Thanks for joining us today, Susie. To start, can you take us back to when you started with Walsworth and explain how that all came about?

Ok, sure. I was working as a teacher, and I wanted to do something different and make more money. (laughs)

I guess I must have started looking in early 2010. I remember sitting in my classroom and went to monster.com on a total whim. The first job that came up said, “Are you a teacher that has sales experience?” And I thought, “Why yes, I am. How did you know?” (laughs) It was a Walsworth ad.

So you had sold before?

Yeah, I sold textbooks right out of college for a couple years. That ad was speaking directly to me, so I applied and eventually started with Walsworth in June 2010.

How did you get started selling textbooks?

When I graduated college, my sister was working at a publishing company. She said her company didn’t hire college grads, but she could get me an interview so I could practice interviewing. So I met with them, and to my surprise they offered me a job, which I took.

I moved from New York to San Francisco for the job, where I was an inside sales rep. I sold to college professors in the Midwest, so I would get up at the crack of dawn because California was two hours later. I would wake up and be working by 7 a.m.

After a year, I got promoted to field sales, and they moved me from San Francisco to Los Angeles. I did that for a couple years and then I decided that I’d made enough money that I could go back and be a teacher.

What did you teach?

I was an elementary school teacher. After the publishing job, I went back to school and got my master’s in education. I loved teaching kids to read, so I was an elementary teacher for a bunch of years before coming to Walsworth.

Then when you started with Walsworth, you were in the sales grind again?

Yes, as the New York City sales rep. I was calling on schools in Brooklyn and Queens. I was a teacher and had sales experience, but I had never done yearbook – not in school or as a teacher. I was one of those people who just thought yearbooks fell out of the sky.

So that was a learning curve when I started. I had the most fun, but it was hard work and since these schools don’t have parking lots, I would come out to my car and there would be a smashed window or the side-view mirror would be cracked off. It was crazy, and I met a super fun cast of characters in New York City.

And eventually you got a chance to move into sales management?

When I started the sales rep position in June 2010, I replaced a woman who had worked for Walsworth for 35 years, a lovely woman named Jacque Blocklyn. I got a portion of her territory and learned the yearbook business.

Then in June 2014, Rhonda (O’Dea), my manager and mentor, moved to California to take the manager role out west, and I was promoted to area manager of the Northeast.

Are there things you miss about being in the classroom?

Yes, just yesterday I was in the classroom with a sales rep. That’s my favorite place to be with the kids – they keep you young. They’re funny. I love knowing the lingo and what kids are doing and what’s exciting and interesting.

But I like the role I’m in because instead of managing students and advisers, I’m now managing sales reps. My job every day is to make the job easier for my reps by helping them and removing any roadblocks. That’s what I tried to do at my schools – make yearbook easier.

When you started back in 2010, could you have imagined the longevity the yearbook business and Walsworth would have led to for you?

That’s a good question because I was never a job jumper, right? This is really only the third job I’ve had in my career. But I didn’t imagine in 2010 that I would never work for another company again. I’m happy with how it’s all worked out.

I’m from a big family. And (Walsworth) feels like a big family to me, so it suits me.

If you were to pinpoint what you feel makes Walsworth successful, what would it be?

For me, with the sales department, it’s definitely the training we provide. All our yearbook reps go through really intense training, and it doesn’t end in the first two weeks. We give them so many educational opportunities to get that foundation on how to become a really successful salesperson and how to do it with integrity.

How has the yearbook business changed since you got into this business 15+ years ago?

You know what, when I first started with the technology, it almost felt like (schools) were just happy we had an online platform that helped them create the book. It was less about needing the program to be the quickest and most convenient. But now the expectations of what technology should be able to do… people expect Google-type technology, and so we’re more technology focused as well. Because our advisers are more technology focused now.

Post-COVID, it has felt like we’re going through a bit of a yearbook renaissance. Are we still in that period?

Absolutely. I think we’re probably rounding the corner a bit. But we’ve felt such a surge of nostalgia where schools felt like kids missed out on a lot of things that came with being in school, and they didn’t want to miss out on yearbook. Parents were buying ads at a faster pace.

