Carrie's Always Talking
The podcast all about stories and connection. Every other week there will be stories from people just like you, or perhaps it will be YOU! Stories are a part of the foundation of life, and they are one of the main ways we learn about one another. Hearing someone share their experience can be healing not only for the person sharing but also for those listening. You might laugh, you might cry, but you also might also learn that we're more alike than you think.
Carrie's Always Talking
From Pediatrics to Empowerment: Dr. Sue's Story
In this engaging episode of Carrie's Always Talking, Dr. Sue McCreadie shares her journey from being a pediatrician to coaching women in midlife. She discusses the evolution of her career, the importance of self-discovery during midlife, and how healing can be a fun and transformative process. Dr. McCreadie also delves into the significance of tarot and numerology as tools for understanding oneself and navigating life's patterns. The discussion highlights the challenges and opportunities that arise during midlife, emphasizing the importance of embracing one's authentic self and the power of personal growth. In this engaging conversation, Dr. Sue shares her journey from being a pediatrician to a life coach, emphasizing the importance of soulful strategy sessions in navigating life's changes. The discussion delves into the significance of inner child work, midlife transitions, and the ripple effect of healing generational trauma. Dr. Sue also explores personality types in midlife, sharing insights on how understanding these can aid personal growth. Through personal anecdotes, she illustrates the strength found in adversity and concludes with a powerful message about life being a love story, encouraging listeners to embrace their journeys with joy and resilience.
Dr Sue's website: https://www.drsuemccreadie.com/
Midlife personality quiz: https://www.drsuemccreadie.com/soulfull-medicine-quiz-abundant
If you have a story you'd like to tell, send me an email at carrie.always.talking@gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you.
You can also find me on Bluesky- @carrie-is-talking.bsky.social
www.youtube.com/@carrie-always-talking
Carrie McNulty (00:00)
Welcome back to Carrie's Always Talking. I'm your host, Carrie McNulty. This is the podcast all about stories and connections. I believe that when we share our stories with one another, it's the main way we build empathy and humanity, which is something I think we need a lot more of in the world today. This is episode 14 of season two, and I have a guest. Her name is Dr. Sue McCreadie She's a holistic pediatrician and midlife transformation expert who helps women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s.
navigate hormones, heartbreak, and healing. So they can stop settling and start living with more joy in their lives. Her mission is to make transformation simple, soulful, and even fun. And I will say that we did have a lot of fun recording together, and I think you'll enjoy this episode. It's really lighthearted, and I learned some things I didn't realize as it pertains to numerology and tarot, which was really fun. And you wouldn't think those things would necessarily go with
Dr. Sue being a pediatrician, but she's had an interesting life and an interesting arc in her career. So I think you'll enjoy hearing about that As always, for those listening, thank you. If you're new to the podcast, thank you for joining me. And I always ask If you can rate and review the podcast wherever you're listening, that really helps us to get noticed.
The other thing I'm asking and will continue to ask is if you are able, if you would join me in making a monthly donation to your local food bank or to any other charity or organization in your community that you feel like you could lend time, money, energy, whatever you have available to help bring us closer together.
If you're interested in coming on the podcast, send me an email, that's always in the show notes. And I will also make sure to include Dr. Sue's information in case you're interested in connecting with her. So I'm gonna go ahead and get us into this episode And I will talk to you all in another couple of weeks.
Carrie McNulty (02:11)
Hi, Dr. Sue, thank you so much for coming on the show.
Sue McCreadie, MD (02:14)
it's so fun to be here. Thank you, Carrie.
Carrie McNulty (02:16)
Yeah, I am hoping you have some interesting stories to share with us today and ⁓ no pressure. My interesting stories book. ⁓ Yeah, I feel certain that I have some other women as audience members who are also women in midlife. So I'm excited for you to share some information that could be useful and also to just hear your stories. So.
Sue McCreadie, MD (02:22)
Let me get my book out.
My Interesting Stories book, yes.
Thank for your time.
Oh,
awesome. Where do you want? Where do you want to begin? Do you want you want to toss me anything or you want me to just be like? I can get anywhere.
Carrie McNulty (02:50)
⁓ I just, yeah.
Start wherever you want to start. Tell us whatever you want to share.
Sue McCreadie, MD (02:58)
Hmm I think a lot of people are curious in terms of like how did I cuz I by training I'm a pediatrician so I have a ⁓ pediatric practice of I'm in my 23rd year of practice I've been an entrepreneur from the beginning of that and I help kids with nutrition Heal holistically through nutrition and so that's been my biggest and longest passion for the longest time and I think a lot of people have always asked me well, how did you go from?
Carrie McNulty (03:09)
Thank
⁓
Sue McCreadie, MD (03:26)
pediatrics to coaching women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s. And it was definitely an evolution and a process for sure. A lot of divine detours, I would say, where the moms were like, well, how can you help me? And I was like, OK. And I would start a business. And then I was like, well, that was a miss. That's not what they wanted. And then they would be like, could you do this? And I'm like, er, that's just not a great fit.
Carrie McNulty (03:31)
Yeah.
You
Sue McCreadie, MD (03:55)
for me, right? And so it was like this evolution and this process of figuring out how can I best serve them? You know, where do I shine? Where does it really help them shine and like collectively make a bigger impact? And it was really interesting how this landed in my lab. I honestly landed because I gave up. Like I put everything down and I was like, I've tried four different ways, God. Tried four different entrepreneurial businesses.
Carrie McNulty (04:04)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (04:22)
And, you know, I'm done. Like, I'm done in terms of like, I'm just confused. I'm not sure what's going to work. And I think I'm honestly like, I'm just tired. was like, I got a lot of, I'm going to, I'm going to semi-retire. I was telling all my friends, I'm semi-retired because everyone knows me as like, my kids are like, I'm not sure what to tell people you do because you've done a lot. Like I have. So they always go back to like, she's a pediatrician. Now they're like, okay, you're, you're a coach, you're coaching. get it.
Carrie McNulty (04:31)
Yeah.
You
Mm-hmm.
Sue McCreadie, MD (04:50)
But along that way, yeah, I finally just kind of put it down out of just like, don't know what to do. And I was semi relieved. Like there was a part of me that's like, wow, I guess I don't have to figure this whole thing out. And then what happened, which is how I always start everything, I follow a breadcrumb. And there was a breadcrumb in my inbox. It was this video by this woman. And lo and behold,
Carrie McNulty (04:59)
Hmm.
Mm.
Sue McCreadie, MD (05:14)
You could see within days I was like in her three day seminar and then all of sudden like I'm signed up for her year program and then a few months into the program. I'm like, huh? I guess I am coach like I guess I'm learning like this is this is what I really like to do and it was more than that one breadcrumb because that was in the mix of I was already immersed. I call myself a self development junkie like I've been into personal development for a long time.
Carrie McNulty (05:30)
Yeah.
You
Sue McCreadie, MD (05:42)
I was that girl in Borders Bookstore in the self-help section, right? Exploring, like, what next little cookie can I get and bring home? And I think it's because I'm fascinated with human behavior. I mean, you must be too with your words, right? It just has always fascinated me, you know? Like, why do we do what we do? Like, what fascinating creatures we are.
Carrie McNulty (05:44)
man. ⁓ Right, yeah, that's great.
yes. yeah. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Sue McCreadie, MD (06:04)
And so, yeah, I would just, I've been in that world for so long. And then as an entrepreneur, I don't know if you've found this to be true, but there's a lot of personal development and entrepreneurship as you are running your own ship, you know, so you got to figure it out. It all goes back here.
