North Bay Woman

24 NORTH BAY WOMAN F A L L 2 0 2 0 different body types, the things they like to do, such as travel, and entertain. She caters to "mature women who have their own sense of style and are comfortable in their own skin, but don't want to dress like an old lady or a trendy young girl." But she didn't start out to be in the retail business; she actually was in the middle of graduate school, studying pharmacology, when she decided to follow her heart and her American dream. "In America, the pursuit of anything is possible, including the pursuit of happiness, no matter where you came from and how little you started with," she says on one of her blogs (shunzi.net/blogs). In her blogs that she started during the pandemic, Che reflects on her feelings of how life has changed dramatically for her. She was a Korean born and raised in China after her parents had to flee their home country. She says it was her feeling of freedom, here in the United States, that gave her the courage to leave grad school, starting FIDM at age 30, in San Francisco. There she learned about fashion from the ground up. She says understanding her customers, a solid understanding of fashion, which includes the nature of the materials, the construction and the fit of the garment, and the effect of different colors on people, plus the ability to merchandise properly, are essential to making a fashion boutique successful. So is time, and Che feels that she can no longer successfully spread her time between two stores and her family, especially now that it is important to have an online presence during the pandemic. Che is saying goodbye to her Petaluma store, after 18 years in business. It's not so much a victim of COVID-19, as it is about a shift in priorities. That day she forgot the appointment with her customer made her realize that life changes and "dreams evolve," especially when balancing a family with a business. When she started out, she wanted to open as many stores as possible. Now, she wants to know all of her customer's names, and be in the store to pull those interesting pieces for them. Customers have reached out during the shutdowns and asked if they could buy gift cards for themselves and for friends, to help her through these tough times. She says she has been overwhelmed by the support. "Getting to know my customers and being inspired by them has become something I cherish. I want to have just one store and run it perfectly, as perfectly as possible, calmly and elegantly." She told me she wants to run her business with ease. Ease, which by the way, is the Korean translation of her name, Shunzi. n Above: Che says: "This area, to me, is a happy and colorful painting composed of the vivid colors of this fall. I have desires to be a painter, whose paint brushes and their strokes can inspire powerful imaginations. Creating appealing visual presentations is such a joy, and for now my store is my canvas; Below: Che pictured as a graduate student in Salt Lake City, studying pharmacology. It's here that Che fell in love with nature and the outdoor activities. – Photos by and courtesy of Shunzi Che

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