Meet Susanne Gribble

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Susanne Gribble. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Susanne below.

Hi Susanne, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.

I love this question! I believe the mindset with which you approach life is a choice, and one of the only things that can’t be taken away from you. As an athlete I’ve always leaned towards the glass half full mindset knowing how mindset effects the outcome, but it wasn’t until I got a TBI (traumatic brain injury) in 2022 that it really got put to the test. I went from homeschooling my kids, working out daily, renovating my house, going to school full time and taking care of my kids and all the mom/wife duties to being unable to do literally anything but sit there for months. It was a huge eye opener for me of how quickly everything can change. I decided then I was going to live my life to the fullest and chase every opportunity for growth that life threw at me. I remember when it began to dawn on me how serious this injury was, I just wanted to gain everything I could from it. I didn’t want any part of this experience to be wasted. I didn’t want all this suffering to be for nothing. I wanted to make sure I came out on the other side better and stronger than I had been before.

I think there’s something so powerful in acknowledging the pain and how you feel about a situation, and then making the choice to say, “Other people have it worse, and if they can keep pushing through, then I can too.” When life throws trials in my path I try to take the Stoic approach, the obstacle in the way now becomes the way, and use it as an opportunity for growth. I feel like in this first world country life, we don’t get many opportunities to step outside our comfort zone and challenge ourselves, so when life gives me the chance I don’t want to waste it. Everything I do is focused on the goal of becoming the best version of me physically, mentally and spiritually. I feel like when you begin to see challenges as opportunities the natural byproduct is an optimistic mindset because you’ve taken something that could have been meant for your downfall and turned it into a tool for your benefit.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am a disc golfing photographer who makes social media content on Instagram under the name invertingdiscgolfer. I love being outside and am generally found wandering all over Colorado camping, hiking, snowboarding, throwing discs or just taking a long drive into the mountains for the fun of it. I accidentally stumbled into making social media content for disc golf when I made a random reel of me taking a putt from a tree. It was just a one off that ended up getting traction on my Instagram and the rest is history. I love making people laugh and smile, so getting to do that for a wider audience has been a joy. All of us are going through some crazy hard stuff, so if making a goofy reel can help even a smidgen, then that creative process was time well spent.

My favorite byproduct of creating content for Instagram has been the way it led me into turning my passion for photography and that avenue of artistic expression into a start up business (Susanne’s Snapshots). I used to take pictures and play around with editing them on my phone just because I enjoyed it, and they got good feedback when I posted them. So soon I started wondering if there was something there for me that I should explore further. I made the leap and got my camera equipment and started taking photos at disc golf tournaments and sports events and doing portraits. I quickly realized it was what I wanted to do with my life. I love being able to capture the struggles, victories and defeats of being an athlete on film. There’s something so powerful about that.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

The biggest, most cliche quality is to be true to yourself. People can feel that energy in what you create and it makes your content stand out from everyone else. There’s only one you, so use that to your advantage. Comparison will rob you of your creative voice and steal away any sense of progress.

Next I would say make content you love. This one seems like a no brainer, but sometimes it can be hard to not follow the crowd or get caught up in what’s trending. That energy will come out in what you create, and you’ll be less likely to burn out. So make sure what you’re creating is something you love. If you’re passionate about what you’re doing your audience will be too.

And finally, have fun and don’t take yourself too seriously. At the end of the day, it’s really not that serious, so don’t make it the be all end all. All these platforms will give you the rundown of all your performance metrics, and it can be so easy to get obsessive about those but you have a limited amount of time and energy, so be cautious what you spend it on. Obsessing over performance metrics isn’t the move. Be aware and take notes, but then move on. Don’t obsess over a post that bombed or you will burn out. Take a breath and remember the goal is to have fun so your audience can have fun with you!

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

The biggest challenge I’m currently facing is finding my creative voice while I’m going through the wringer in my personal life. My brand has been based on comedy and light hearted content, and me just being my goofy self. It’s been an interesting challenge to figure out how to find my creative voice when life has been draining everything out of me. So I’m working on figuring out what that looks like and how to be true to myself and where I’m at in my journey while also continuing to share joy and hope and making people laugh. We grow and move through life. We shouldn’t stay stagnant, and I believe my content and creative expression should be doing that as well. So I’ll continue exploring what that looks like.

I’m also working on growing my photography business so that it can hopefully become my main source of income. This would allow me to be there for my kids and be present for them as much as possible. A flexible schedule as a single mom is a huge priority for me, so I’m putting everything I have into growing that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://susanneroberson.smugmug.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/invertingdiscgolfer
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Susannes-Snapshots/61574778830460/