About Sue
Hi, I’m Sue West
I’m a certified executive and transitions coach, facilitator, and mentor. I am the Director of Flourish After Fifty, a practice I developed to support women in their 50s and 60s to live full and deeply satisfying lives.
I see the mid and ‘north mid’ parts of a woman’s life as filled with possibility and potential, and I am absolutely passionate about changing the way women experience this phase of life.
Over the last four years, I have read and watched everything I could get my hands on about modern aging and living well. I came to see a gap between what we know about long and happy lives and how women imagine their future.
By talking with women and hearing their stories, I started to see a pattern. Fear and uncertainty are very present when women talk about their futures, but I’ve found that these worries are based on old ideas about aging.
The truth is that women are living more years in great health than ever before!!
These insights drive me in Flourish After Fifty and are the foundation for my coaching, workshops and small group programs.
When you work with me, you'll gain the tools and insights to navigate life's major transitions with confidence and clarity. Whether you're facing empty nesting, divorce, career changes, or retirement, we'll work together to transform these potentially challenging experiences into opportunities for growth and self-discovery.
You will be reminded of your own resilience and build the confidence to step fully into your life with renewed energy, enthusiasm, and a clear sense of direction.
I am also the Director of Sue West Coaching Services.
My credentials can be found here.
We all have our story of midlife challenge, and mine is no different.
In my late forties I became a single mother of three young children and this BIG change marked the start of a rolling set of changes and challenges that would characterise my midlife, including;
Supporting my parent’s transition into care, and through illnesses to their eventual deaths. This process was then replayed a few years later when I took on the same role with my grandmother, who lived to 104.
Packing up and selling two family homes (my parents and grandparents) after they had lived in them for fifty and sixty years, respectively.
Three major house renovations- living in dust, dirt and noise.
Perimenopause!! NOT a pleasant experience. It lasted three years and often left me in pain and feeling foggy in the head. The most significant change came with menopause when I only slept for about four hours a night and experienced crippling anxiety.
Sue’s Midlife Story
But it wasn’t all hard yards.
At 48, I was promoted to an executive role beyond her wildest dreams, with a large team of smart, engaging, and energetic people. Most days I didn’t get lunch and jumped from meeting to meeting without a second thought. I loved my job and the people I worked with.
At fifty, I took up running, and bushwalking and developed a regular yoga practice. I trekked mountains in Nepal, traveled across Europe with my children, and presented at conferences all around the world.
At fifty-five I re-partnered and my family expanded to include three stepchildren and two step-dogs.
I thrived in this crazy, over-the-top, stressful life.
The pandemic was my call to action.
When the pandemic hit, I was forced to slow down. This was an opportunity to reflect on how I was living, what else might bring purpose and meaning to my life and what shape my life might take over the next ten years.
As someone who likes to ‘research’, I spent many hours reading and learning about active healthy aging to understand my own situation and how I could create a full life in my late fifties and beyond. From this grew my passion for shifting negative ideas about aging - which contributes to us thinking small about our futures.
I was drawn to FAF as the perfect vehicle to tackle ageism and to support other women to see the possibilities in their lives as they age so that they can flourish.