A talk with an extraordinary couple: Agnieszka Surgiel-Gemza, a titled Charismatic Woman and Krzysztof Gemza, awarded the title of Leader by Vocation. They both work as cosmetology and aesthetic medicine trainers at La Pelle Gold Medical Trainings. They run the Sensual Beauty clinic of aesthetic medicine in Tychy. He is a pediatrician, doctor of aesthetic medicine, and a lecturer at SWSM school in Katowice. She is a cosmetologist, trichologist, and teaches at the Jan Długosz University in Częstochowa. They talk about life, working together and helping people in many areas…
You run a large and socially important medical business together. Do you follow the traditional family construct, which states that the husband is the head and the wife is the neck?
Agnieszka Surgiel-Gemza: First of all, we try to work together. We confer and make business decisions together. We do not get in the way in the area of medicine but we complement each other thanks to our educational background. My husband is a doctor, I am a cosmetologist and trichologist. Such a combination allows us to develop the most appropriate solutions for patients, and propose the most effective methods at each stage of treatment. Krzysztof is undoubtedly a leader in our business, not only because of his experience in medicine but also his managing skills. But we make all the decisions together. That’s what we have decided and that’s what we stick to.
Your wife describes you as are a true leader. Did you feel this potential in your childhood, your youth?
Krzysztof Gemza: You have to flower to be a leader by growing both mentally and in terms of qualifications. I don’t deliberate on whether I am one or not; however, as a lecturer, I do have to lead a group of students. And to be able to pass the knowledge, you need to gain the trust of your listeners. I have many years of experience in this field: I started teaching in 1995, which is a lot of time. I went through all career stages in the pharmaceutical business, and climbing that ladder led me to the position of sales director.
But you are not a pharmacist.
KG: I graduated in medicine from the Medical Academy of Silesia (now: Medical University of Silesia). Then came the time the specialization. My choice to go to pediatrics was a blessing. I couldn’t find myself working in the internal medicine ward; I went to the pediatric ward located a floor below where the head was Dr. Mikołaj Rej. We got on well and that’s how it all started. Pediatrics is a difficult field because young patients are simply not able to communicate many things. But seeing your patients grow and baing able to live a long and healthy life which they have ahead of them can also give a lot of joy. Internal medicine, on the other hand, can be overwhelming because patients are often seriously ill and pass away. I never regretted my choice. Despite the spate of other work, I still work as a doctor because it’s a passion and a vocation, not a painful duty.
And yet you decided at some moment to take an interest in the pharmaceutical business.
KG: It was something curious, also a kind of a trend in the professional environment, and a chance of expanding horizons and the opportunity to become a part of large ventures, because at that time foreign companies that were entering the Polish market often belonged to giants corporations. Hospital doctors preferred to talk to doctors from pharmaceutical companies. A lot of fellow practitioners decided to requalify in search of new opportunities in the difficult medical market. After years of such work, interesting and developmental but time-consuming, it was necessary to decide on the direction I wanted to choose. For the family, for further development. I decided to leave and start a new, exciting stage.
Was aesthetic medicine your first choice?
KG: – I was convinced by my wife, who is, as you know well, a charismatic woman. She found a training course and coaxed me to go, but I was not that eager. I told her that I would not become a needle operator at botox-parties, but the training turned out to be interesting and covered much more complicated issues than I thought. There was no point in resisting. I had to go further. I started another studies, which were, actually, practical ones; then, in 2011, we opened the Sensual Beauty clinic where we’ve been working since then. Over the years, we attended many training courses, participated in numerous congresses, and visited China and Cosmoprof trade show many times, constantly looking for novelties and improving our skills. Young people who start their studies in aesthetic medicine may think it is easy and are surprised to discover that there is no possibility of taking shortcuts in this field. But the satisfaction of helping others compensates for these efforts.
Judging from the sheer number of tasks, your day practically does not end?
KG: Indeed, from Monday morning to Friday 10 pm on Friday feels like one day. Next year we will celebrate a decade of our activity. My wife recently asked: “How long has it been? Five years?” We both laughed. The time is running so fast. We have almost no free time. Apart from the clinic, my wife is also the owner of la Pelle Gold – a company, which distributes specialist equipment for aesthetic medicine and cosmetology purposes, and I focus on the business side, actively conducting training courses on the use of these devices.
And the most important are patients.
KG: True. Everyone who talks about aesthetic medicine instantly thinks about botox or hyaluronic acid. But the truth about this field of medicine is completely different. Regaining health is the priority, and treatments that we offer do not take away years from your ID but can slow down the aging process. We carry out treatments that correct the complications which can come with aesthetic medicine procedures. And these, unfortunately, happen quite often. We became experts in this field and now are open to sharing our knowledge with everyone who can make use of it. We are currently looking for people who have experienced the negative aftermath of aesthetic medicine procedures. We want to help them through a charity program “Metamorphosis for Health”. If you are interested, please contact us.
Are there many cases like these?
KG: Of course. Many physicians start performing procedures unprepared because people who want to improve their appearance most often have money. And they can pay a lot for it. However, to perform aesthetic medicine procedures, you need thorough knowledge that cannot be acquired during courses for cosmetologists or beauticians. Choosing the right products, and assessing whether they can be used at all, requires a deep knowledge of human anatomy. We’ve learned to respond to these mistakes and correct them. We help people, and save their health because what other thing can offer a doctor?
So you just fix the mistakes of others?
KG: Of course not. My wife is a beauty expert, so she improves the looks using non-invasive methods. I am the less delicate one. I’m laughing here, but needle and syringe are my basic tools. I correct the shape of lips, noses, even buttocks. We do not perform plastic surgeries on a bigger scale, because the doctor must be responsible and always do what he is best at. Each of us obtained a certain education and should not cross these boundaries. Primum non nocere – this should be the motto of any doctor, not only in the area of aesthetic medicine.
You say that you are innovative. What does it mean? Is this mainly due to the import of new technological equipment?
AG: Innovation is not limited to the equipment, it also deals with modern methods. Like the micropuncture, which allows achieving spectacular effects in the treatment of scars and stretch marks. We are one of the few clinics that offer this solution. It is true that, in the field of aesthetic medicine, the most innovative equipment greatly increases the possibilities. We focus not only on improving our skills but also on implementing new technological solutions. I have just acquired one of the first devices in Poland, which allows improving the looks by using products based on the patient’s blood serving as a substrate to obtain an autologous tissue filler. Of course, we also have specialist lasers (from epilation to fractional ones), but we are constantly enriching the set of our tools with new devices. We cooperate with three companies as importers and distributors and distribute their products to clinics specialized in aesthetic medicine.
You are involved in various sponsorship and charitable activities.
AG: We are open to the diverse needs of people and always try to help. If possible, we sponsor competitions, such as the annual Miss Silesia and Teen Miss Silesia competitions. We took Hania Derej under our wings; she is a composer and pianist, for whom we foretell a great career. However, there always must be health promotion in the background; we want to show great opportunities that come with the lifestyle change and aesthetic medicine an can improve the well-being.
So we go back to what you have already emphasized: everything for the patient?
KG: Exactly. People who had undergone unsuccessful treatments experience a lot of stress; they suffer. We are here to heal their pain. We are here to restore health and beauty. “The secret of life lies in the search for beauty” – it is our motto. Is there any more interesting and necessary profession than ours?
Piotr Góralczyk
Beata Sekuła