Carrie McNulty (06:15)
my goodness, yes. Right, there's nobody to blame. If it doesn't go well, the buck stops here. I always say to my husband, like, my
boss is such a jerk. I always say, you know, like.
Sue McCreadie, MD (06:32)
It's so funny. ⁓ my gosh.
Yes, you really get to grow and grow quickly if you want to survive, you know, if you want your business to be around. And so, yeah, I just feel like it's been an evolution and through that process, there's a lot of, you know, mentoring and people. One of the biggest ones actually is through Tony Robbins, which I've done a lot of work with Tony and his programs and his wife Sage is like.
Carrie McNulty (06:39)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Mm.
Sue McCreadie, MD (06:59)
just an incredible expander in terms of teaching frameworks that I now use with women, you know, in order to really neutralize the situation. feel like, people are like, why midlife? Like, why would you want to coach in midlife? You know, like, did we miss the ship? We might be a little late.
Carrie McNulty (07:15)
Because, no, because
major, major things are happening in midlife for women on all different kinds of levels, you know? And shedding some of the need, think that, well, mean, estrogen is a wonderful thing, no doubt, especially as I'm losing it, I'm realizing how wonderful it is. But it's also freeing in a way, because I think you see yourself as so much more in your midlife.
Sue McCreadie, MD (07:20)
Yes.
Mm-hmm. You're seeing how important that baby is.
you
Carrie McNulty (07:41)
You know,
rules are more defined or expectations are more defined as we're becoming who we are. But once we get to this place, I think we're more willing to take risks. Or at least that was my experience, right? And caring a little less about what other people might think about what we're doing. You know, there's a little bit of freedom in this part of life. So I totally think it makes sense that, you know.
Sue McCreadie, MD (07:50)
Mmm.
Yeah,
think of it as like the second adolescent, know? Like, adolescence to me is a really stretchy period, you know? And it lasts a long time. And you kind of don't even know when it starts, but all of a sudden you're in it and like your body is stretching and it feels uncomfy and you're moody because of hormonal shifts and you're trying to figure out your identity. Like, who am I in this world?
Carrie McNulty (08:04)
Yeah.
Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yes.
Mm-hmm
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (08:30)
You're usually navigating relationships at a deeper level, maybe an intimate level. And there's so many factors going in, terms of also like, how am going to contribute to the world? What do I give now? Who am I in this world? And so I think of midlife as like the second adolescence in that way, because our bodies feel uncomfy at times. Like what is happening? Why do I have this here now?
Carrie McNulty (08:41)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. yeah. Why am I so sweaty? Yeah. These questions, right?
Sue McCreadie, MD (08:59)
So much can
be changing in relationships too. Like your kids, if you have kids, they may be grown, they may be out of the house or you're shifting your relationship. They're young adults now, they're not dependent, quote unquote, children, right? Navigating careers, like career shifts like you, you started entrepreneurship, that's amazing. Or relationships in terms of spouses too, right? Like maybe a relationship ended, maybe you're stuck.
Carrie McNulty (09:02)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Sue McCreadie, MD (09:26)
you know, like I work with women who are kind of stuck, like the divorce happened 10 years ago and then like, I'm still here. Like I haven't, I'm frozen, right? And really kind of loosening that up and getting, getting that moving again. So that's why I love it. It's like stretchy, it's uncomfortable, it's a transition. It feels like a voyage. Like one of this group programs, we called ourselves the Love Boaters, you know, from the show Love Boat, because it was all, it was all in relationship.
Carrie McNulty (09:30)
⁓ Yeah...
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Sue McCreadie, MD (09:54)
And
we had the best time with that, Carrie. It was like, okay, if Jen drops off, we get to like throw the life raft after her and like, okay, back on the ship. Like we lost her, but she's back. had so much fun. And that's what I love about, to me, my experience is that it can be fun. Healing can be fun. Like this is a fun way to do it. Like, you know, like the tools that I bring in, like pteronumerology and things are fun.
Carrie McNulty (09:57)
you
Get realer back in.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (10:24)
Just, it's a good time. laugh, we cry, we laugh, we grow, we have fun.
Carrie McNulty (10:30)
and I, you know, I feel like maybe that's something that's needed in this stage of life too, is a little bit more fun or remembering how to have fun. And that's, love the comparison to adolescence because we're learning at that time, what is fun to us, you know, as we're, sometimes we might get in trouble learning that other times we might not, but I like that comparison very much to this stage as well. That's very cool. I like it. Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (10:35)
Mm, fun.
That's cool. I didn't think about that. Yeah,
we are figuring out like what is fun for us, right? Like you see that now, I mean, navigating three girls, know, children, they're teenage and young adult and navigating like, okay, well, they think that's fun. I think that's fun sometimes, but not all the time. I also love to just be home and in bed and reading a good book or like whatever it is.
Carrie McNulty (10:56)
Mm-hmm.
you
Right.
Mm-hmm.
Sue McCreadie, MD (11:17)
So I love that too. I think that's very true. are in this period in our 40s, 60s, navigating what is really true for me. Like what is authentically me, you know? Coming out, I feel like I was coming out of a closet with terranumerology. I felt like, yes. I felt like.
Carrie McNulty (11:27)
Mm-hmm.
Really? ⁓ did you feel like
it was pretty stigmatized? Like if I'm a doctor, I can't be into this too kind of thing. ⁓
Sue McCreadie, MD (11:40)
Absolutely. It's like an identity thing, like where your
identity becomes like a restriction, you know, because like how can a medical doctor be using a tool like pteronumerology? But you know, the thing is, I was thinking, I went to med school, I thought I wanted to be a psychiatrist until I saw what psychiatry is. And then I was like, well, that's not a great fit for me. No, no, thank you. And I've always loved children. So that was natural.
Carrie McNulty (11:46)
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (12:07)
And I feel like children make me a better person for sure. And so it's funny now because with all the self-development that I've been doing for decades for myself as an entrepreneur growing and now in the coaching, I started realizing that terroneurology, I think of it as a pathway to the subconscious. Like it's like the ink blot test. Remember the ink blot test? were like, spirit the ink blot, what do you see?
Carrie McNulty (12:10)
Yeah.
Yeah. yeah. Yeah. What do you see?
Sue McCreadie, MD (12:34)
I was just doing a session earlier with a woman in her 40s. She just turned 40. Isn't that cool? I think that's so fun. It's like, yay, we're at the beginning.
Carrie McNulty (12:41)
Good for her.
Yes, you're about
to go, like you said, on a voyage. Yeah, get ready.
Sue McCreadie, MD (12:47)
on a voyage, she honestly
said, I feel right now I'm closing one book and I'm gonna go put that book on the shelf because I feel like I'm starting a new, not just a new chapter, I'm starting a whole new book. And that makes sense because I'm learning about like the eriksonian developmental stages, which I'm sure as if you're familiar with, but I was blown away for the first time, Carrie, I was like, oh my gosh, a young adult goes all the way to 39? Like what? I thought I never,
Carrie McNulty (12:54)
Hmm. whole new book.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (13:17)
I was like, huh, you're 39, you're still considered a young adult. I think a young adult is like 21 year old. Yeah.
Carrie McNulty (13:23)
Yeah, yeah,
yeah, 25 maybe. Yeah, you don't necessarily think. But then I kind of like that too because I really feel like I didn't feel as confident in myself until I got into my 40s. So I kind of understand how reaching that place is very different. You're no longer a young adult. You are.
