Suzanne Huber began her career in software and helped build a successful company from scratch. Looking for a new challenge, Suzanne began looking into other industries and in 2012, launched her own marketing and business development company.
As a serial entrepreneur with five companies and a non-profit organization under her belt, Huber has shown a passion for creating enterprises. While she has experienced both success and failure, Huber has enjoyed continued growth within the marketing sector. Her work and company’s success hasn’t gone unnoticed. In 2016, Suzanne presented at the first ever Women’s Leadership Virtual Summit. A successful and inspiring entrepreneur, Huber has plenty to offer companies looking for a creative marketer that generates results.
Recently, Huber sat down with Totalprestige Magazine to speak about her career, life, and future endeavours.
Suzanne, you run your own consulting company (SuzanneHuber.com) and create marketing strategies for companies across North America. How did you initially get into the marketing industry?
SUZANNE HUBER – I started my career by soft launching a SaaS product while still attending university. It was a unique opportunity to work with a successful entrepreneur, who would later invest in me. I wrote a mini business plan and it was accepted under the condition of getting some traction in our local market first. When I graduated university, we went on to grow the company throughout Canada.
I learned that I had a passion for driving growth from this foundational startup experience, that forced me to acquire new skills across different disciplines to achieve results. Today, I work with entrepreneurs and business leaders to help them strategize and execute their growth.
You have worked with over 100 companies throughout your career in consulting. What type of companies do you regularly to work with?
SUZANNE HUBER – I have been fortunate to work with smart and talented entrepreneurs that I have learned a lot from over the years. Today, I engage with organizations that are working on getting to their next level of growth, transitioning into more scalable businesses.
What can clients expect when working with your company?
SUZANNE HUBER – Professionalism, strategic advice and results from a seasoned consultant to help accelerate business growth.
The services provided at SuzanneHuber.com are all encompassing from copywriting to social media consulting. How important is marketing to a business in the modern age?
SUZANNE HUBER – All businesses need to embrace digital today. Everyone goes to Google to research companies and the people behind them. What your online brand and footprint says about you determines whether or not people want to do business with you. Being able to work across multiple disciplines has allowed me to generate millions of dollars for clients efficiently and affordably as a digital consultant.
Remember, if no one wants what you are selling or are unwilling to pay for it, you don’t have a business. Digital and the related strategies apply to all successful organizations and there are some fundamentals that apply to everyone.
You started your career by launching a software company. Can you tell us about the software company, what it did, and where is that company now?
SUZANNE HUBER – As mentioned earlier, I worked with an investor and took his SaaS beta product to market, selling real-time flight information and digital advertising software to hotels. The parent company provided software for airports around the world for their arrivals, departures and baggage information.
When selling to hotels, I was told that they wanted the ability to promote their amenities as digital ads on the display, so we further developed the product and increased the monthly subscription. The company is still around today. I reconnected with the founder and his wife in Las Vegas not too long ago over drinks in the lounge at Caesar’s Palace.
What took you from software into strategy and marketing?
SUZANNE HUBER – With the experience of launching a company from the ground up, I knew I could do it again as an entrepreneur working for myself. A friend from university joined me at the software company and we took the business as far as it could go at the time, then decided to launch our own marketing agency.
We recognized the demand for small to midsize companies needing marketing services but didn’t want to hire someone full-time. We were outsourced and early pioneers of the freelance movement, working on demand for companies as they needed it. My company today is a spinoff of that agency since I relocated to Toronto and has grown organically through referrals in my network.
Today, I work with more mature companies and have a great base of clients that appreciate the flexibility of engaging with my services.
Suzanne, you have launched six organizations in your career. As a serial entrepreneur, what drives you to create companies?
SUZANNE HUBER – Five companies and an NGO. The companies that I launched have always seemed to come to me as if by fate or destiny. Working with the right people has always been a great driver for me to get involved in projects. It is a lot of work to start a company, so you really must be invested even though there is no guarantee things will work out. Sometimes they have, sometimes they haven’t.
I have a skill for launching, building and growing companies. This career path has found me.
In a blog for TechVibes, you wrote about ‘failing your way to success’. What did you mean by this and has it happened to you?
SUZANNE HUBER – In business and life, not everything works out the way you want it to. The odds are stacked against you in business and I have enjoyed both business success and failure. Not all of the ventures that I have invested time in have worked out. I have learned and grown a lot through each experience. But like the underlying message in the blog, anytime I have experienced failure and stepped “back into the ring” with what I have learned, there has always been a big success to follow.
Your career started just over 10 years ago and it has been on a fast rise ever since. What has been the biggest challenge you have experienced along the way?
SUZANNE HUBER – There have been many challenges. Lack of adequate investing, non-enduring partnerships, working in an organization that was the wrong fit. The list goes on, but I learned something new to apply to my future decision making with each challenging experience I have had. I’m sure there will be more.
Suzanne, you are an extremely busy and motivated person. As a serial entrepreneur, what is next for yourself and SuzanneHuber.com?
SUZANNE HUBER – I am currently working with a technology company that is in the process of scaling with venture capital. I’m also about to start a family and embark on a new journey of becoming a mom.
Suzanne, do you have any hobbies?
SUZANNE HUBER – I really enjoy travelling and fitness. In the summer you will find me touring around Toronto on my bike and in the winter enjoying classes such as Zumba and yoga. I have also done extensive travel around the world and hope to continue to add new stamps to my passport.
Who is your favorite entrepreneur and why?
SUZANNE HUBER – Richard Branson who is constantly reinventing himself as an entrepreneur and willing to go after a new challenge or solve a new problem. I also like how he has incorporated his career into his lifestyle.
Can you share two of your favorite quotes with us?
“Our work is the presentation of our capabilities.” – Edward Gibbon
“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” – John D. Rockefeller
For more information on Suzanne Huber and her one of a kind marketing knowledge, please visit https://suzannehuber.com/.
