Sussman's career started in the offices of Charles and Ray Eames, where she worked as an office designer beginning around 1953. She spent about 10 years with the Eameses and became art director for the office, designing print materials, museum exhibits, films, and showrooms for furniture. She designed instructions for the card construction game "House of Cards" and traveled to Mexico to document folk culture for the Eameses' 1957 film "Day of the Dead".
Sussman started her own practice in 1968. She met architect and urban planner Paul Prejza in 1972 and married him that year. Sussman and Prejza formed the firm Sussman/Prejza & Co. in 1980. They specialized in urban branding and designed the look and architectural landscape of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
