BY YAYOI LENA WINFREY for WEEKLY VOLCANO 3/27/26 |
Walking into Sunny’s Salon & Barber on a rain-drenched afternoon, I spot a customer swinging her newly cut hair from side to side. At the register, she tells the proprietor, Sunny Yoo, that she loves her new hairstyle so much that she will send everyone she knows to the salon.
“I found you on Yelp,” the excited customer informs her.
“Good!” Sunny replies. “Everybody loves me.”
And it’s true.
Sunny Yoo, who everybody calls Sunny, is truly lovable. Just like her name suggests, she exudes the warmth and brightness of a sun-soaked day. Wearing a perpetual smile, her sparkling eyes animated with excitement, Sunny exudes friendliness. Anyone entering her salon will likely experience an affectionate pat on their arm or an amiable embrace around their shoulders. Sunny is what is known as being “touchy-feely.”
Originally hailing from Seoul, South Korea, she arrived in the U.S. in 1980 after one of her sisters married an American military man. Other family members, including Sunny’s mother, soon followed.
Sunny’s first home was Chicago, which, she says, she didn’t care for due to its inclement weather.
“Too cold!” she declares, shaking her head and shivering.
Eventually, Sunny ended up living in Washington state.
Because of a lack of vocational skills, she found herself initially taking on jobs that were not particularly gratifying.
“When I first come here to America,” she explains, “I didn’t speak English too well.”
As a result, she was employed as a cashier, sold clothing, worked in restaurants, and even labored as a dishwasher.
“All kinds of work,” she reminisces.
“No experience, no speak English, no one gave me a job,” she adds. “I needed some technique and decided to go to beauty college.”
After attending three different technical colleges, Sunny gained enough knowledge to confidently cut and style any type of hair.
One of the schools she graduated from was Heritage Beauty College, where she learned from a Black instructor how to cut and style hair for African Americans.
Even though she excelled at flat ironing Black hair, she thought she fell a little short at hand braiding. So today, she relies on two stylists she hired who she thinks are more adept at that particular artistry than she is.
My African American father has been frequenting Sunny’s for decades now and can attest to the staff’s proficient handling of his own textured hair.
In recent years, he’s had his hair cut by Soon Ae, Sunny’s best friend, who works alongside her. With her lavender bangs and Dutch Boy haircut, Soon Ae is as fashionable as she is skilled.
One of Sunny’s sisters, Angela, also works in the salon.
Although the business has been in operation for 33 years, Sunny’s Lakewood location on Bridgeport is her fourth site and has been based there for 20 years.
“Customers from 30 years ago still come,” she says. “From when they were little boys to now when they’re married and bringing their children.”
The salon’s space is clean, comfortable, and welcoming.
My sister, who accompanies my elderly dad for his regular haircuts, reported that she (along with other customers) was once served hot tea and steamed Korean sweet potatoes prepared in the shop itself. That’s the kind of ambiance Sunny’s salon possesses.
At an unbelievable 68 years old, Sunny is as energetic as a teenager. Her smooth, translucent skin and youthful exuberance belie her age.
When asked to divulge her beauty secrets that keep her skin nearly wrinkle-free, she laughs and suggests, “Maybe kimchi.”
Perpetually young in both appearance and attitude, Sunny is so dynamic that it’s hard to believe she’s considering retiring soon.
Soon Ae, the stylist who cuts my dad’s hair, has been by her side all along.
“We’re going to retire together,” laughs Sunny.
Sunny’s is not the only hair salon in the neighborhood. Several other barber and beauty shops populate the area, but Sunny insists there is room for everyone.
“We never compete,” she says sincerely. “Everybody has to make a living. We share.”
Looking back, Sunny attributes her lengthy success to her strong faith in a higher power. She has succeeded, she believes, because she is Christian.
“When I first started, it was zero from nowhere,” she explains.
Gesturing around the busy salon, she says, “All this time, I thank God that He is leading me all the way down here.”
With customer satisfaction her primary goal, Sunny aims to ensure everyone leaves her salon feeling and looking their best. Besides haircuts, the salon also offers perms, fades, color treatments, and other beauty enhancements at extremely affordable prices.
“You have hair, we do it,” she laughs. “We do it good!”
Her customers are, Sunny says, “more than clients. They are more like family to me.”
And it’s reflected in the way she and her staff make an effort to accommodate special requests. Whether they’re styling or coloring hair, trimming beards, or performing some other feat of beautification, they will do it with diligence.
As proof, the customer whom I first encountered swinging her hair and vowing to spread the word about her new haircut is stopped by Sunny while making her payment. Imploring the young lady to stand still, Sunny brandishes a pair of scissors and quickly snips a stray hair from the customer’s head.
“One more hair,” she says with her sunny smile.
Sunny’s Salon & Barber
10227 Bridgeport Way SW
Lakewood, WA 98499
253-589-0332
