My Journey to Helping Families Find the Right Health Insurance
I am a lifelong educator who has 18 years of experience teaching 2nd and 3rd grade. When my mom passed away, I left the classroom behind to make a difference on a grander scale to honor her memory, and I started a nonprofit called Project PEACE. Life turned upside down when my husband was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. The anxiety of believing I would lose him and our home was overwhelming since I no longer had an income. We are so blessed that my husband has been in remission for over seven years AND we navigated our way from perfect credit to credit card consolidation! I drove for Lyft, and he continued working to pay off our debt. Then, it occurred to me that we had a powerful light to pay forward about this experience, and I decided to become licensed in health insurance.
I am licensed in 31 states, I am on the journeys of my clients, and I feel I am still honoring my mom's memory and making her proud! A client told me I felt like his "Insurance Mom," and that so resonated with me that I have officially registered that name with the Secretary of State! It's a privilege to empower others about how health insurance works...and how it doesn't! I look forward to walking by your side and making a daunting process more manageable!
Turning Tragedy Into a New Mission in Life
A Movement to Lift Each Other Up
My Personal Health Journey
Part of what makes me insightful about health insurance is also my own personal journey with health challenges. I was practically bedridden for almost two years and receiving nothing but dismissive care. It was intensely discouraging; I knew something was very wrong with my body, and I finally found a "Dream Team" of doctors who listened to me, cared about me, and helped me get on a healing path!
Dr. Joshua Shapiro was my first angel who truly cared and said, "I want you to feel better!" It turns out I needed to have both of my knees replaced! Since I had tried other conservative treatments before that, I was willing to take the leap of faith to entrust Dr. Shapiro with my care—and I had both knees replaced 8 weeks apart in 2024. It has been life-changing to be able to walk pain-free, and my legs are getting stronger every day!
The "CRUSHIN IT" sign was created by a pre-op nurse for my first surgery because that is what I exclaimed would happen (even though I was secretly terrified to get my knee replaced). That mindset and sign have followed me into every pre-op, operating room, and hospital bed to inspire me and others—and I am now known as "The CRUSHIN IT Patient!"
During my recovery from having both knees replaced 8 weeks apart, I had the most amazing physical therapist named Kenzie! She listened to me, understood my mindset and my goals, and helped me "Crush It" and exceed my goals in record time! Kenzie has been a pivotal person encouraging me all along on my healing journey!
Now that I was able to be up and around, I realized I had a lot of pain in my back and in my shoulder. I was able to meet with Dr. Michael Lersten, a pain management specialist, who helped me with some injections and an ablation of some nerves in my neck and spine. He also gave me a great book to read about managing chronic pain, which was extremely enlightening. I am in the best of hands!
Lastly, I found the most amazing surgeon to help me with my painful shoulder! I had played a lot of sports growing up and into adulthood, and it turns out I had a torn rotator cuff and was bone on bone! Dr. James Johnson was exceptional in his ability to listen to me, care about my well-being, and have the expertise to get the use of my dominant arm back! We first tried an arthroscopy, but I ultimately asked to just get my shoulder replaced because I needed to completely feel whole again. So, I just had my shoulder replaced in May of 2025! I am already able to use my arm for all ranges of motion, and I can lift 3 pounds! Kenzie is still on my journey, and I am so grateful to finally be on my way to keeping up with my husband—who has crushed Stage 4 colon cancer! We are grateful for every day!
I can empathize with anyone struggling to feel better and to feel cared about in an overwhelmed healthcare system!
Contact Suzanne at (866) 870-9894 to learn more about her personalized insurance approach.