Vince Dinh continues to work in real estate, but his true passion is found at the new Savon Spa in Lakeview, which opened in July, boasting a primarily organic approach to products and treatments.
"I just feel this is the right fit for me; I really love interacting with customers," Dinh said.
Savon Spa offers a luxurious, purifying spa experience in an elegant setting reminiscent of old world Paris, its website boasts. It offers manicures, pedicures, facials, massages and more. Plus, a limited supply of women's hand-made jewelry is for sale, along with home-made, organic soap.
Savon also has recently started offering colonics.
"The massages we offer are from massage therapists who are very talented; they really have healing hands," Dinh said.
There are 13 who work at Savon, including eight massage therapists. Dinh has a license to do nails, but rarely does due to his time constraints running the operation.
"Seeing customers satisfied with our service is wonderful, especially knowing that we really are helping them," he said.
Dinh has traveled worldwide, including Mexico, Spain and Franceand has gotten massages in most locations.
He has worked in the real estate industry since 2005 and is now a broker for Solid Source Reality in Chicago, where his specialty is residential short sales.
"My goal at Savon is to role it into a more holistic spa, to help customers work with their inner self," Dinh said.
The majority of Dinh's customers are female, though he wants to expand further into the LGBT community.
"At Savon, it's all about your health, well-being and beauty," Dinh said.
STATS
Age: 44
Neighborhood: Albany Park
Homeland: Vietnam, has lived in Chicago since 1992
Relationship status: Partnered with Ryan Belknap, for five years
Job title: Owner/president, Savon Spa (3635 N. Halsted St.)
Hobbies: Dressing in drag as Funky Little Asian
Favorite Chicago gay bar: Berlin
Little-known fact: Has a phoenix tattoo on his chest, which was completed in 2004 after about a year. It required "six sessions of pain," he said, "but it's worth it; I love it."