SUZANNE YU | CPMagazine | BusinessWoman

You are a medical doctor, with a PhD, a currently practicing anesthesiologist in New York City and you just became an Executive Producer and investor of a Hollywood Movie. "The Comeback Trail" stars 3 Oscar winning actors, Robert Deniro, Tommy Lee Jones, and Morgan Freeman, ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9aJATnSseo ).

Tell me about your background. Did you envision your success from a young age? I was born in a very large city, the city of ShenYang, China, during the cultural revolution. This was a time when my father was a politician and my mother was a medical doctor. During a horrific turbulent time in China’s history, my father’s political views did not agree with the communist party. He was forced to step down from his position as a result of his opposition, then was punished for his anti-cultural revolution view. A traumatic, yet hardening scene in my life was when my father was tortured and beaten, in front of us. After these events, my whole family was exiled to a remote farm far away from the big city, to get re-educated by peasants. My mother would work in the village, forced to treat patients who suffered from a variety of medical conditions. At age 3, I couldn't understand what was happening to my family, I was a happy child dreaming of a good life ahead of me. But soon I sensed the darkness around me, I could feel the people's anger towards me: I was singled out as a bad child, from a bad family, by teachers and students who knew who my parents were, and this all began when I started elementary school. Even though l studied well and was always at the head of my class, I was never granted an award when the other students were receiving theirs. My passion for the arts was immense, even at a young age I was very competitive by nature and my dream was to be an artist. By the time I was 13, the culture revolution was finished and China started to reform. Finally, the government admitted the punishment for my father and my family was wrong, the exile was overturned. My father was given his honor back, but he never got to see or hear, because he had passed away in his sleep a few months earlier.

Our family was allowed to move back to the city of ShenYang. Soon after, my mother asked me to sit down and said that we needed to talk. She told me she was very concerned about my future and she asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I told her I wanted to be an artist. She held my hand and said It would be too risky to be an artist in China, that I was a brilliant child and should not waste my education or potential. She wanted me to be a doctor, like herself, so that I could always take care of myself. I looked into my mother‘s eyes and I realized this would be my mother’s decision for me for the rest of my life. I love my mother and I understand she’s always wanted the best for me, and being a doctor was the best for me in her eyes. At age of 16, I was accepted into China Medical University and proceeded to graduate with a medical degree.

What drove your desire to immigrate to America ? I have always aspired to live the American Dream and to be free in such a beautiful place like America. Freedom has always been a strong desire that drove me, especially during and after a turbulent 10 years of my life, surviving the Cultural Revolution in China. After graduating from China Medical University, I was accepted to go abroad to graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 1988, I moved to America, to study further for a Ph-D in Clinical Nutrition and Oncology. At first I was barely speaking English, but due to the hard work I put in daily on my speech literacy I was able to become capable of achievement in school in America. Within the first in 3 and 1/2 years, I received a Ph.D degree, and graduated from UW-Madison. I published 11 scientific articles on antioxidants and cancer cardiovascular disease in the duration of my research, and became a published author in a variety of science journals. Despite my success in my studies, my promise to my mother was still to become a medical doctor like her, and to have a medical practice in America.

I challenged myself once again, studying hard and within a year I was able to pass all the licensing exams, and move to New York City to start my residency. I began to study at NYU Medical Center, and this experience consisted of the first time I felt discriminated because of my race. The chairmen of the department told me in the beginning of my career that I would never become an American, even if I was the top of my class. In his eyes, I was just a stereotypical Asian woman. I was expected to be well behaved and quiet, totally submissive, and to never speak or ask questions about anything. How did you become the CEO of your own company? After graduating from residency training to become an anesthesiologist, I became an assistant professor and an attending physician, at the New York Medical College at Metropolitan Hospital in Manhattan. I started teaching medical students and residents. I became well-liked among the other students and residents, and what I learned from my training, is that I know how to inspire others. I remembered on the day of their graduation, from our medical school, a few of the medical students came to me saying thank you. I felt very humbled and proud of my work with them. After a year of being the attending physician, my desire to go further to do what I am capable of, which was being my own boss and generating a big company and running my own staff, grew unbearably. I quit working in the hospital, even though I would miss my teaching experience, and I started my first business as an independent practice of anesthesiologists group. I would provide anesthesia services throughout New York State, Manhattan, Queens, Westchester, Brooklyn, Yorkers, Long Island, and my business grew very quickly because of my reputation. The rising success of my company has been very emotional and financially rewarding.

You commented a while ago that you would like to inspire people, make them believe in the success of their ideas and projects. Don't you think that, somehow, you are doing it with your own example? During the year of teaching medical students, I have inspired many medical students to be optimistic about what they can do in their life and many of them became anesthesiologists.

What is the most you sacrificed to fulfill your dreams? In order to be what you want to be in life, there is always a price to pay. I have sacrificed having a child and motherhood for my career, since I would have to be very focused on what I wanted in my life - which was to be the best doctor!

What do you do on your down time? I'm an Art Collector and feel very passionate about my collection. I take Dance and Art classes and I'm planning to study acting.

You never never.

thought about abandoning

Whats Next? I'm Executive Producer on a film that starts shooting in the Spring "Mick and the Trick" https://m.imdb.com/title/tt10228618/?ref_=nv_s r_srsg_0 and I have a role in the film as talent. I'm also producing a documentary with Kenneth Simmons called The Rise-Americas Unsung Heros" Cool Hand Luke Productions.

Checkout "The Comeback Trail" it will hit theaters soon! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9aJATnSseo . https://m.imdb.com/title/tt5420210/

Checkout my website www.suzanneyu.com Facebook https://www.facebook.com/suzanne.yu. 79 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sgyu2004 /?igshid=1pv64l4nabph