We have so much stimulation inour lives these days, whether
(28:13):
it's the news or whatever, ourdevices and everything.
If you can just be quiet forfive minutes a day, whether
you're meditating or not, if youcan just sit quietly, I know
it's hard.
Things will start to bubble up.
And then that can activate yourcuriosity.
Curiosity, awareness, all ofthose things, you're gonna start
(28:36):
to say, Oh my God, there's somany things going on out there
that I could experience or thatI'm curious about or interested
in.
And then you can start takinglittle baby steps to go explore
the things that you may have puton the back burner years ago.
So that's my advice.
Beverley Glazer (28:54):
Wonderful.
Thank you, Sue.
Thank you.
Sue Willoughby is the founderof Willoughby Coaching, where
she helps break through yourbarriers to discover your own
power through the practice ofequals coaching.
Here's some takeaways from thisepisode.
(29:23):
Your past is just a part ofyour story, you can change it.
Real transformation starts bybeing in the present.
Be silent and change begins.
If you've been relating to thisstory, if you actually see it,
you can take it right now.
(29:44):
Say yes to something that letsyou out of your comfort zone.
Ask yourself what belief haveyou been holding?
And that's not you anymore.
And start rewriting that wholestory.
Of that comfort zone.
For similar episodes on healingand empowerment, check out
(30:06):
episode 132 and 147 of Agingwith Purpose and Passion.
And you may also enjoy WellnessWednesdays hosted by
gerontologist Sally DuPontier.
These pre-recorded seminars arereally featuring experts with
topics on healthy aging, andthat's called MyZing Life.
(30:29):
So that's myzinglife.com tolearn more.
And that link, by the way, isgoing to be in the show notes
too.
And so, Sue, what are yourlinks?
Where can people find you?
Where can they learn more aboutyour wonderful services that
you provide?
All those links.
What are they?
Sue Willoughby (30:47):
Yeah.
Um, uh, my website iswilloughbycoaching.com.
I'm also on Instagram at Sueunderscore Willoughby.
And those are the two biggestplaces.
I'm also on LinkedIn and someof the other uh places as well,
and those links are on mywebsite, but those are the two
main places to be able to followme.
Beverley Glazer (31:05):
Terrific.
And that all Sue's links aregoing to be in the show notes
too.
That's reinventimpossible.com.
And so, my friends, what's nextfor you?
Are you just going through themotions or are you living a life
that you truly love?
Get my free guide to go fromstuck to unstoppable.
And where do you think that is?
(31:26):
That's in the show notes too.
You can connect with me,Beverley Glazer, on all social
media platforms and in mypositive group of women on
Facebook.
That's Women Over50 Rock.
And I want to thank you forlistening.
Have you enjoyed thisconversation?
Please subscribe.
Help us spread the word bydropping a review and sending it
(31:48):
to a friend.
And remember, you only have onelife.
So live it with purpose andpassion.
Announcer (32:01):
Thank you for joining us.
You can connect with Bev on herwebsite,
reinventimpossible.com.
And while you're there, joinour newsletter.
Subscribe so you don't miss anepisode.
Until next time, keep agingwith purpose and passion.
And celebrate life.
Welcome to Aging with Purpose and Passion, the
podcast designed to inspire yourgreatness and thrive through
life.
Get ready to conquer yourfears.
Here's your host,psychotherapist, coach, and
empowerment expert, BeverleyGlazer.
Beverley Glazer (00:33):
What if the clearest revelation that you've
ever had was when you lookedinto the eyes of a horse.
That's right.
A horse.
Welcome to Aging with Purposeand Passion.
I'm Beverley Glazer, a catalystfor women who are ready to
raise the bar in their ownlives.
(00:53):
And you can find me onreInventimpossible.com.
Sue Willoughby is the founderof Willoughby Coaching, where
she helps break through personalbarriers to the practice of
equivalent coaching.
Drawing from her background incorporate training, real estate,
and a lifelong bond withhorses, Sue blends deep
(01:17):
awareness with practical toolsfor growth.
Her personal story is one ofgrit, reinvention, and healing.
And you'll discover a freshperspective and a new sense of
what's possible for you if youkeep listening.
You're welcome.
Sue Willoughby (01:35):
Beverly, thank you so much for the
introduction.
