Cooking Up a New Chapter: How Sue Bazely Turned Setback into Success

🎙 Welcome to Owners Outlook! 🎙

If you’ve ever hit pause on life to ask, “What do I actually want to do?” — today’s episode is for you.

I’m your host, Shaun Lord, and on this show, we go beyond the highlight reel. We talk mindset, resilience, and the real stories behind how people rebuild, reinvent, and rediscover purpose — even when life throws a curveball.

Today’s guest is a perfect example of that.

💡 Sue Bazely spent over three decades climbing the corporate ladder — from retail and operations management to heading customer experience for a major construction company. But when the business folded after COVID, she faced something she hadn’t in years: a blank slate.

Rather than rushing back into work, she took a year off — and in that stillness, found the courage to chase a lifelong passion she’d always pushed aside. Encouraged by her kids, Sue applied for MasterChef Australia, landing a spot out of more than 40,000 applicants. That experience changed everything — sparking a new chapter as a private chef and founder of Sous Chef, where she now brings her love of food and people directly into clients’ homes.

From redundancy to reinvention, Sue’s story is one of gratitude, growth, and grace under pressure. She opens up about the power of attitude, the lessons of motherhood, and how a single mindset shift can turn life’s “bad” moments into something good.

🚀 For anyone standing at a crossroads — wondering if it’s too late to start again — this episode will remind you it never is.