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A p ril 27, 2 0 0 5
The
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yVom enin Careers
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Esthetician perfects skin and
body through relaxation
K atherine K ovacich
T he P ortland O bserver
by
Ever had someone massage your
face for half an hour?
Not many people would know
how to do such a soothing thing
co rrectly , but this is Sherry
Okamura’s cup of tea. Like a genie
in a 1960s sitcom, she rubs her
hands together and grants a wish
common among modem stressful
times - to relax and forget about all
worries for a couple of hours.
T te only licensed esthetician at
Sun Seekers Skin C are in
Milwaukie, Okamura spends her
days making women and men feel
like they’ve walked through the
fountain of youth with gentle mas­
sage and aromatherapy.
“When 1 was a little girl what I
wanted to be more than anything
was a cake decorator or a hair
dresser,” Okamura said. Even after
she went through the scholastics of
college, she said, she still wanted to
be one of those two things.
Okamura is given full reign by
the owners of Sun Seekers to choose
the brands, products and treatments
that are most suitable for its clients,
including cosmetics, oils, lotions
and scrubs.
“It’s a business within a busi­
ness,” she said.
Okamura chose Sun Seekers as
her employer because “they are
extremely generous with the hands
on and business training. They’re
really supportive because they’re
working with people who aren’t
usually business people.”
With this knowledge, she hopes
to eventually open her own spa.
“I’m currently seeking out mas­
sage therapy talents and assem­
bling my crew now. If down the
road it looks like something needs
to change. I’ll make the adjust­
ments I need to make. I’m having
so much fun," she said.
Luckily for Okamura, breaking
into the beautification industry
wasn’t difficult as a woman be­
cause “it is a primarily woman­
centric business,” she said. “Thank
god for women's lib movement to
pave the way for me. I figure I
deserve what I want regardless of
my sex.”
Licensed
esthetician
Sherry Okamura
applies cosmet­
ics to a client at
Sun Seekers
Skin Care in
Milwaukie.
PHOTO BY
P all M iller /
A rgophoto
/ like to make
things pretty.
But there \ also
something
about working
one and one
with women to
make them feel
better about
themselves. *
L o v e y o u r f u t u r e . ..in just months become a
Health Care Professional
dealth Care Careers are among the
fastest growing occupations ’* in
he U.S.!
BIS. Monthly
Concorde offers training in these great career fields:
• Medical Assistant
• Insurance Coding & Billing Specialist
- Sherry Okamura
Although it usually takes about
five years to build up a steady
clientele, Okamura’s doing well
after two months through knowl­
edge of marketing and advertise­
ment that she gained working in
local theatre.
Most of the clients she’s had so
continued
on page C8
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