Susie Johnson — Mom, Blogger, Coach, Author, and now… International Speaker

I had an amazing weekend!

(If you are just getting here for the first time, I spent the weekend in Ottawa, Canada where I was the keynote speaker at The Mom Conference).

As you know, I’m pretty big on getting people to move out of their comfort zones.

Because as you also know, we have gone through quite a few ups and downs in the past few years (more downs than ups), and I believe 100% that pushing myself to move out of my comfort zone (whether it’s doing something that scares the shit out of me or doing something that is physically exhausting) is the biggest thing that keeps me going. Because if I can make it through a marathon or a bankruptcy or a foreclosure or whatever, I know I can make it through whatever the next thing is that life is gonna throw at me.

Life is often uncomfortable. Pushing through the discomfort is the hard part of life.

So anyway, I started off my trip to Canada waaay out of my comfort zone.

When I was in high school, I wanted to be a pilot.

I have no idea what the hell has happened to me since I became a parent, but I’ve become really scared of flying. Especially in a small plane.

Like to the point of having a massive anxiety attack and kicking myself for not getting some sort of (legal) — okay, or even illegal — drugs to make it through the flight.

When I got to my gate at the airport in Hartford and saw this plane:

well, I basically shit my pants.

From the moment I saw that tiny little airplane until the moment it landed, I basically looked like this:

My heart rate was in the maximum training range for the entire flight.

I could see the pilots from my seat. They were both about 14 years old.

I cursed myself for ever watching that f*cking movie, Alive. 

There were only three other people on the plane with me. There was no way I’d be able to eat them if we crashed.

I was going to starve and freeze to death somewhere over the Canadian border. I knew it.

Luckily I only slept about an hour the night before I left because I was so scared I was going to sleep through the fourteen alarms I had set for myself that I couldn’t get to sleep.

So I actually passed out about a minute and a half into the flight, and when I woke up, we were beginning our descent.

And then we landed. Smoothly.

I had survived!

Anyway, that was kind of a big deal for me.

The next 24 hours were a blur.

I finally got to meet Jo, the creator of the conference and my online friend for the past year, when she picked me up at the airport.

Jo randomly found the blog about a year ago, and she sent me an email thanking me and telling me how I had inspired her and I thought she was funny, and I emailed her back, and then we kept corresponding, and then, eventually, she signed up for one of my e-courses.

That particular e-course group was the one that has become very, very close. It’s the one that started the Go Fund Me campaign for me when my husband had his accident last summer.

And although we are spread all across the country and the world — Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, Ohio, Nebraska, Texas, Germany, Canada, England — we all became great friends. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that when we have something important to share, more often than not, that’s the first place we go.

So anyway, I couldn’t wait to finally meet Jo in person.

As soon as she picked me up, it was like we’d been old friends for years.

We basically ran around and did errands for all of Friday afternoon. It was that day-before-the-conference scramble.

It was so chaotic that the whole weekend, this is the only picture we took of the two of us.

Friday night was a blur because I was delirious by the time I got to my hotel room. I still hadn’t made my PowerPoint presentation. I set another fourteen alarms, passed out on the bed, and got up at 4 am on Saturday morning. I finished with about 15 minutes to spare.

Nothing like functioning under pressure.

Oh, and if you are wondering which outfit I went with, I packed a couple options because I still hadn’t made up my mind.

I was going to go with the pink shirt (from outfit #2 and 4), but of course I packed at the last minute at like midnight, and I only packed one bra, it was black and it looked super trashy under the blouse. I could have worn the furry vest that I was really feeling when I took the pictures asking for advice, but when I got to the hotel, it just wasn’t doing it for me.

Plus I was so nervous I was sweating like crazy. There was no way I’d be able to wear the vest, so that meant everyone would see my black bra straps.

So I went with outfit #3.

It actually looked really good — much better than in this picture — the wall in my room was like 2 feet away from the mirror, so getting a good picture from that angle was tough.

Anyway, I felt good, and it was go time.

From there, the day was so hectic that I didn’t really take any pictures, but Jo had the whole conference professionally photographed and recorded, so I should have some good pictures to show you in a week or so.

Considering the fact that I was operating on minimal amounts of sleep and that I had finished my PowerPoint about 20 minutes before I had to speak, I think I did, well…

I think I did pretty fucking awesome.

I wasn’t totally sure though.

Several of the women there thanked me and told me they loved what I had to say.

But the person that really got me was the sound guy who had to put my mic on me.

After my second talk later that afternoon I went back over to the table so he could take the mic off.

He said to me, “You’re a really good speaker. Keep it up.”

That made my day.

Seriously. That came from a dude who totally didn’t have to say that.

So I felt pretty good.

Then I got some more feedback…

Hi Susie,
I was in the audience today. Totally loved your speech!! I am pretty sure everyone in the room enjoyed your presentation. We love you!!

and

We are so glad that you survived the flight, Suzie! It was great to meet you today, and thanks for a great (and hilarious) talk!

and

Dear Susie,
I just wanted to let you know that I was at the Mom Conference in Ottawa this past weekend and sincerely, you rocked it. You made me laugh, cry and gave me so much food for thought I had to write things down. I follow your blog so I know there has been a lot for you in the last few weeks and I truly appreciate the effort it must have taken for you to be so on for us…

Holy Cow!

But the most amazing thing happened when Jo handed me an envelope on Sunday morning when she picked me up to go to take me to the airport. It was from a woman who is a blog reader who came to the conference just to see me. She didn’t have it in her to come up and talk to me in person, so she handed Jo that envelope and she asked her to give it to me.

I opened it up in the car.

I know this woman did not do this to be thanked publicly or mentioned here on the blog in a post. And I really hope she is reading this right now. (And PLEASE, if you are, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send me a message on Facebook or email me at susie@not-your-average-mom.com)

Anyway, I opened up the envelope and there was a note along with $114 US dollars.

What the…?

…My husband and I were fortunate enough to take our kids to Disney a couple of years ago… I’ve had this American money in my wallet with no future trips planned…

Holy shit.

I don’t even know what to say, other than thank you.

Thank you so, so, SO much.

I really really REALLY wish I could thank you in person. I wish I could have met you. I wish I could have hugged you.

Some day.

Someday I will track you down!

I’m definitely going back to Canada, and I will find her.

Because I don’t know if you know this, but Canadians are really awesome.

They are chill and laid back and welcoming and hospitable.

If it weren’t so fucking cold up there, I’d totally move.

Plus, their money is really cool.

So anyway, Jo and I got to the airport and had some time to spare.

She bought me lunch and we sat and talked about our plans to rule the world. I’m not really kidding about that.

And then it was time to go.

All weekend long we had managed not to cry.

And then we got to the escalator and hugged. And I bawled like a baby. Just like I am again right now.

I had a really great weekend.

I’m proud of myself. I think I opened a few more doors to some big possibilities. I delivered. I helped people. I made a difference.

And although she really already was one, I made a really, really good friend, and I can’t wait to see her again.

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