What’s Next for YOU?
Helping ambitious women achieve deeply satisfying lives.
I help career-minded, business-loving women create more satisfying lives, businesses & careers. Book a free conversation to find out where coaching can take you.
What’s Next For YOU?
Are you doing all the right things in your work and life… yet something’s missing?
Get support and community as you grow your busy, beautiful, ambitious life.
Personal Leadership Coaching
Business Mentorship
WEEKLY POSTS TO HELP YOU TAKE YOUR NEXT BOLD STEP

Retreat to reflect, align, and renew
Instead of adding to your to-do list, put yourself on it. Have you ever been in a place where you wanted to scream “Stop the world I want to get off!?!” That place of frustration, perhaps even panic, and very likely burn-out? That place that today perhaps looks like...

Five Reasons Why You Should Have A Creative Outlet
Years ago, when I started my first maternity leave, after I got through the initial fogginess of sleepless nights, non-stop parenting and keeping my newborn alive, I started to look for something else to do. I yearned to do something that wasn’t for anyone else, just...

How to make those big decisions when everything feels muddled
Hitting The post-pandemic reset button As we emerge from this pandemic (fingers crossed – and boy am I tired of talking about it!) I know many are eager to dive back into the life they knew before the pandemic. But for many of us, that “before pandemic” life feels...

How to know what to prioritize when everything seems important
Three Big Places you can look to Prioritize with Purpose, Execute with Efficiency and Outsource to Remove Overwhelm (FREE RESOURCE) One of the plagues of the new business owner and emerging entrepreneur is knowing what to prioritize. What do you do first when...
Meet Susan
Hi! I’m Susan. Leadership Coach. PR Strategist. Community Builder. Family Adventurer. I love life. Love my family. Love my work and love to travel. And I’ve never been very good at taking “no” for an answer. I’ve never been very good at sitting back and making choices about what I wanted to spend my time on, because quite frankly, I wanted it all. How could I have a fulfilling career and personal life too, without giving anything up?
These are choices that women, in particular, seem to have to make every day. How can we have a fulfilling career and a dynamic family life? How can we figure out what should be our priorities so what’s most important to us doesn’t suffer? How can we admit – out loud – that sometimes our achievements at work do mean more to us than our family, while often we will choose family over work? How can we build successful careers in the face of equally achieving spouses, children and big life choices?
It’s called Balance. It’s called figuring out our priorities, confidently living our lives, creating careers and building businesses that serve us. It’s called having it all at the same time. Is it possible? I’m here to tell you that YES it is!
Meet Susan. She’s a career-loving, family-centred, community-building Mom who would love to coach you to your truest answers to help you build that career, that business, that life that you know is possible for you.
Award-Winning
PUBLIC RELATIONS STRATEGY

Strategic Public Relations connects businesses and organizations to their clients, customers and investors by building effective relationships with them. A good communications and public relations strategy will ensure an organization’s goals are being met, in part, because they have built effective ways to communicate with their audiences.
Susan formed Elford Communications in early 2003, shortly after resigning from her corporate communications role in a major international energy company, in an effort to achieve more work/life balance for her young family while still meeting her desire to build effective communication programs for organizations so that their voices could be heard and their strengths celebrated.
Today, Elford Communications focuses its 25 years of experience on serving the small business owner and not-for-profit organization as Susan and her team mentors, teaches and leads its clients to creating public relations programs that showcase their strengths and build their reputations.
Are you an organization that wants to be heard? Learn how you can benefit from Elford Communications’ suite of services.
@susanelfordbiz
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Neuroscience research suggests that creative people are better able to engage the three brain systems – the default mode network, the salience network and the executive control network – that collectively produce creative thought. They're also: ▶️ more confident ▶️ more self-expressive ▶️ have more clarity in thought ▶️ more empathetic, and ▶️ have better mental,...
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DYK that firms with a higher proportion of women on their boards tend to invest more in innovation and be more innovative? A recent study found that a 10% increase in female representation on boards was associated with a 7% increase in innovation patents and citations! Check out this interesting business case...
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I’ll be attending Rosé & Croquet in support of @ywcalgary. Deane House's glamorous garden sets the scene for a sensational party. Graze the exquisite canapés from Deane House and River Café, explore chef stations throughout the gardens, and enjoy rosé libations and other refreshments. Have some fun over a round...
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The next time you feel like you’re “not doing anything productive” when you find yourself lost in a crafting project – think again. Building confidence, self-expression, clarity of thought, empathy for others and improving overall health are all amazing side benefits of having a creative outlet that you enjoy and...
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Making courageous choices aren't easy. I believe the recipe behind developing the courage to make those important choices are rooted in your values and ensuring you're making decisions that are aligned with the impact you are here to make. The challenge with making difficult decisions is not having the clarity or...