In the beginning, I worked a lot harder and differently than I do now. I set goals and planned projects to the smallest detail. I wrote out speeches and outlined workshops. Today, my team in Spirit has earned my trust to the point where I simply set a clear intention, trust, and flow with the moment by moment guidance that follows. It’s magical.
Many successful people reinvented themselves in a later period in their lives. Jeff Bezos worked on Wall Street before he reinvented himself and started Amazon. Sara Blakely sold office supplies before she started Spanx. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was a WWE wrestler before he became a successful actor and filmmaker. Arnold Schwarzenegger went from a bodybuilder, to an actor to a Governor. McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc was a milkshake-device salesman before starting the McDonalds franchise in his 50s.
How does one reinvent themselves? What hurdles have to be overcome to take life in a new direction? How do you overcome those challenges? How do you ignore the naysayers? How do you push through the paralyzing fear?
In this series called “Second Chapters; How I Reinvented Myself In The Second Chapter Of My Life “ we are interviewing successful people who reinvented themselves in a second chapter in life, to share their story and help empower others.
As a part of this interview series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Suzanne Giesemann.
Suzanne Giesemann is an author and teacher of The Awakened Way™ — a path to knowing Who you are and why you’re here. She has been included on the Watkins’ list of “100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People.” A former U.S. Navy Commander who served as a commanding officer and aide to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, today she shares “21st Century Spirituality”, merging the latest scientific understanding about Consciousness with ancient spiritual wisdom. Her work provides stunning evidence of the existence of Universal Consciousness and our interconnectedness. She teaches proven methods that anyone can use to connect with all levels of Consciousness.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we start, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
Iwas raised by a railroad engineer and a housewife. My mother didn’t tell us that she hadn’t graduated from high school until she earned her diploma at age 77. My parents disdained religion. They didn’t take my older brother, sister, and me to church services, but they did instill in us a strong sense of right and wrong. I was the first in my family to express an interest in attending college. To afford this unplanned expense, my mother hand-made 80,000 pounds of chocolate-covered Easter eggs which my father sold to his co-workers on the railroad, and I sold to my teachers at school, thus covering my full tuition. Growing up, I excelled at playing the flute, and dreamed of being a professional flautist, but I also loved foreign languages. I chose to major in Spanish with a minor in Russian and to follow my brother’s path of becoming a military officer. Upon graduating from college, I attended Naval Officer Candidate School and received my commission as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Life is a series of tests. They are not multiple choice. There is only one answer: Love.”
This quote came to me in meditation. Before I learned the truth of this wisdom, I struggled mightily with the tests we all face. Since I learned to make this singular choice in response to any challenge, my life has flowed in wondrous ways.
You have been blessed with much success. In your opinion, what are the top three qualities that you possess that have helped you accomplish so much? If you can, please share a story or example for each.
Enthusiasm. I have always enjoyed a natural passion for life that was so prevalent from my earliest years that my parents called it my “en-Suzy-asm.” I used this quality to accomplish the personal milestone of sailing across the Atlantic Ocean with my husband aboard our 46-foot sailboat. Even though that voyage was not always pleasant or comfortable, my innate enthusiasm allowed me to achieve this goal as I do most things: with a childlike sense of happiness and wonder that I have found to be rather contagious.
Persistence. My parents coined a phrase for this one, too: Suzanne’s “stick-to-it-iveness.” When I picked up a flute at age 11, my enSuzyasm compelled me to practice daily. I learned first-hand that this led to greater ease, improved performance, and more enjoyment. As a result, when I walked into the band room on the first day of high school, the director put me in the first chair position ahead of the more senior players and handed me the coveted piccolo reserved for the top flautist. I learned to apply this quality of never giving up until a job was well done to my studies and later to each assignment in my naval career.
Optimism. I have been blessed with the natural quality of “seeing the glass half full” instead of empty. I was aboard the last aircraft in U.S. airspace on 9/11. We flew over the burning World Trade Center towers and returned to gaze at the gaping hole where hours earlier a jet had flown into our office building, the Pentagon. Despite the anguish all of us felt on that day, I experienced an inner prompting that nudged me to seek deeper spiritual answers instead of falling into despair. I have always enjoyed optimism for the innate goodness in people, even when others may lose the bigger picture.
Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about ‘Second Chapters’. Can you tell our readers about your career experience before your Second Chapter?
As a female naval officer who joined before women were allowed on most ships, I enjoyed nine diverse tours of duty ashore in the United States, Panama, and Japan with travel to over 50 countries. I completed assignments in plans and policy, naval intelligence, training, protocol, administration, and fleet operations. I rose steadily through the ranks, earning a master’s degree in National Security Affairs. I had the honor of serving as a special assistant to the head of the Navy (the Chief of Naval Operations), followed by a tour as the Commanding Officer of a personnel unit. The greatest honor, however, was being personally asked by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — the head of the United States military — to be his aide-de-camp, during which time I flew on Air Force One with the President, met with Kings and Queens, and sat in on top-secret Congressional hearings on Capitol Hill. I retired with the rank of Commander, earning the Defense Superior Service Medal as the culmination of twenty years of military service.
And how did you “reinvent yourself” in your Second Chapter?
It certainly wasn’t the result of any conscious plan on the part of my human side.
While sailing in the Mediterranean, we received the news that my stepdaughter, Susan — a Sergeant in the Marine Corps — had been struck and killed by lightning. To make matters worse, she was six months pregnant with our only grandchild. Nothing I witnessed on 9/11 affected me as deeply as the sight of Susan’s lifeless body in a coffin.
“That’s not Susan,” I stated aloud, with a sudden and inexplicable awareness that the human body has no innate life of its own. Susan had been so vibrant, so alive, that in a flash of insight I realized we are more than these bodies. I intuitively knew in that life-changing moment that all of us are animated by a vibrant spirit that cannot be killed.
Filled with a sense of unwavering determination, I made it my new mission to connect with Susan’s spirit. I began meditating daily with the same persistence with which I had tackled my military assignments. I had no idea that in doing so, I would encounter not only Susan, but others’ deceased family members as well. I also discovered worlds beyond this physical dimension populated with benevolent, sentient beings who were eager to make their presence known and share their vast wisdom.
Skeptical, yet open-minded, each time I sensed a presence I asked for validation. The clear and convincing evidence they provided exceeded the burden of proof required by any court of law and took me beyond any reasonable doubt that there is life after death.
I initially shared evidence and information about the afterlife by authoring several books on the subject. As my own abilities and spiritual awareness increased, at my husband’s urging, I began instructing others how to connect with the non-physical realms. Eventually, as I grew spiritually, the more important lessons of who we are as souls and why we are here in human form took precedence in my writing and teaching. My mission changed from serving my country to serving humanity as a Messenger of Hope through my books, recordings, online and in-person classes, podcasts, and YouTube videos.
With the sole intention of bringing comfort, healing, and helping people awaken to their innate divinity, my efforts resulted in me being recognized in 2022 on the Watkins’ list of 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People and receiving the 2024 Spiritual Leadership Award from the global non-profit, Humanity’s Team.
Can you tell us about the specific trigger that made you decide that you were going to “take the plunge” and make your huge transition?
Certainly. In the second year after Susan’s death, I agreed to write the biography of former Catholic nun-turned evidence-based medium, Janet Nohavec. To learn more about Janet’s work, I attended one of her classes in afterlife communication. I was stunned when she called me to the front of the class and asked me to bring forth evidence from a spirit that she claimed was present. Fueled by Janet’s trust and belief, I closed my eyes and surprised myself by discerning information about the deceased father of a student in the class. The details included his age, the nature of his passing, his line of work, a favorite pastime, and the nickname by which he was known: “Twinkletoes.” When Janet produced additional information about the man, showing me that he was really there despite the fact that I couldn’t see him, I had no choice but to believe that I could do what she did. I took the plunge of signing up to be Janet’s student in addition to her biographer.
What did you do to discover that you had a new skill set inside of you that you haven’t been maximizing? How did you find that and how did you ultimately overcome the barriers to help manifest those powers?