And I loved how you talkedabout, you know, looking into
the eyes of a horse because itis very, very powerful.
Beverley Glazer (01:46):
I know.
I've seen that.
It's wonderful.
Take us back though, because Idon't think of you as growing up
on a farm.
You lived in upstate New York.
What was your childhood likeback then?
Sue Willoughby (02:01):
Yeah, I did grow up in upstate New York.
Um, my parents divorced fairlyyoung.
You know, they stayed togetherfor the good of the child.
That's not a that's not a thingfor people who are listening.
Yeah.
Uh and I chose to go live withmy mom, and um, she was a pretty
severe alcoholic.
Um, and you know, but that wasmy choice.
(02:23):
I just chose to go with her.
I I chose to stay in New York.
And um, but horses have alwaysbeen kind of a thread for me.
I remember as a little kidgoing to bed early, you know,
and the lights aren't, you know,it's still daylight out.
And I'm, of course, I'm not inbed.
I'm staring out my back window.
And we lived in sort of a ruralcommunity at that time.
And there were two horsesdrinking out of the my kiddie
(02:43):
pool in the backyard.
And I was like, I thought allmy dreams had come true.
I'm like, yes, I have horsesnow.
My parents are like, no, goback to bed.
They just escaped from theneighbor's property.
Um, but I was always beggingfor, you know, riding lessons
and stuff, and we didn't havemuch money.
I mean, we didn't have a lot ofmoney.
So, you know, I would go to thebarn, I'd beg my mom to, you
(03:04):
know, upstate New York.
We had a lot of snow, threefeet of snow.
I'm like, take me to the barn.
I just want to be there allday.
I want to be with the big fuzzyhorses and, you know, smell
their grain and sniff theirbreath and all that kind of
stuff.
And I didn't realize why thatwas so important to me.
I just loved being around them.
They made me feel good.
Um, you know, I would get onany horse and like ride off into
(03:25):
the woods by myself.
You know, I just didn't care.
And it just felt so good and soreal to me.
Fast forward, we moved toConnecticut and barely out of
the car.
The apartment complex we wereliving in, or that we were going
to be living in, was rightacross the street from a riding
stable.
So, of course, I ran across thestreet, begged the guy to let
(03:47):
me muck stalls for the you know,the privilege of riding, and
you know, he did, and then he'dget me little project horses to
work on, and it was great.
Uh, so they've always been athread in in my life.
Um, I later went on to work inum answered an ad in my late
teens, early twenties uh for acamp for special needs
(04:11):
individuals in to be part oftheir horseback riding program.
I didn't know what therapeuticriding was at the time, but it
was amazing.
And I would do it summer aftersummer, quit my job, go to
summer camp for peanuts, uh,just for the pleasure to be
around horses.
So that was just that's kind ofthe a little bit of the
backstory.
(04:31):
Right, right.
Beverley Glazer (04:32):
But it was a struggle before you got to that.
A big struggle.
And so the horse was somethingthat really gave you solace and
and and you know, from your lifebecause you ended up quitting
high school twice, not once, buttwice.
Sue Willoughby (04:50):
Funny you should bring that up.
Yes.
I just I don't know if it's,you know, I mean, the way I grew
up or whatever, but I mean, I'mnot a stupid person.
I was bored in school.
I just did not connect.
I didn't connect with it.
Um, I loved art, I loved theart classes, so I'd skip my
other classes and I'd either,you know, I'd be in the art
(05:13):
room.
I'd art teachers like, what areyou still doing here?
I'm like, I have free time.
A lot of free time.
But yeah, I quit in my junioryear and then I went back in my
senior year and found out Ineeded like four credits in gym
because I never went to gymeither.
And uh I was like, yeah, nope,I'm out of here.
So I actually got my GED beforemy real class graduated.
Beverley Glazer (05:38):
So stupid you were not.
No, just not at all.
Yeah.
Not challenged.
Not exactly, and that's formany children, unfortunately.
Yes.
Okay, you came out at 17.
And did you finally feel thatyou belonged now, that you could
claim it to the world?
Sue Willoughby (05:58):
I mean Yeah, I wish that were the case.
I you know, I did and I didn't.
I mean, I I I had known for Ithink forever, you know, crushes
on my third grade teacher andyou know, my friends and all of
that stuff.
