By Simha Haddad
“LOS ANGELES – The familiar Zoom chime sang as a woman with long brown hair in a fitted white button-down top appeared on my computer screen. Her name is Sophy Su, and she is the owner and CEO of Sophisticated Snake Consulting (SSC), a consulting/management firm responsible for helping individuals and businesses worldwide attain their financial goals. SSC is also responsible for selling over a megawatt of solar power per annum, and that number is quickly on the rise.
Su smiled kindly and waved to me through her computer, signaling she was ready to share the story of her current rise to success.
While she is now known in Western Canada as a successful businesswoman, the start of Su’s career was anything but smooth. Amid hurdles, doubt, and even harassment, Su used her self-reliance to persevere.
Su grew up in a middle-income family in the Southern sub-provincial city of Nanjing, China. An only child whom her grandparents predominantly raised, Su felt estranged from her mother and father. The estrangement grew into a palpable tension as Su grew older.
“I had some struggles with my parents,” said Su. “That’s why we all figured it would be better if I moved away.”
Su moved to Vancouver for high school and remained there to attend The University of Victoria (UVic), where she double majored in environmental studies and exercise science.
Su’s program at UVic required her to work a paid job her junior year. However, she quickly became frustrated with the futility of the university’s job search database and resorted to applying to jobs on monster.com instead.
“I applied to hundreds of jobs,” said Su, “and I only got about ten interviews. All of them turned me down.”
Desperate to fulfill her school’s requirements, Su applied for an Executive Assistant job with Endy Zhou at Endymion Consulting. Although she was underqualified for the position, Zhou sensed something about Su and told her to call him the following week at an exact time and date.
“I knew if she never called me, I would forget about her,” said Zhou.
But, Sophy did call Zhou at the exact time and date specified at their interview.
“That showed me she had grit,” said Zhou, who hired Su right away.
Su’s relief at fulfilling her requirement was short-lived when she received a call from her semi-estranged father, who had provided Su with tuition and small amounts of spending money until that point.
“He asked me how much I made at my new job,” said Su. “I was honest with him, and then he told me, ‘Then I don’t need to support you anymore.”
Once the funds from her father stopped, Su was even more determined to maintain her position at Zhou’s company. However, Su’s co-op education coordinator, Nancy, did not believe Su was up to the task.
Nancy did a site visit at Zhou’s office. Although it was Nancy’s job to nurture the university’s juniors in their careers, the coordinator attempted to talk Zhou out of keeping Su employed. She also made several calls to Zhou and Su separately, and even wrote a followup email insulting Su’s capabilities and her ability to speak English.
“I couldn’t listen to her,” said Su. “I don’t think there is any shame in saying that I really needed the money at the time. So I just kept going.”
Sophy performed so well at Zhou’s company that she quickly climbed the ranks from executive assistant to salesperson. The job was in door-to-door sales, which meant Su would have to travel long distances to meet with potential clients.
“I didn’t have a car,” said Su, “so I walked for miles and miles every day.”
“That was incredibly difficult,” said Zhou. “What Sophy did is the equivalent of going door to door through the Hollywood Hills without a car.”
However, in spite of her setback, Su proved her Co-op coordinator wrong by outperforming all the other sales reps at the company. Her coworkers would make an average of four sales per day using their cars to get around. On foot, Sophy made an average of 12. Through her persistence, she was also able to make sales in regions where all previous sales reps had failed.
Sophy performed so well that she went on to spearhead Endymion Consulting’s campaign with Telus Communications, Canada’s most awarded Internet and TV company.
“She didn’t get the job for any reason other than her incredible results,” said Zhou.
Sophy’s rise to success did come with a learning curve. Su recalled being yelled at repeatedly by clients and diminished for her race and being a female.
“I was so innocent then,” said Su. “I remember one time telling Endy that I closed a sale and that the guy was stroking my hair the whole time. I asked if that was normal.” Su laughed at her former naivete. “I really didn’t think he had any bad intentions.”
While Su developed a passion for sales through practice, she remained devoted to her original passion for the environment. With her newfound success, Su started Sophisticated Snake Consulting, and made solar power a primary focus of her business.
“I want to contribute to the world through my work in an impactful way,” said Su. “Now I’m trying to do that one solar panel at a time.”
As the CEO of her own company that sells over a megawatt of solar energy per year, Su has come a long way from that innocent college girl. Her continued expertise in client-facing is evident in her company’s sales record. However, Su has no more tolerance for petulance. Her quick comebacks and intolerance for discrimination have given her quite a name in the solar industry. Sophy openly refuses to do business with anyone who exhibits discriminatory behavior, and has even turned down clients for this reason.
“I have learned to trust my instincts,” said Su.”It took time, but I finally realized that I am the one who can guide myself over mountain after mountain of challenges. I will always be the first person I can lean on. I can rely on myself.”
Su is currently working on opening a US branch of her business. She is also involved in several pilot outreach initiatives, including Infinite Potential Community Outreach, which seeks to bring entrepreneurial education to low-income Chinese immigrants.
