Blast from the Past
Suzanne Walden-Wells
Class 16

Suzanne was born as the youngest of four siblings in the tiny farming town of Twin City, Georgia.  Her father was a self-taught plumbing and electrical contractor, and her mother was an amazing seamstress who could sew anything.   In fact, she made most of Suzanne’s clothes all the way through high school and into college, including complete wardrobes for pageant competitions.  Suzanne’s love of fashion was a natural byproduct of her mother’s skill and creativity, which she planned to turn into a career. 

We had a laugh when she described Twin City as a wide spot in the road that had all of one stoplight in the whole town.  When they tried to add another stoplight, the residents caused such a ruckus they ended up taking it down.

Despite her reputation as a free spirit, she was a talented athlete and good student who pursued every extra-curricular opportunity available to her.  When Suzanne graduated with the 40 other members of her high school graduating class, she was ready for a change.  That decision did not sit well with her family who wondered why she could not be satisfied living in Twin City.  No offense to her family, but we are glad she spread her wings and flew the coop.  

So, in 1979, after high school Suzanne enrolled in the local junior college, East Georgia State, where she received an associate’s degree in business, as well as awards for accounting and economics. She transferred to Georgia Southern University in Statesboro where she majored in marketing and minored in fashion merchandising, graduating in 1983 with a BBA. It was a busy time for Suzanne who worked full-time, went to school full-time and was an officer in the co-ed marketing fraternity, Pi Sigma Epsilon. 

In pursuit of her fashion career, she went to work at a local department store where she was a manager and buyer. Perhaps it was fate, but just as she was tired of the retail hustle, Suzanne ran into a college professor of hers who was training the ad sales team for a start-up newspaper in Savannah.   He convinced her to apply.  Although she never imagined herself in sales, she was good at it and it proved that she could handle tough jobs.  Suzanne told us that experience set her on the path for the rest of her career. 

Her success in sales opened the door for bigger opportunities, including her next role in sales and marketing for a custom publishing company specializing in resources for chambers of commerce and economic development agencies.  This job opened her eyes to the whole civic arena where she has thrived ever since.  Suzanne also met her future husband, Clay Wells, who was an economic development professional for an Atlanta-based electric utility.  

Suzanne was determined to get a job in Atlanta and join Clay there.  In 1989 she did just that and got a job with the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce where she ran their in-house publishing division responsible for several lucrative business guides.  Finally, they were together in the same city and the couple got married in 1994.

In 1998 Clay was recruited by Phoenix-based Huber Hunt and Nichols, now Hunt Construction Group, to head up their business development efforts. Suzanne told us that they had visited Scottsdale once for a conference and she had always had a fascination with the southwest.  It didn’t take a lot of convincing for them to make the move from Atlanta to Scottsdale.

After a year or so, Suzanne found her professional home at the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce. Her initial role was as communications director, but she told us she basically did every job in the house over her eight-year tenure, including a six-month stint as Interim President & CEO. This is how she built her network of contacts in Scottsdale and beyond, which would prove to be so valuable later.  

As we mentioned before, Suzanne is tough and she does not back away from a challenge.  Soon after she joined the chamber, political and economic pressure forced the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) division to split off and become an independent agency, now known as Experience Scottsdale.  The Chamber needed a steady hand at the wheel, and they turned to Suzanne among others to help keep the ship afloat.  Eventually, Virginia Korte accepted the CEO role permanently and Suzanne was right there with her help to chart a new course.  Well, both organizations are thriving and are very important parts of our community.  Suzanne told us she was proud of her contributions towards making that happen.  And we certainly agree with that.  

During her time at the Chamber, Suzanne was very familiar with Scottsdale Leadership; as most know, the organization was once a part of the Chamber.   She really wanted to go through the program herself, so she joined Class 16 and graduated with her classmates in 2002.  She has done a lot of work with Scottsdale Leadership since, including a term as president of the board. She was also recognized with the Frank W. Hodges Alumni Achievement Award in 2018.

In 2010, she was approached by her good friend Melinda Gulick to work at DC Ranch, the flagship masterplan of renowned local developers DMB, Inc.  Melinda had just been promoted to a more significant role within the company and Suzanne was hired to replace her as the Executive Director of the DC Ranch Community Council.  Her role was to make the development as exciting and rewarding as possible, so the current residents are happy and potential residents know they are buying into a premier community.  

At DC Ranch, Suzanne and her team created and maintained a unique community that continues to evolve and thrive with the input from the residents and community stakeholders. That success led to an invitation to launch Eastmark, a new development that was just forming in Mesa on the former site of the GM Proving Grounds near the Mesa Gateway Airport.  It was a great opportunity to create something special from the ground up. She took the job and is credited with shaping the culture and traditions of the award-winning development.  

In 2018, after DMB went through reorganization, the entity Suzanne worked for, DMB Community Life, was spun off.  Suzanne and three long-time executive team members, including Scottsdale Leadership alumnus Todd Hornback, convinced DMB to allow them to acquire the company. A deal was struck and Cohere was born. Suzanne led the company as founding CEO through the first 6 years of exponential growth. Cohere’s unique culture and community building model results in communities that are defined by placemaking, shared responsibility and meaningful relationships. Their unique approach to community association management sets the company apart from more traditional management companies. 

Today Cohere serves numerous developers and partners across 30+ communities in 8 states and is regarded as a pioneer and thought leader in community buliding.

After 6 years at the helm, Suzanne wanted to step back from the company and planned to leave at the end of 2023. Things changed for her on the morning of February 25, 2023.  On that morning her husband Clay was on his normal Saturday morning bicycle ride with a group of 20 cyclists when he was almost killed by a reckless driver in a truck.  Miraculously, Clay survived but two of his friends in his group were killed and many more were injured, Clay being the worst of those in terms of injuries.  For the next 6 months, Suzanne dropped everything to be with Clay.  He is a tough guy for sure.  His great attitude and hard work have led to an almost 100% recovery and he is determined to regain full mobility. 

As it worked out Suzanne never really came back to Cohere full-time after the accident.  But she knew her professional life was incomplete. Leaning into her skills as a facilitator and leadership coach, she started the consulting company called Little Fern, LLC. The name is a really cool metaphor for the evolution process of becoming who we are meant to be. She described how a fern slowly emerges through the ground and still is in a tight ball before it gradually opens up to the world.  That visual really goes to the heart of her work with people who perhaps have not opened to the world in quite the way they want to.  Suzanne is just the person to help them do that. 

Suzanne has come a long way from that one stoplight town of Twin City, Georgia.  As we reflect on our great conversation with her, we tried to imagine the number of people who have benefited from her wisdom and strength over the years.  All of us in Scottsdale are very lucky that she used that free spirit of hers to find her way here with us.  We feel very fortunate to know her and call her a friend.