Suzanne grew up in Massachusetts but found her true home in Colorado, where she moved in 1980 and was captivated by the Rockies and Boulder’s relaxed charm. In 1995 she met Nat Hab founder Ben and his wife, Laura, a chance encounter that inspired a career shift. After her second child, Suzanne sought a flexible role and joined Nat Hab in 2001, working from a cramped utility room piled with paperwork. Since then, she has worn many hats across the company and now serves as Director of Adventure Gear, affectionately known as the “Gear Goddess.”

Her first Nat Hab trip—to Baja, where she made eye contact with a gray whale—sparked a lasting love of wildlife and photography. Since then, she has sailed with orcas in the Inside Passage, tracked wolves in Yellowstone, explored Newfoundland’s dramatic geology, encountered wildlife in Botswana and Zambia, and spotted a kiwi by moonlight in New Zealand. A true trip of a lifetime took her across the Drake Passage to Antarctica, complete with icebergs, penguins and a polar plunge.

Suzanne’s most cherished adventures are those shared with her children—from watching grizzlies in Katmai with her son to exploring Churchill with her daughter, witnessing polar bears in fall and snorkeling with beluga whales in summer, and discovering the Galapagos together. Post-pandemic, her wanderlust reignited, taking her to Italy, Maui, Base Camp Greenland, Iceland’s volcanic landscapes and Portugal’s pastoral Highlands. Where to next? Only time will tell.