The Most Powerful Business Leaders in Arizona for 2025 includes Susan Anable, Phoenix market vice president, Cox Communications. Meet her here.
Background: Anable has been with Cox in various roles since 2001. Prior to joining Cox, Anable spent 10 years on the Arizona State Senate research staff, serving as staff director and Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment analyst.
Secret to success: “I was raised in a family where gender and career limitations weren’t a thing. Accountability and integrity were strong values growing up and I try to live by those today. I’m not afraid to admit mistakes — and I admire leaders who do the same. Mistakes are opportunities to grow.”
Adaptability: “Technology has been the catalyst for a lot of the change—business operations, workforce, customer needs. Being good at navigating high change has helped. Before Cox, I worked at the Arizona Legislature. Every day brought a new challenge, whether it was policy or process-related. Being fueled by change and challenge has helped me stay relevant in a fast-changing industry.”
Source of pride: “Mid-career, we challenged outdated local licensing that burdened our customers with unnecessary costs. We had a public disagreement with a city, then went to the legislature and passed the Cable Customer Tax Relief Act. It reduced customer bills by 5–7%. I’m proud we modernized the law and helped our customers.”
Evolution of leadership style: “I’ve had to learn how to lead people from different generations and backgrounds. It’s made me think differently about how I grow and help others grow. I try to embrace new technology, even though I’m old school about some things. But I believe in learning from younger generations and staying open-minded. Leaders have to be lifelong learners.”
Arizona outlook: “There’s tremendous opportunity — especially in high-tech manufacturing, chips, data centers and AI. Arizona’s climate, location and economic environment are ideal. But we need to be mindful of limited resources—power, water, land, housing. Those will be the challenges we have to navigate. Still, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
