Susan Jacobs
Founder and CEO

Susan Jacobs, the Founder and CEO, created Wheels of Success because she knows from personal experience what it is like not to have a car. Several years ago, she summoned the courage to walk out of an abusive relationship with no car, no job and no place to live. "I know that I was one of the lucky ones," she says. "My mother gave me a gas card and told me I'd always have gas once I got a car." Susan was able to get that car through an acquaintance, at a Buy Here Pay Here lot. The owner told her he'd give her the "use of a car until it breaks down."

She realizes that she was fortunate to have a car, albeit a "clunker"; a gas card; and most of all, to have a mother who has always been her role model. Her mother, Bessie Jacobs, has helped others despite her own physical handicap. To this day, Bessie, at 88, still works actively for the City of Hope in Ft. Lauderdale.

Making Wheels of Success a family affair, Susan's daughter, Heather Steinfeld, 27, also is actively involved in the organization, utilizing her human resources background to advise on employees' needs and transportation-related problems that arise.

Susan knows that not everyone is as fortunate as she has been to have family or people willing to help for no pay. "My dream is to make Wheels of Success be that 'someone' for people not as lucky as I was," she says. "Unfortunate circumstances may befall any of us, setting us back temporarily. Wheels of Success can give them the gas to make it to the next station."

Susan's love of networking and bringing people together in win/win relationships has enabled her to get this organization off the ground, complemented by the efforts of many others who believe in the vision of assisting low- to middle-income working families to gain or keep jobs they might otherwise lose due to transportation issues. Susan's idea crystallized in February 2003, and by June 2003, she had incorporated and appointed a Board of Directors.

Susan's background includes running a staffing agency and owning and operating four clothing stores in the area. She also served on the Board of Directors for Dress for Success Tampa Bay for four years. Those business skills have given her a knack for networking and team building for success. While running a staffing agency specializing in the hospitality industry and low-level clerical positions, Susan realized that you can dress a person to interview for a job, help them write a resume, and even find them a job, but if they cannot get to that job, both the employee and the employer lose. Her vision for Wheels of Success was borne of that frustration.

Susan graduated from the University of Florida with a double major in Psychology and Sociology. She was a member of the University of Florida Hall of Fame, Who's Who in American Colleges, and Universities and Phi Beta Kappa.

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If you are interested in being considered for a Board position,
contact: info@wheelsofsuccess.org