Interviews, Speeches & Testimonials

Check out a wealth of appearances and presentations Susan has given which cover a range of topics including business, mentorship, education, philanthropy and recaps from the Appalachian Trail.

Featured On

TV Interviews

Presentations

Christian Executive Fellowship

MSP Chapter Featured Speaker “Life Lessons on the Trail” with small group discussion guide telling of what made us successful along the Trail (Training, Tools, Team), with God as the leader of our Team. Watch the presentation below:

Healing on Purpose Well-Being Retreat

LIFE is a journey. Will connect learnings from the Trail and how taking 1 step, a step of healing,  in the right direction brings attendees closer to the goal of well-being. 

Crown College, Operations Management Senior Level Course Guest Presentation

Comparisons between the challenges of thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail with developing Operational programs and processes.

Feed My Starving Children Staff Development Workshop

Sharing life lessons from the Trail too equip and encourage staff members during time of CEO transition midst proving over 400 million meals while managing 1.2 million volunteers in 4 states.

Parkinson’s Golf Tournament

Post tournament dinner speaker to help raise research funds. http://www.teamkopacz.com/

Connected Teamwork Podcast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZugAaRciFM8&ab_channel=CarsonHeady

NISE (Northern Cultural Spiritual Experiences)

Presented  “Life Lessons from the Trail” featuring the amazing “God Things” along our journey to an interfaith group in Champlin, MN who gathers to build connections and relationships.

Benedictine University’s Honor Graduate “Traditions of Success” Awards Evening

Co-presented with my husband, Ron, the man behind the mission, “The Trail to Success” using what made us a success on the trail (Training, Tools and Team) as a platform for success in business after college and in life.

Benedictine University’s L.E.A.D.S. (Women Leadership Development)

Fall Retreat Speaker  “Vital Engagement & Soul-filled Purpose” challenging the student leaders to be committed to doing good and how they can be successful and make an impact.

Discover Rising Tides Podcast: Appalachian Trail for Parkinson’s Disease

How the Outside Makes the Inside Better: https://discoverrisingtides.com/2024/07/10/appalachian-trail-for-parkinsons-disease/

Features

The Michael J Fox Foundation Blog

For International Women’s Day featured post & video: https://www.michaeljfox.org/news/watch-now-susan-and-gretja-otten-share-hike-their-lives

AARP

AARP filmed our story and posted it on their website for their 38 million members (and others) to enjoy: https://videos.aarp.org/detail/videos/most-recent/video/6327102388112/mom-daughter-duo-hike-2-200-miles-to-fight-parkinson%E2%80%99s?autoStart=true

Together for Sharon

Interview with fellow fundraise for Parkinson’s Disease research: https://www.togetherforsharon.com/susan-gretja-otten-appalachian-trail-for-pd-awareness/

Bold Journey!

Building Blocks of Success: Resilience: https://boldjourney.com/meet-susan-otten

Wayzata Together

Featured cover story in local community magazine: https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/15993dbe-2b84-4277-8a16-06c2dd84030c/WAYTOGapril23emag.pdf

VoyageMinnesota

Article in “The Change-Makers: Stories that Inspire” section: https://voyageminnesota.com/interview/meet-susan-otten-of-indie-do-good/

TikTok

We were featured on DadChats TikTok (2M followers) as their “1Good Thing Wednesdays” feature on 5/24/23. DadChats’ Dillon chose our effort to honor what would have been his dad’s 87th birthday specifically asked for his followers to help get us to our “wishlist” goal of $100k!!!: https://www.tiktok.com/@dadchats/video/7236746165570571562

LinkedIn Posts

Tools-Training-Team: Learnings from the Trail

Correlations Between Trail & Business:

Leadership – 154 Days to Figure it out on Trail:

Testimonials

Colleena C. - Health & Wellness Coach, Rooted Unlimited LLC

“I had the pleasure of having Susan as a guest speaker at our company’s 2024 “Healing on Purpose” wellbeing retreat, and she did an incredible job. Her story of resilience and unwavering faith was truly inspiring to everyone in attendance. Susan beautifully emphasized the importance of trusting God, reminding us that although the road may be difficult, God will always supply our needs, and we can find rest in that promise. Her message was heartfelt, encouraging, and left a lasting impact on our group. I highly recommend Susan as a speaker for your next event!”