Um, but coming coming out, andthen I was like, okay, great,
now I have to figure out how Ifit into this new community.
(06:19):
And I and now I feel likeanother outsider.
So I felt like an outsider inthe real world.
I felt an outsider in the inthe queer community.
Um, you know, so I startedbartending and DJing, and that
was kind of my in-road, not thebest choice, but still it got
me, you know, I tend to immersemyself in things um in weird
(06:43):
subcultures a lot of times, likeroller derby, uh, another
story.
But um, but that was kind ofthe way that I went about it.
You know, it wasn't thehealthiest way to do that,
spending a lot of time in barsand so forth.
Beverley Glazer (06:55):
But then again, you were only 17.
Exactly.
Yeah.
You know.
And you spoke also aboutstruggling and attempted
suicide.
I mean, you really went throughdeep, dark rabbit holes.
I did.
Yeah.
Uh what was the turning point?
Sue Willoughby (07:12):
I wish I could say it was attempted suicide,
but it wasn't.
That was just uh it wasn't, Idon't think, it wasn't that I
wanted to die.
I just didn't know how I wanthow I could live and how I could
go move forward.
Literally, I was, you know,probably 18, 19, and um I had
been in love with my firstgirlfriend, and that ended, and
(07:37):
I just it was I was devastated,and it was just it was a really
just dark time.
I was drinking a lot, I waspartying very heavily.
So you're not having clearthoughts around that.
Um, but my turning point or mypivotal point was gosh, uh, not
until I hit my 30s, I'd say.
(07:59):
Um my mid-30s.
Uh, I met someone and I wasliving in New Haven, Connecticut
at the time, and I uh they weremoving across country.
We hadn't been together thatlong.
Uh, they were moving acrosscountry and asked me if I wanted
to join.
And I'm like, um, I havenothing here keeping me here.
(08:19):
So I said yes, and it was thebest thing that ever happened to
me.
Um, I was now in a differentcircle of people and friends uh
that were challenging to me uhbecause you know, a lot of them
were Ivy Leaguers and, you know,physicians and, you know,
people that I was reallyintimidated by and but at the
(08:43):
same time challenged.
And I also got differentopportunities uh to go back to
school, which I really wanted todo at that point, and um start
a new career and explore newopportunities.
So it really did change mylife.
Beverley Glazer (09:00):
You definitely changed.
Sue Willoughby (09:01):
Yeah.
Beverley Glazer (09:02):
From there, you built a career in tech, you
were doing corporate training.
And what attracted you totechnology and all that, that
whole world?
Sue Willoughby (09:12):
Well, you know, it's interesting, uh, Beverly.
When I went back to school, Iwent to a community college, and
this was like in the kind ofearly, early mid-90s, and you
know, websites and all of thatstuff was just starting to
bubble up.
And I was always interested invideo technology and training
and you know, or you know, videoproduction and stuff like that.
(09:33):
I used to have an eightmillimeter camera that I was
always shooting goofy videos on.
So that's kind of the mediapiece of it, was what I was
interested in.
But that sort of led me into uhweb development and media
production.
So I I did a dual major in inboth of those things, um, video
production and also likecommunications and web
(09:55):
development.
So that was kind of like myin-road.
And then, you know, I uh got ajob in in high tech as, you
know, like a little baby foot inthe door kind of uh job.
But I was like, oh, this isinteresting.
I never thought I would behere.
I always thought I'd be aretail rat for the rest of my
life, which I hated.
Uh but that opened the door.
(10:18):
And then at that time, tech wasgrowing so much that all of my
other skills kind of came intogether as well.
And I would go on to the nextjob.
And that was when the they'dgive you signing bonuses.
And all of a sudden I went fromyou know, $35,000 a year to a
six-figure job.
And I was like, whoa, okay, notbad for a high school dropout,
(10:39):
you know.
Beverley Glazer (10:40):
Well, you weren't by then.
Sue Willoughby (10:42):
Yeah, no, it didn't happen overnight, but
over, you know, over the courseof my career.
So sure.
I was, you know, had impostersyndrome too.
I'm like, okay, when are theygonna realize it?
Beverley Glazer (10:53):
You know, sure, sure.
But but it takes a while afteryou start, you know, not feeling
much of a person to all of asudden be a respected person and
in industry among people thatnot only respect you, but you
respect them.
