Hair loss, hair thinning, hair and scalp issues — for 37 years now, Svenson has carved a niche as the go-to expert when these problems come one’s way. It all starts with a one-on-one consultation with one of its trichologists, and when a particular treatment is arrived at, it’s a matter of showing up for the recommended sessions. Svenson will be the first to tell you there is no instant fix-it solution, and it does not create the miracle of making hair appear where it has already disappeared. It’s more about making sure your existing hair and scalp are healthy to preserve what one still has, or laying the groundwork early on so significant loss is averted.
Thirty-seven years in the service industry providing this kind of expertise is some feat. Beyond the success of the advice and treatments, it points to professional and friendly, attentive service, a willingness to adapt new technology and solutions, and managing to not only hold on to your clients but continuously acquire new ones. That Svenson has grown through the more than three decades, and added branches steadily, is testimonial to how it is doing the right thing in its specialized field.
To help spread the word, Svenson has “drafted” ambassadors, both men and women, who represent credibility and have been convinced of what Svenson provides. NJ Torres-Jacobson is the proverbial drill sergeant who reaches out to these individuals and brings them into the fold. And what is amazing is — kudos to Mr. George Siy and Svenson executives — how they’ve fostered a true sense of family and camaraderie. It’s not just some endorsement where the talent fee is the sole motivating factor. With Svenson, there’s a genuine feeling of being part of something because you’ve tried the service and feel it’s been beneficial and you continue to return.
A Svenson family photo. (From left) Your columnist, Suki Salvador, NJ Torres-Jacobson, Issa Litton and Vince Hizon.
We often talk of age and say it’s just a number but when it comes to a service or business, longevity and surviving really do point to the public’s approval.
Congratulations, Svenson!
The sky’s no limit
With these three novels, fertile imagination and creativity is furiously at work. Saadawi is contemporary Arab fiction while Klang Smith deals in fantasy sci-fi. As for Goldberg, this is his latest, after The Yid.
Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi (available at Fully Booked) On the Man Booker International Prize shortlist, this fantasy/political satire had me searching for superlatives as one absurd situation after another piles up as the story progresses. Is it Arabic magical realism? Or a modern day Arabian tale come to life (like the one referred to in the title of the book)? A Baghdad junk dealer scours bombed out locations and ends up with body parts. Mourning that these parts belong to individuals who will never be properly mourned or avenged, he stitches these disparate parts together until he comes up with one complete corpse. The corpse comes to life and makes it its mission to avenge.
The Sky Is Yours by Chandler Klang Smith (available at Fully Booked) This novel is an entertaining flight of imagination. It mixes young adult (YA)-type heroes in a dystopian future that plots like Dickens on crack, and throws in two flying dragons for good measure. There’s even a Torchtown where petty criminals reign and defy the city authorities. There’s a lot of sex, a lot of angst and alienation, and little mafia-type operations that our YA “heroes” stumble into. Torchtown gets its name from being the main district targeted by the fire-breathing dragons who have turned the city into a much bleaker version of what it once was. About family, permutations of love, or just needing attention, about finding identity and purpose in life, Klang Smith operates on a broad canvas, but manages to gift us with a compelling story that thrives on being unique.
The Château by Paul Goldberg (available at Fully Booked) Author of The Yid, the critically acclaimed political satire that took aim at the end of the Stalin era in Russia, Goldberg still has Russians on his mind in this new novel, but this time, it’s Russian Jews living in Florida. And this one is more social commentary, about condominium boards, about corruption at diverse levels, and about a very unique father-son relationship. Discredited journalist Bill descends to Florida to write about a good friend, a renowned plastic surgeon, who plummeted to his death from a high rise. It’s the eve of the Trump inaugural, and Bill’s reporter instinct soon finds that the story isn’t his friend’s demise, but the high-level corruption and coercion that goes on via the condo board that rules the development his father lives in. Very topical!