Susan B. Bentley

In 2020, Susan B. Bentley decided to use her qualifications as a trained team leadership and life coach to help empower women in the workplace.

“I hit my limit of listening to all-male conference panels, as well as hearing women speakers apologise for themselves either at the beginning or the end of their presentations. I was screaming inside,” she says. “I wanted to put all my training and experience to good use and help them.”

Diversity in the workplace is an incredibly important cause, and Susan believes the more diverse voices in the room, the better the workplace can become not only for us, but for the next generation, too. Susan coaches women one-to-one with team leadership and workplace problems as well as running group workshops for women to gain confidence in their own voice in the workplace.

“The more visible and diverse we are, the more the younger generation will have role models to aspire to.”

Of all the lessons she’s learned so far on her self-employed journey, Susan believes the most important one of all is in how you react to changes.

“You simply can’t run a freelance business by staying stuck to one idea, one way of thinking, one business practice. Life happens so be honest with yourself, admit your mistakes, continually hone what you do and who you help,” she says.

As a Crunch Chorus member, Susan has been able to discuss the trials and tribulations of self-employment with hundreds of people just like her - something that she says has been a key part of the process for her.

“Being part of the Facebook group has been great as there’s the sense of community and everyone either having been where you are now or you being able to offer help and advice to others.”

If you like the sound of joining a supportive community of freelancers and small business owners, why not sign up to Crunch Chorus? We have over 50,000 members and counting - and best of all? It’s free, and always will be.