Sveta Yakubovich and her family arrived in the United States from Russia nine years ago with $500.
Now she is adding a second location of her massage business, Sveta’s Body Therapy, inside the Genesis Health Club at 1551 N. Rock Road.
It has been a long trip, and she has been grateful for the reception she has received here.
“I’ve been successful because of all the great people I’ve met here in America.” Trained as a teacher, she moved from Gorky with her husband, a 6“ month“
old son, her mother, and her grandfather in 1993. They were able to emigrate easily because the Russian government had a special program to allow Jews to leave.
Hundreds of thousands left for Israel and the United States.]
She and her family came to Wichita because she had an aunt and uncle here. She and her husband had also trained as massage therapists in Russia and got work doing that. She worked at the Wichita Racquet Club. Bradley Fair developer George Laham encouraged her to open her own place, which she did two years ago.
And now, she is opening back up at the Racquet Club building, which Genesis bought in 2001.
She said she really likes what she does.
“They come in all full of stress, and in one hour they are a completely different person“ and they pay me for it,” she said.
Sveta’s Body Therapy is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. The number at the new location is 634“ 3818.