Susan Ramirez is going to change the world.
Some may consider her dream crazy at first glance, but after a few short minutes with Susan, you will be a believer (and likely give her all of the money in your pockets).
“That woman is going to change the world” is the most common statement made after Susan Ramirez delivers one of her passionate, emotion-filled speeches. Whether she is speaking to a New York Times best-selling author like Rachel Hollis, the CEO of a major corporation, or a group of soon-to-be volunteers, the response is the same: “You are creating real change. How can I help?” Susan has an incredible ability to not only move people with her words, but more importantly, move them to action.
Susan Ramirez is the founder and CEO of Austin Angels, which she started in 2010 with the hope of improving the lives of every child in the foster care system. While working long hours in corporate America, Susan felt a higher calling to lead her community in service and thus made a change in her career.
“There is a beautiful margin of people who are called to adopt, and a beautiful margin of people who are called to foster, but then there is this huge portion of people who see this big need but don’t know how they can be a part of the solution. So we created a non-profit that gives people the ability to walk alongside foster children and truly change how they experience care.” ––Susan Ramirez
The mission of Austin Angels is to walk alongside foster children and their caretakers by offering consistent support through intentional giving, relationship building, and mentorship. Austin Angels accomplishes this by connecting volunteers with foster families through their Love Box program. Volunteers commit to a year of delivering monthly “Love Boxes” containing household items, food, school supplies, clothes and “extras”—all of which are tailored to the family’s specific needs. These monthly Love Box deliveries often involve additional time and mentorship from the Love Box Leader in the form of dining out, a play date at the park, or simply spending time with the foster child and family during drop off. It is Austin Angels’ hope that by connecting volunteers with foster families, every family member would receive support and encouragement from their community, and this added support would help reduce the number of placements a foster child may experience, as well as encourage new families to open their homes to foster children.
One cannot spend more than a few moments with Susan without hearing about Austin Angels (the organization she runs), foster care, or the great need in our community for healthy adults to rise up and support this vulnerable population. As I walked into the Austin Angels office, I was greeted by the sweet faces of the children they serve displayed prominently on the walls. A case manager quickly greeted me and led me to the back room where Susan was working intensely on her laptop. Her hair was in a messy bun on top of her head, her face showing obvious distress. Seemingly surprised to see me, she said, “Hi! I thought I thought our meeting was at 4:30? Oh, no. I see here it’s at 3:30.” I ask her if she would like to postpone it, but she insisted on keeping our time. Susan immediately began telling me the story of one of the foster families she spoke to earlier that day, and how broken she was over the recent removal of their foster child. It was obvious from the emotion on her face that she is deeply connected to the work that Austin Angels is doing. Wanting to know what was behind this passion, I began asking Susan questions about her childhood and the years leading up to the founding of her organization.
“I feel unbelievably blessed and lucky because I had a mother and father who were so loving, kind, and didn't hurt me. I feel as if I have a responsibility to give that back to kids who don't have it. I know what a gift that was.” Susan’s voice became more serious as she shared. “From a very young age I struggled academically, and struggled to figure out, I think, who I was. While I had a very loving mom and dad, I didn't have parents who really poured into me academically, nor did I have a mentor in my life. I really struggled through grade school and felt like no one believed in me. I was the ‘cute little girl,’ but the dumb ‘cute little girl.’ I can remember there was a teacher, when I was in third grade, who I begged to not make me go out to the ‘special class.’ I so badly wanted to stay in the regular class, but she told me, ‘You can't stay in this class because you're not smart enough to be in this class. You have to go.’ That absolutely crushed me.”
It wasn't until college that Susan realized she had the power to decide who she would become. “I realized that nobody there knew how really dumb I was, and in order for me to not let them know, I would need to really double down and study super hard–so that is what I did. While it would take one person an hour to study, it would take me four or five hours to study to get the same grade.” Susan shared that she experienced two pivotal moments in college, one of which occurred when she was speaking with one of her professors in the hallway, “He was telling me that his daughter went to an Ivy League school, and I don't even remember what school it was, but I remember going, ‘Oh my gosh! Your daughter must be so smart!’ and he said ‘Susan, you're that smart and you could be at that school if you wanted to.’ That was really impactful for me. It was the first time someone had ever said that I was smart or capable.” The second pivotal moment occurred during Susan’s senior year of college, when she received a perfect grade in one of her toughest classes—the only student in the class to do so. “I remember feeling such pride because that was the first time that I had ever been recognized for my grades and my effort.”
After college, Susan went on to work for Pulte Group, where she quickly became a top-ranking salesperson. “I grew up dirt poor. We had one car, and all five of us lived in an 1,100 square foot home. My dad would walk down the street to get on a bus, so he could go to one of his three jobs. I really wanted to find a job where I could make great money. I thought if I could just make money, then all my problems would be solved. My first year at Pulte, I made $170,000. I was making so much money that it actually scared me. I remember one month making $36,000 and thinking ‘Oh my God, I hope I don't die before I get this money!’”
Susan credits much of her success as a nonprofit leader to the time she spent at Pulte Group. “Working in home sales gave me such incredibly thick skin and empowered me to lead. When you get told ‘no’ every single day, you're rejected every single day, and you're only as good as your last sale, it makes you hustle like nobody's business. Nothing is given to you–you have to fight for every sale. I think that that has translated beautifully into this line of work. While I used to say that God didn't set me up perfectly, because I don't have a nonprofit background, what he did set me up for is to be a great business leader. The tenacity from my youth and the hunger from my sales experience has translated into me never taking ‘no’ for an answer. I know that no one gets to decide who you're going to become, and I feel a personal responsibility to speak that over every child who feels lost, abandoned, dumb, unworthy, and unwanted. We each have the ability to become who we were always meant to be.”
In closing, I asked Susan about her vision for the future. Without hesitation, she told me that she believes she will see "Angels" chapters in all 50 states within her lifetime, and that one day every single child in foster care will have access to the Love Box program.