SUZANN (“Suzie”) PILEGGI PAWELSKI is a well-being consultant, author, and coach specializing in the science of happiness and its effects on relationships, health, and performance. Her Scientific American Mind cover story, “The Happy Couple,” was the catalyst for Happy Together: Using the Science of Positive Psychology to Build Love That Lasts (Penguin Random House), the best-selling book she wrote with her husband, James. Happy Together was named a best book of 2018 by Business Insider, Success magazine, and The Greater Good Science Center.
Suzie pens a popular blog on well-being for Psychology Today that has garnered more than 1 million reads to date. Her writing and work have been featured in numerous top-tier media including CNN, Larry King Now, Time magazine, Oprah magazine, NPR, the Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, and the (London) Times.
Suzie is especially passionate about supporting the well-being of today’s youth, which has led her to lecture at elementary schools, high schools, and colleges and universities, where she provides practical tools and strategies to help young people thrive. In her role as the well-being chair of Philadelphia International FC, she leads mental fitness trainings for coaches and players. She was thrilled to speak at the Philadelphia Union Foundation’s inaugural Mental Fitness Forum in 2024 and was honored to be invited back to moderate the 2025 Forum.
Additionally, she gives keynotes and sold-out Relationship Gym ™ workshops around the world with her husband, James. Together, Suzie and James developed several highly-rated positive psychology courses for the general public including one for “Wondrium” (formerly “The Great Courses Plus”), and another for Coursera that more than 50,000 people have already taken. Their latest project, the Audible Original “Love in Your Golden Years,” was recently recorded and will be released on September, 25, 2025.
Previously, Suzie directed award-winning media relations campaigns for Fortune 500 companies at the New York City headquarters of two top global public relations firms: Weber Shandwick Worldwide, where she was a vice-president, and Burson-Marsteller, where she received back-to-back media practice awards for her national placements. Earlier in her career, she worked in publicity at Radio City Music Hall and as an associate producer for HBO Downtown Productions and The Joan Rivers Show, where she liaised with leading publishing houses to feature top health and medical authors on the Emmy Award-winning program.
Suzie has a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and a Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) degree from the University of Pennsylvania and is a graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She uses her certification in health coaching to help people make better food and lifestyle choices. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband, James, and their son, Liam. Raising Liam is her greatest joy and proudest accomplishment.
