We all know Suzanne Paul as the woman who could sell us anything but also provide a lot of entertainment while she was doing it.
She made her name selling products like Natural Glow and the Suzanne Clip, making famous forever her phrase “But wait! There’s more!”
But it’s been a while since we’ve seen her on screen and many of us have missed her.There isn’t a shopping channel any more and there are no morning TV shows where Suzanne, 65, could pop up selling her wares.
“I’m back!” announces Suzanne grinning from ear to ear on an online video call.
Suzanne is looking terrific after a brief health scare last November when she fainted during a motivational talk to 250 people over Zoom. Suzanne spent two days in hospital and was diagnosed with very low blood pressure, high cholesterol and a leaky heart valve. She has also just had Covid, which floored her for a bit but now she is back at work with just an annoying cough to remind her that she had the virus.
Despite the upsets, Suzanne and Patrick are still committed to marrying
Suzanne’s new business combines everything she does best – selling products with a much-needed service to help our small to medium businesses which have struggled in recent years, mainly due to Covid.
“I realised that you could have the best product or service in New Zealand, but it’s not going to pay the rent unless people know about it,” explains Suzanne.
She says she saw people with great companies going under and decided she could save Aotearoa’s small businesses one at a time.
“I thought there has to be a way that I can create some sort of platform where I can help these people sell their stuff,” she tells.
The result, after a year of planning, is PitchMe Online, which features videos of Suzanne working with business owners to sell their products.
“The type of selling I specialise in is telling the story of a product. So, I ask these people why they invented it, how it will change my life and why we need it. It takes about four minutes to tell someone’s story properly and that’s what I do.”
She says the business idea came out of sitting at home for two years during Covid.
“I thought to myself, ‘I’m the best saleswoman in the world,’ which might sound like I’ve got a bob on myself, but I’m sitting at home when I should be helping people sell their stuff.
“I had Shane Cameron the boxer in the other day to promote his company Counterpunch Fitness App. I put on my sparkly dressing gown and a boxing glove and punched his head in! I said, ‘You know what, Shane? I do quite a lot of Cross Fit. Yes, I’ll cross my fingers and hopefully my pants will fit,'” she says with her trademark laugh.
‘It really is a case of “But wait! There’s more!” when it comes to this wedding!’
Suzanne has been so busy with her new venture that she hasn’t had time to organise her wedding to Patrick Kuhtze, which has been delayed twice because of Covid. They are now hoping that perhaps the third time’s the charm.
“Patrick will be my third-time lucky husband and so we’re hoping it will be our third-time lucky wedding,” enthuses Suzanne.
The original wedding was scheduled for October last year but had to be cancelled because of Auckland’s lockdown. Their next big day was to take place on April 10, but with the country being in the red zone and in the middle of an Omicron outbreak, the couple had to make the decision to delay it again.
“The first one was organised for a big venue, the next was an at-home thing, then another lockdown came, so third time lucky we’re going to have a go at getting married overseas,” she says.
“I’ll tell you all about it when that one happens so I don’t jinx it,” she laughs.
“The only real problem is the wedding dress. The first one was a very fancy affair which is still in the cupboard, the next one was a lovely Trelise Cooper number, but that won’t suit a winter wedding, so I’m onto planning my third wedding dress,” she says. “It really is a case of ‘But wait! There’s more!’ when it comes to this wedding!”
