In the spirit of NAWBO’s founding president Susan Hager—who once urged women to “get a seat at the table or build your own table and make sure to include other women at that table”—we honor a woman who has done exactly that, and more. Suzanne Pease, a longtime NAWBO member, past national president and unofficial historian, has been named the 2025 Susan Hager Award recipient for her dedication to NAWBO’s mission.
Suzanne’s entrepreneurial and NAWBO journey is a tapestry woven with creativity and a deep commitment to service. She began her work career as a teacher. With art as a longtime hobby, she came into business ownership by accepting an accidental opportunity she stumbled upon.
After doing a rendering as a Christmas present, she took it to a local copy shop to have a print made before it was framed. An advertising executive walked in and asked “Do you freelance?” and if she had a card. Suzanne said she didn’t have one on her, so he suggested, “Bring your portfolio by next week.”
Suzanne shares that this was the moment that led her to entrepreneurship. “I came home, printed business cards, bought a portfolio and did a bunch of drawings to put in it.” That executive became Suzanne’s first client.
A Company of Her Own & NAWBO
A NAWBO member client encouraged her to join NAWBO. “I realized as a freelance illustrator, I was also a business owner…at least that’s what they told me,” she laughs. “I learned from NAWBO everything I needed to be that business owner.”
At her first NAWBO conference in New York City, she learned to target market—focusing on a specific industry for better success. She had done some home portraits and an ad agent asked if she could do three-dimensional building drawings from blueprints. She asked for a week to try.
Visiting the library to learn the triangulation process of changing a two-dimensional drawing into a perspective rendering, Suzanne discovered that this market paid much more than simple illustration. Architectural Illustration by Suzanne Pease was born. She purchased CAD software, and spent the next several years working primarily with builders and architects.
Business Pivot, Advocacy & Leadership
In 1988, however, the building market slowed. Suzanne thought about the name of her company and how she could broaden it. “I said I do illustrations AND architectural drawings AND logos AND brochures AND brand management AND, if they paid me, I could learn to do much more.” She came up with Ampersand Graphics after the symbol that means “AND” and expanded her business to include a broader client base.
“I learned through NAWBO to take advantage of opportunities because you don’t know what they will lead to,” she says. That lesson came to mind when Suzanne received a postcard in the mail seeking corporate image projects. She sent in her newly created brand package and her company was included in the high-profile Guerrilla Marketing Handbook.
The exposure took Ampersand Graphics to the next level, requiring Suzanne to work long hours to keep up. She slowly began hiring team members, but still wanted a home-based business. She built an office, conference room and work area onto her home to accommodate the growth
However, New Jersey didn’t allow for home-based businesses so Suzanne found her first advocacy cause. NAWBO New Jersey, along with another local non-profit, got involved to push a bill through the state legislature. For nearly four years, they worked, fighting the League of Municipalities, the Bar Association and the AFLCIO and revising the bill, which came up two votes short of passing. “Still today, some townships allow home-based businesses and others do not,” she says. “Advocacy requires a long game.”
In her heart, Suzanne knew that she was a creative more than a manager, and so decided to scale back to be a solopreneur again. But her role with NAWBO only grew. Right after joining, the chapter president asked if she would help with public relations. She went to the Board meeting to learn what it entailed and left with the title of VP of public relations and a newsletter to get out the next month.
“One thing I always say is NAWBO gives you a job,” she says. “If you take it, they support you in it, reward you for having done it and then they give you another job. That’s how I worked my way up through NAWBO—on the job training.”
Suzanne’s NAWBO leadership path took her from heading up her chapter’s PR and then membership efforts to later serving as chapter president. New Jersey had a state association at the time and Suzanne served on their Board and later as state president, then Director and VP of Corporate and Economic Development on the National Board, before serving as national president. She was actively involved in bringing NAWBO and the state association together.
Celebration & New Business Pursuits
In the late ‘80s, Suzanne attended her first NAWBO National events—Public Policy Days in Washington, DC and the National Conference in New York City. For the conference, she took the train into the city for the day and was ready to return when someone said, “You don’t want to miss the gala tonight.” She wasn’t dressed for it, but stayed.
During the gala, the new Board was installed, awards were given, Broadway dancers entertained and everyone joined a conga line that twisted around the room and out into the lobby to Kool & The Gang’s “Celebration.” Suzanne was hooked.
“I loved everything about it,” she says. “It was truly a celebration and gave me a sense that NAWBO was bigger than our chapter. I put the NAWBO National Conference on my calendar as soon as it’s announced and have been to every conference, except two, since 1988.”
Up until 2020, Suzanne was still actively working her business, but COVID impacted a lot of her clients, forcing many to retire or close. At an age that most people retire, she continues to take on interesting projects that bring her joy, but she’s just not “marketing to the world” anymore.
“NAWBO taught me that if you take whatever business that comes your way and do a good job at it, whether you enjoy it or not, you’re going to get more of it,” she shares. “Now I am being more selective in what I do.”
After rolling off the National Board after eight years of service, Suzanne had more time on her hands. She got involved in her local Chamber of Commerce, eventually serving as Chairwoman. She recalls being told that she runs the best Board meetings. “I always gave NAWBO credit for what I learned,” she says. “It’s gratitude because NAWBO changed me from a quiet teacher into a confident leader.
Suzanne says she values NAWBO’s accomplishments and as a bit of a pack-rat, has kept many memorabilia, documentation, photos and files. It was yet another accidental opportunity that she became NAWBO’s unofficial historian.
Maintaining NAWBO’s rich history has been a passion. It began during a challenging time when the National Board made the decision to close NAWBO’s Washington, DC office. Suzanne held onto boxes of photos, marketing collateral, newsletters, reports and more, which she scanned and shared with key people over the years, believing that “History should be built on—not reinvented.” Much of this was on display at NAWBO’s 50th anniversary event.
Suzanne has also fallen into many of her current business pursuits. She had a client that always brought her a gift when they finished a job, and one of those was three beads. Suzanne went to her local bead shop to see what she might create and fell in love with the rocks. She picked up books, searched Pinterest and formed Suzanne Pease, Designer of Wearable Art, a division of Ampersand.
She also began painting again—inspired by a NAWBO photographer who wanted something that complemented her new home. Suzanne photographed and painted an old expandable camera. In the last year, she’s completed 12 paintings, giving some away and selling others.
Equally important for Suzanne has been the relationships. In fact, Suzanne and a group of past national leaders who call themselves the “NAWBO Buddies” still connect each month on Zoom and plan a trip together every other year (read about it here). She says, “NAWBO is my business family; it is where my closest friends are.” The Buddies nominated Suzanne for the Susan Hager Legacy Award.
Lunch With Susan
Suzanne met Susan Hager several times over the years, but remembers one time a year or two before Susan passed away. Suzanne was in DC with Carolyn Stevens for a U.S. Chamber meeting. Carolyn got a call and asked, “Do you want to go to lunch with Susan?”
“Susan wasn’t involved in the day-to-day leadership of NAWBO, but she still had that same loyalty and curiosity about what was going on in the NAWBO organization. Just like me, she retained ownership—we are NAWBO. To have this award in her name and to have the NAWBO Buddies nominate me is really important. It’s validation, caring, friendship and confirmation that what I’ve been doing—and that NAWBO’s history—is valued.”