Issue link: http://www.wacmagazine.com/i/1535304
34 WAC Magazine | wac.net ance. One magical week later, and the couple never looked back. Less than a year aer they first met, they wed. It was December of 1998. Robert eventually returned to the States, and Suzana applied for a visa. She was devastated when immigration said it would take two years to process. Dull bureaucracy wasn't stopping Robert, who pled his case to former U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton of Washington. Two days later, Suzana received a long-distance call from Gorton's office instructing her to the embassy in Zagreb. Her visa was ready. Suzana landed at SeaTac on a Wednes- day in July of 1999. By that Friday, she was ready to work. Robert's mom, Diana, secured her a front-desk position at a local spa. "By the time I got over my jet lag I was working," she says. "I've never looked back." e spa industry took Suzana, Robert, and young daughter Maddy to San Jose, California, in 2006. ere, Suzana opened the region for InSpa, a Kirkland-based chain of day spas. en came the Great Recession and housing market crash of 2008. Suzana and Robert both lost work, and the family returned to Seattle. "We were starting over, so I decided to go back to school," Suzana says. With two years of college already complet- ed, she returned to the classroom and finished her Global Studies degree at the University of Washington just over a year later. Shortly aerward, she started as manager of the Spa at the WAC. It was early 2011. A few years later, she met Sen. Gorton at an event taking place at the Club. "at was great," she says. "It really brought things full circle." At the WAC Following a brief stint away from the WAC, Suzana was hired back as As- sistant to the CEO in late 2015 and promoted to Director of Wellness & Enterprise Systems a year later. "Suza- na stood out among an exceptionally well-qualified pool of candidates," says WAC Chairman Elect Arnie Willig, who sat on the CEO Search Committee. She had turned the spa around in less than a year, and soon aerward the North American Association of Club Athletic Directors gave the Spa at the WAC its Spa of the Year Award. "ere's always room for growth," says Suzana, who earned her MBA from UW while leading the spa. "Suzana holds herself to a high stan- dard and expects the same of those she leads," WAC Vice President of Human Resources Wendall Smith says. "She could teach a master class on service. Her business acumen is unparalleled, and her care for members and team members is unmatched." In late 2020, as the WAC began to exit the pandemic, Suzana rose to Vice President of Business Excellence & Development, a position she held until being hired as President & CEO. "Her decisive leadership, having the respect of her colleagues, her forward- thinking vision for the WAC's future, and her genuine commitment to the WAC's mission all made her the clear frontrunner for CEO," Arnie says. "e WAC will be in good hands for years to come with Suzana at the helm." roughout her WAC career, Suzana and Robert raised Madelynn, now 21, and Ella, 16. "We've always been close," Suzana says, and it's easy to see during a recent Sunday on the Seattle waterfront. e family is at Pike Place Market, doing one of their favorite things—playing tourist. Flowers for Suzana, lavender cider for the girls, and chowder for dad. e family lives in Bothell, and Suzana's mom, Slavica, who also moved to the U.S., is just a few minutes away. Ella hopes to study psychiatry at UW, where Maddy is already studying political science and currently interning at the U.S. Senate in Washington, D.C. "ey are very ambitious young ladies," Suzana says. Back downtown, Suzana settles into her new office. She is the first woman in the WAC's 95-year history, and eighth person overall, to hold the top executive position. "I want us to be Seattle's No. 1 luxury lifestyle brand," she says. During her first few months at the helm, she moved quickly toward that goal with cross-department conversations, meetings with member leaders, and deep collaboration with members and team members. "We're all here to tell an intentional story that's aligned with what the WAC is all about—being a witness to our members' lives," Suzana says. "ere's something primal about being with others and not going through life alone. at's what I want us to do, be here for members' life moments." —Reach Senior Editor Mae Folsom Jacobson at mjacobson@wac.net. "We're all here to tell an intentional story that's aligned with what the WAC is all about—being a witness to our members' lives." Continued from page 33