Article: Starting Again: The Power of Beginning Anew
Starting Again: The Power of Beginning Anew
How a Move to Yorkshire Led to Susel & Co
Sometimes the life you planned changes dramatically. And sometimes, that unexpected shift leads you exactly where you need to be.
A Career Built on Creativity
Animation. Television ads. Pop videos. For years, these were more than just work. They were a career that Susan Brunskill loved. She studied Animation and Illustration, graduating from the Royal College of Art with a strong foundation and a clear vision. She was doing what she was made to do: creating. Every project was a chance to bring ideas to life, to tell stories through motion and design.
Her work spanned music videos, commercials, and short films. Susan approached each project with precision and creativity, bringing playful narratives to life and exploring new possibilities with each commission. It felt like the beginning of something lasting.
But life, as it often does, had other plans.
Susan at her graduation with Nigel, her Mum and Dad
Life Shifts
Children arrived. Hannah came first, then Robert, born 18 months later. Suddenly, the rhythm of Susan's days changed completely. Where once there had been deadlines and client calls, now there were nappies and school runs. But then came a serious back injury that altered everything. The recovery was long and demanding. Susan missed Hannah's first day at school. She missed Robert's third birthday. The creative career that had defined her life had to pause.
Hannah and Robert in their early years, and Hannah visiting Susan in hospital before her first day at school
When Hannah and Robert were seven and nine, the family made a significant move. From London to Yorkshire, to Harome. But this wasn't a move born from circumstance alone. It was somewhere Susan and her family found they loved. Somewhere they wanted to be. They settled into a house that felt right, and over time, as the family grew and evolved, they found the space they needed. They bought the barns beside their home and set about converting them. What emerged was both a home and a studio. The place where Susan would eventually return to her art.
Renovating the barns in Harome
Over the years that followed, Susan's responsibilities expanded. She continued to mother Hannah and Robert through their teenage years, and she also became a carer for elderly relatives. Years folded into each other. The pencil that had once been so much a part of her identity was put down. Not by choice, but by necessity. Between recovery, parenting, caregiving, and the needs of those who depended on her, there was little room left for the work that had once defined her. Time passed. A lot of it.
The Moment Everything Shifted Again
One day, something changed. Hannah and Robert were heading off to university. Not at the same time, but over the period of a year or two, the family dynamic shifted. That milestone moment when parents suddenly find themselves with a different kind of freedom arrived in stages. For the first time in decades, the shape of Susan's days was expanding beyond the rhythms of parenting and care.
And in that opening space, Susan thought the thing she hadn't let herself think in years: maybe now it's my turn?
So she did it. She picked up a pencil.
Starting Over (Without a Perfect Plan)
But starting again isn't like starting the first time. There was no perfect plan. No business degree. No five-year strategy. There were no guarantees that it would work, no assurance that the world wanted what she had to offer. What there was, what there could only be, was a quiet certainty that she wasn't finished. Not by a long way.
So she started. Just with her art. Just with her vision. Just with the conviction that the work mattered.
You're not going back to who you were. You're stepping into who you are now.
From Susan Brunskill Art to Susel & Co
Making stationery began as thoughtful gifts for friends. Then it became a business. Susan Brunskill Art started as a platform for her original artwork and illustration, and gradually evolved into something more. When the focus expanded to include stationery and homeware, the time came for a new name. In 2019, Susan Brunskill Art became Susel & Co.
Susan and Nigel in their younger years, and winning an award for Susel & Co's stand in 2025
That same year, Nigel retired. But retirement looked different than expected. He saw the vision of what Susel & Co could become, and instead of stepping back, he stepped forward. He came alongside Susan to help grow the business they both believed in.
Susan started with just her art, but Susel & Co has grown into a genuine family business. Hannah and her husband Bruce, and Robert and his fiancée Keeley all pitch in to support it. Keeley works full time at Susel & Co alongside Susan and Nigel, helping to bring the vision to life every day. It's a business where family truly matters.
The Susel & Co family: Susan, Nigel, Hannah, Bruce, Robert, Keeley, and Ragnar
From notecards featuring original illustrations to painted homeware to bespoke commissions, each piece carries the essence of what she's always done: telling stories through art. Susel & Co now ships internationally from a small studio in Harome, North Yorkshire, in the converted barns that have become home and workspace. What started as one person picking up a pencil again has become something real and thriving. A family venture rooted in a place they love, creating work they believe in.
The Truth About Starting Again
Starting again isn't easy. Let's be clear about that. It's uncomfortable. You're not sure if you're doing it right. You make mistakes. Things feel messy, because they are. There's uncertainty around every corner. You're rebuilding something you thought you'd lost, and you don't know if you'll ever get back to where you were.
But there's something else underneath all that discomfort. Something powerful.
Because when you start again, you're not going back to who you were. That person existed for a different moment in time. The you of then couldn't have done what you're doing now. You've lived. You've learned. You've survived things that changed you. And so when you step into what comes next, you're not returning. You're stepping into who you are now. Someone shaped by experience. Someone more genuine.
And the possibilities? That's where the magic is.
So no, starting again isn't easy.
But it's also not impossible.
And those who do it? They understand that becoming yourself is something worth fighting for.
Explore our collection of notecards, stationery, and homeware, each one created by hand in our North Yorkshire studio and designed to tell a story worth keeping.