And it takes a while to getcomfortable with that.
(11:15):
And you did so many things toearn accolades like flying
planes, Sue.
I mean, this is this issomething, right?
Yeah, flying planes, stand-upcomedy, you know, roller derby
referee, no less.
Okay.
Tell us about that.
How did you just go in forevery single challenge?
Sue Willoughby (11:40):
I love a good challenge, clearly.
Um, I just I like to go throughlife curious.
And um, I think, you know, likeI was talking about when I was
a kid, I think I probably hadundiagnosed ADHD.
I don't know, but I am alwaysif something pops up, I'm like,
that is interesting.
Let me check that out.
And like I said, I do tend todo a deep dive into whatever
(12:02):
little weird subculture orsomething.
Like, for example, when I gotmy somebody gave me a um flying
lesson for my birthday.
Okay, that was fun.
Okay, now I want to really wantto take flying lessons and get
my license.
And then, of course, I'm notgonna release a plane because
that would be stupid.
I'm just gonna buy one.
Okay, well, so I found a coupleof partners and we bought a
(12:24):
plane.
You know, that's the kind ofdeep dive I do.
Uh, roller derby came into mylife.
I I used to watch roller derbyas a kid.
I was Saturday mornings, I wasglued to the TV, you know,
watching the Bay City bombersand you know, those women
flipping around the rails, andit was awesome.
And my um landscaper was uh,she's like, hey, I'm also a
(12:46):
roller derby.
Uh I also do roller derby ifyou ever wonder.
I'm like, yeah, I want to comewatch.
So then, of course, I, youknow, volunteered for the the
scoring team, and I'm like, no,I want to get out there and
skate.
And I'm like, I'm a little tooold to be doing that.
But being a referee, you kindof get to skate around the
center and watch everything andand not not get hurt too badly.
So I did that.
(13:07):
I mean, I'm serious.
It's just, I like to becurious.
Um, I got into cycling.
I met a friend of mine when Iwas in uh college, uh community
college, and did the trained todo the California AIDS ride,
which was from San Francisco toLA.
And seven-day ride, that was abig deal.
(13:27):
Um, and I had never done thatbefore.
I barely rode my bike aroundthe block.
So yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
I love challenges.
I love to learn new things.
Yeah.
Beverley Glazer (13:38):
And another huge challenge is stand-up
comedy.
I mean, that's raw.
So when did you realize thatyou don't he had something to
say, something people wouldlaugh at?
Sue Willoughby (13:50):
Well, uh, I don't know, I don't know.
I've always been I being anonly child, I entertained myself
a lot.
And I think that my sense ofhumor got me through a lot of my
dark times.
And I always was, you know,cutting the fool in school and
and just being making peoplelaugh.
I love to make people laugh.
So I when I was doing, I wastaking some acting classes, and
(14:12):
then there was a stand-up comedyclass, and I'm like, sure, I'll
do that.
I think it would be fun.
And you know, I'd go to openmics and it was mortifying.
So yeah.
But it, you know, and it'sfunny because now I think, you
know, I was also reallyself-conscious at the time I was
doing it.
And not all comedians areself-conscious, all comedians
are self-deprecating, allcomedians are have, you know, uh
(14:36):
imposter syndrome and are thinkthat they're not worth
anything.
I mean, you know, that's wherethe comedy comes from.
But I think now that I have alittle bit more sense of myself
and emotional intelligence andconfidence, it would be
interesting to go back and tryit again and see how, you know,
how things work out.
But it was one more thing thatjust added to my confidence or
(15:01):
whatever.
I mean, it was just really itwas a it was a good experience.
Did I want to do it forever?
No, I don't want to be a youknow comedy club rat.
Beverley Glazer (15:10):
And you didn't want to be in technology forever
either.
Sue Willoughby (15:14):
No, I, I didn't want to be in corporate America
forever.
I love technology still to thisday, and I do embrace it on a
daily basis.
Um, but I just didn't want tobe in corporate America anymore.
Um, my last corporate stint waswith a big aircraft
manufacturer, and it was I wasin uh flight training, and um it
(15:35):
was pretty, it sounds sexy, butyou know, it's still corporate
America.
And I just couldn't go intothat gray office every day and I
couldn't do it anymore.
So I literally jumped out of anairplane, uh, which I said I
would never do, having been apilot.