Kay R. - NISE Board Chair

“For those of us who would never attempt such a feat, we were awestruck by Susan's thrilling and obstacle filled adventure. Susan was well prepared, and inspiring as she shared her stories. Our attendees proclaimed the session as extremely positive and worthwhile!

Overall our board consistently heard how people admired the grit and tenacity of she and her daughter to take on the awesome challenge of the Appalachian Trail. Susan's ability to translate her experience into a well paced, dynamic, and engaging presentation took us right along with them. Her message of resilience; through the physical challenges of continuing her hike despite injuries and setbacks; as well as maintaining the emotional strength for her husband while raising funds for Parkinson's research, put the true heart into her message. We highly recommend her for your group!”

Barb S. - VP of Development, Feed My Starving Children

“We had Susan Otten speak to our development team and thoroughly enjoyed her presentation based on her experience on the Applachian Trail. The presentation was highly engaging and applicable to many different walks of life and work.  We loved how she wove scripture into her presentation and provided assurance that God not only walks alongside us in our journey, but grows us through our hardships. The questions she offered at the end of the presentation provided additional engagement with the team and gave us a lot to consider well after our time with her.”

Rick W. - Co-Founder, Christian Executive Fellowship

“Susan Otten presented at one of our Christian Executive Fellowship leadership events.  Her “Life Lessons from the Trail” was truly inspirational and meaningful for our attendees!  Her ability to captivate the audience with her delightful storytelling style kept the audience highly engaged and entertained.

Susan’s insights resonated deeply with attendees, sparking meaningful conversations and encouraging positive action in our small group breakouts. After the event, the feedback I received from attendees was overwhelmingly positive, with many expressing how Susan provided actionable and practical tips they could apply immediately to their life and business.

Not only did Susan use her real-life story to educate and inspire, but she also created an atmosphere of connection and reflection. The impact of her presentation was evident as attendees left feeling motivated, equipped and eager to implement the lessons learned.

I am incredibly grateful for her contribution and would highly recommend her as a speaker for any event looking to create a lasting and meaningful impact.”

Hylke F. - CEO, Connectedness Architect, Speaker, Author & Coach

“I and my Connected Teamwork co-host Carson Heady had the pleasure of exploring true purposefulness with our guest Susan Otten, an Appalachian Trail Thru-Hiker for Parkinson's Disease and award-winning Visionary, Speaker, Consultant & Dot Connector. Susan’s passion for doing good is demonstrated not only in her business life, but also her personal life, dedicating over 5 months to raising not only awareness, but also donations to help find a cure for Parkinson's. Susan and her daughter, Gretja, also personified the meaning of teamwork by leveraging each other’s skills. Her passion and ability to share the learnings from this incredible to leadership and life in general was something very special, a true connection to both work and personal experiences.”

Kirk O. - Faculty in Residence, Crown College, School of Business

“Susan Otten spoke to our Operations Management class last Fall with rich insights and inspiration for 30 undergraduate students who were mostly juniors and seniors, plus a few advanced sophomores.  Susan was the first of 6 speakers last semester, and her presentation set the tone and standard for the semester in the best way possible.  The students were very engaged in Susan’s story and they learned from her wisdom, character, and experience in life, in faith, in the marketplace, and on the trail.  I saw this as their professor from the journaling exercise that followed.  We received so much positive feedback on each of the guest speakers and specifically on Susan.  We will be asking her back, hoping she’s not too busy to come again and impact a fresh bunch of eager students with loads of potential.”

Jeanne G., Host of Discover Rising Tides Podcast

“I had the pleasure of hosting Susan on the Discover Rising Tides podcast, where we explore how "The Outside Makes the Inside Better." We touched on Susan’s business, Indie Do Good, a logistics 3PL company who helps companies built on the mission of "doing good" and her incredible journey hiking the Appalachian Trail with her daughter, Gretja. Indie Do Good, Susan and Gretja embodied this “doing good” throughout their hike, raising funds for The Michael J. Fox Foundation. Susan’s entrepreneurial spirit shone through in this remarkable achievement. Thank you, Susan, for sharing your inspiring story!”