Until the “Twinkletoes” experience, I believed as most people do, that one must be born with such abilities. In that moment, I realized that I could train and develop the necessary skills to help others heal from their grief. I traveled to England to study with the best evidential afterlife communicators in the world, including the renowned Mavis Pittilla. Upon my return, I dedicated myself to expanding my consciousness and improving the clarity of my non-physical senses. Those efforts led me down the spiritual path to where I am today.
How are things going with this new initiative? We would love to hear some specific examples or stories.
I am working harder these days than I ever did in my military career, but the work is immensely rewarding. My Awakened Way app and YouTube videos with over 12 million views show that I am bringing new people daily to the awareness of their true nature. I have lost track of the number of people who tell me that their lives have been transformed by my work and dozens say that it has literally saved their lives.
My most important book to date, The Awakened Way — Making the Shift to a Divinely Guided Life, was published last June by Hay House, and my 15th book, Mediumship — Sacred Communications from Loved Ones Across the Veil, is due to be released by Sacred Stories Publications in October.
Equally exciting is the fulfillment of a vision I had ten years ago when I published Wolf’s Message, the true story of a young man killed by lightning like my Susan. The irrefutable proof that Wolf left before his passing that we are souls and the profound message for humanity that he delivered after his death are now being turned into a documentary that will be released in 2025. The story is so compelling that I know it will help even more people awaken, bringing more peace into their lives and our world.
Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
There are many beautiful souls on both sides of the veil who have helped me in my new mission, but it was Susan’s passing that started me on this path. Her death was devastating for our family, and we miss her physical presence every day, but she has helped me turn this tragedy into a blessing for millions.
I would not have awakened spiritually to the point I have today without the commitment I made to Susan in the early days after her passing. It took me three years of daily meditation until I finally sensed her presence. Only recently did she explain that she held back for so long on purpose. She is correct that had she come through sooner, I would have considered my mission accomplished and would have stopped seeking. Instead, with relentless persistence to make contact and the optimism that I would eventually be successful, I experienced one surprising adventure in consciousness after another and a bliss that has no equal in the human experience. Thanks to Susan nudging me onward and upward, today there is no turning back.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started in this new direction?
The evidence from my encounter with Archangel Michael (told in my YouTube video, “Archangel Michael is Real”) continues to turn skeptics (like I used to be) into believers, but my favorite story occurred when I asked if Jesus would come to me, and he did.
Keep in mind that we didn’t talk about religion in my home growing up. It was tacitly taboo to even mention Jesus. Yet, with the growing awareness that we are all emanations of the one light of Consciousness, I made a sincere request from my heart for Jesus to step into my awareness. In response, I found myself enveloped in an intensely loving Presence more powerful than anything I had experienced. Ever.
Hoping that he wouldn’t mind if I put him to the test, I asked Jesus to give me a relevant Bible verse to show me that I wasn’t imagining this special visit. Having never studied the Bible in any depth, I was perplexed to instantly hear the words “Thessalonians 2:13.” Later, after I researched and learned that there are 33,000 verses in the Bible, I recognized how many verses would not have validated my experience. Instead, when I turned to “Thessalonians” –a word I had never before heard or read — I choked up at the immense relevance of verse 2:13: “When you accepted God’s word that you heard from us, you welcomed it for what it truly is. Instead of accepting it as a human message, you accepted it as God’s message, and it continues to work in you who are believers.”
The next day, in meditation, I experienced a second visit with yet another relevant Bible message from Jesus (2 Corinthians 2:14), showing me that regardless of our beliefs, there are master teachers in the higher realms who are waiting to share their love and wisdom with anyone who trusts and seeks their guidance.
These details and more miracles from this encounter left no doubt in my mind that there is a divine Source of all that exists, and that this Infinite Intelligence is far more than the limited concept most humans are taught. I share the full story of these sacred encounters in my YouTube video, “The Miracle of Christ Consciousness.”
Did you ever struggle with believing in yourself? If so, how did you overcome that limiting belief about yourself? Can you share a story or example?
Learning to override the brain’s programming and trust my connection with those in the non-physical realm has been an ongoing process. It’s very easy to believe we are imagining our experiences when the thoughts in our head sound like our own. I have arrived at my unwavering, absolute awareness of the presence of a greater reality by pushing past my human doubts and simply doing the work.