Sue McCreadie, MD (13:38)
Hmm. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Carrie McNulty (13:48)
I'm more sure, I guess, about who you are, but you're gonna learn more as this time goes on. Yeah. Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (13:53)
⁓ yes, we are. Because
the price to pay and that's a thing. I, you know, cause when I, when I was reaching out to do all the podcasts, right? Like I think I reached out to you, Carrie. And I was like, Tarot gets to be front and center. Cause that's like who I am. And if you hide a part of that self, like whatever you're hiding is just something that you're not fully integrated with yet. Like you're feeling shame around, you know?
Carrie McNulty (14:06)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Well, exactly.
And the beauty of being in this stage of life is that I would see that, and I've always loved tarot, but I openly would say, like, that would be a, you know, I would love that. Yes, come on. And that's one of the things I would love to talk about with you. And I, again, if other people are like, I don't think that's evidence-based or I don't think, and I'm like, I don't care. You know, it's something that I enjoy. I have found usefulness in it and that whole realm, you know, and that part of it.
Sue McCreadie, MD (14:28)
Mm-hmm.
you
Well, that's a fun story
how I even found it, because it found me for sure. So I was on a getaway weekend with my husband in Asheville, North Carolina. so then you just have time to wander, right? So we were just wandering through the stores. And this one store, was like, I don't know if you've ever been in a store, it's just like, wow, this is an exciting place. I don't know what's happening here, but it feels good.
Carrie McNulty (14:51)
Yes, please tell.
Cool.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. The
energy feels good. Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (15:13)
The energy feels
really good. And I remember taking a video of this place for one of my friends, because I knew if she was here, she would just be lit up with me. So I took this video and I started wandering through the store and I was just drawn into this back corner and this deck of cards. And I pick up a deck of cards and I'm what is this? It tarot. Hmm. I've heard that word before. I'm not really sure what that is. And it was one of those things where I was like,
Carrie McNulty (15:21)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Sue McCreadie, MD (15:37)
you get to have this deck of cards. Like this deck of cards is now officially yours. Like it was just one of those breadcrumbs. And so then I got home and I was like, what do I do with this deck of cards? Like they're really pretty. I'm not sure what to do. And I love learning. So I found a teacher online and I learned about tarot and I was really like my intention of working with tarot was to increase my own intuition because I feel like my sense is
Carrie McNulty (15:39)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Sue McCreadie, MD (16:07)
you know, I'm living this life. And if I could just like get into the other side of like, the, you know, the other world, right, behind the veil, as they say, what else is out there that I can connect with, because I feel like there's so many patterns. And if I can just see the pattern, then I can be able to use the pattern instead of getting whipped around by the pattern, right. And so
Carrie McNulty (16:12)
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Sue McCreadie, MD (16:32)
I got really excited and I could feel my intuition increasing, right? Where I'm just staring at these things. And then the idea is that it's a way to connect with your subconscious. So it's not really about this card. By the way, if you've never heard of tarot, they're from a deck of cards from like the 14 or 1500s or something where they used to play with them. Like we play with a 52 card deck of cards. And then it became, you know, then it evolved from there. And there's many ways that you can use them. And
Carrie McNulty (16:53)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (17:01)
I don't use them, I'm not a psychic. That would be awesome. I would think that would be fun to like, I've never actually gotten like an official psychic reading where you like go in and like with where, you know what we see in like the movies and things. Yeah, like the crystal ball and like the velvet, like there's gotta be velvet in that room somewhere, you know? And there's definitely a black cat walking around, you know? ⁓
Carrie McNulty (17:04)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
They have a crystal ball. Yeah, no.
Sue McCreadie, MD (17:30)
But I use them really as like a tool initially just to increase my intuition, my ability to just tap into my own inner knowing, something that maybe wasn't apparent on the surface, but I just knew it to be true. I just sensed it to be true. And so it was increasing my intuition. And then at the same time, I learned about numerology or the study of numbers. And I've kind of, started to see patterns of numbers somewhere in my probably
Carrie McNulty (17:35)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yes.
Sue McCreadie, MD (17:57)
20s or 30s where I started like, is there a 111 and 444 and a 555 and like, what is this all about? And so I started learning about angel numbers and I thought that was really cool. Like it was another way for me to connect to like I felt to the spirit world, to the other side, to a deeper message. Sometimes it comes to me and feel very comforting, like, okay, I'm not in this alone. I just felt that it was like a really comforting tool, you know, just am I'm willing to see it and then learn it. At the same time I was learning about this tarot
Carrie McNulty (18:01)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (18:26)
I learned there's this whole thing called numerology. You can study it and study the pattern of numbers and numbers of energy. was like, what is going on here? And again, I thought of it as like a pattern. Well, if there's a pattern, like we're in the year 2025 and it's a nine energy year, right? And so you start to see these patterns. And I feel like, isn't that true of all of our work, right, Carrie? Like think about the patterns that you see in your work. It's like, we follow similar patterns, like see the pattern.
Carrie McNulty (18:49)
Yes.
Absolutely.
Sue McCreadie, MD (18:55)
It's what we do in medicine. We're just spotting patterns. just do what you do in any work that you do. Whether, yeah. So to me, I was like, well, I want to see these patterns because I don't want to be whipped around by the pattern. I want to know there's a pattern going on and then I can like align with the pattern. Life feels like, think my hallucination would be that life feels a lot easier if you're working with the pattern instead of the pattern working out, like whipping you around in essence.
Carrie McNulty (18:57)
Right.
Well, yeah, that makes sense. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (19:25)
Right? It'd be like the seasons, like the seasons are a pattern. Like if we just like walked out in the middle of winter in our bathing suit, like that's not going to feel so great, you know? So yeah.
Carrie McNulty (19:36)
Right. It's going with the flow of the energy as ⁓ opposed
to having your own and wondering why you keep butting your head up against, you know, every decision you make feels, well, I think, like you said, it's all tied together. If you understand yourself and your intuition and you're tapped into that, you're more likely to make decisions that fall into the pattern and go with the flow. And if you don't, if you're not able to tap into your intuition or hear it, ⁓ then it can feel a lot harder energy wise, you know, like everything's a battle.
Sue McCreadie, MD (19:44)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, and
I think it can also feel very confirming. Like I was with a coaching client this morning where she's had a lot of loss in her life recently, like a physical death and then also like a shift in, know, loss of a friendship through betrayal. Like it's some big things going on, you know? And when I was looking at her numbers, I was like, my gosh.
Carrie McNulty (20:18)
Mm.
Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (20:29)
You are a nine. So there's lots of numbers in kind of our constellation of a person and two of the fundamental numbers are just from your very exact birth date. So I'll use my birth date. I'm born on March 8th, 1972. So you just add up three plus eight plus one plus nine plus seven plus two equals 30 and three plus zero equals three. So I'm what they call like my, they call it all different things. It doesn't really matter.
Carrie McNulty (20:40)
Mm.
Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (20:56)
It's just like the soul number three. And three is you can think of like one plus one equals two, and then there's three. Like think of a family. It's like expansion, you know? And three in the tarot is the empress. I think of them as like soul archetypes, right? They're just like the soul's journey through all these different phases. We have all parts of us. I mean, maybe some listeners have heard of like archetypes
Carrie McNulty (21:05)
Mmm.
Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (21:20)
Well, there's you know, there's famous psychiatrists who use archetypes, right? And they'll say like activate the lover in you and like, you know, bring out the Empress or bring on the sovereign, right? These are all like that the sense that the personality is made up of many parts and pieces. It's just that some of us just like on a personality test to like we've heard of those personality tests were disc.
Carrie McNulty (21:23)
Yes.
Yeah.
Right.
Right.
Sue McCreadie, MD (21:45)
profile and things like that. It's like we have all of that in us, except we tend to just be sort of dominant in one area. Right. And so I think of that where we use numerology and three, two of my dominant numbers are like three and eight. And that's the Empress and, and strength and the Tarot. And we can play with yours too, Carrie, but this client, let's do that. This client that I was working with, one of our dominant numbers is a nine.
Carrie McNulty (21:52)
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, that'd be fun. Yeah.
Okay.
Sue McCreadie, MD (22:14)
And
a nine is like the ending before a new beginning. so lots of nines, loss can feel a little bit more, right? Well, when we look at that, like when we looked at her pattern of numbers, she's in a nine energy year of 2025. She's in a nine energy season of her life, which is another kind of calculation. We're in September of 2025, we're in a nine energy month, the time I saw this client, right? And so she had these like stacks of nines.
Carrie McNulty (22:18)
Mmm.
Yeah.
Hmm
Wow.
Sue McCreadie, MD (22:44)
And when she was starting, the death, when the losses started coming, she had entered her personal year of 13, which is like the death year, the death and rebirth. So was like, Zia Carey's like, yeah, I know that number, 13.
Carrie McNulty (22:49)
Hmm.
Yes, yes. Well, and I have the, I don't
know if it's significant and you can tell me in my numerology, but the strength tarot card I have tattooed on my thigh. So yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (23:11)
That's so
cool. Okay, we're gonna play. the reason I share that client is because it almost feels comforting and reassuring. Like, well, of course I would have all those stacked, right? Like, of course this is what this year is supposed to be. And how can I work with that? Well, one of the things that we were working through was like being overly attached to something that gets to shift.
Carrie McNulty (23:20)
Right. This is what this year's supposed to be for me. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (23:33)
You know, maybe like the relationship doesn't totally something in that relationship gets to shift, you know So it's just really very cool. Very cool to like kind of work the plan. Okay, let's play with Carrie's numbers. Okay What's your birthday?
Carrie McNulty (23:37)
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
July 19th, 1980.
Sue McCreadie, MD (23:51)
July 19th, 1980. So right away, one of your big numbers is the day you were born. One plus nine is 10, and one plus zero is one. So that's the magician. So I'll talk about that. And then, this is so fun. Okay, July, okay, then the next is, ⁓ and if you're listening, you can just do this. I always use my calculator because,
Carrie McNulty (24:03)
Mm-hmm. Mm!
You
Mm-hmm.
Sue McCreadie, MD (24:20)
It's just so much easier. So seven plus one plus nine plus one plus nine plus eight plus zero equals 35. Three plus five is what, Carrie?
Carrie McNulty (24:33)
eight.
Sue McCreadie, MD (24:34)
Yes.
You are strength. Wow, that
Carrie McNulty (24:37)
Well, that is weird because I did not know that. That card just
always called to me. So that's why I have that. Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (24:44)
Carrie!
It is like, how fun is that? my gosh, I don't know. This is what gets me excited because when I, you know.
Carrie McNulty (24:51)
Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (24:55)
when I heard that I was number three, so I'm an eight, I'm a three and an eight, you're a one and an eight, okay? And the thing is, is like, you're way more numbers than that, you're seasons and all these things. But those are kind of, I think of like our two life guides, you know, like that's kind of how I think about it. And the strength card, if I could share and like what the strength card, ⁓ she's such a beauty. Like, and that's the thing, Tarot, can, there's,
Carrie McNulty (25:00)
Okay.
Yeah.
Okay.
Sue McCreadie, MD (25:24)
thousands of tarot decks, so many interpretations and so many decks. Like if you like animals, go with animals. If you like plants, plants. The one that I love, is selfless promotion for Chris Ann, is the Lightseers Tarot. And I like it because it's much more of what I feel is representative of life in 2025.
Carrie McNulty (25:25)
So many interpretations, yeah, and so many decks. Mm-hmm, yeah.
Yeah.
Ooh, that's pretty.
Mm.
Sue McCreadie, MD (25:50)
there's male and female and you there's just more loose it's just it's very rich in interpretation gosh i wish i could just like pull out that strength card right here for you to see she's so beautiful you are okay you can probably you can probably ⁓
Carrie McNulty (26:04)
Yeah, I'm curious what that version looks like. Yeah, I mean, I think mine sort of...
I'll describe her.
Sue McCreadie, MD (26:13)
describe her in the deck.
It's one of Carrie's many archetypes, but it's kind of cool to see like your reaction when you see her, like what you see in her, because to me that's like bringing up unconsciously, like from the subconscious, what you may be working on. To me, the best interpretation of a card is whatever pulls you in sister, right?
Carrie McNulty (26:21)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (26:35)
So here she is.
Carrie McNulty (26:36)
Ooh. So, OK. So it's a woman and with this particular deck. So she's half in her face, half woman and half lion. And then she's got the little lamb on her lap and she's got a pendant on. So it's like she's sort of discovering this other side of herself ⁓ that has a lot of
Sue McCreadie, MD (26:47)
Mm-hmm.
Hmm.
⁓ I love that.
Carrie McNulty (27:01)
you know, more strength maybe than what she realized where she's more in tune with that ⁓ stronger part of herself that maybe she hasn't been in tune with before. But that still allows like this little lamb, if you guys could see it, she's just so cute. Like she's just tiny little lamb. And so there's also the side that that something that's so small isn't afraid of that power either that she can still draw vulnerability to her is how I see it.
Sue McCreadie, MD (27:04)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Hehehehehe
Mm-hmm.
Wow, that is so well stated. mean, that is what I'm talking about. Like women are naturally very intuitive in their feminine, right? Like we're all part masculine, part feminine energy, right? And to me, this is a way to really get in touch with that feminine part, which Carrie is very, like right there, I know that Carrie is very in touch with her intuition.
Carrie McNulty (27:39)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (27:55)
Because you just like it was there. You were just like, I see this, see that, I see this, I see that.
The Strength card is all about inner courage. It's about dealing with the rage of your emotions, whatever they be, and being calm with the lamb. It's gentle. It's strength and compassion ⁓ and gentleness at the same time. We always have strength as like power and external. This is like internal.
Carrie McNulty (28:07)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Hmm. Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (28:25)
internal wherewithal to traverse through difficult things, challenging things, feeling all the feels and also always leading her pendant on her pendant is a heart. it's courage comes, know, it's heart, heart led, leading with your heart. Yeah, so beautiful stated. Yeah.
Carrie McNulty (28:36)
Yeah.
Well, I definitely have had some trials and tribulations, so that's... That fits, yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (28:53)
Yeah, and then
the magician is yeah, really powerful, resourceful human often a very natural leader. You know, ⁓ so someone who yeah, just make use of everything that they have and like can create it. It's all about conscious will. It's about, you know, feeling, thinking of the thing and then let's get to work like activating and making it happen. You know, so they're great leaders because we like people like that.
Carrie McNulty (29:00)
Hmm.
Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (29:22)
Like we look at leaders who are resourceful, can make use of whatever, you know, the people or the resources and the money or the time or whatever it is, and really make use of it and yeah, get into a line to action and make it happen. So yeah, that's how we play with tarot.
