Suzy Ryan Knotz's Linkedin Analytics

Hey, y'all! I'm Suzy Ryan Knotz, author of the Dog Cove Chronicles & CEO/CFO (a/k/a Chief Encouragement Officer & Chief Feeding Officer) at Big Black Dog Studio. With spiritual gifting first & foremost as an encourager, I have a fundamental background in what I lovingly refer to as Professional Cat Herding. I have been a change agent, creative programming director, spiritual life coach, & grief counselor working with children through the elderly. I am sensitive to the wallflowers around the perimeter & find out what makes their eyes light up to talk about in order to find ways of encouraging their involvement. After 40 years in ministry & community nonprofits working with mostly volunteer workforces, I have learned more about human nature, emotion & healing than was ever taught to me in an academic program. Certain fundamentals define me as a person: - I was raised to fix things, not throw them away. - I look for the value in that which was discarded by someone else. - I take the time to polish away the tarnish to uncover hidden beauty most people can’t be bothered to work that hard to find, & I’m not just referring to the inanimate materials I use in my artwork. - I also strive to not judge animals or people on their appearance or on behaviors learned from the way life has treated them. - Although not always reciprocated, if I weren’t willing to look past the superficial, I would risk missing what only time and effort could reveal to be treasured relationships built on trust, acceptance & sincere friendship. After 4 decades as a creative program director, professional volunteer manager, animal Reiki practitioner, and loss & grief counsellor, I have been blessed to watch many real-life transformations around me - children to widows to loss of health to mid-life pivots, real-life comedies & things I cannot un-see throughout my career. When not drawing pet memorial portraits to help animal lovers heal from loss or spending time holding space for veterans & the elderly, I write happily ever after stories filled with eccentric yet resilient characters. I still draw pet portraits under Big Black Dog Studio, still write silly Middle School humor under pen name S.Knotz, & am happy to begin publishing stories of love & resilience under my sweet romance pen name of Suzy Ryan Knotz. My gifting is first & foremost as an encourager & empowerer of others. I try to put that into every story & article I write and into each custom "pet pawtrait" I create. I also hope it comes through in everything that I do - especially through my Dog Cove Chronicles! ❤️ Suzy