Schools were saying, we want every kid in the yearbook, we want every kid to get a yearbook. We don’t want them to miss out on this great tradition. We saw a resurgence. It kind of moved the notch up a bit. I think we’re stable now at a higher level than we were before.

Let’s talk life outside of work. Are you originally from New York?

I grew up in New York, but when I took on the sales manager role, it didn’t make sense to drive from Long Island through Manhattan to get to all the sales reps. So I moved to Philadelphia, which is more central, and I’ve lived here since 2014.

I’ve got three children. My son Ryan is 25 and lives just down the road from me. My 21-year old son, Matthew, lives in California. And I’ve got a 19-year old daughter, Bridget, who is finishing up her freshman year at West Virginia University. It’s my first year as an empty nester.

How has that gone?

I’ve loved it. Last summer, my boyfriend and I bought a house together in the city of Philadelphia. We both left the suburbs. He’s got three boys, and since all our kids had graduated from high school, we bought a house in the city, figuring we don’t need good schools anymore.

We’re empty nesters and we’re having fun, enjoying city life. It’s been a big change, but a great change.

Do you have siblings still in the New York area?

There’s three boys and three girls in my family. My sisters all live out in California. All three girls took turns living out in California, but my two sisters stayed there.

My two oldest brothers were New York City firemen, retired now. We had a couple fun instances where we had area meetings in New York and my brothers would come by with a fire truck and let everyone ride in it.

I grew up in a very big, loud, funny, happy Irish Catholic family. And I think that’s why the family aspect of this job suits me so well. I was just used to working in a big family environment.

OK, fun question time. What’s a fun or interesting thing about you that most people don’t know?

Oh wow, that’s a tough one. I think people think I’m a super fun person but don’t realize that I also take my job just as seriously. So it’s like a work hard, play hard kind of thing.

I played sports in high school and college and still do today. I teach group fitness classes. I play on a softball team.

Did you have a favorite sport?

Soccer was definitely my favorite. It was my best sport and it was the one I liked the most. I played for my school team and I played on a Long Island travel team.

What’s your favorite movie or TV show?

My favorite movie, by far, is Tommy Boy. It’s hilarious. I used to actually say, if I met people and they didn’t think it was funny, that person’s not for me.

Do you have a favorite meal or type of food?

Growing up in New York, I think Italian food. I would literally eat pasta or pizza every single day if it wasn’t bad for you.

There in Philly, do you have a preferred cheesesteak place?

Yes, there’s a definite best one – Angelo’s. They have pizza there, but their cheesesteak is by far the best. And it’s in south Philly. If anyone tells you different, they’re lying.

Do you have a favorite vacation spot, or a favorite trip you’ve ever been on?

I went to Fiji and Tahiti and stayed in one of those over water huts where you look down to the floor and the fish are swimming underneath you and the water is so gorgeous. It’s like heaven on earth.

If you had a personalized coffee mug, what would it say?

In high school, it would have said “Just Do It.”

Now I have something that’s probably not appropriate. (laughs) My motto is “GYSHIDO.” It’s supposed to look like it’s Japanese, but it really stands for “Get your s*** done.” Don’t make people wait, don’t let the project be waiting on you. Don’t be the person that keeps progress from moving along.

It’s right on my office wall, above my computer. It’s my motto, but you probably can’t use it.

We might just have to bleep it out a bit.

I hope to mellow out a bit and find something calmer as I get older.

Do you have a favorite memory or an accomplishment from your career that you’re most proud of?

When I was a sales rep, we used to have this contest where the first area to make their numbers would get a special area trip. We won a cruise to the Bahamas. That was super cool.

As a sales manager, I’m fortunate to feel like I lead the best sales team in the yearbook industry. I’m sure the other managers would say the same thing, but my people are smart, fun, savvy. And this past year, we just completed our 10th year in a row of beating our sales growth number. All credit to them because I’m just the one watching them do it. But that was a real cool achievement – 10 years of beating our growth number.