The Story Beneath

Have you ever looked at someone and thought... "Wow... they really have it all together." Susanne Cookson is the host of The Story Beneath; a podcast dedicated to the heartbreaks, the victories, and the turning points that quietly became defining moments. After more than thirty years shaking up the healthcare space, building and selling a multi-million dollar business, raising a beautiful family, and eventually retiring at 54, she realized there was still a lot of work to do. Who are you without the deadlines and meetings, and nothing but time? Who are you when everything stops? We rarely know the whole story, and that’s the story Susanne wants to uncover. What are the hidden costs of over-functioning? Being too self-reliant? What happens when you realize you’ve just been surviving, rather than thriving? The armour is off and the new goal is to better understand our own stories... hidden beneath. Because, there's always more to the story. More About the Host: Susanne Cookson is the creator and host of The Story Beneath and the founder of Unshaken Media. After more than three decades leading innovation and transformation in healthcare, and co-founding a company that helped millions of Canadians improve their health and wellbeing, Susanne retired to begin a different journey—one of understanding the story beneath her own life. Today, she is building The Story Beneath—a place where honest stories become meaningful conversations, meaningful conversations become community, and community reminds us that we are never as alone as we think.

Episodes

  1. 2 days ago

    The Moment She Stopped

    What happens when the life you worked so hard to build looks successful from the outside, but something inside you is asking you to stop? In the first episode of The Story Beneath, host Susanne Cookson shares the moment that changed the way she began to understand her life: a panic attack that seemed to come out of nowhere. By every external measure, Susanne had built a life she could be proud of. A successful career. A thriving business. A family she loved. Decades spent working hard, solving problems, showing up and being the person others could depend on. She had become very good at being strong. But beneath all that competence and momentum was a growing sense that something wasn't quite right. The panic attack forced Susanne to stop long enough to ask a question she hadn't really known how to ask before: Why do I feel so unsettled? That question became the beginning of a much deeper journey—not toward having all the answers, but toward becoming curious about herself. Why do I believe I always have to be strong? Why does this situation make me feel unsafe? Why do I react this way? Where did I learn that? And what might be underneath it? Episode 1 explores the difference between simply being self-aware and becoming self-curious—looking beyond what we do and beginning to wonder why we do it. As Susanne reveals her journey, a conversation about resilience, childhood patterns, emotional safety, old wounds, family, relationships and what can happen when the person who has always kept moving...finally stops. Because sometimes the moment that feels like everything is falling apart...is actually the moment you begin to see the story beneath. https://thestorybeneath.ca/

About

Have you ever looked at someone and thought... "Wow... they really have it all together." Susanne Cookson is the host of The Story Beneath; a podcast dedicated to the heartbreaks, the victories, and the turning points that quietly became defining moments. After more than thirty years shaking up the healthcare space, building and selling a multi-million dollar business, raising a beautiful family, and eventually retiring at 54, she realized there was still a lot of work to do. Who are you without the deadlines and meetings, and nothing but time? Who are you when everything stops? We rarely know the whole story, and that’s the story Susanne wants to uncover. What are the hidden costs of over-functioning? Being too self-reliant? What happens when you realize you’ve just been surviving, rather than thriving? The armour is off and the new goal is to better understand our own stories... hidden beneath. Because, there's always more to the story. More About the Host: Susanne Cookson is the creator and host of The Story Beneath and the founder of Unshaken Media. After more than three decades leading innovation and transformation in healthcare, and co-founding a company that helped millions of Canadians improve their health and wellbeing, Susanne retired to begin a different journey—one of understanding the story beneath her own life. Today, she is building The Story Beneath—a place where honest stories become meaningful conversations, meaningful conversations become community, and community reminds us that we are never as alone as we think.

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