ValuesCrafting: Living What Matters, One Choice at a Time

Most people talk about values. Here, we talk about living them—in the moments that count and the ones no one else sees.

Values are the quiet decisions you make when life gets complicated and the right path isn’t obvious.

ValuesCrafting is a space for reflective, purpose-driven people who want to move from knowing their values… to living them with clarity, courage, and grace.

Whether you lead a team, support clients, raise a family, or simply try to be a steady presence in a noisy world, you’re always welcome here. Titles don’t matter. Integrity does.

What You’ll Find Here

You’ll find grounded guidance for:

• Navigating difficult conversations without losing your center

• Making decisions you won’t regret

• Building trust in work and life

• Acting with integrity even when the stakes are high

• Bringing your values into the small moments that shape who you are

I may not have all the answers, but I can provide real stories, clear strategies, and space to think.

Values Grounded in What Truly Works

I don’t write about values in the abstract. I’ve lived them at scale—inside a 300-employee, employee-owned company and across hundreds of client organizations.

ValuesCrafting is grounded in what truly works in real life and real workplaces:

• trust built through daily actions

• integrity shown in difficult moments

• leadership expressed through behavior, not slogans

• culture shaped one conversation at a time

These principles have shaped teams, executives, departments, and entire organizations—including the thriving, values-driven culture at TechSmith.

If I recommend it here, it’s because I’ve seen it succeed in practice. This is what people say about my work.

What I Believe About People

After four decades working with leaders, teams, and individuals, one belief sits at the heart of everything I write:

People are fundamentally trustworthy, capable, and worthy of respect — until they demonstrate otherwise.

This isn’t naïve optimism. It’s values-based leadership in practice. I’ve seen it again and again:

• People rise to high expectations.

• People contribute more when treated like thinking, choosing adults.

• People thrive when trust is the starting point — not the reward.

You can read my complete list of deeply held beliefs here.

And the opposite is painfully true:

When leaders approach their people with suspicion or cynicism, people shrink, disengage, and stop offering their best.

ValuesCrafting exists to help you build a life — and a culture — that chooses trust first.

Why I Write This

People have always shared their stories with me—colleagues, clients, strangers, friends. My late husband, Bill, called it my superpower. He believed in my quiet ability to make people feel safe, seen, and unjudged.

ValuesCrafting is an extension of that gift.

I write for people who want to live with purpose in work, relationships, and the everyday moments in between. I’ve lived through uncertainty, reinvention, deep joy, and hard loss. I know what it’s like to stand at a crossroads and try to choose well.

I offer perspective and questions worth asking. Language for what you already sense matters most. And guidance to help you live your values with confidence and steadiness.

A Bit About My Work

My writing and consulting are grounded in decades of real-world experience:

• Founder of a consulting company (1987–present)

• 2,000+ training and facilitation sessions for 100+ organizations

• Co-owner with my 300 employees, and source of the values-based culture, at TechSmith

• 25+ years writing on leadership and workplace culture (About.com, The Balance Careers)

• Featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes, The Washington Post, and hundreds more

Everything here is shaped by that work and the life Bill and I built on trust, integrity, and respect for people.

Values in Action—Proven at Scale

My work isn’t theoretical—it’s been lived and tested.

I’m not just writing about values. I’ve practiced them where they matter most.

As co-owner of TechSmith Corporation alongside our 300 employee-owners, I spent decades designing, teaching, and sustaining the values-based culture that fuels our success.

Trust. Empowerment. Curiosity. Accountability.

These weren’t posters on a wall—they were daily practices shaping how we hired, led, learned, and collaborated.

Today, TechSmith is recognized globally not just for our products, but for the strength of our culture.
A culture built on the belief that when people feel valued, trusted, and supported to grow, they create extraordinary results.

ValuesCrafting is for people who care deeply about work, about relationships, about the kind of person they’re becoming.

Want to know how others experience this work? Read more here.

If you’re here now, you already belong here.

Susan Heathfield and her late husband, Bill Hamilton, together by the water—a partnership built on shared values of integrity, compassion, and purpose.