If there’s one thing Susan Smith has learned over the course of her career, it’s to not be afraid of change. Smith, a longtime Chestnut Hill resident, has switched career paths multiple times and explored new hobbies, all while adapting to any obstacles life throws in her way. Her journey is a compelling one, full of both successes and challenges.

Her most recent venture: Decorating the interior of KeystoneCare’s hospice center, Keystone House, with her photographs. The project was completed this month.

A varied career

Smith was raised in Pen Argyl, a small town near the Poconos. She attended Penn State University, majoring in nutrition education, before getting a job at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, teaching cooking to 12th grade boys. While teaching, Smith went to night school at Temple University and earned a law degree.

In the next phase of her career, Smith worked in insurance and became a public speaker for her company, traveling nationwide. As a member of the American Bar Association (ABA), she noticed the absence of a sports law committee. Smith teamed up with Howard Cosell, the legendary sports broadcaster, to form the ABA sports law committee, which continues to this day.

After her stint as a public speaker, Smith worked for an insurance brokerage house, becoming chief executive officer of Alexander & Alexander. Eventually, the Fortune 500 company Aon acquired the firm. Then, on Sept. 11, 2001, Aon lost 176 employees in the South Tower of the World Trade Center. Smith says the tragedy had a profound impact on her worldview.

“It was really clear to me how we walk on an edge,” Smith said. “You don’t know how long you’ll be here or not.”

Given the opportunity to retire early from her business executive career, Smith then transitioned to pursuing several creative ventures. She had been knitting her whole life, but never considered it as a business until a friend suggested selling her work.

“[My friend] said, ‘I’m going to have a [sale] at my house for you,’” Smith said. “I said, ‘Fine, but you can’t invite any of my friends. I don’t want them to buy things because they feel bad.’ So she did, and we sold out.”

Smith later took up jewelry design before finding a true niche in photography.

Through the lens

Smith’s first printed photograph was of an ocean wave. When a realtor friend offered to buy it, she was surprised.

“I never thought of being a photographer because I didn’t think I was going to have the talent,” Smith said.

But Smith’s talent was evident, and the realtor would go on to hire her to decorate the ICONA hotels at the New Jersey shore. Since then, Smith has become a prolific photographer. She has traveled to more than 90 countries, photographing everything from polar bears in the Arctic Circle to bald cypress forests in Caddo Lake in Texas. Smith also has decorated multiple restaurants and displayed her work at many shows.

For Smith, success in photography was unexpected. Not only was she inexperienced in the medium, but she also has macular degeneration, an eye condition that can lead to decreased central vision. Smith said the disease has made knitting and jewelry-making more difficult, but in photography, the lens can enhance her vision.

Despite the difficulties macular degeneration has caused in her life, Smith believes it has taught her an important lesson.

“Don’t ever give up doing something you want to do if you physically can,” she said. “I can’t imagine a life where I can’t do things. So, I keep trying to learn other things I can do.”

Current ventures

Smith collaborated with her friend Gail Inderwies, president and executive director of KeystoneCare, a nonprofit healthcare services agency, on the photography for Keystone House. Along with Shane Kolp, senior vice president of operations at KeystoneCare, Smith walked through the residents’ rooms and the hospice’s hallways to get an idea of how best to decorate them. According to Kolp, this project has transformed the space.

“Prior to this, there were some pieces on the walls, but there was no cohesive theme. Things had been patchworked together over the years, and some rooms were more bare than others,” Kolp said. “The responses we’ve gotten have been very positive. People live in these rooms all day long. Some of them don’t have the ability to be mobile or leave the space, so it’s important they have something that’s visually interesting and makes the room bright and welcoming of them and their families.”

Inderwies agreed that the work enhances Keystone House and credited Smith for her collaborative nature.

“[Smith] has an amazing artistic eye and is multitalented,” Inderwies said. “Susan’s the kind of person that can come into a room and make everyone cooperate and want to help and work with her, just because of her personality.”

In addition to her work with KeystoneCare, Smith continues to explore new avenues of creativity and adapt to change. She recently opened an Etsy store, SusanGSmithPhotos, to sell her work.

Readers of the Local can visit the SusanGSmithPhotos store on Etsy and receive 25% off their purchase from Nov. 5 to Nov. 23 with the code LOCAL25.

Maggie Dougherty can be reached at Margaret@chestnuthilllocal.com.