The last 12 months have seen huge changes for Suzanne Jackson. The founder and face (literally) of SoSu brands made the bold decision to step down as CEO at the end of last year to pursue more creative roles and engage with her audience.
As one of the dazzling contestants on this season of Dancing with the Stars, it's fair to say she's achieving exactly that.
The entrepreneur and influencer burst onto the dance floor last week in an even more glamorous get-up, but as she told RTÉ Lifestyle, she's still going to be her toughest critic. "I'm an absolute perfectionist so for me, I didn't do my best. I feel there's definitely many elements of that dance that I could have improved on, but that's just the way I am as a person."
Jackson came to the show in a roundabout way, she says, after her agent contacted the production company to screentest for the presenter role. Doireann Garrihy had already been chosen as the new co-host, but Jackson was asked to be a dancer.
"We've discussed it over the years and I just said, you know what, feck it, why not? I've just obviously recruited my CEO, Caroline Dalton. She started in the October and then it kind of relieved me, and I just kind of thought the timing was right for me. I'm quite an obsessive person, so I need something to go full steam towards, and this is my new challenge."
She said it was all part of her new career focus: "This is about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. Also opening myself up, I suppose, a little bit more to my followers.
"This is very a vulnerable place to be in. And they're going to get to see an emotional side to me, which I don't think I've really revealed before. But that's part of the fun and the whole journey."
Of course, Jackson is bringing the same attention to detail that she brought to her makeup business to the show, as she calls herself the "ultimate workaholic". "I want to go and train now for next week. But, yeah, that's just the way I am. It's a good and a bad thing because I don't switch off."
Despite her nerves being "at an all time high the last three days", mere minutes after coming off stage her thoughts were still on getting "home, have a hot shower, have a domino's, and then meet Mike at 07:00am to start our waltz for next week".
Her pro dancer Michael agrees that she's highly dedicated, pushing for eight to 10 hour training days, but Jackson shrugs it off, pinning it down as something of a necessity. "I'm stiff. I've been very stiff.
"I done a bit of Irish dancing years ago and that's all straight posture, elbows back. I'm very stiff and straight so to get into samba and get the hips and shoulders moving, which I found almost impossible, you really need to do that every single day to get to a stage of whatever I did right there on the screen.
"I bet it's not even half as much as I thought I was doing because I'm still like a pencil going around the floor!"
Jackson certainly didn't look it on the dance floor that first night, and she told RTÉ Lifestyle that she's soaking up the glitz. "I'm certainly no stranger to glam, but I'm loving stepping into a new character. I've never had my hair crimped like this before!
"But it's only one part of it. You don't even think about it when you're trying to go over your steps in your head and make sure you're bringing the sass."
Although Jackson's Instagram is filled with sultry, seductive and vampy glamour photos and videos, the influencer says she still struggles to bring that onto the dance floor. "When you're watching it on TV it looks so easy but it's actually really difficult. I suppose you're shy, you don't want to come across too cocky either. I'm such a thinker and when I'm thinking the face automatically goes quite straight and plain.
"I can do [sultry] in front of the camera on my own with my makeup artist and my hairdresser there, but not for an audience of people. And also, I'm not like a cocky person by nature. There's a shy side to me.
"And then you've got to learn the steps. Remember the steps. Posture, arms, feet, hands, eye contact, sass. It's like my brain. I bullied my brain the last three weeks."
Coming down off the energy of DWTS each week is a challenge in itself, especially for a go-getter like Jackson.
"I always think everything is the result of the work you put in. I'm not a talented dancer, neither are any of the celebs so in order to look even half as good as we did tonight, that takes a lot of work and a lot of effort and a lot of commitment. No one's going to sign up for this show unless they're going to be committed."
There's a real fire of competitiveness in Jackson already, which she's upfront about: "Of course I'd love to win, who wouldn't? But at the same time, I've already won in my eyes because I've entered this. I've pushed myself out of my comfort zone and I feel like I've done a good job in my samba, even though I know I could have corrected a lot of things."
She's also taken the reigns on creating a community among the celebs, having started a WhatsApp group for the contestants to help them feel "like a team and a home because that's what it's all about. We don't want to feel like we're competing but at the same time it's competition but it's a bit of craic as well".
Watch Dancing with the Stars on Sundays at 6:30pm on RTÉ One.
Video interview by Sínann Fetherston.