Carrie McNulty (29:30)
Mm-hmm.
That's fun. I'm so glad you thank you for doing that with me. That was really fun. ⁓
Sue McCreadie, MD (29:41)
Yeah. Is that cool?
The fact that you have this is going down. The fact that I will never forget that the fact that you have the strength tarot tattooed on you never knew that that was one of your ⁓ does your soul number as they call it.
Carrie McNulty (29:53)
Mm-hmm. Mm-mm. No.
No. It just always resonated for me because, ⁓ like I said, I've been through a lot. And I feel like...
Sue McCreadie, MD (30:04)
Hmm.
Carrie McNulty (30:05)
You know, it's just that card always sort of called to me. Plus, I just love animals. And in the Rider Waite tarot deck, she's walking with the lion, you know, and kind of has her hand on top of its head and just sort of, you know, it's sort of guiding. But she's also guiding. You know, they're together side by side. So I just like that. And you know, it's funny because I was actually born like a month late. And they don't allow that anymore, right? But it was like that. was, know.
Sue McCreadie, MD (30:13)
Yes, she's talking with the lens.
So good.
Hahaha!
Carrie McNulty (30:35)
Well done. But I was meant to be born on that date. That was when it was supposed to happen, I guess. I don't know. And I'm also a Scorpio rising. I don't know if you know much about astrology in that way. So that's also a lot about overcoming lots of things. So right.
Sue McCreadie, MD (30:38)
fucked.
Wow.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, Scorpio is a thing. ⁓
Scorpio is some intense energy. I only know a little bit, but that's just fun. It's like you continue to learn. each one of these cards is associated with an astrological sign, like strengths associated with Leo, you know? So there's just, there's so much depth. think that's what like just keeps me going. There's so much depth to these archetypes because they are archetypes.
Carrie McNulty (31:02)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Sue McCreadie, MD (31:23)
They are patterns
of behavior and thoughts and things that we can all relate to. We've all had moments of inner strength. Everyone listening has had them. You may not acknowledge them. You may have not taken pause, right? Because we call this the power pause, right? She's in a power stance, right? She's in a very, so, and yeah, it's not about all this forward. It's about presence.
Carrie McNulty (31:31)
Absolutely.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. She is, yeah.
now.
Sue McCreadie, MD (31:51)
yeah, powerful presence.
You know, there's clients that I work with, one-on-one, we're, always kind of tapping into her, the numbers and things. But one of the playful ways that I do this, I just do like one-off soulful strategy sessions, I call them, where you give me like the problem, you know, here's the problem, here's what I've done, here's what's not working, here's what I want, right?
Carrie McNulty (32:09)
Mm-hmm.
Sue McCreadie, MD (32:14)
And then we look at the numbers of the whole situation. So it's really cool because you can be very kind of laser targeted. Like I feel like it just helps me like, boom, like get right in to what the issue is so that we can come out with like a strategy. my client today, it's just like, okay, knowing that, knowing that this is a chapter, this is a season of loss, you know, and that with death, there's rebirth.
Carrie McNulty (32:24)
Mm-hmm.
Sue McCreadie, MD (32:40)
Like right, so like now you have like a context and a frame that really helps you develop a very key kind of simple strategy.
Carrie McNulty (32:43)
Mm-hmm.
That's very cool. And I would think for the client, I'm hoping that she walked out of there feeling like, ⁓ I don't need to push against all of this change. This is supposed to be happening. And once you stop pushing against it, then it can flow and it doesn't feel. Not that you're like, I'm not grieving anymore. That's amazing. But that it's sort of like, if this is part of my journey, ⁓ then I can be present for that. Right? Because.
Sue McCreadie, MD (33:03)
Mm-hmm.
I think the image
she had was like her floating kind of down a river, right? Like it's just like, I'm just flowing. It's just happening. Yeah.
Carrie McNulty (33:14)
Aww.
Mm-hmm.
So ⁓ do you ever ⁓ like.
with the women that you were seeing their kids for medical treatment and things like that, have they found you now? Are you getting some of the clients? Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (33:27)
Yeah. That's such
a great question. Some of my very first clients are from my medical practice. Meaning that like, I feel like when families are coming to see me as a pediatrician, know, and I'm doing kind of the pediatric hat of the practice, right? Is that they're so involved in their kid. I mean, their child is having issues. That's why we're working together, right?
Carrie McNulty (33:37)
Okay.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (33:55)
And so they are really not in a spot to be able to be working on themselves is kind of what it feels like. They're sort of tapped out. They're just like, we're going to survive this season. And so what was interesting is yes, like when I, when I first started and some of them are still with me, right. Is that yeah, like, okay. I know they see me through all the iterations, like all these entrepreneurial journeys. They've just like followed right along. It's so cute. And yeah, they have now.
Carrie McNulty (34:00)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm
Nice.
Yeah. Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (34:25)
They're like, okay, my kids are good. Like, all right, I'm ready to dive in and work. And yeah.
Carrie McNulty (34:30)
Yeah, and
focus on them. Maybe just depending on how hard the journey was with their kids, having some support after the fact. I always feel like we go into business mode when there's a crisis or when there's an issue or a medical issue, and then the grief of that doesn't hit you till after the fact a lot of the time, like what we just went through.
Sue McCreadie, MD (34:43)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
You know what occurred to me, Carrie, you'll probably really get this as a therapist, is that, you know, we have this concept of, well, we, I mean, we don't have a concept of it. We actually have personal development, like as a child, right? And, and a famous psychiatrist, Eric Erickson, Developed these Ericksonian developmental stages. And there's eight of them.
Carrie McNulty (35:00)
Yeah. Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (35:10)
And that's where I really learned like, my gosh, young adulthood is like the sixth stage. It's until you're 39. I was like, wow, okay. Anyways, I started having this realization that, you know, I'm a pediatrician, like that was my, you know, primary really helping kids, right? And now in midlife, I feel what I'm really doing is helping heal the inner child that got stuck along the way, if that makes sense. So.
Carrie McNulty (35:14)
Wait.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (35:39)
Along the developmental stages, right? There's stages where we To keep ourselves alive, you know to survive to be loved We adapted we shape-shifted and some of these developmental stages were not like fully expressed but fully unified fully developed right and so a lot of what I do is like just like tapping back into that and it's so It feels so
Carrie McNulty (35:55)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Sue McCreadie, MD (36:06)
really full circle because I'm like I had that realization it's like wow I'm just helping the mom as as if she's a child but she's in middle life now right now.
Carrie McNulty (36:14)
Yeah. yeah. Like, I think, again, that ties back into what
you were saying at the start of just helping people find what their joy is and their fun is at this stage of their life, too, because there's space to finally do that. And for some people in their teenage years and when they were developing, there wasn't space for that at all, depending on what their home life was like. So you probably are doing a lot of healing for people just by giving them the space to explore that in a safe way. ⁓ And there's so many different modalities that deal with inner child work.
Sue McCreadie, MD (36:21)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Yes.
Mm-hmm.
Carrie McNulty (36:42)
in some capacity. So one of the main ones I use is internal family systems that deals with the parts of our system. So, you know, you're working more than maybe with the teenager parts, even though the women are there as adults in their 40s, 50s and 60s, they're still, you know, having things to address from those younger parts of themselves. And that's incredible. And I think some of the best healing that we can do is going back and giving those parts what they needed.
Sue McCreadie, MD (36:47)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yes, absolutely.
I agree.
