{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Harder Than It Looks: Parking Uncovered","title":"EP 46: The Night Everything Changed – Susan Cole’s Story of Grit & Reinvention","html":"<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https://share.transistor.fm/e/1a8158f5\"></iframe>","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3044,"description":"In this episode of Harder Than It Looks, host Brian Wolff sits down with Susan Cole, Founder & CEO of Cole Ticket Solutions (CTS) – a woman-owned business reshaping consumables, automation, and supply chain efficiency across the parking industry.One night at 3 a.m., overwhelmed and searching for answers, Susan pressed play on an episode of this podcast featuring SBA lending expert Sue Malone. What she heard changed everything. That moment set her on a path to secure SBA funding, grow CTS, and redefine what’s possible in credentialing and consumables for airports, municipalities, universities, manufacturers, and operators nationwide.Her story is one of grit, reinvention, technical ingenuity, and unwavering resilience. From her early career in Spain to building CTS during the pandemic to pioneering Cole Cube – an automated on-site supply solution – Susan takes us inside the innovations and mindset that fuel her success.Key TakeawaysA single moment can change the trajectory of a business.Susan’s 3 a.m. discovery of Sue Malone sparked the SBA funding journey that kept CTS alive and growing.Consumables aren’t commodities – they’re a service.Susan explains how CTS reframes tickets and credentials as an ongoing service model, not a one-off product.Innovation is born from necessity.Cole Cube, her automated on-site ticket supply room, was created to solve supply chain chaos during the pandemic.Relationships built over decades matter.Susan credits much of CTS’s early success to the trust she developed throughout her 20 years in parking.Persistence and patience are powerful business tools.Her path through fear, self-doubt, and uncertainty shows what happens when you refuse to give up.Episode Highlights[00:00:21] Brian opens with the story of how Susan found the Sue Malone episode in the middle of the night.[01:31] Susan begins her story – from Spain to software to an unexpected entry into parking.[02:27] How a headhunter, a misspelled “Azusa,” and a manufacturer changed her...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/Y0XKm5qIfx5wu96cc17w73uLDJ9g38v-oi18WqKq6hY/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8zYmYx/ZTU1ZWMyZTdhMzFj/M2VkYTBmNjY5MWYw/NTQ3Ny5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}