Her family lost almost all of their possessions in the war when she was a very small child and hidden in a Russian orphanage. But her father and older sister, who raised her for most of her childhood, prioritized her education and exposure to literature, history, art, and music. Those remained her passions throughout her life.
She was a teenage radio show host and producer in Brazil when she decided to immigrate to the United States, with just a few dollars in her pocket. She moved to Los Angeles for a better chance to earn and send money to her family, including four younger siblings. While learning to speak English, she went to beauty school and finished top of her class. She was quickly scooped up by a top salon in Beverly Hills.
In 1972, Suki, her husband, and their two young sons moved to Vancouver. She persevered and thrived through the many challenges faced by a woman of color in the seventies leading a startup business while raising her children. Motivated by the discrimination she faced, Suki built her salon on values of excellence, diversity, and inclusion. Suki’s quickly became the top salon in the city and, aided by the development of a first-class artistic team that toured the world, the salon earned its reputation as one of the best in the world.
Among the many awards Suki has won over her life are the YWCA’s Woman of the Year Award in the Entrepreneur Category, the Sans Bias Lifetime Achievement Award (Intercoiffure), and the 2020 Nikkei Community & Business Excellence Lifetime Achievement Award. But her proudest accomplishments are her children and grandchildren and the love they have for her and for each other.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIOCOMPARTA
v.1.12.1