From Care Homes to Career Coach: Meet Suzanne Sellers

Some career paths follow a straight line. Others take you through unexpected doors that turn out to be exactly where you were meant to go. Suzanne Sellers, known to everyone as Suzie, has one of those careers, and her story is worth knowing.

Suzie leads our award-winning Freedom Project across the East Riding, overseeing every aspect of delivery and development. She has been with us from the very beginning of the project, right through to the success it represents today. But to understand what makes her so effective in this role, you need to know where she started.

The Career No One Would Have Predicted

Growing up, Suzie had her sights set firmly on becoming an air hostess. Glamour, travel, iconic cities. At 15, a volunteering placement at a local care home changed everything.

On her first day, she was unexpectedly introduced to end of life care. For many teenagers, that experience would have been overwhelming. For Suzie, it sparked something. She found a genuine passion for making people comfortable and at peace in their final days, and that instinct, to show up fully for other people, has never left her.

She left school at 16 with no intention of going to college. A Youth Training Scheme position at the care home gave her 30 hours of work a week for £29.50. By her own admission, she loved it.

What a Good Manager Can Do

The turning point in Suzie's early career came when she changed workplace and met a manager who genuinely saw her potential. That manager gave her encouragement, opened doors, and showed her what was possible.

It is a theme that runs through everything Suzie does now, because she became that person for others.

From a relief junior care assistant, she progressed to senior care assistant, then to peripatetic NVQ Assessor working across the country, then to Assistant Manager. She grabbed every training opportunity that came her way and completed management programmes along the route.

By the age of 25, she was the Registered Manager of a not-for-profit 24-bed care home. She held that role for 16 years.

That is not a career that happens by accident. It is what dedication, self-awareness, and a willingness to keep developing looks like in practice.

Transferring Skills That Actually Matter

Suzie's career continued to grow through management roles across private, local authority, and charity settings. Then in 2022, she joined us at Yorkshire in Business to lead the Gateway to Care project.

Since then, she has worked across different schemes and brought the same energy to every one of them. The skills she built over decades in care, managing teams, supporting people through difficult transitions, understanding what individuals actually need rather than what looks good on paper, translate directly into the work we do with entrepreneurs and business owners.

Transferable skills are one of the most underestimated assets any professional carries. Suzie's story is a clear example of how experience from one sector can create genuine value in another, especially when the core thread is a passion for helping people grow and thrive.

Why Stories Like Suzie's Matter to Us

We built Yorkshire in Business around the belief that practical experience matters more than theory. Our advisors bring real-world knowledge to every conversation, whether that is working with a start-up trying to clarify their idea or an established business owner facing new challenges around digital presence, funding, or growth strategy.

Suzie embodies that philosophy entirely. She does not work from a script or a textbook. She works from genuine interest in the people in front of her, and a long track record of seeing what happens when someone gets the right support at the right time.

That manager who encouraged her at 16 set a chain of events in motion. Suzie has spent her career doing the same for others, and she brings that same commitment to every person she works with through our programmes.

What You Can Take From This

Whether you are just starting out or well into your business journey, a few things from Suzie's story are worth holding onto.

Formal qualifications are not the only route. Suzie was adamant she was not going to college at 16. She built an impressive career through experience, continuous learning, and a willingness to say yes to training opportunities. In business, that same mindset matters. Keep developing. Stay open.

The right mentor or advisor changes things. Suzie credits a specific manager with seeing her potential when she might not have seen it herself. Surrounding yourself with people who challenge and encourage you is not a luxury; it is a strategy.

Your "why" is the foundation. Suzie's passion for making a difference has been consistent across every role she has held. When you are clear on your purpose, career direction and business decisions become far less complicated.

At Yorkshire in Business, this is exactly the kind of thinking we work through with the entrepreneurs and business owners we support across Scarborough and the wider region. Our combined team brings over 100 years of experience helping businesses understand their purpose, their market, and their path forward.

If you are ready to work with a team that genuinely invests in your growth, we would love to hear from you. Visit us at yorkshireinbusiness.org.uk to find out how we can support your next step.

As for Suzie's childhood dream of travelling the world? She never became an air hostess, but she takes plenty of holidays to make up for it.