About Suzuko

Hi, I’m Suzuko. My purpose is to live fully through expressing my True Essence and help others do the same. I help my clients to take back their own power to choose the lives they were born to live instead of being suffocated by societal pressure and expectations. It is my passion to support them in discovering their visions and aspirations, building unshakable confidence, and taking empowering actions toward their highest selves. It became my passion and purpose to share the power of coaching so people standing at the liminal moment of life can find their liberation.

What I love…

I believe in living harmoniously with natural law. Connecting with nature is my must. I love cooking, gardening, yoga, meditation, and cooking & eating nourishing food. I’m an animal and all living-thing advocate.

A recent trip to Japan reconnected my love for food. While I was going through my health issues, food became a source of pain and suffering even though I was practicing food as a medical approach. Being in a homeland where food holds a significant role as a gift from heaven, nourishment, love, and care, I was able to rebuild a safe and trusting relationship with it again. It’s a huge part of what makes me who I am. Japanese fermentation & Gluten Free baking became my way of generating creative energy that ignited my soul. I love it so much that I became a part-time pastry chef!

Why am I so passionate about my work?

After years of unsuccessfully fixing my unhappiness, I beat myself up harder with self-loathing and insecurity. I didn’t know any other way but to criticize myself harshly. I believed in others’ opinions and disapproval as truth and threw away my self-worth. When I had terrible breakups or relational conflicts at work, I went into depression and blamed myself for not being good enough. I felt disconnected from my body and couldn’t trust myself to make my own decisions any longer. I’ve learned to suppress and devalue myself since I was a little child growing up in Japan, where conformity is celebrated, and you are responsible for fulfilling your expected roles as a daughter and a model citizen.   

After graduating from college, I devoted myself to my career and relationships because I thought that made me a successful and responsible adult. I tried to check off the lists, but I just couldn’t, no matter how hard I tried. As I felt miserable and a total failure, I got a double whammy with my health issues piling up on top of my depression. The warning signs from my body were loud and clear, and I could no longer ignore them.

As I desperately tried to find the answers, I realized the conventional approach would cover up the symptoms and not cure the root causes. When I discovered Functional Medicine (FM), a scientific approach focusing on individualized care to find and treat root causes by supporting the body’s natural healing system, it finally made sense. Upbringing in a health-focused culture and a strong belief in living harmoniously with natural law, I dove in. It wasn’t easy or quick, yet I felt excited and empowered by taking charge of my decisions once again. I didn’t ignore the sign this time and listened to my body for the first time in a long time. I became an FM Certified Health Coach.

Through receiving healing modalities for myself and coaching my clients, I couldn’t help but notice the tiny voice from my True Self, “What if I’m approaching this completely wrong?” At that point, I was exhausted from implementing daily healthy habits along with protocols without seeing much improvement in the disease-free life my practitioners promised. I was depleted. One day, in a coaching session, my True Self spoke up out of the blue yet clearly and confidently. It declared that I accepted and befriended all of me, including my eczema, as a loving message from my body to show when to pay attention and how to care for myself. When the words came out of my mouth, I felt the weight in my body instantaneously lifted. That’s when my true healing began. This led me to be certified in Wayfinder Life Coaching to support clients in reconnecting with their true Selves and finding a way to their North Star.

My self-discovery journey began when I started applying the principle to my personal life under the guidance of coaches, supportive colleagues, and mentors. My life has been transformed fundamentally because of coaching, and I sincerely hope to support client’s journey to live the life they are meant to shine freely and joyfully.

Bio…

After growing up in a suburb of Tokyo, Japan, Suzuko moved to the U.S. to receive a B.S. Industrial Design at San Jose State University. She worked for an innovation-focused design consultancy for 17 years and led award-winning teams with her creativity, innate sense of design, and mentorship for fellow designers. She was known for her ability to strategize and solve complex problems with simple and elegant solutions. To pursue her newfound passion, she became a Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach from Functional Medicine Coaching Academy, followed by a certified Wayfinder Life Coach by Martha Beck in 2023. To give back, she provided a coaching program in an organization that helps underserved communities.