Suzie Young has recently proven she’s more than a digital leader, she’s a transformation architect. As Head of Digital ANZ, she’s helped shape the future of one of Australia’s most trusted health and wellness companies. With iconic brands under her belt like Inner Health Plus, Ethical Nutrients and Endura, Suzie recently led a full-scale digital transformation—replatforming both B2B and DTC channels to Shopify Plus and launching loyalty, subscriptions, and a whole new tech stack in just six months.
Having worked alongside leaders who once walked the halls of Amazon and Johnson & Johnson, Suzie brings deep experience in agile, CRM, CX and ecommerce strategy. But beyond the boardroom, she’s got strong opinions on where retail is headed, how customer expectations are evolving and the brands who are doing it right.
The New Normal? Buying Big Ticket Items Online
When asked about the weirdest thing she’s ever bought online, Suzie talked next-level normalisation of big-ticket ecommerce like tiles and couches. “If I go back five years ago, I would never have thought I’d choose the tiles for my bathroom renovation from TileCloud, which I love by the way,” said Suzie.
She also gave a shoutout to another premium online purchase that once would’ve raised eyebrows: “Buying a lounge from Koala, that’s something I never would have done before. But now it’s totally normal.”
Suzie’s buying habits are a signal to brand managers: Consumers are more confident than ever buying big-ticket purchases online.
How Harvey Norman and Strandbags Are Getting it Right
While the ecommerce spotlight often shines on startups and DTC disruptors, Suzie shines a light on two legacy retailers delivering stand-out customer experiences: Harvey Norman and Strandbags.
I purchased an outdoor setting online from Harvey Norman just before Christmas. The next morning, literally at 8:30am, I got a call from my local store saying, ‘We’ve got it in stock. Can I deliver it tomorrow morning?’ I was like, that’s amazing.
What stood out wasn’t just the speed. It was the seamless blend of online purchase and personal, local service. Suzie also gave props to Strandbags, where a last-minute change request was handled with an impressive combination of automation and human follow-up.
“I sent their customer service team an email early in the morning after placing an order, thinking it might be too late to change it to Click & Collect. But I got an AI response that was excellent. And then 30 minutes later, a real person sorted it all. Seamless,” said Suzie. It’s a timely reminder that while automation is powerful, human backup still matters.
Tech Suzie Can’t Function Without It: Trello Jira and Atlassian
For a digital leader managing cross-functional teams and complex transformation projects, it’s no surprise that Suzie’s go-to tech tools revolve around visibility and collaboration. “It’s the Atlassian suite, Trello and Jira. We’re Trello addicts in my team. We love visual workspaces and kanban boards. It’s life-changing,” said Suzie. Jira powers all the technical delivery across internal and external teams, while Trello supports planning, sprint cycles, marketing activity, and broader stakeholder engagement.
But it’s not just about having the tools. It’s about how you use them. Suzie’s team has pushed Trello to the limits. “Everyone that looks at our Trello says, ‘Okay, you guys take it to a new level,” Suzie noted. For ecommerce teams juggling launches, product cycles, and BAU comms, Suzie’s advice is clear: use tools that make visibility and ownership easy for everyone.
The Podcasts Suzie is Listening To
Suzie might lead one of the most complex digital ecosystems in Australian health retail, but even the best need a break. She’s quick to admit that her Spotify Wrapped wasn’t entirely professional, “In my Spotify Wrapped, the top three were trash and then Add To Cart was number four.”
That said, when it’s time to learn, she’s got her favourites. One standout is the Prof G Podcast with Scott Galloway:
He’s got opinions and I love it. He’s a futurist, especially around AI, and he really helps you think differently.
Suzie’s mix of guilty pleasure podcasts and sharp thinking shows that staying curious is what keeps great digital leaders ahead of the game.
The Constant Push-Pull: Speed vs. Foundations
Suzie’s biggest challenge today? It’s one most ecommerce and digital leaders will relate to deeply: how do you balance delivering fast results with building the right long-term foundations? Suzie admitted her biggest challenge is, “finding the balance between moving quickly with things I know will drive revenue, but also taking the time to properly invest in foundational projects that we’ll need in the future.”
As she explained, Metagenics is on a journey from a traditional, B2B practitioner-first business to a modern digital brand. That comes with infrastructure gaps, data challenges, and a constant need to upskill teams: without slowing down. “To become a digital-first, modern ecommerce business, we need stronger data structures, better platform integration… all the things under the hood that people don’t see, but that power growth,” said Suzie. It goes to show that while short-term wins are important, they can’t come at the expense of scalability and sustainability.
You Can Be Legacy and Still Move Like a Startup
Suzie Young’s Checkout conversation reinforces what we saw in the main episode: transformation isn’t just about platforms or performance. It’s about mindset. She’s proof that traditional businesses can move at startup speed: if they have the right team, the right tools, and the right leadership.
The Checkout is a short snippet of our conversations.
