Aunt Barbara, the top-selling Tupperware salesperson in North America, hasn’t allowed natural disasters (she lost nearly all her possessions to Hurricane Sandy) or bad hair days to keep her down. But three years ago she lost something almost irreplaceable — her right to use her name on Facebook FB, -0.89% .

In 2011, Robert Suchan — who works full-time as his creation and alter ego, Aunt Barbara — received a notice that his Facebook page was being suspended because the name he was using was reported to be fictitious. Facebook had a long-standing “real names” policy of not letting people post under fictitious names, arguing that it prevented people having multiple accounts and provided more reliable information to advertisers. (The policy of using real identities has also helped reduce instances of online bullying and harassment from anonymous people; something that Twitter and other social media grapple with.)

Facebook gave his account the new name “Robert Suchan (Aunt Barbara).” From a branding and a business perspective, it clearly didn’t have the same ring (or, indeed, magic) to it. There was a lot at stake. As Aunt Barbara, Suchan sells $250,000 a year in Tupperware, and much of his business comes from word-of-mouth, making audience engagement on social media critical. His online presence also helps him book television spots where Aunt Barbara markets her wares. He got hundreds of likes and comments as Aunt Barbara, he says, but those posts didn’t have the same resonance coming from Robert Suchan. “They lost their luster,” he says.

Aunt Barbara / Robert Suchan Michael Young Photography

Facebook’s policy annoyed many critics because it was inconsistently enforced. It appeared to apply to drag queens, but not to actors and singers who use professional names that are different from the ones on their passports or driver’s licenses. In contrast, pseudonyms were always allowed on Twitter, which has encouraged satirical accounts and allowed people to post anonymously. After a campaign by a San Francisco-based drag queen named Sister Roma, who called the social network’s policy discriminatory, Facebook apologized and, earlier this month, the company finally changed its policy. Facebook now says users can go by their “authentic names” rather than their legal names.

Aunt Barbara survived the Facebook name-change: She quickly moved most of her social networking to Twitter and has already clocked $300,000 in sales in 2014, making it her best year yet. But on Monday, Aunt Barbara finally got her groove — and her name — back on Facebook. MarketWatch spoke to Suchan about the importance of being Aunt Barbara online and off.

MarketWatch: What did it mean for Aunt Barbara when your account was suspended?

Suchan: It meant I couldn’t access emails for my Tupperware business or my personal emails. I was forced to send Facebook my government-issued photo I.D., which was my New York State driver’s license. I tried to change the page back. I wrote them a letter and said, ‘I’m trademarked. I’m the owner and operator of Aunt Barbara Incorporated.’ Everyone loves Tupperware and it sells itself but I am in the business of being Aunt Barbara as a personality. I can wish people Happy Birthday and they go nuts, it makes them feel special.

MarketWatch: So what did you do?

Suchan: I stopped using Facebook. I was using it only 25% of the time I used to use it. There were weeks where I wouldn’t post anything. Before, I posted one or two times a day. I was a little bitter about it, so I started really using Twitter.

MarketWatch: Do you think a ne’er-do-well reported Aunt Barbara’s page?

Somebody probably reported me or saw me in the papers. I had a lot national news coverage around that time. They were also shutting down lots of other people. They also did it to Lady Bunny who is an internationally known drag figure. I thought, ‘I guess I’m famous.’

MarketWatch: How did Aunt Barbara get her Facebook page back?

Suchan: I tweeted the other day, “I still don’t have my name back on Facebook.” Someone said, “You need to contact Sister Roma.” She wrote back, “I can try to help you. I need to know the URL of your site.” I forwarded that email on to her and she sent it on, and hours later my name was changed.

MarketWatch: That kind of solidarity between two people who have never met each other gives me goose bumps. God bless America!

Suchan: I should send her some free Tupperware. I thought it was so sweet that she did that.

MarketWatch: How did Aunt Barbara come into being?

Suchan: I was sitting with a friend on his deck and having drinks. I was about 24 years old and we were talking about our relatives. He was talking about his Aunt Barbara. And I said, ‘Let me tell you about my Aunt Barbara.’ That’s when Aunt Barbara was born. I loved my Aunt Barbara so much. I thought she was such a character and personality. She’s fun and vivacious, but she doesn’t know she is. I was an actor in college. We would shoot Aunt Barbara’s Christmas Special or Aunt Barbara’s Halloween Special.

MarketWatch: And then you decided she should sell Tupperware?

Suchan: In 1995, my sister had a Tupperware party and I went to it. The woman was sweet. I thought, ‘If she just made this into a comedy show, she’d sell a lot more Tupperware.’ Years later, I was so desperate for money. I was living hand to mouth. I remembered that idea. I was working a full-time day job as a supervisor for residential care facilities for adults with developmental disabilities, and doing Tupperware parties at night. When I started making in one night what I was making one week with my day job, I quit my day job.

MarketWatch: What does your real Aunt Barbara think?

Suchan: She loves that I do this. When I told her, she cried. She was flattered and honored that I named this character after her. I’m celebrating her.

MarketWatch: Does Aunt Barbara have a big wardrobe?

Suchan: Aunt Barbara has a small closet in my home with a dozen dresses at any given time, and a couple of wigs. I lost everything in Hurricane Sandy, so I like to keep everything concise and keep the look consistent. The only thing I had left was my car, my Tupperware kit and an Aunt Barbara outfit. My business was up and running in just a couple of weeks. My entire family lives on the waterfront in Freeport, Long Island. I rented a little cottage on the bay and that was devastated after Sandy. I moved further from the shore to Massapequa to reconstruct my life.

MarketWatch: I can see Aunt Barbara won’t be stopped by anyone or anything.

Suchan: I get to be this character that I love so much. With my background in human services, I have this very compassionate, listening side to me. A lot of people think it’s all about the character, it’s not. When I’m in character, it’s all about the people I’m meeting. If I just ran out there, being silly and told jokes, that would make them laugh a little, but that’s not winning people’s hearts.

MarketWatch: How old is Aunt Barbara?

Suchan: I’m 46, but Aunt Barbara never tells her age. She always tells people she’s younger than Carol Channing but older than Lindsay Lohan.

MarketWatch: You must be relieved to be back on Facebook properly.

Suchan: I was so upset that they took my name down — and people with pages for their cats and dogs. I called a lawyer because I was considering changing my legal name to Aunt Barbara because I was so angry that Facebook did this. Joan Rivers had a Facebook page. [Rivers — who died last month — was born Joan Alexandra Molinsky.]

MarketWatch: You seem as connected to Aunt Barbara as Joan Alexandra Molinsky was to Joan Rivers.

Suchan: Joan Crawford has a Facebook page. Bette Davis has one. Even Fred Flintstone has a Facebook page, and I’m Aunt Barbara every day of the week.

MarketWatch: Aunt Barbara sounds like a very special person and a self-made, hardworking American. You bring a lot of humanity to her character, which comes through on your Facebook page.

Suchan: I am Aunt Barbara. If I had to choose between Robert Suchan and Aunt Barbara, I’d choose Aunt Barbara. I know most of my friends through Aunt Barbara. I don’t consider myself a drag queen. I’m me and Aunt Barbara is a part of me. Just like when you put a suit on when you go to the office. Slapping on a wig and a dress is part of who I am.