Suzy Batiz is a relentless entrepreneur. She's launched a tanning salon, bridal shop, clothing boutique, and recruitment startup. She's rocked jeweled tracksuits and designed denim high heels. At one point, she even sold lingerie by having her then-boyfriend distribute catalogs at strip clubs. “It was a really good business for a few months,” she recalls. “Until the bar owner—who had three fingers missing—called my boyfriend into his office and demanded, ‘Where’s my cut?’”
Batiz, now 55, knows entrepreneurial struggle intimately. Numerous ventures failed, and she filed for bankruptcy twice. Deep soul-searching revealed her money obsession as the culprit. “I always thought money would get me out of every situation,” she shares. “I believed I’d be loved and appreciated if I just had enough.”
Fast forward to 2005. After vowing never to start another business, Batiz had just ended a four-year spiritual sabbatical. At a dinner party, her brother-in-law asked, “Can bathroom odors be trapped?” She lit up, drawing on her essential oils knowledge to envision a spray that seals odors beneath toilet water. “I felt a zing on my left arm and leg,” she says. “The lights got brighter—I knew I could do this.” And so Poo-Pourri was born.
What began as a dinner-party epiphany grew into a $400 million brand. Batiz boasts an estimated $240 million net worth, tying with Reese Witherspoon on Forbes' 2019 list of America's richest self-made women. She resides in a stunning 15,000-square-foot church-turned-mansion in Dallas. With her wavy blonde hair and infectious smile, she credits success to an internal shift. “Success is an inside job,” she insists. “Nothing external satisfies. It’s about feeling rich within.”
Batiz’s path was grueling. Raised in Arkansas by struggling parents who did “good, bad, crazy, and weird things,” her home was deeply dysfunctional. Her father was a bipolar alcoholic; her mother battled painkiller addiction. After their divorce, her stepfather abused her. Married young, bankrupt, and divorced after 20 years, she attempted suicide at 21, entered an abusive marriage at 23, became homeless with two kids, then remarried.
“It’s like skiing a double black diamond and losing a ski halfway up,” she says. “I was always clawing out of some hole.” Hustling until 38, a second bankruptcy plunged her into depression. “Without my kids and family, I might’ve tried suicide again,” she admits. “I was done—with business, with life.”
Yet she’s grateful for that rock bottom. “We rarely get to a full stop,” she reflects. “It let me face myself.” Today, she exudes calm confidence. “I’ve done serious personal work these past 15 years,” she laughs.
Post-sabbatical, Batiz found inner happiness—business be damned. Then came that pivotal dinner. A lifelong essential oils enthusiast, she experimented relentlessly. “It took nine months. No one believed in it; they thought I was nuts. But I felt it.”
Poo-Pourri: Spray before use to form a film trapping odors underwater. Iterating formulas, she enlisted her then-husband and friends for testing. “He emerged yelling, ‘We’re millionaires! That works!’” Excitement soared. A basic website launched; samples spread via friends. First sale: a Dallas gift shop. Word-of-mouth exploded. “We hit $1 million in year one.”
Thirteen years on, Poo-Pourri graces Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, and online shelves, with over $300 million in sales.
Poo-Pourri’s fame stems from viral videos amassing 350 million YouTube views. Facing copycats in 2013, Batiz pivoted to bold marketing. “Girls Don’t Poop,” starring a prim redhead in a turquoise dress burying her “secret... at sea,” racked up 42 million views. Inventory sold out; backorders hit $4 million.
“Suzy chooses what lights her up,” says Nicole Story Dent, SVP of Creative. “It builds the brand authentically.” Batiz prizes normalizing poop talk most. A 65-year-old lawyer once shared his story mid-flight: “I can’t believe I’m discussing my poo!” Poo-Pourri sparked that shift via humor, from poop emojis to open chatter.
“Suzy tackles taboos with ease,” notes friend Gillian Ferrabee of Kite Parade. “She never slows down.”
Self-care anchors Batiz’s high-octane life: weekly therapy, spiritual coaching, three-hour massages, IV infusions, daily exercise, meditation, nutritionist oversight, even Reiki. “It’s hygiene against burnout,” she says.
Spotting herself on Forbes with Witherspoon, Rihanna, Jenner stunned her. Friend’s song “Girl Goin’ Nowhere” hit hard: “Where they said I’d never be is exactly where I am.” Sobbing on her kitchen floor, she realized breaking generational poverty. “My wish: Show anyone can craft their dream life.”
By Jamie Friedlander, Chicago-based freelance writer and former SUCCESS magazine editor. Featured in La Coupe, VICE, Inc., The Chicago Tribune, Business Insider. Catch her sipping matcha, traveling, or Etsy surfing.
Jamie Friedlander - 4 things I learned from keeping weekly lists
Jamie Friedlander - Why Randi Zuckerberg put Workday on hold to pursue passion
Jamie Friedlander - 10 Ways Your Name Affects Your Life
Jamie Friedlander - Time is money: What is 1 hour really worth to you?
