Susan Parker is a consultant, motivational speaker, and author of Walking in the Deep End, numerous short stories, articles and white papers. After spending her formative years as a Catholic and most of her life in no less than six Evangelical denominations, her experiences reveal a pursuit of faith as sincere as any soul’s on the planet. She is committed to helping others connect to their authentic selves and to the promotion of understanding between religious, cultural, racial, sexual-orientation and gender equality groups through the power of humor, honest dialogue, artistic expression and meaningful interchange.

She has served as the Director of Job Training & Placement for a nationally recognized non-profit organization, and possesses over fifteen years experience as a consultant focused on recruitment, workplace effectiveness, and diversity.

Susan is fluent in Spanish, after having studied in Spain; she is experienced in working within diverse cultures and has worked in various locations around the world.

Susan loves leading workshops, appearing on Internet and public radio, and speaking in front of both large and small groups.

Author's journey

As a kid, I loved losing myself in books—especially those that made me laugh or carried me to other worlds, teaching me something about people of another time or place. My mother often took my sister and me to the library where I’d find a fun read by Beverly Cleary or a biography about an important character in U.S. or world history.  Other times, I’d check out an art book and my Dad and I would sit at the kitchen table to sketch and discuss the works of greats like Andrew Wyeth, Paul Cézanne, or Diego Velázquez. I loved the power of Story and recognized it not only in the books I read, but also in the art we viewed and discussed.

As I grew older, I continued to be passionate about art, but became increasingly enamored with the stories found in world history. I devoured historical novels like Leon Uris’ Exodus, Mila 18, and Trinity, loving the combination of interesting and relatable characters with a strong story in an historical context. Read more