Carrie McNulty (37:08)
And seeing that we are the ones that can give it to those parts instead of waiting for either the absent parent or whatever it was that happened to suddenly change, because that ain't happening. But yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (37:08)
I know.
Mm-hmm.
Yes.
That's my favorite, that's my favorite part. That's so well
said. It's like, yeah, you heal yourself. Like you give, like I do it through meditation, right? But like you get to that child, like you get down on like your knees with that little toddler, right? And just give them what they need. It's so, so healing.
Carrie McNulty (37:23)
Yes. Right.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. ⁓
Yeah, makes a big difference than how you operate moving forward. Because I think there's a lot of different ways to heal. I'm not like there's, you know, in the therapy world right now, there's this whole like it's only somatic and talk therapy doesn't help and CBT is bad and these things are bad. I'm not of that mindset. I've been trained in CBT and DBT and all that. I think they all can fit together. I don't think it has to be one or the other.
Sue McCreadie, MD (37:40)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Carrie McNulty (37:58)
there's a different knowing when your body knows it versus just your brain. And I feel like that kind of work that you're talking about is allowing your body to know it as well as your brain. And that is where more full, complete healing, I think, happens, at least in my opinion. Yeah. No.
Sue McCreadie, MD (38:14)
Yeah, that's been my experience. That's so
well said.
Carrie McNulty (38:18)
So that's, yeah, that's, think how fun for people to have known you in one realm to get to know this whole other side of you, you know?
Can I ask you a question just about how this kind of doing this work with people, how has it changed your life and your way of relating to family or has it been healing for parts of you that needed to be healed? I'm just curious how that's,
Sue McCreadie, MD (38:30)
Mm-hmm.
Hmm.
Absolutely, I think that journey just keeps going on. I
feel so, one of the other things I do is group. So we have group coaching too. And wow, is that wild and fun. We call ourselves Radiantly Weird. We're like Radiantly Weird together.
Carrie McNulty (38:50)
Hmm.
Sue McCreadie, MD (38:58)
But we love it. It's just like unconditional acceptance. And why I love that too, Carrie, it's so healing for me. It's so healing for me. You know, I'm obviously there as the leader, right? And also though, these women are powerfully, you know, leading themselves and leading their families and just incredible to witness.
Carrie McNulty (39:05)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Sue McCreadie, MD (39:21)
to hold space for. And I'm always, I always look at all relationships, including those I'm, you know, coaching as mirrors for myself. So I can think of like, one time when this, when one of my clients, was like, girl, just do the thing. Like, I am so like, if you come back here next month, like I was joking with her, have fun. was like, don't even like, don't even bring it to me, right? And
Carrie McNulty (39:23)
Mmm.
Mmm.
Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (39:49)
I said to her, was like, okay, now I gotta look at my life. Like what have I just done? Like I just cannot put this off anymore. And I found it, you know? And I was like, that's one of the things that I do. I think it's fun too, cause life is a mirror. So right away I was just, I'm ripping off the band-aid. Like here we go, you know? And she did, she got into action.
Carrie McNulty (39:58)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah, what? That's cool. That's cool.
Well, I think it's true that oftentimes, you know, when we're giving support to clients or we're talking about problem solving things, we can often relate it back to things that we have dealt with or things we know we need to do as well. You know, so it's almost like we're talking to the part of us that's like, Hey, I know you also need to do this. So yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (40:22)
⁓ absolutely.
And the circumstance may be different, right? Like I haven't
lived your life, Carrie, and you haven't lived mine, but the patterns are similar. And that's again, like these are all just patterns. So seeing the pattern is what's super helpful so that you can shift and then create a new pattern moving forward so you can turn the page on that. Mm-hmm. ⁓
Carrie McNulty (40:34)
Yeah.
Yes.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, get unstuck, which it sounds like you're helping a lot of people do. What are some
of the biggest concerns that women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s are coming to you with?
Sue McCreadie, MD (40:55)
Mm. Mm-hmm.
For me, I feel they're definitely open-minded. Like they're really curious, you know, like they want to learn, they're learners, they're seekers for sure. And they're open to like, okay, if the tarot can help me get unstuck let's do it. You know, and not all clients use tarot. It's just one of the tools. Like you have your tools, this is one tool. But yeah, I feel like
Carrie McNulty (41:02)
Mm-hmm.
Do it, whatever. Yes, I'm in. Yeah.
Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (41:26)
So many things like let me like the client this morning really dealing with like yeah, like losses, And another woman who you know, she divorced 10 years ago and just moving through like finally like how do I get unstuck? How do I turn the page? How do I move forward? How do I forgive? Another client of mine really navigating work and home life like it's super hard for her not to like mush it all and like carry the stress over.
Carrie McNulty (41:40)
Yeah.
Mm.
Sue McCreadie, MD (41:54)
lots of life transitions like kids getting married new babies ⁓ how to how do you like navigating like the The like legacy like how you so retiring from one career like like the transition who's gonna take this over right? I've worked with you know entrepreneurs
Carrie McNulty (41:58)
Hmm.
Hmm.
Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (42:15)
So many beautiful things. I love relationships. I love all aspects. So adult children moving home and like, you know, like Carrie's like, yeah. And navigating, you know, like, okay, well, how is this going to work now? Because, you know, you want to be independent, but you're not. You don't really want to live by my rules. But yeah, this is my house, you know, so like boundaries. I work with ⁓
Carrie McNulty (42:23)
Yeah, that'd be tough. That would be hard. Yeah.
Right, right.
Sue McCreadie, MD (42:44)
In the personality realm, if you go to my website, you can take a quiz to learn your midlife personality type. And I base it off the disc profile. So I do it in my playful way in the midlife language. So there's four personality types. There's the visionary mama. And the visionary mama is like the Beyoncé's of the world, like twirl on them haters, like bow down. We look at them like, wow, you are just a force.
Carrie McNulty (43:04)
Okay.
Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (43:12)
How are you so courageous? How are you so confident?
incredible leaders. They're the CEOs in the world, right. And ⁓ the hard part, though, can be like they, you know, bowl over people in the way, right. So relationships, know, intimacy can really be an issue for them taking off their mask and being vulnerable, right can be hard.
Carrie McNulty (43:17)
Okay.
Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (43:35)
And then there's the inspirational mamas, which are like the sparkly shiny people, the sunshines of the world, the world who you go for them for inspiration. They always see the silver lining, you know, but the hard part for the inspirational mama is like everything's shiny. Like, wow, I want to do that, that, this and the other thing. Everything's amazing. Like, how do we do it all? Right. And then your energy gets scattered. And so you're not really, you know, moving forward on your plan.
Carrie McNulty (43:46)
Hmm.
Everything's amazing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
than.
Sue McCreadie, MD (44:03)
The giver mama, I work with lot of giver mamas. Giver mamas are what they sound like. They're very giving. They are the lovers, right? They'll listen for hours. They'll do anything for you. And the problem is, that they can become doormats for people, right? Like the boundaries, where I end and you begin, this is not okay, you know? So they end up getting resentful and bitter because no one's looking to them. Yeah.
Carrie McNulty (44:14)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Nobody does, yeah, nobody
does for them what they do. That's one of the number one questions I always ask women I work with is who does all of this for you that you do? You know, like I question, like you really give a lot. there anybody in your life that does for you what you do for them? And unfortunately, a lot of time, the answer is no. And that gives us a place to start with.
