About Susannah

The seeds for my interest in death work were planted at three main points in my life. Like many Americans, I grew up in a family that didn’t talk about issues of death and dying. My earliest experience with death — my grandfather’s death from cancer, when I was in middle school — brought up big feelings that no one helped me process. In my 20s, I began to experience tremendous existential anxiety. I tried unsuccessfully for years to work through it, and while it sometimes receded, it always lurked in the back of my mind.

When I was 28, my mother died very unexpectedly. I was lucky enough to be there for her last few days and breaths, but I didn’t understand what was happening in the active stages of her death, and that made the experience unnecessarily scary. Beyond that, she had done no end-of-life planning, and so in the aftermath I was left to deal with an overwhelming number of logistics — all without knowing her own wishes.

In my 40s, my heart dog Linus died — once again, very suddenly. Once again, I was lucky to be with him as he passed, but my overwhelming grief in the wake of that loss felt out of place in a society that doesn’t always acknowledge the fact that non-human animals can also be beloved family.

Sitting with these beings as they died, grieving their loss, and the work I did to engage with and manage my anxiety about my own eventual death have led me to feel called to support others as they plan for and experience their own mortality. My aim is to provide a safe and supportive container for your end-of-life goals, whether that life is your own or that of a loved one or beloved animal family member.

Professionally, I’ve spent several years working in mental health, a decade doing research and teaching at the university level, and the last dozen or so years working as a software engineer at FAANG and startup companies. I love that job, and alongside it, the services you see offered here, along with my volunteer work, bring me a tremendous amount of meaning. They are part of what makes my own life a “good life”.

Personally, I am a queer woman who loves my goofy dog, loves movement (especially powerlifting, walking, and yin yoga), likes to play make-believe (through reading fiction and playing DND), loves to learn (including about how bodies and brains/minds work), and wants to squeeze every drop out of this adventure we call “life”, before it’s time to move on to the next adventure.

Trainings, Certifications, and Experience

• Graduate, INELDA End-Of-Life Doula Training
• Certified Pet Therapy Team, Alliance of Therapy Dogs
• Notary Public for the state of North Carolina
• Hospice volunteer and pet therapy partner, Transitions LifeCare
• Hospice volunteer, Duke HomeCare and Hospice
• Graduate, Zendo Project Sitting and Integration Training (SIT)
• Support Line Volunteer, Fireside Project (2026)
• Minister, Universal Life Church
• BA Psychology, BCS Computer Science, PhD Linguistics
• 10+ years teaching at the university level
• 12+ years in tech, including 9 years as a SDE at Amazon