Variety, as they say, is the spice of life.

For Suzanne Jolly, an avid motorcycle rider and social media marketing instructor with Continuing Studies at UVic, variety fuels her passions and talents. "I was riding motorbikes in the backcountry before it was cool," she laughs, reflecting on her past.

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Suzanne’s diverse career has opened doors in many industries, where she gets to turn her creative ideas into reality. Recently, Suzanne fulfilled a long-standing dream of not only a motorcycle adventure but also directing and starring in her own film, A Wilder Way.

The documentary, which premiered internationally at the Toronto Motorcycle Film Festival in the fall, follows Suzanne and three female riders on an epic motorcycle journey through a remote area, accessible only by boat, along British Columbia’s west coast.

The four have never ridden together before, but they all ride the same adventure motorcycles. Starting in Campbell River, the group travels across the waters by boat, with their motorcycles and gear, to a remote area of Loughborough Inlet before navigating the wilderness and its surprises.

For Suzanne, filmmaking is more than just a craft. "Filmmaking brings people together in a community," she says. "I’m always looking for stories that challenge us to reconsider how we see things."

Her approach to filmmaking, which she ties to education, brings a unique perspective to her role as an instructor. After years of honing her skills and working at post-secondary institutions, Suzanne discovered that creating videos can be a "sneaky" form of education.

"It’s a different form of video communication in social media marketing versus filmmaking," she explains. "I always mention at the beginning of term that some assignments can be adapted."

For example, some students submit reels or short videos, while others modify the direction of their assignment to align with the company or organization they work for. Suzanne’s social media marketing course attracts learners from a wide range of backgrounds, from working professionals to a student from the Philippines managing the marketing for their small, family-run business.

"Even if we switch to using new platforms tomorrow, everyone’s using the same type of marketing funnel so developing content will still be applicable."

Suzanne also owns and runs Jolly Good Multimedia, a commercial video production and digital marketing company that helps nonprofit organizations and small businesses. Teaching and running a small business, she says, go hand in hand. "Being a small business owner helps me stay current with social media marketing, which is always changing and makes me a better teacher."

One of her goals, as an instructor and filmmaker, is to create a better world by challenging stereotypes and sharing meaningful stories. In A Wilder Way, for example, Suzanne reflects on her own experience of living with the impacts of a head injury and the societal perceptions that women face while adventuring solo in the backcountry.

"It's often viewed in society that we're not supposed to do things solo, or that we should be scared in the wilderness," she shares. "But with preparation and the right skill sets, it's just like any other activity."

"Because of my experience with accessibility and inclusion work in post-secondary education, it's really important to me to bring these elements into filmmaking," she notes. "Documentary filmmaking, for me, is a form of education. It helps us see the world in new ways and to think differently about the stories we tell."

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Suzanne Jolly has been helping students learn in and outside of the classroom in post-secondary institutions in Canada and the US for over 20 years.  She holds a graduate degree in Education from the University of Vermont in Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Simon Fraser University.  

• Posted December 24, 2024