Let’s Be Well Together Podcast - Episode 162
Date: March 4, 2025

Participants: John Webster and Riley Thompson
Guest: Sue Willoughby

Start Times and Segments:

[0:00:35] What’s On Your Mind: . Riley is being worn down by hustle culture. John wonders whether what’s driving the work makes it either hustle culture (not great) or rewarding hard work.

[0:12:17] Expanding Minds Interview: Sue Willougbhy lives a well-rounded life. It’s included fun and challenging things like being a DJ, a stand-up comic, a boxer and a roller derby referee. Diverse life experiences get her out of her comfort zone. It’s not easy to get out of your comfort zone and try new things. Part of it is understanding why you feel stuck. Are you really not happy with your life? Is it that you want to try something new and you just don’t know where to start? You can take little bites when they try something new. Sue calls them tortoise steps. If you watch a tortoise, it steps then stops then steps then stops. Just do something different – one thing – every day for a week and see how that feels. Being well-rounded helps her to develop resilience. It took a long time for her to realize, “Oh, that was a lesson that I needed to learn.” It’s not about having a thick skin. It’s not about deflecting. It’s about having an experience, taking it in, sitting with it, then realizing, “Oh, that makes sense.”

[0:30:50] Running Popup: John discloses a secret project he mentioned in 2024. It felt great and changed his perspective to find and organize old computer photos and docs over the years.

Guest Information: Sue Willoughby is the Founder of Willoughby Coaching, where women over 40 confront personal obstacles and change the trajectory of their lives. Raised by a single alcoholic parent, Sue struggled with low self-esteem and learned from an early age to be self-sufficient and embrace discomfort. She came out at the age of 17 and struggled to find her place in the gay community, attempted suicide at 19, and was on a path of living hard and playing harder. Sue found coaching through her lifelong love of horses. They were always there to support her through some of the darkest and most difficult times of her life and she now finds fulfillment in being the coach she wished she had in those challenging times of her life. Sue resides outside the Seattle area with a horse named Moose, two mini-longhaired Dachshunds, Benny and Buddy, and a VW Bus called Arlo.

Website: www.willoughbycoaching.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/suewilloughby
Instagram: @sue_willoughby

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Thanks for joining us,
(-(-_(-_-)_-)-) Your wellness check-in team
John, Sammy, Cameron, Sheila, Elise, Isabelle, Noura, Julie and Riley