19 years ago I was a teacher at the St. Louise School and I had just given birth to my daughter.
I had very long, thick, and curly hair down to my lower back.
After having my baby it was even Thicker.
I searched diligently for a hairdresser, but I couldn’t leave my baby to go to the salon.
So a friend advised me to have a hairdresser come to my house.
The hairdresser said he would do a relaxer for me with lots of vitamins and I wouldn’t have to worry.
I trusted him, but after he relaxed my hair something went wrong with the chemical reaction.
The next day all my hair started falling off. I panicked! I just couldn’t breathe.
This happened on a Sunday.
So Monday I went to Mona Lisa’s hairdressing school because I wanted to know what I could do for myself to save my scalp and my hair.
I had no intention of becoming a hairdresser, but little by little I started to like it.
I fell in love with product chemistry and the theory behind it.
At the same time, it just so happened that I met professionals from Brazil who were visiting a hairdresser friend of mine.
They offered me a hair analysis and they taught me to work with the “All-Nature” line on my own hair.
I was so fascinated by the products because within weeks of using them my hair started growing back.
Since then I have been to Brazil and studied hair at Senac EAD.
I learned to blow-dry very well and how to handle hair from the inside out.
I have a lot of respect for the Brazilians and how well they know how to treat hair.
After that, I also studied courses in America and decided to start my own business.
I started with a plastic container and a plastic chair, without any help.
Now we have grown to be a well-known Surinamese salon with 6 stations (later we will expand to 8 stations).
Next year Style by Design will be 20 years old!

People always ask me; Why do you teach? Because you transfer your knowledge to others and they are going to become better than you.

I teach because being a teacher is still in me.
I like to transfer the knowledge I have acquired over the years.
I always remember how I started my business and I look back at my colleagues who taught me everything (withholding nothing).
I think we Surinamese people should learn to work with each other and to share our knowledge with others.
Because after all, when you learn, you can not take knowledge with you to your grave.
It’s nice when others can do what you can do in their own way.
No hairdresser is the same.
Everyone has their own “special sauce”.

We focus on keeping our client’s hair healthy.
We work with curly hair, smooth hair, and every other hair type.

You are welcome to visit our salon at any time.
We help design your personal style!

Verena Spong
Salon Owner at Style by Design