Uh and I went I went skydivingwith a bunch of my real estate
(15:55):
uh friends, and that was it.
I'm like, that's it, I quit.
So I walked away from a verylucrative six-figure career to
go into real estate.
Beverley Glazer (16:06):
And now let's talk about ecotherapy.
Equivalent coaching and horses.
Tell us about that.
How did you get into that fromreal estate, or are you still in
real estate?
And this is just what you alsodo to help people.
What is this about?
Sue Willoughby (16:26):
Yeah, that's a good question.
Um, I am still a licensed realestate agent in the state of
Washington.
Um, I also teach real estate.
Um, I've recently developed acourse for real estate agents to
start their own podcast becauseI think it's a really important
way for them to get theirmarketing message out there.
So with the real estate, I'mmoving into more of a coaching,
(16:47):
mentoring, training kind of arole.
So once again, getting back tomy roots in that uh and you
know, working with young agentsto help them, you know, start to
get their careers off theground.
Yeah.
Um, but and the horse coachingcame into, I think I told you
that I was in, I had donetherapeutic riding.
(17:08):
Um, I did it for a number ofyears uh after moving to
Washington State and at a littlebit therapeutic riding.
And I did that for a number ofyears in their volunteer program
and helped train theirvolunteers, work with the
horses.
And I didn't want to be ariding instructor uh in that
capacity.
(17:28):
So I got, I wanted to be withthe horses.
My heart is really with them,and I wanted to support them
because they do so much work tosupport humans that I went into
I get certified in equinemassage therapy and specifically
structural integration, whichis like Rolfing for horses.
Um and that kind of led me,like I said, I'm always eyes
(17:55):
wide open, curious about things.
Um the somehow working withhorses in a coaching capacity
came into my sphere ofawareness.
And I reached out to someone atthis, at the time it was the
COEL Institute uh for uh Equustraining, and now it's um Center
(18:18):
for Equus Coaching.
One of the instructors and oneof the mentors was here in
Seattle, and I got together, hadcoffee with him, and about a
year later it took me toactually join the program, and
it was unfortunately rightaround the time of COVID.
So um we did a lot of ourtraining online and then we had
(18:39):
our on-site trainings, and Iwent through the program uh to
become a certified Equis coach,and then I went directly into
the master facilitator trainingto do group coaching.
So, you know, corporatecoaching, uh, grouped coaching,
whether it be retreats, youknow, themed retreats or or
whatever.
Um, but it was just, I knewwhen I was there, I'm like, this
(19:02):
is everything came together,all of those pieces, and all of
my love for horses, all of thehelp that I have received
knowingly or unknowingly fromthem over the years, like this
makes complete sense to me to bein this, in this, in this
career.
Beverley Glazer (19:21):
Why do you think that horses are so special
when it comes to readingpeople?
Sue Willoughby (19:25):
Oh my God, so much.
Uh basically they are at theircore, right?
They're prey animals.
So every cell in their body isabout awareness.
And they're always curiousbecause it may mean life or
death to them.
Uh they're also herd animals,so the way that they communicate
(19:49):
in their herd through well,sort of verbal, but mostly
nonverbal communication, um, isreally important.
That's also a really good umthing that they do.
And then also the fact thatthey don't judge.
So if another horse gives themfeedback, like for example, one
(20:13):
horse goes over and tries to eatthe other horses.
Hey, the other horse is likeeither bites at them, kicks at
them, whatever.
The offending horse then walksaway and says, Okay, I got the
message.
Thank you very much.
I'm I'm clear now.
And then they let it go.
That's the other thing, is theydon't hang on to things.
So we do all the time.
(20:34):
And there's also some sciencein there about the kind of like
the heart math uh connection,heart math institute, if you're
familiar with them, but there isa very deep heart connection.
So when you connect with ahorse, when you're in their um
sphere of awareness, when you'rein their being in their in
(20:54):
their little bubble, uh, they'reconnecting with what's inside
you, not what you are puttingout there to the world, not the
facade that you show up with.
So they don't care.
They don't care what kind ofcar you drove up in, they don't
care what you're wearing, theydon't care if you've got $4,000
(21:14):
cowboy boots on so you can lookcool at the barn.
They're just concerned with,not even concerned, they're
they're curious about what youare bringing to their
conversation with you.
