In just 10 years, the registered nurse has created a multimillion dollar business in her Clear Complexions skin care clinics, all with the support of her childhood sweetheart, husband Alex, and their extended family in the national capital.

The couple, who both grew up in south Canberra and have been together since Suzie was 13 and Alex was 15, when they met at a Marist College disco, are the definition of self-made.

"I have pinch-myself moments all the time," she said.

"And you reflect a little bit when you turn 40. The number is irrelevant but you do stop and think, 'How bloody lucky am I?'."

But it's not just luck. The rise of her company has been about risk, belief – and a little thing called charisma.

In a similar way to fitness mogul Michelle Bridges, it's also the force of Suzie's personality that has shaped the business, whether it's talking directly to clients or across the industry.

"If you go to a conference with her, she is like a rock star. Everybody is sort of grabbing her for that little bit of gold that she can give them," Alex said.

And the sky is the limit. The couple is planning to take the clinics Australia-wide, with already three in Canberra, two in Sydney and a sixth opening in Woden in July. They have 40 employees – light years from 2005 when the first clinic opened in Belconnen staffed just by Suzie and her sister-in-law Lisa Pateman, a fellow nurse and Alex's sister.

Alex, a former plumber, focuses on strategy and marketing for the company. Suzie has been the boss since the company started but only this year handed over the reins to new chief executive officer Ramon Castillo to focus more on education and training and working again with clients, candid about the fact she felt someone else could do the CEO role better.

"The potential for the business is incredibly exciting," she said.

Suzie, both diminutive and formidable, went searching for new answers for skin care after suffering acne as a teenager and adult, and then, later, hormonal pigmentation as the result of her pregnancies.

She spent her teenage years hiding behind thick makeup and says the impact poor skin can have on self-esteem can't be overstated.

"It can take away your ability to take hold of life generally, and that's not nice."

After studying at the University of Canberra and nursing at the Canberra Hospital, Suzie worked with a cosmetic surgeon and then took the plunge to open her own business, convinced light-based therapies to treat poor skin was a better alternative to surgery.

The clinics treat clients with everyday skin conditions such as sun damage, rosacea, acne and wrinkles, with technology ranging from peels, to Intense Pulsed Light, through to fractionated lasers. Suzie remembers her first IPL machine arriving 15 years ago, even then costing $70,000; quickly enforcing that her career change had suddenly become very real.

In the early days, Suzie and Lisa started doing information nights in homes to spread the word about the technology before opening their first clinic – and the response from clients was immediate.

"Alex would literally bring the girls in to say good night because we were working to eight, nine at night because of the demand. And when that's happening you don't want to let it go. It was just an exciting ride we were on and still are," she said.

Suzie says they got through that period with the help of family. Today their girls, Gracie, 17, and Ellie, 14, are both elite young triathletes (Ellie is No.1 in Australia in her age group and Gracie is top five). The girls have encouraged their parents into the sport and it's that time together they treasure. Both parents were this week named in an Australian team to compete in Chicago in September. The sport was about "adding another layer of challenge".

"It was so out of my comfort realm," Suzie said. "I could easily stand up and talk to any number of people, and even business fears are nothing compared to standing on the shore in front of open water when I'm not a big swimmer."

Raising teenage daughters has its own challenges but one thing Suzie is very clear on is her business is not about chasing some beauty ideal – and it's a message she wants her daughters to hear.

"It's not about vanity, it's not about cosmetics, it's not even about beauty for us. We don't use any of those words in here. It's about confidence, it's about empowerment, it's about positivity, it's about self-esteem."

Adelaide-born Suzie is the second child of former army colonel Brooke Thorpe and his wife, retired nurse Jacqueline. They settled in Canberra in 1989. She and Alex spend half a week in Sydney and are often asked if they will move there. It's an emphatic 'no'. They have a home in exclusive Forrest but were just as happy in Amaroo, moving southside to be closer to the girls' training facilities.

"Canberra's 100 per cent home," she said.

It's when speaking about the magazine she also publishes, Inner Confidence, which portrays well-known people with all their humanity and vulnerabilities and the power of their self-belief that Suzie's mantra probably becomes most clear.

"Certainly when I read their stories, I think, 'Right, shoulders back, get out there and have a go and stop being a sook'," she said, with a laugh.