[Dade]

Biography
Susie Smith (47)
Hometown: Charles City, Iowa
Occupation: Hairdresser

Susie Smith, a Mexican American mother of one, has always allowed others to dictate her life and she's ready for a change. Born into a Mexican immigrant family of crop field workers, Susie and five of her siblings began working alongside her parents at a young age and the other three siblings were raised by Susie and her siblings. She has struggled ever since, but has overcome many personal challenges.

Tired of working hard and being poor, Smith vows to devote the rest of her life to her needs. After years of allowing others to influence her life, she's decided to stop and dedicate this next chapter to herself, and taking part in SURVIVOR was the first step and second was showing her son, family, friends, and students that all it takes to change any part of your life is to just TRY.

Smith has been married for 25 years. She currently works as an assistant teacher and hairdresser. She teaches English to non-speaking English children from kindergarten to 8th grade. When Susie is not teaching, she enjoys working as a hairdresser where she has many wonderful clients. Her hobbies include photography, watching movies, eating out, sewing and gardening. She describes herself as encouraging, moody and talkative but with a big potty mouth.

Bold and brassy with a huge zest for life, Smith believes SURVIVOR will finally be the opportunity she's needed to turn things around. She has a huge desire to win and won't let anyone get in her way.

Smith currently lives in Charles City, Iowa with her husband, Todd, son, Trent, and two dogs. She is a graduate of the Marshalltown Cosmetology School and a graduate of North Iowa Area Community College.

Her birth date is October 24, 1960.

[ElleNaturelle]

Good for her for taking a chance and experiencing something for herself. I don't see her winning the money, but I see her gaining a lot emotionally.

[Francis_3]

I keep thinking about the Survivor previews and the constant, "temptation is everywhere". Unless they're talking about the doo-wop group, there may be a lot of "I'll give you $10,000 to quit" games.

There are an awfully lot of contestants who have "fallen on hard times" or have just come through them.

i like Susie, though. She's in column A.

[erinjs]

Kinda reminds me of Sandra from the season with Rupert....

[kayo]

Yeah, she makes me think of Sandra too...and a little bit of Cirie mixed in.

[FishyLynn]

yes I was thinking of Sandra Diaz-Twine myself and Sandra won that season so who knows but I am rooting for her

[SugarB]

She looks like someone I could like. But we shall see after the first episode.

[sisu power]

I like her age

[WickedOne]

shrug

[Marty]

She is chubby like me.

[Yana]

On the preview, she said her biggest challenge was going to be her potty mouth, and trying to not drop the

[Dade]

Courtesy of: REALITYBLURRED

Susie Smith: “I certainly don’t plan on apologizing every time I screw up”

Survivor Gabon has a fantastic character and perhaps a very strong player in Susie Smith, who won me over instantly. She was the first cast member to use my name and engage me in her answers, rather than sounding like she was saying the same things to yet another stranger; a strategy, perhaps, but it didn’t seem at all artificial. (And I certainly can’t blame many of the others for giving rote answers considering how many interviews they’d been through by the time they talked with me, sitting in a plastic chair overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.)

Susie has a high school age son, and said family is “everything,” she said. “This is the most selfish thing I’ve ever done. I have never been away from my family for seven weeks.” She’s also committed to trying things for herself, and convincing the world that everyone else needs to literally just try things. “I cannot believe people do not know what the word ‘try’ means—T R Y,” she said.

Susie’s likability—and warmth and clear devotion to her family—is matched, as you can see, by clear conviction and confidence, which would come off as arrogant in someone who wasn’t as thoroughly nice as she is. She’s also fiercely competitive, and said she couldn’t really understand people who lack competitiveness even in everyday games. I really think she has the combination of skills to win the game without anyone noticing that she’s won.

She loves to talk, although unlike Bob Crowley, she didn’t tell long, lingering stories, but jumped from idea to idea to idea. It makes sense, then, that’s she’s a teacher—she teaches students for whom English is a second language, and English is her second language, even though she grew up in Iowa. Susie is also a hairdresser, the profession CBS is using to identify her. And she also worked for a nonprofit organization where she worked with the elderly.

Clearly, she’s a social person who cares about others, and what better qualities are there for Survivor? However, there’s a part of Susie that has the potential to rub others the wrong way, or to just get annoying. It’s not that she has a self-described “potty mouth. But I think a lot of people do, they just hide it,” she said. Of course, the first time she said “fuckin’,” I loved her even more.

While that could rub a tight-ass contestant the wrong way (and I really don’t think there is one person like that this season), it’s really her unflinchingly honesty and conviction might not play well with people. For example, she talked about her mother, who has dementia, and said, “it’s like the mother I’ve always wanted,” she said, and wasn’t entirely joking (“I know that sounds crazy, but…”).

And she’s pretty convinced that she’s right, although in a non-obnoxious way. Susie told me that she couldn’t understand why, when “somebody fucked up” in a challenge on past seasons, they apologized to their fellow tribe members. “I certainly don’t plan on apologizing every time I screw up,” she said. Earlier, she told me that she would be “the first to apologize” if she offended someone, but later said that sometimes, she says, “screw you, I really don’t care or not if I offended you or not. I don’t care.” That sort of inconsistency but conviction-in-the-moment could help her in the game.

Listen to Susie talk about why she did the show, how she wants people to perceive her (where I had to fade out because her answer just kept going), and how she doesn’t understand why people are offended when she swears.

Susie talks.

[GingerSnaps]

I like her. She has a sincere smile and face, but she is out of shape compared to the other survivor people.

[sonoerin]

has always allowed others to dictate her life and she's ready for a change......

Tired of working hard and being poor, Smith vows to devote the rest of her life to her needs. After years of allowing others to influence her life, she's decided to stop and dedicate this next chapter to herself, and taking part in SURVIVOR was the first step and second was showing her son, family, friends, and students that all it takes to change any part of your life is to just TRY.

Smith has been married for 25 years......

She describes herself as encouraging, moody and talkative but with a big potty mouth.

Bold and brassy with a huge zest for life, Smith believes SURVIVOR will finally be the opportunity she's needed to turn things around. She has a huge desire to win and won't let anyone get in her way.

OK! Maybe I'm an idiot. But this is such a mixed up bunch of crap! Who's been dictating her life? The hubby of 25 yrs? The son? Mom & Dad or siblings? Is this the "If not for you, I coulda been something?"

She's sure no Sandra! She was a little spark plug. I think this girl is going to be terribly out of place. Her mouth may well set her apart from the other contestants, and her body will make her physically unable to compete!

[Marty]

She has funny looking cleavage.

[SugarB]

I think it's that suit. As long as she doesn't run around in her bra like that chick a couple of seasons ago. It was so gross.

[TCS]

Ya made me look Marty!
It could be the suit. I agree Sugar....hope she doesn't do the bra thing.

[BBinSavannah]

Her cleavage reminds me of plumbers crack.

[GingerSnaps]

I noticed she was out of shape, but never even noticed the cleavage.

[erinjs]

I can't see her running around in her bra.