nwasianweekly.com
Mar. 1, 2008

The honorees and panelists of the Women of Color Empowered event Feb. 1, 2008, show off their beauty. Back row (from left): Ellen York, Deedee Chiu, Carmen Palomera, Meko Lawson, Xochitl Alvarez-Ponce, Mandy Williams, Diane Chiu, Amy Ng. Front row: Annette Squetimkin-Anoque, Tama Murotani-Inaba.

Sitting pretty

By Evangeline Cafe
Northwest Asian Weekly

On Feb. 1, more than 160 ladies vanished from their offices, courtrooms and makeup stands, and converged on a restaurant ballroom in Seattle’s International District. Their purpose: to celebrate the common thread that unites them — womanhood.

The Women of Color Empowered luncheon at Ocean City Restaurant brought together people of all backgrounds, shapes and sizes.

It honored a half-dozen women who dedicate their lives to helping others look and feel their best — inside and out. A panel of beauty and health experts also offered advice, and two lucky women received free makeovers courtesy of Nordstrom, Eastlake Hair and Northwest Image Consulting.

Mistress of Ceremonies Amy Ng emceed the event and served as a lovely example of a woman driven by success.

Ng earned her business degree from the University of Washington and currently works as a financial analyst.

She’s was no stranger to the stage, either — Ng was crowned Miss Chinese Seattle Queen in 2005 and represented Seattle in the Miss Chinese International Pageant and Miss Chinatown USA.

Ng introduced the list of honorees, distinguished women who offered their own unique take on beauty and empowerment.

They included Xóchitl P. Alvarez-Ponce, who owns and operates Flor de la Vida Massage in Burien. Alvarez-Ponce uses more than her hands to heal people; she also uses her heart.

Alvarez-Ponce is an active community leader and a philanthropist who donates massage gift certificates to nonprofit organizations every year.

To her, success means changing lives in any way possible.

“I came to understand the best way I could help the Latino community is to heal and to touch,” she said.

Dr. Deirdre Yen Chiu uses her skills to brighten smiles. She is a respected dentist who knows how to turn a few heads. Chiu held the titles of Miss Burien 1980, Miss Seattle Chinatown 1982 and Miss Seafair 1982.

But even a former beauty queen knows that aesthetics alone won’t bring happiness. She said the key to looking and feeling your best is to have what she calls “passions for life.”

“For me,” she said, “they are spending time with my family and friends.”

To Chiu, those passions are the ultimate confidence-boosters.

Annette Squetimkin-Anquoe has spent more than two decades working to boost the health of the region’s American Indian community. She is a member of the Colville Confederated Tribes and finds fulfillment in keeping her culture alive.

She said women can find joy simply by getting to know their roots, and doing so will give a woman a strong foundation for her own life.

Mandy Mullens-Williams knows this firsthand, and credits her past for her success: “I think that success … is not about what I have accomplished to this point; more importantly, it’s how far I’ve come as a person.”

Mullens-Williams serves as an executive board member with the NAACP and is a certified life coach for her business, Vitality in Action.

She believes the key for a working woman to look and feel her best is to dress the part.

As director of Dress for Success Seattle, she helps provide professional attire for low-income women. The nonprofit group also provides a support network to help those women achieve economic independence.

Entrepreneur Meko L. Lawson certainly dresses the part, and she said beauty actually starts “from the inside out.”

Lawson is the owner of M.L. & Associates, an event marketing firm. She is also the founder and president of the Young Women’s Institute, and the Professional Women of Color Network.

Lawson said surrounding yourself with positive, like-minded people is important to achieving a positive outlook on life.

“You can easily find yourself in the company of the naysayer … but you can just as easily find yourself in the company of the ‘You go’ girls and ‘You can do it.’

“When you’re in the energy of a room full of women, there’s nothing like it,” she added.

The fifth honoree certainly raised the energy level at the luncheon.

Tama Murotani-Inaba, 87, spent 40 years working as a hostess at the Westin Hotel and devoted countless hours to volunteering in her community. But don’t let her age fool you; she had the restaurant rolling in laughter when she offered her personal tips.

“If you don’t mind, I’d rather give you five secrets to a great relationship,” she said.

Those secrets entailed finding a man who is “handy around the house,” has a sense of humor, is intelligent, clean and a good lover.
After the series of tips mixed w
ith off-the-wall innuendos, Murotani-Inaba added, “Your most important secret: These four men must never meet.”

The room burst into laughter and applause.

The 87-year-old chuckled, “At this age, you can say anything and get away with it.”

Murotani-Inaba may have offered the most valuable piece of advice at the Women of Color Empowered luncheon. Not reliance on men, but rather the appreciation of the simple — and at times trivial — things in life.

The saying goes, “Laughter is the best medicine.” Perhaps it is also the key to the long sought-after fountain of youth and the secret to living an empowered, beautiful life.

Evangeline Cafe can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

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