By: Tara Kerrigan Hayes
We all aspire to live our lives in a meaningful way, but anyone who knows Susan Devlin, knows she sets the bar. Having always been fiercely determined and inherently altruistic, Susan had two dreams as a little girl; to one day own her own business and ultimately, to help people.
The fusion of those two dreams began with her fervent personal philosophy: that every person is beautiful and deserves to feel as such. That passion for nurturing self-confidence in others led Susan to the salon industry where she honed her skills for many years, until in 2007, realizing one of her childhood dreams, she opened her own business, appropriately named Nurture Salon and Spa.
Susan has now been using her platform as a business owner for over 14 years to donate to local charities and causes, giving everything from cash and time to products, services, gift cards and more. When her accountant threatened to have her committed if she continued to donate at such a feverish pace, Susan found yet another way to give.
In her most recent endeavor and proudest accomplishment, Susan is now a member on the Board of Directors to The Phoenix House, a non-profit organization providing emergency shelter and rehousing services for mothers and their children. Operating more than 120 programs across 10 states, the scope of The Phoenix House’s impact on families is immense. Not only do they offer evidence-based care to teens, adults and families, as well as unique programming for mothers with young children (and mental health services for the military community), but their adolescent program offers teens residential care while attending on-site, accredited high schools.
In addition to raising money and goods for the Phoenix House, Nurture Salon will be donating time and services to members preparing for job interviews with their sights on the future, bringing Susan’s childhood dream full circle in promoting positive change.
In fact, with Susan’s reputation to exude and inspire positivity to every person she encounters, it’s no surprise that she has been approached by several companies to be hired as a Motivational Speaker. With her main motivation being to enrich the life of others, there’s no limit to what Susan will accomplish, which is good news for The Phoenix House and the lives they touch. And it’s thanks to The Phoenix House that Susan’s reach can now spread beyond the confines of her local community as she expands from simply improving lives – to changing them.
While planning a fundraiser this fall, Susan also spends her time requesting and coordinating donations from various stores requesting overstocked materials, home goods and clothing to assist families with the most basic of living needs, to help them focus on reacclimating into the workforce and community.
A natural born empath, Susan’s capacity to give is all encompassing, and her passion for humanity- contagious. She gives of herself, her ideas, her energy, her time, all in the spirit of helping others, and in laying the ground work, she’s made it easy for the rest us to help better the lives of others too. To make a difference by making a donation please go to: www.phoenixhouse.org. For inquiries, please email Susan at: susanforthephoenixhouse@gmail.com.
