Testimonials
5 stars in my opinion
“Great book for women navigating their career. However, both genders will benefit from the insights and learnings! A must read if you love a great story AND you love to learn. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book I found it extremely well laid out. Each chapter catches your immediate attention and compels you to flip the pages to read more. You can feel the personal passion of the author come through in every page. It is full of life lessons and the reader has no choice but to reflect on their own journey. The “Reflective Questions” included really make you think. So, both a learning experience and thoroughly entertaining. 5 stars in my opinion.”
Serge G, Board member, Strategic Advisor, Coach
I have purchased your book and I can’t wait to read it!
“A strong woman leader and an inspiration to those that followed her. Twenty-three years ago, Sue was my first professional interview out of university. A strong and clearly impactful female on the other side of the table was a good kick off for my career. Thanks for your trailblazing leadership and for your part in my start. I have purchased your book and I can’t wait to read it!”
Heather S, Head of North American Finance, WW/Weight Watchers
A book every professional female should read
“‘Count Me In’ is a book every professional female should read, whether at the beginning of their professional career, midway through or nearing the end.
It is the story of how Sue achieved success within a large accounting firm, PwC, and still managed to “the best of her ability” be a mother, wife, daughter, sibling, friend and mentor to many colleagues throughout her career.
I plan to purchase Count Me In for many of my colleagues, friends and family members for its numerous reminders of what females need to do to succeed in the business world. Females will gain many great reflection points to help them remember they have important opinions to share, they should reach for those “stretch goals” and roles they want, and that they still have to be “smart” about what they want to achieve and very intentional in how to achieve them.
Three messages that particularly resonated with me:
Stay true to yourself – be aware of what is important to you and be clear on how you are achieving that, and stick to it.
Commit to a milestone or career goal by writing it down and saying it out loud and, most importantly, tell the right influencers around you that you want it.
And my favourite – use the 80/20 rule more often because completing a project to the 80% mark is often “good enough.”
I am thankful for the author’s vulnerability in sharing her story, so that others can learn from it.”
Lisa C, CFO, Technology Company
Insightful, entertaining and relatable
“Count Me In is a refreshing, raw and personal perspective of a woman's journey in the business world. Climbing the corporate ladder is challenging whether you’re a man or woman, and Sue’s story-telling is insightful, entertaining and relatable.”
Trang T, Partner at Vibrant Equity
A full life and career is possible to make on your own terms
“Even though ‘Count Me In’ is one woman's personal story, I found elements of my own. Every woman's journey to navigate career and life is unique to her, and yet many of our challenges in a workplace and world that are still not designed for women to succeed, are shared. Count Me In is the honest, authentic story of how one woman navigated the ups and downs of a career and family—pursuing her ambitions, achieving success, wrestling with the tensions and needs of family & work, facing self-doubts, finding joy in the journey, and giving back to the women who come 'behind' her.
The author's vulnerability and candor as she tells her story is perhaps the book's greatest impact: giving the reader the comfort of knowing 'yes, it can be hard, but you are not alone—and a full life and career is possible to make on your own terms.”
Julie O, Partner and Global Head of Learning & Leadership Development, Brunswick Group
A tireless advocate for women
“Susan is a true and tireless advocate for women in the workplace. She was instrumental in sponsoring a program to support working mothers at PwC that I delivered to hundreds of women in offices across the country that not only resulted in retaining more working moms but also in their promotion to partner.”
Lisa Martin, Bestselling Author of ‘Briefcase Moms’
A must-read for young, professional women wanting it all
“After reading Susan’s book, I wondered what “could have been” with my own career had I paid heed to the advice found in her book during my working days.
Any young woman who is in the initial stages of her career while raising a family, will benefit from reading Susan’s book. Actually, any working professional will find some useful nugget in this book. It’s full of life lessons told in an open, honest, entertaining and inspirational manner. I laughed, I cried, I reflected. A real page-turner.
My two granddaughters are in the initial stages of their working lives. Susan’s book will be under the tree for both of them this year.
By sharing your personal triumph, you continue to influence our future trailblazers. Thank you, Susan!”
Sandy S, Former Executive Assistant to President, Sysco Canada
A well-written self-help book narrated by an author who has worked around difficult circumstances to achieve a fully satisfying career
Once listed as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women, author Susan Allen shares events in her life that helped shape her career with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), one of the Big Four accounting firms. Initially hired as an intern in its Mississauga, Ontario office in Canada, she ended her impressive career thirty-four years later after having served on the company’s global board of directors. Allen faced many obstacles on her path to a senior management position at PwC—some of them self-inflicted. In COUNT ME IN (A Trailblazer’s Triumph in a World Not Built for Her), she discusses these stumbling blocks and advises others as to how to avoid making the same mistakes she made along the way. Her candidness and willingness to share copious details of her personal and business life lend credence to the advice she offers.
Each piece of advice Allen offers in COUNT ME IN is based on one of her real-life experiences, evidence that she speaks from first-hand knowledge as opposed to theorizing from a distance. The book is sectioned into eight parts, each one embodying a different time frame. At the end of each one, Allen lists the lessons she learned followed by a series of reflective questions to help readers clarify what they had just read. Major topics include balancing home and work life; being a female in a male-dominated business world; taking risks; overcoming self-doubt and self-imposed limitations; learning to ask for things you want; and being true to oneself. Allen shares not only her accomplishments, but her mistakes and missteps as well, taking complete ownership for her decisions and giving credit where credit is due. The hindsight, emotion, and self-reflection with which Allen authored the book reveal her personality and vulnerabilities and bring her advice down to a personal level. With the exception of a few places where Allen discusses periods of her life out of sequential order, the narrative is well-structured and easy to follow, making the book especially helpful for females who lack confidence in taking their career to the next level.
Susan Allen’s COUNT ME IN (A Trailblazer’s Triumph in a World Not Built for Her) is a well-written self-help book narrated by an author who has worked around difficult circumstances to achieve a fully satisfying career.
https://indiereader.com/book_review/count-me-in/
Florence Osmund for IndieReader