There are so many examples of the healing that occurs when I ignore the voice that says, “What if I’m wrong?” and simply share what I’m sensing as long as it will do no harm. One of the most recent occurred when I was communicating with a woman’s son who passed by suicide. His mother was filled with the inevitable questions about why he chose to leave the way he did. I delivered his answers, trusting after years of experience that his presence was not my imagination. Then his mother asked her son what her own soul’s plan was in choosing to be his mother.
This was one of those questions for which there is rarely evidence to back up the answer. Trusting this young man in spirit, however, I passed along his reply without hesitation: “He says, ‘Mom, your soul came here to love fiercely.’” I found his choice of wording unusual, but as I said his response aloud, his mother’s eyes widened in surprise. “We have a saying about him,” she reported. “It’s the motto for a foundation we started in his honor. We say that our son is sorely missed and fiercely loved.”
That one word gave us all the validation we needed. We would all struggle less in everything we do if we would ignore the doubting voices in our head and trust that we are being guided moment by moment.
In my own work I usually encourage my clients to ask for support before they embark on something new. How did you create your support system before you moved to your new chapter?
I had a built-in support system from the beginning in the form of my husband, Ty. He married a naval officer, not a spiritual teacher, yet he has encouraged and backed me 100 percent, even though my work often reduces the time and attention I can give to him and is not always embraced by people holding onto outdated belief systems.
I have naturally deepened my relationship with my team of teachers in non-physical form and I ask for their support before any new endeavor. I didn’t so much create them as a system of support as I opened myself to their presence and allow myself to be guided by them.
As for my wonderful team of earthly assistants whom I love, we found each other through mutual resonance and our shared desire to be of service. I am also blessed with a close circle of friends who serve as my sounding-boards and help me find the balance between work and play.
I am blessed as well with an amazing community on social media and those who attend my “Monthly Connection” webinars whose love and enthusiasm for being on this path is palpable. I recently led an Awakened Way cruise with hundreds of people who follow my teaching. The ship’s crew and many passengers who were not part of our sessions commented on how positive and loving our group was. That sense of connection is absolutely contagious!
Starting a new chapter usually means getting out of your comfort zone, how did you do that? Can you share a story or example of that?
People often say I’m courageous to do what I’m doing, but I couldn’t NOT do this work. It’s my passion, and when I see the way it is changing lives and bringing more love into our world, I know that it is also my calling.
The most unusual aspect of my work, and the one that has pushed me beyond my comfort zone the most, is when I enter an expanded state of consciousness and allow my guides — who we call Sanaya — to share directly through me in a practice called channeling.
My mission is to bring this work to a mainstream audience, and I realize that channeling pushes the boundaries of people’s comfort zone, including my own. However, there are those who have experienced spontaneous healings in the presence of that higher energy, such as the woman who had facial paralysis for 33 years that disappeared during one of my sessions and never returned, or the person with a frozen shoulder who walked out of the session with full mobility of her arm. Combine this with the deep wisdom shared from tapping into higher consciousness and the tangible transmission of loving energy to all present, and I sometimes wonder why I don’t channel more often.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me before I started” and why?
1 . Your ego will be seriously tested, and it may hurt badly.
Many times, one’s spiritual gifts develop faster than soul awareness. Early in this new chapter of my life, I had two big opportunities that excited and inflated my ego, causing me to react from a limited human view of success and “fall on my sword,” as we used to say in the Navy. These experiences proved to be so humiliating that I don’t share them publicly, yet that pain turned out to be an immense blessing. I learned what true success is and set the intention to remain ultra-aware of when ego rears its head. When it does, I ask it to go sit in the corner and give it something productive to do.
2 . Hurt people hurt people.
I deal with a lot of people who are grieving. I also encounter people whose belief systems leave them stuck in fear. Occasionally, someone will project their pain onto me, and I now recognize that it isn’t personal. If a response will help, I shift to soul awareness, set all defensiveness aside, and interact from the heart. The results of coming from a place of love inevitably transform the situation and result in beautiful miracles.
3 . You don’t have to do it all alone.