Sue McCreadie, MD (44:47)
What a
beautiful question that is. Okay, I will definitely be taking that one forward. You're on that one, Carrie. Okay, what else do we have? So yeah, the giver mamas are often like depleted and resentful and bitter. And then there's the detail mamas. The detail mamas are, they are dot our I's cross our T's They're the people who like organize everything.
Carrie McNulty (44:52)
steal it.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Sue McCreadie, MD (45:12)
Like they got the Excel spreadsheet. They're going to
tell Sue when to be here, when to pick up, when to drop off. You know, I love detail mamas. I hired detail mamas, you know, because I'm mostly like an inspirational mama. yeah, so I share all of that because knowing yourself is a great place to start. And also because in these groups, like we're all great mirrors for each other. So you can see how like when you're in a group dynamic, like the visionary mom is going to say to the giver mama, uh, that is not okay, sister.
Carrie McNulty (45:18)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right. You're doing too much. You're doing too much.
Sue McCreadie, MD (45:42)
Like, you are taking
over responsibility, right? And so I can see myself in all of them. And that's how this continues to grow me as a person, as a wife, as a mom, right? As a business owner. Yeah, it's just, it's so, it's been so, so expansive for me.
Carrie McNulty (45:48)
Mm-hmm.
and see you.
Yeah.
it sounds like you've always had careers where you are giving to people and sharing the knowledge that you have and helping and doing all of that stuff, but that you're now getting something that gives a little bit back to you too is really nice. So it's a nice balance. Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (46:10)
Thank you.
Yes, it
is. I feel like I've hit the sweet spot of like, it feels pleasurable for me. It feels pleasure filled for the woman that I'm working with. And then like, it's just bringing like more pleasure to the world. And I feel, know, the work that I do, the ripple effect is to the kids, right? Because these moms, you know, they're not all, by the way, I work with single.
Carrie McNulty (46:26)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (46:45)
like the woman I was working with earlier today, she's single. they have fur babies, they're fur baby mamas. yeah, it's beautiful to witness and it feels like the ripple effect is there, right? And that's what I really, I just really want the ripple effect. So when I like...
Carrie McNulty (46:45)
Mm-hmm.
That's me. I'm a fur baby mama.
Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (47:06)
Some one of my clients she's a grandma. Well, yeah, like yeah, some of them are grandmas, right? And so like when something comes up in their life, you know for one of their children and helping them navigate that the ripple effect is to the grandchild Right. So like they're navigating a difficult thing in their child's relationship, right and it's rippling. Yes, and to me I'm like that's
Carrie McNulty (47:12)
Yeah.
and nice.
Mm-hmm.
yeah,
that's generational work. Yeah, and it makes a big difference because it doesn't matter. I always say to people too, you can heal at any age from things. isn't just like the window isn't closed just because somebody's in their sixties. I've seen women who have struggled with binging and purging for so many years with their eating disorders and even in their sixties have been able to heal. So it's not.
Sue McCreadie, MD (47:37)
feels so expansive.
beautiful.
Isn't
that beautiful?
Carrie McNulty (47:59)
It's not impossible, you know, it really isn't.
But if you're healing somebody's stuff, even at that age, it still will benefit their kids and their grandkids because I think trauma is intergenerational. So you do that healing there, it will make a huge difference for everybody in the family unit. So that's very cool.
Sue McCreadie, MD (48:09)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Hmm, I love that. Yes, very expansive. It just feels very expansive and fun.
Carrie McNulty (48:23)
Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (48:28)
Since you and I share the strength card. I don't know how you feel about strength, but I'm also I'm also like, bring me the hard things. That's almost like seems like my personality.
Carrie McNulty (48:28)
Okay.
Yeah, yeah. Well,
Sue McCreadie, MD (48:40)
a testament of inner strength Was thrown to me actually in the strength here it was last year and My husband had asked me to do this bike race, which I had witnessed him do years before and this bike race is straight up a mountain So you're on your bike going straight up a mountain over you climb over 4,000 feet and seven miles
Carrie McNulty (48:52)
Mmm.
You
Sue McCreadie, MD (49:04)
and it's insanity and I watched what?
Carrie McNulty (49:05)
That
sounds completely wild.
Sue McCreadie, MD (49:11)
It's
so wild. And I knew when I said yes to it, I was like, oh my gosh, this is going to be so hard. You know, like I just felt it in every cell. think I even like teared. I started tearing. was like, oh my gosh, where I just say yes to. Cause I knew you're going to train. You knew you're going to train hard, but it was such a wild ride because I felt. And here's another number thing. We registered like back to back together. had totally different numbers.
Carrie McNulty (49:16)
Mm-mm. ⁓
Yeah, I'll do it.
Sue McCreadie, MD (49:40)
my number like on the you you put it everywhere was 388. And I was like, that that is like my two big numbers three and eight. And plus I got a double eight. So you know what I was thinking? I was like, got double strength today. Nothing stopping me.
Carrie McNulty (49:43)
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah!
Yeah, nothing's stopping me. Yeah. I'm going to float
up this hill. Yeah, this is not even going to be hard.
Sue McCreadie, MD (50:04)
⁓ But
you know, like, that's the thing with numbers to me. mean, I think, yeah, you could just say I'm number 388. Or you could be like, if you're really tuned into that, and you're like, to me, it's intention based, like I'm intending, like, bring me messages through this, like, I want to work with numbers to give me the messages, right? So anyways, I got that number 388. And I was like, yes. And I was scared out of my bejeebers. I had so many mantras going.
Carrie McNulty (50:13)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
And then, and you
won the race, right? No.
Sue McCreadie, MD (50:35)
So I start the race.
So my husband and I were in the same age group. We were like 50 to 55. I look around, I think I can count four other women there. Like there's not a lot of females. So right there I'm like, what am I doing here? my gosh. So like the thing goes and off to the races, you know.
Carrie McNulty (50:43)
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
What am I doing?
Sue McCreadie, MD (51:02)
And I hadn't even been prepped by my husband and his friend who had done it. They're like, OK, just don't freak out because that very first part, it's going to take your breath away. Don't panic. And so I'm like, this panic is not going away. I just felt like the whole thing was like, this isn't ending. They must have gotten some reprieve. And my heart was still like, no.
Carrie McNulty (51:14)
Okay.
You're like, what first part? The whole thing is a straight up line
into the air. What are you talking about? Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (51:31)
It was nuts. And that was like one of the most
exhilarating, funny rides I've ever been on my entire lifetime. So my husband was, he was up with a true racer. So he's like doing a race. I'm like, I call it, I was back in the circus. I was like, I was like, what is going on here? And so like each mile, and I think I finally had to get off my bike. can't remember. I haven't written down. I think I got off at like mile two. Like I was like, I got to get off this bike, you know? And so.
Carrie McNulty (51:41)
Okay. Yeah.
Ha
Hmm.
Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (52:01)
Meanwhile, I had passed a woman. was in a ditch. It ⁓ wasn't that narrow, but when you're going super slow, it's really easy for your bike. So she was in this ditch off to the side of the mountain. was literally, I was like, are you OK? And I was like, I don't even know if I can help you, lady. Please tell me you're OK.
Carrie McNulty (52:10)
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah. Just say yes. I
can't stop. Yeah.
Sue McCreadie, MD (52:29)
Just say yes.
And so she's like, yes, yes. I was like, okay, because I can't stop, you know? And then lo and behold, I had gotten off my bike and she's like, glide. She's like, hey there, like gliding right past me. It was so funny. There were so many funny points of like, and then you have to get on your bike. Now that's a thing. Like cycling, you have to clip in and clipping in is a thing even when you're on a flat road and tell you like you're really versed in it.
