Local Winners

Jennifer

Jennifer Szuhaj always knew she wanted to be a teacher. After graduating from IU, her first job was teaching elementary in IPS.  After five years in IPS, an opportunity arose to go to Carmel’s Orchard Park Elementary to teach gifted and talented fourth and fifth graders. She jumped at it. One day an administrator suggested to Jennifer that she would make a great administrator. “I had never thought about that but I enjoyed so much having an impact on 26 kids every year, what if I could have an impact on 2700 a year?” Jennifer enrolled at Ball State to obtain her master’s degree and administrator license. When she completed that program, she became the assistant principal at Orchard Park. Eight years ago she was named the principal at Carmel’s Prairie Trace Elementary.

Jennifer is also a wife and the mother of three school-aged children so she doesn’t have much time for herself. Her oldest child is 17 years old and a junior in high school. He attends an online high school because he is in a band that is having success and travels a great deal. Jennifer’s husband, who is a business consultant, manages the band and promotes events so he often travels with their son. Her middle child is a 14-year-old boy who is an eighth grader. The baby of the family is an 8 year-old daughter who is a third grader at Mohawk Trails Elementary.  “If I had time I would love to travel and read books for fun,” Jennifer says. “I do love my summers even though I work year round because it is at a different pace,” she says. “I spend a lot of time with my family, swimming and having cookouts.”

Last spring 45-year-old Jennifer was selected by After40 for Turkle & Associates 2011 Girls’ Night Out Indy™ makeover. She was excited by the opportunity. She admits to being a sun worshipper, has been known to use a tanning bed and knew she had evidence of sun damage such as red spots, wrinkles, large pores and what she described as a “spot on her nose.” During her initial consultation with Dr. Jan Turkle’s Phases™ Skin Care and Laser Center, medical aesthetician Susan Barnes observed severe sun damage on Jennifer’s face. Susan recommended a combination of treatments over several months to address Jennifer’s issues. However, Susan was concerned about the “spot” on Jennifer’s nose and told Jennifer she must see her dermatologist before beginning treatment. “I think I would have gone sooner or later, but Susan gave me the push to go,” says Jennifer.

The importance of seeing a well-qualified and knowledgable medical aesthetician, even for routine skin care, became obvious when Jennifer was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Her dermatologist performed surgery on her nose, which involved removing multiple layers of tissue until there were no more malignant cells.  As a result Jennifer says she had about 60 stitches in her nose. She is thankful for Susan’s knowledge, vigilance and insistence that she see her dermatologist. “I now use sunscreen every day because of Susan,” she says. “I don’t go out without it.”

Two months after surgery, Jennifer began treatment at Phases. In addition to aesthetic services, Turkle & Associates’ Dr. Stanley Harper filled Jennifer’s nasolabial folds with Juvederm XC and treated her crow’s feet, brow and the lines between her eyebrows with Dysport. Jennifer cannot say enough about her experience at Phases. “I trust them totally,” she says. “The staff is fabulous. They are great about explaining what they are doing and with after care.” Jennifer’s situation could have been much worse had she not gone to Phases and been prompted to see her dermatologist. As Jennifer says, “Thank goodness for Phases - disaster averted!”