Suna Kneisley Interview: "Kitty Hotel" Second Act Success Story
Diana Landau | October 08, 2024
This Month I Used to be Somebody has gone to the CATS! Meet Suna Kneisley, who consistently combines her passions with success throughout her life. A former Marketing Exec in high tech for Intuit and Oracle, she began investing in real estate and helping her colleagues do the same. That has led to a 20+-year successful career in investing, as Founder of Freedom Investments. Along the way, Suna also fell in love with cats. After volunteering for a local non-profit cat adoption organization, Suna eventually became Executive Director in her spare time. In 2019 Suna bought Pat's Boarding Place for Cats, which she has improved on and expanded and they now have kitty condos for up to 78 cats. (Are we seeing a pattern here?)
Suna grew up in the Midwest, first in Indiana and then in Illinois to a U.S. military father and Korean mother. As a kid she was very social, up for any sport. She knew her father hated his career as a CPA. Her mother, who possessed keen business intuition, turned her focus to a very busy local Mr. Donut Shop. She kept after the owner until he sold it to her family. Working at the donut shop growing up, doing all kinds of shifts, instilled a sense of entrepreneurship in Suna.
She attended Northwestern and UC Berkeley and after considering a career in medicine, she was hired by Intuit and never looked back. After personally investing in real estate, she began pooling resources with her fellow employees and began managing various investments. "I don't like doing things alone. I love to share what's exciting and what opportunities there are with friends and family."
She started volunteering for Cats About Town Society (CATS) in 2008 and realized they had organizational problems. Suna took them on with mounting debt and turned CATS around. They now care for and adopt out 400-600 cats per year. When Pat's Boarding Place became available in 2019, Suna pounced on the opportunity. In addition to running her real estate investing firm, volunteering and managing the kitty hotel, Suna loves to travel, just about every month. She also loves to play pickleball. "The path is interesting. It kinda unfolds!"
Suna's (unretirement) tips:
• "Find what it is that gives you joy. Use your skillset. Or do something completely different!"
• "Keep moving! Movement for your body. Pickleball is the great equalizer--most everyone can play."
• "It can also be really helpful to just sit and be still for your mind. Meditate. It will help you find what you want to do."
• "Be open. Be clear about how you want to feel--the kind of person you want to be at your best. What does that look like? What does that smell like? What does that taste like? Be clear about that and then be open to the opportunity, whatever it is. Then follow, say YES to things."
Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Pickleball Media After 15 years in corporate marketing, in 2012 she pivoted to write and wrangle content for Niche Media's weekly blog. She now manages the "I Used to be Somebody" blog
