Celebrating the Stevie Awards Gold Prize! ~The Struggles of the President’s Office Team Hidden Behind the Glorious Stage~ (Part 2)

“The gold prize goes to… Etsuko Tsugihara from Sunny Side Up! Please come up to the stage!”

The presenter’s voice echoed throughout the venue. Thunderous applause. All eyes in the room turned to our table… Tsugihara, who had just stepped out to the restroom, was of course not yet back…

No one stood up…
The presenter looked puzzled…
The venue began to stir…
I kept looking at the entrance…
But there was no sign of Tsugihara returning…

Someone please help.

That night, the awards ceremony was being broadcast live worldwide. This was clearly a broadcast mishap. An unexpected turn of events. That one-minute void while the entire venue waited for her felt like an eternity to me…

Finally, the presenter gave up. “Ms. Etsuko Tsugihara is unfortunately not present.” With a collective sigh from the audience, the ceremony moved on to the next category.

A nightmare…

What did we come to New York for? We brought Tsugihara all the way from Tokyo, even arranged a kimono, and despite winning the gold prize, the recipient herself wasn’t in the venue at that crucial moment… and she was in the restroom… A nightmare…

As I sat there in disbelief, she came walking back from the restroom.

Tsugihara: “Sorry to keep you waiting!”
Me: “Your turn is already over.”
Tsugihara: “Ha! What are you talking about? You’re joking!”
She didn’t believe me at all.

Me: “I’m not joking! I told you not to go!”
My strong tone and exasperated expression finally made her understand the situation.
“Oh my… All right. I’ll go negotiate!”

With that, Tsugihara disappeared from the venue again in her kimono. After a while, she returned with a smile, saying, “It’s fine. They’ll call me again before the next section.”

Me: “What? What did you tell them?”
Tsugihara: “I told them I was having an emergency meeting with Mr. Trump in the restroom.”

… I was speechless. She was completely joking around. Would Americans even understand such a political joke? Well, whatever. I was simply relieved that she got a second chance to take the stage.

As promised, her company name and name were called again, and Tsugihara went up on stage. The venue erupted in thunderous applause as if they had been waiting for this moment.
The venue roared with laughter at Tsugihara’s speech that began with “I’m sorry, I’m late!” Her jokes and charm apparently work worldwide. Impressive. And her confident English speech, unfazed by the earlier mishap. Where’s the woman who stays in the shadows? (She always calls herself that.) Still, that’s Etsuko Tsugihara for you. As much as I hate to admit it, she’s wonderful.

The award recognized her 32 years of achievements from starting her business at age 17 to the present, as well as her international business expansion and unique employee benefits programs. A woman who started and grew a company as a teenager is apparently quite rare worldwide. Perhaps due to her unique background, the content of her speech, and the effect of the kimono, Tsugihara’s segment seemed to be the most exciting of the day.
And even more delightfully, Tsugihara also won the silver prize in the individual category “Female Executive of the Year” (Asia, Australia, and New Zealand)!

For 32 years, a PR woman stays in the shadows of the spotlight, behind the news. Etsuko Tsugihara’s policy has been “Stay in the Shadow,” never appearing on the front stage herself. However, this time she had to take the stage herself, facing a storm of camera flashes on stage and in the venue, followed by grateful media coverage in Japan.

Unaccustomed to being in the spotlight herself, Tsugihara says, “Please, no more! Just make sure my face doesn’t appear! This is torture.” However, to get back at her—I mean, for the company’s PR—I’m now plotting to give her even more exposure.

I lost one kilogram during that awards ceremony and business trip. Tsugihara complained that she gained two kilograms during just three days in New York.
A commemorative photo after the awards ceremony. “We look like a young actor and screenwriter. You should make better use of those moderately good looks of yours for the company.”

What Tsugihara said to me at the end of the awards ceremony…
I don’t mind. I don’t mind. I’ve gotten completely used to these affectionate comments from Tsugihara.

The daily life at SUNNY SIDE UP, which creates exciting commotion, is more powerful than one might imagine. However, it’s exciting and incredibly fun wherever we go in the world.