Susanna Henighan Potter was born and raised in Tennessee. She attended Oberlin College, and soon thereafter she moved to the Virgin Islands.

Susanna began her journalism career at the BVI Beacon, a weekly newspaper based in Road Town, Tortola, where she covered everything from regattas to local trials. Later, after a stint with the Virgin Islands Daily News in St. Thomas, Susanna moved back to Tortola to edit the weekly BVI StandPoint. She also began filing reports for the Associated Press on topics ranging from international finance to the installation of the first traffic light in the British Virgin Islands.

Since 2003, Susanna has been working for the government of the Virgin Islands as a communications officer. She currently lives with her husband on Tortola.