And their conversation isnonverbal.
So how you're showing up inrelationship, how you're showing
(21:35):
up with them in thatrelationship.
And how you show up one placeis how you show up everywhere.
So they also help you get backinto your body because, like I
said, every cell in their bodyis awareness.
It's they're constantly takingin information through all of
their senses and they'reprocessing it and they're
(21:57):
saying, Am I safe?
Am I not safe?
Do I need to run?
What are my herdmates doing?
Are they, you know, are theygetting riled up or is it just
me?
And then once they process thatinformation, realize that
they're safe, then they can goback to what they were doing,
maybe grazing, it may bewhatever.
So they're just beingthemselves.
(22:18):
And when they're working, whenI work with a person and a
horse, I'm observing the horse'sbehavior and how the human is
showing up and how they'reinteracting.
And it gives me the opportunityto ask some really valuable
coaching questions.
Beverley Glazer (22:39):
I was gonna ask you how you intertwine the
coaching with the animal.
Yeah.
So it's the person that'sanswering the question, and I'm
assuming relating to the horseas they're doing that.
What do you think?
Sue Willoughby (22:57):
Yeah.
Yes, it's interesting whatpeople will bring to the horse.
Um for example, I've seenpeople, you know, uh sometimes
people will set an intention.
I want to make sure they'regrounded as well.
So we'll do a little safetydemo.
Um, horses are really good atgetting you out of your head and
into your body because we spendso much time in looping our
(23:21):
stories and all of that, right?
And then the horse is like, Inone of that interests me.
I have no idea what you're eventhinking about or whatever.
I don't care.
I just want to know how honestyou are with yourself.
So they want to know, they seewhat's inside, not what's on the
outside.
So you may go into the arenawith one intention and realize
(23:43):
it's something completelydifferent.
Um, I've seen, you know, and sothe horse is at liberty.
They're not, you're notconnected to them in any way.
They don't have a halter orlead rope on, they're just
wandering around being a horse.
Uh and you have the ability togo in and interact with them in
however way you feel isauthentic to you, or whatever it
(24:06):
is that you want to do.
Some people may want to get thehorse to move around, some
people may want to just be standnear the horse or get the horse
to be close to them.
But I've seen people walk inand if the horse is over in the
corner kind of doing something,or if it's an outdoor round pen,
they may be trying to get thelittle pieces of grass that are
on the other side of the fence.
And I've seen people walk inand go, Oh, they kind of dismiss
(24:31):
it, right?
The horse doesn't like me.
The horse is bored with me.
I hear that a lot.
The horse doesn't like me, thehorse is bored with me.
The horse, the horse, thehorse.
Guess what?
Not about the horse.
They're transferring all ofthese things onto this horse
that they're experiencing intheir real life.
(24:51):
That they're they think andthey feel that people don't like
them, that people are boredwith them, people don't want to
talk to them, whatever it is.
So they're putting that on thehorse.
It's really interesting.
Say, you know, why do you whydo you say that?
Well, he's standing over there.
Well, why do you think he'sstanding over there?
I don't know, he's eatinggrass.
(25:13):
Could that be just what he'sdoing?
Right?
He's just being a horse.
That's all he's doing.
So it's really interestingbecause a lot of a lot of that
stuff, horses are really goodalso at teaching leadership.
They're also really good atteaching boundaries.
A lot of people have problemswith boundaries.
Um, and horses are really goodat detecting those things and
kind of pushing the buttons in asafe way, usually.
Beverley Glazer (25:37):
Beautiful.
And looking into the eyes ofthe horse, think your reflection
in the eyes of the horse.
Talk to me about that.
That's very special.
Sue Willoughby (25:47):
Yeah, yeah.
They are very so their vision,they have almost 360-degree
vision.
So they only have two blindspots, one right in front of
them and one right behind theirtail.
So when you're moving aroundthem, that you have to be aware
of that.
But they will turn to look atyou, right, with their eye.
And when you look at them, Imean you're you're kind of
looking into their soul, andthey're also looking into yours
(26:10):
as well.
And like I said, they'reconnecting with what's going on
inside you.
They can sense your heartbeat,they can sense your biorhythms,
like how you're really feeling.
So a lot of times people willcome in and they'll just be in
the space with the horse andimmediately release and start to
(26:34):
cry or something because theyfeel safe, they feel uh
understood, they feel supported.