In the beginning, I worked a lot harder and differently than I do now. I set goals and planned projects to the smallest detail. I wrote out speeches and outlined workshops. Today, my team in Spirit has earned my trust to the point where I simply set a clear intention, trust, and flow with the moment by moment guidance that follows. It’s magical.
4 . We are not only human.
Countless souls have demonstrated this with irrefutable evidence, like the soul of Albert Einstein when I decided to see if we can connect with famous people who have passed. I felt his presence, heard his German accent, and put him to the test. He came through with a list of facts about his life that I later verified with a bit of research. Sometime later, I found myself in a conversation about the afterlife with Professor Gary Schwartz in his Laboratory for Advances in Human Consciousness at the University of Arizona. To my surprise, I sensed the spirit of Albert Einstein sitting in a chair across the room. Knowing that Dr. Schwartz’ wife, Rhonda, has keenly developed spiritual sight, I turned to her and asked, “Do you see who’s sitting in that chair?” She replied matter of factly, “Yes, it’s Albert Einstein.” Not satisfied without evidence, I silently asked Albert to tell me something I didn’t know. He replied, “Gary and Rhonda bought that blue sombrero that’s hanging on the wall in Tombstone, Arizona.” I asked Rhonda, “Where did you get that hat?” and she replied, “At a great little outdoor market in Tombstone, Arizona.”
Such a conversation does not take place between humans. It occurs soul to soul. It was Albert Einstein who said, “No challenge was solved at the level at which it originated.” All of our challenges occur at the human level of consciousness. It is my goal to show people that we can shift at will to the higher perspective of the soul and access solutions, be they from the masters like Jesus, famous people like Albert Einstein, spirit guides like my team, Sanaya, or our own higher selves. In the end, it’s all flowing from the One Mind of Consciousness. If I had known this sooner, I would have found better solutions to my challenges faster!
5 . You are so very loved.
This is the promise with which Sanaya ends their daily messages given to me in meditation that I share in my Awakened Way app and on my website. If I had known this truth in my youth, I would not have turned to food as my “drug of choice” or done some of the other silly things we humans do in our search for love and attention. The discovery that love arises from within has taken me from an emptiness that could never seem be filled for long to a fullness that sometimes can’t be contained. My enSuzyasm for life today often overflows.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
Gratefully, I HAVE started a movement, and it’s The Awakened Way® that I’ve mentioned several times. It is based on three basic truths:
1. You are not only human.
2. You are part of one big web connecting all that is.
3. The healing and creative Force of the universe is Love.
To live in awareness of these truths and make choices that are aligned with love will transform your life. There are specific steps you can take to walk this path, many of which are detailed in my book, The Awakened Way.
As each of us turns up our inner light and radiates it outward, we light up our world one by one. This is why we came here — for the experience of L.I.F.E — Love In Full Expression. I’m grateful to you for allowing me to bring this awareness to more people through this interview!
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them. :-)
I would be humbled and honored to meet with the Dalai Lama. As he is a fully enlightened being and an emanation of compassion, to be in the presence of such divine energy would be a true gift. I don’t know if he even knows what a hashtag is, but perhaps someone close to him will see the tag and help manifest this blessing!
How can our readers further follow your work online?
I invite everyone to spend some time perusing the many resources available on my website, www.SuzanneGiesemann.com, including my books, classes, videos, monthly webinars, and a host of free meditations, recordings, and eBooks on the “gifts” page. Upcoming events, such as my Awakened Way Caribbean cruise, are updated regularly and posted under the banner on the homepage, and if you join my email list, you’ll be notified of new opportunities to connect with higher consciousness and with me!
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
About the Interviewer: Wanda Malhotra is a wellness entrepreneur, lifestyle journalist, and the CEO of Crunchy Mama Box, a mission-driven platform promoting conscious living. CMB empowers individuals with educational resources and vetted products to help them make informed choices. Passionate about social causes like environmental preservation and animal welfare, Wanda writes about clean beauty, wellness, nutrition, social impact and sustainability, simplifying wellness with curated resources. Join Wanda and the Crunchy Mama Box community in embracing a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle at CrunchyMamaBox.com .