Carrie McNulty (52:34)
Mm-hmm. Great.
Okay.
Yeah.
.
Sue McCreadie, MD (52:57)
And I had just practiced
the day before, like my husband was like, oh, we should probably try like practice clipping in on the mountain. I was like, okay, you know? I was like, that's great. Like, I don't even think of these things. And so I had tried it and one time I fell and another time I was able to clip in and get started, you know? So I knew I could do it, but like so much like inner strength to be like.
Carrie McNulty (53:07)
Thanks for just bringing this up now, husband.
Mm-hmm.
Sue McCreadie, MD (53:24)
Oh my God, I want to die right now. And also you're going to clip your foot in right now, you know, and you have to go across. Like you can't go up clipping and you like go across. like it was hilarious. And I would like learn from the old guys. Like they started traversing back and forth. So I started doing that. And one time I fell flat out. Like I just literally fell over like in the middle of the road and like a woman up like one of the support staff, she's like, are you okay? And I like stand up. I'm like,
Carrie McNulty (53:28)
Mm-hmm.
Hmm.
You
Sue McCreadie, MD (53:54)
I'm great. And then I'm thinking, why am I saying I'm great right now? Like that is so bizarre. And so yeah, ⁓ my goal was to cross the finish line on my bike. And there were so many moments where I was walking beside my bike. There was another moment where this old guy came by and he was like, isn't it great?
Carrie McNulty (53:57)
Yeah, I mean... ⁓
Sue McCreadie, MD (54:17)
Walking with your bike, you know, he like totally flipped my mind, you know, because I was beating myself up Like I'm doing this race wrong. Like I should be on my bike, you know, isn't that great? You know, it's just like perspective flipping and so the very last part of this is Like an insanity amount of grade. It feels like this the grade percent is 22 % But before I knew what that meant and didn't sound like a lot, but it literally feels like I straight up
Carrie McNulty (54:22)
Yeah, yeah, aww. Yeah.
Yeah. Right.
Straight up.
Sue McCreadie, MD (54:46)
I mean, you might as well be going straight up. It's one of the steepest segments. like the 23rd in the world. It's a very crazy hill. So my husband finally, he finished hour plus before me, right? Comes down and he's like, okay, just give it a try. Just give it a try. And I was like, my God. I literally was like at a standstill, like on the bike. And I like unclip. We walked the last little bit, you know, him beside me. And then I clipped back in and crossed the finish line.
Carrie McNulty (54:55)
Wow.
awesome.
Sue McCreadie, MD (55:16)
But I was
like, that is strength, not physical strength. That is, yeah, total inner strength of just like, just the courage to even show up and do it first off. And then just the mental wherewithal to be like, keep your together because we're getting up this up. Another part, Carrie, this man, like he had his bike like over his shoulder.
Carrie McNulty (55:20)
Mental. Yeah, that's... Yes.
Yeah.
Mmm.
Sue McCreadie, MD (55:44)
with a shoe in his hand that was broken. And he's like, I'm getting to that top. And we're like, yes, you are. Yes, you are. He's just hiking up. ⁓ my God, wouldn't that be... If I could have any, all I could do is just like keep to myself. Always use like, I had so many mantras going. Yeah. But that was a really cool race. ⁓ think what really blew me away with that was the power it had on my girl.
Carrie McNulty (55:49)
finishing. Yeah. All right. Okay, sir. Then did you say to him, isn't it nice to be walking with your bike? No, you didn't.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
⁓
Sue McCreadie, MD (56:15)
which I was not expecting. So the three of them were not with us, but digitally they can now track you. So they were texting all these things like, go mom, go. I of didn't see any of that. I was just.
Carrie McNulty (56:22)
that's cool. Yeah.
Aww.
Well, no,
no, but how awesome.
Sue McCreadie, MD (56:34)
But afterwards, yeah, when one of them was just flat out bawling, and I get emotional, I've been thinking about it now. Because to me, that's what we all want. We want to show our inner strength so that they know that they can do hard things. And to me, I was like, well, that's just the power.
Carrie McNulty (56:42)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Sue McCreadie, MD (56:56)
That's the power, like you always talk about the power of story to me. That's the power of living your story in front of somebody else. Yeah.
Carrie McNulty (57:01)
Mm-hmm. Yes. Yes.
And opening their and expanding their idea. And I don't want to make it necessarily a gendered thing. But if it's a thing where there's only four other women and you are there doing it and the rest of the people are primarily men, it's opening your daughter's eyes to seeing, hey, I can sign up for something even if I'm not expected to be there. Which is very cool.
Sue McCreadie, MD (57:13)
Mm-hmm.
easy.
The other funny part about that story is by dinnertime, my mind had already taken it off. Like it was the most euphoria. was like the moment I crossed the finish line, it was absolutely euphoria. Like that word, it was euphoria. I was like, I don't know what this is, this is amazing. And then was like, this is euphoria. This is what euphoria feels like. And then by dinnertime, which is probably, you know, five hours later, my mind had already been like, why didn't you stay on the bike the whole time? You should have trained harder. Like all this stuff. I was like,
Carrie McNulty (57:37)
Ugh.
Yeah.
Yes.
And you're like, were
you there? Did you leave me in my time of need mind? Because it was not possible for me to stay on my bike. But thank you for that suggestion. Yeah. that's so clear. Yes, obviously. Why didn't I stay on my bike? Our brains are funny things.
Sue McCreadie, MD (58:10)
Thank you anyways. It's so funny.
So funny. They are. The power of the mind is incredible.
Carrie McNulty (58:21)
Well, so is there anything that you would like to leave the audience with, any parting words, whether it pertains to inner strength or whether it just pertains to what you can offer if somebody would be interested in maybe reaching out to you?
Sue McCreadie, MD (58:28)
⁓
Well,
one of the things that I'd like to share that just popped through is the universal truth that like when I first started personal development, my thought is like, what is life? Life is a test and I'm failing. That was kind of like life is a test and I'm failing. And it was in midlife, somewhere in my 40s that I shifted that and said, life is a love story.
Carrie McNulty (58:49)
Mm-hmm. ⁓
Mmm.
Sue McCreadie, MD (59:02)
And it's beautiful, even when it's painful, it's a love story. So I would definitely like to leave with that because I do believe life is a love story. And sometimes it's a rom-com. Sometimes it's a real tearjerker, right? ⁓ Yeah, but, and then in terms of like how to connect with me, yeah, it's come take the quiz. It's super fun at drsuemccreadie.com/ That's how you can connect with me.
Carrie McNulty (59:03)
Mm-hmm. Yes.
Hahaha
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Perfect.
Then I will be sure to include how to reach out to you in the show notes. So if anybody is like, I want Dr. Sue to do my numbers ⁓ and help me, they will be able to find you. Yeah. Well, I've loved having you on and getting to know you and getting to have fun with you because this has been very fun. So thank you.
Sue McCreadie, MD (59:48)
Thank you, Carrie. It has been fun. Yes. Healing can be fun. Healing can be fun.
Carrie McNulty (59:53)
And that's a nice change because it doesn't always feel that way. But what you're offering and what you're sharing, I think people can really use that, especially right now when things feel so heavy. So I will be sure to help people connect because I think that would be great. For everybody listening, I will be back in another couple of weeks with another episode. And until then, please take care of yourselves. And we'll talk soon.
Sue McCreadie, MD (59:55)
Mm-hmm.
