Skin care specialist
rises to daily challenges

I am the president of Helen's Haven, Skin Care Specialists. As a baby boomer in my 40s, I am always looking for the next newest, greatest, high-tech, nonsurgical methods for fighting the aging battle. Not that I have anything against cosmetic surgery, I just want to help those who want to avoid it for as long as possible.

Helen Rapoza Title: Owner of Helen's Haven, Skin Care Specialists Years in business: 10 Years in the industry: 24 Community service: Founder of the Skin Wellness Inspiration Foundation, which provides free healthy-skin seminars and consultation for teenagers

I have been working exclusively with skin care for 14 years, and I enjoy being on the cutting edge of my industry.

At the start of my business, I worked by myself. I now have four employees. Doing the skin care part of the job was my comfort zone. Becoming a manager of people was my challenge. I have taken several small-business management courses. I believe continuing education in any industry is a must. I had to learn to give up control and let my employees do the job they were hired to do. All new hires are licensed and have some experience. However, I still train everyone myself until I feel they can complete services to my satisfaction. When you are in a service industry, I believe you need to have a consistent quality of service. Being the owner/president/everything else is the hardest part of the job. I pray that I rise to the challenge daily. I read somewhere that you have not learned something until you have shared it. I hope I share something new every day with someone.

I have been in business for 10 years and have learned countless lessons. I have survived a fire that destroyed my shop right before opening. Business declined by 50 percent after Sept. 11, 2001. Through those incidents, I learned that no man is an island. Without wonderful people in my life, Helen's Haven would not be in business today. I would encourage others going through challenges to take their eyes off themselves and be open to what is going on around them. Sometimes, for me at least, we get so caught up in the problem we don't see the people trying to help us.