My dear friend colleague and loyal client, sweet & sassy entrepreneur and community glue,
Susan Levin, passed away after a few months of an unexpected illness, on Nov 1,
just shy of her 69th birthday. And so, I
dedicate my eBook giveaway to her legacy, enchantment, and librarian nature!
I had the pleasure of knowing Susan through many phases of our careers, encountering her through her long-time buddy, writer
Jack Barnard, who became my first book coach. I think I must have
met them both around 1988 when Jack was roommates with Joel Heathcote and Lizz Lang.
(that's another story!)
Susan was instrumental in my vision of becoming a published Book author. Along the way, I explored so many of her resources, trainings, and teleseminars - she was an artesian of information.
Susan was the first to congratulate me when my eBook went live on Amazon Kindle. And immediately booked me for an interview on the show she produced -
LATalkLive WebTv show - The Book Beat with Jean-Noel Bassior, who coached me through the final phases of publication. LOVED getting a chance to be a part of this!
Click for my
June 17 Book Interview (begins at 43:20) - http://youtu.be/7aYxTRrH7XU?t=43m20s
Susan had a penchant for encouraging networking & sharing your knowledge amongst friends, and when we first met, was constantly getting people together at her house off Venice's famous
Abbott Kinney Blvd. She began a 4 page brochure for business listings that grew & grew -
Conscious Connection - and we had so much fun getting to know each other in a flurry of handshakes, commentary and schmoozing events.
These gatherings turned into more & more sophisticated workshops, video shoots and trainings, and Susan took off making bigger waves with
Speaker Services, spreading confidence and courage to those who would want to promote themselves through speaking in public. She emphasized team work and preparedness, and was always on top of the next trend, her philosophy was
"why wait? do it now!"
"In 1992 she sold the well-known Los Angeles-based magazine Conscious Connection which she published for seven years and began publishing the print edition of Speakers For Free and Fee Directory."
Speakers Community's form of
"Toastmasters" is meant to be fun and engaging, especially since
Susan gathered a team of formidable players such as storyteller Jack Barnard, PR coach Heidi Parr Kerner, writer Jean-Noel Bassior and others that aligned with her passion for cultivating gardens of people. She was a longtime member of Women's Referral Services, Holistic Health Chamber and many other chamber of commerces and speakers bureaus.
I never ceased to be amazed that she would
personally answer the phone, and show up at so many networking events in one week, speaking clearly, concisely, over & over again, with great enthusiasm!
Susan was iconic and acknowledged everywhere in Southern California, and her reach over the years became larger and broader as her "students'' proliferated, relocated, and became known internationally. Susan gave... and gave big, long, and persistently.
Susan never failed to laugh and share personal conversations, would sporadically call me to walk over
(we live 10 blocks apart) and get her
Melting Touch massage therapy sessions, praise my work, offer business tidbits, remind me of her extensive free library, and of course,
continually lured me to engage myself deeper in the Speaking industry - by encouraging me to finish writing my BOOK.
I DID IT! and I'm still doing it...
Susan, I want you to know, I DEEPLY APPRECIATE YOUR PART in my BOOK (and 2 more to come...) so much, it is written, published, and because of your Team, it will continue to be more than just a digital version of my scrapbook remnants. It is now a fully resourced work of literature, and ready for power point.
Wow. I have you to thank for much of my persistence. And your team.
May each time we raise our voices to speak aloud our powerful message, remind us of your legacy, dear One, and keep us Talking Up our Biz! Blessed Be. Peace & Harmony.
~ With much Love, your friend Marci
photo by Deb Halberstadt