And the horse is just being ahorse.
And when, you know, when youhave that facade up, the horse
may stay away because the horseis like, I'm not sure.
I'm I'm I can't get throughthat wall.
(26:56):
Once that wall evaporates, thehorse may come right over and
just stand next to you becausethey know that's what you want.
But they will mirror ourbehavior.
So when you say a reflection,sometimes it's not a reflection
that we enjoy because they'rekind of calling you out on your
stuff.
So it's an interestingreflection.
Beverley Glazer (27:17):
It is, and it's totally nonverbal.
Yeah, yeah.
So what final message can youleave to a woman who's stuck and
way down in the past?
Sue Willoughby (27:27):
So after all this, yeah, after all this.
Um I would say, and this is notan easy thing to do, um, but to
be quiet.
Just get quiet.
And the thing is, when you getquiet, things get really loud.
And listen to what comes up andstart being curious about the
(27:53):
things that you hear and thethings that you feel when you're
being quiet.
And if you can look into theeyes of a horse, it's even
better.
Um, but just be outsidesomewhere, try and be quiet.
We have so much stimulation inour lives these days, whether
(28:13):
it's the news or whatever, ourdevices and everything.
If you can just be quiet forfive minutes a day, whether
you're meditating or not, if youcan just sit quietly, I know
it's hard.
Things will start to bubble up.
And then that can activate yourcuriosity.
Curiosity, awareness, all ofthose things, you're gonna start
(28:36):
to say, Oh my God, there's somany things going on out there
that I could experience or thatI'm curious about or interested
in.
And then you can start takinglittle baby steps to go explore
the things that you may have puton the back burner years ago.
So that's my advice.
Beverley Glazer (28:54):
Wonderful.
Thank you, Sue.
Thank you.
Sue Willoughby is the founderof Willoughby Coaching, where
she helps break through yourbarriers to discover your own
power through the practice ofequals coaching.
Here's some takeaways from thisepisode.
(29:23):
Your past is just a part ofyour story, you can change it.
Real transformation starts bybeing in the present.
Be silent and change begins.
If you've been relating to thisstory, if you actually see it,
you can take it right now.
(29:44):
Say yes to something that letsyou out of your comfort zone.
Ask yourself what belief haveyou been holding?
And that's not you anymore.
And start rewriting that wholestory.
Of that comfort zone.
For similar episodes on healingand empowerment, check out
(30:06):
episode 132 and 147 of Agingwith Purpose and Passion.
And you may also enjoy WellnessWednesdays hosted by
gerontologist Sally DuPontier.
These pre-recorded seminars arereally featuring experts with
topics on healthy aging, andthat's called MyZing Life.
(30:29):
So that's myzinglife.com tolearn more.
And that link, by the way, isgoing to be in the show notes
too.
And so, Sue, what are yourlinks?
Where can people find you?
Where can they learn more aboutyour wonderful services that
you provide?
All those links.
What are they?
Sue Willoughby (30:47):
Yeah.
Um, uh, my website iswilloughbycoaching.com.
I'm also on Instagram at Sueunderscore Willoughby.
And those are the two biggestplaces.
I'm also on LinkedIn and someof the other uh places as well,
and those links are on mywebsite, but those are the two
main places to be able to followme.
Beverley Glazer (31:05):
Terrific.
And that all Sue's links aregoing to be in the show notes
too.
That's reinventimpossible.com.
And so, my friends, what's nextfor you?
Are you just going through themotions or are you living a life
that you truly love?
Get my free guide to go fromstuck to unstoppable.
And where do you think that is?
(31:26):
That's in the show notes too.
You can connect with me,Beverley Glazer, on all social
media platforms and in mypositive group of women on
Facebook.
That's Women Over50 Rock.
And I want to thank you forlistening.
Have you enjoyed thisconversation?
Please subscribe.
Help us spread the word bydropping a review and sending it
(31:48):
to a friend.
And remember, you only have onelife.
So live it with purpose andpassion.
Announcer (32:01):
Thank you for joining us.
You can connect with Bev on herwebsite,
reinventimpossible.com.
And while you're there, joinour newsletter.
Subscribe so you don't miss anepisode.
Until next time, keep agingwith purpose and passion.
And celebrate life.
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