Name: Suze Miller
Company or Organization: Lakeshore Public Schools
What is your job or role there? English Teacher (22 years) and Assistant Varsity Football Coach (4 years)
Where do you live? Baroda, Michigan
How do you think that Bold Women of Business demonstrate being bold?
The “Bold Women of Business” demonstrate being bold by taking initiative, refusing to settle, and fighting for what they believe in. They don’t take no for an answer. They continuously drive themselves towards their goals as their empower others along the way. The word “can’t” is not a part of their vocabulary.
Bold women are often defined by a number of descriptors. What top three would say most exemplify your personality?
Courageous
Bright
Distinctive
Please provide an example of when you feel you were at your very best in taking action on the job or in your role.
When asked if I would be willing to help out the Lakeshore Varsity Football program, I told head coach Danny Thompson I had four conditions. 1. I refused to be called anything other than Coach Miller. Danny told me this was a given. I would receive the same amount of respect as the other coaches. 2. I would not work for free. My time is valuable and I signed an official contract the next week. 3. My son Henry always wanted to be one of the water boys on the team, so here was my opportunity to spend more time with him and a sport he loves. 4. My fourth condition was make or break. Danny got really nervous and I told him that if I could not have this request, I would walk away. I told him that I wanted to run through the football tunnel with the players before each home game. I did and it was magical.
What’s the funniest thing that ever happened on your road to success?
My funniest moment had to be when I first started. A large lineman player came up to me quite upset and said that he had forgotten his girdle for the game at home. I tried to calm him down and explain to him that the uniforms (not “outfits”) are meant to be snug and that he looked fine. No one is completely smooth under the uniform. He clearly had no idea what I was saying, so I kept going trying to raise his self esteem. Finally, he told me that it was the garment football players wear that have thigh pads built in. I said, “You mean the padded underwear?” I have yet to live that one down. I also have to mention when I attended a football coaching clinic in Nashville with eleven of Lakeshore’s male coaches. We went to a conference with over 600 coaches. Only 5 of them were women and two of those worked the event. Finding a bathroom in the conference center was impossible.
Who most inspires your personal drive for success every day?
I would have to say my family first and then my students. When I was a kid trying to teach the books of the Bible to my dog, my dad told me that I’d make a good teacher one day. I guess you could say that he planted the seed in me. Years later, my guidance teacher told me my senior year of high school that “English teachers are a dime a dozen.” I had to ask my dad to explain that one to me. After he did, I decided to prove my counselor wrong. After becoming a teacher, I love the challenge of working with kids, especially those who do not enjoy English. They see what I am passionate about and I try to make that passion contagious. Now I get to see my students on the football field doing something they love. It is so rewarding.
What is your best advice to women in Southwest Michigan looking to succeed, as you have, in business?
My advice for women in Southwest Michigan is to take the opportunities that come your way. During my first game as a coach, I posted this on facebook and I think it sums up what I want to say perfectly: “A dream came true today. I just ran through the Lakeshore Lancer football helmet…not as an alumnus, or a mom, or a teacher…I ran through the helmet as one of the coaches – the first female coach in the Lakeshore Football Program. While I don’t run plays, I do oversee 11 managers behind the scenes. The moral of the story: do something new, something challenging, and something scary every so often. That is the secret of staying young at heart. Go Lancers!”
What does your selection to the ranks of the Bold Women of Business from Moody on the Market mean to you?
I’m beyond thankful to have this opportunity. I want my family to be proud of me and I want to be a role-model for others, especially my own kids (Henry 14 and Adeline 11). This year becoming a “bold Women” especially means the world to me. My dad passed away six months ago after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. Losing my dad was the greatest heartbreak of my life. I lost my mentor, my voice of reason, and one of my biggest cheerleaders. I know he would have been so proud of me and what I have accomplished. I’m not rich. I’m certainly not famous, but I have the best job in the world: making a difference in the classroom and the football field.
