When she met the young former prostitute in Cambodia it was “one of those moments when God puts a mirror up to your soul,” Leisle Chung, chief executive officer of Vanguard Skin Specialists, has noted in a biographical sketch.

The 17-year-old girl had taken care of her mother and siblings by working in a brothel. She was at a recovery center, rescued from the sex traffic trade. Studying to be a cosmetologist, she shyly asked to brush Chung’s hair.

That trip became a defining moment for Chung and her husband Dr. Vinh Chung, a Colorado Springs dermatologist and skin cancer specialist. At that moment they knew why they had worked so hard to build their organization.

“We knew our mission was to make a difference in the lives of not only our patients, but also the community and the world,” Leisle Chung said in an interview.

Vinh Chung and his parents had fled Vietnam as boat people in 1979 after the end of the Vietnam War. He has a medical degree from Harvard University; the same school where his wife earned an MBA.

The couple, who met in Arkansas, moved to Colorado in 2019 because it was so beautiful, Leisle Chung said. When Dr. Chung could not find a position in any clinic, he started his own, with a staff of four and three treatment rooms. Today, Vanguard has 100 employees, and nine dermatology and plastic surgery clinics in Colorado with some in under-served areas.

As a result of their trip to Cambodia, in 2012, the Chungs created the Clara Counter. The subsidiary, named after one of their four children, provides retail skin care products in their clinics and online. All profits go to charitable works such as clean water in Rwanda and other areas with World Vision; a Haiti medical clinic in one of the poorest slums and also a maternal health program there; child protection in Cambodia. They also give to numerous local charities such as CASA, Springs Rescue Mission and others.

Staff members see their own work at Vanguard as a philanthropic calling, said Hannah Searcey, who oversees recruiting and has been with Vanguard three years.

“When I heard their story of healthcare with a compassionate purpose I knew I had to work there,” Searcey said. Staff members can go on volunteer service trips to Haiti. They have been curtailed during recent unrest there, but she hopes to go eventually. “Those who have done that come back changed,” she said.

Searcey likes Vanguard’s emphasis on work and life balance. “I have two children, six and 11 months and there is flexibility that fits into my life.”

The benefits are attractive: a choice of several medical plans, a generous 401-K match, bonding leave; Care Partners who can address emotional health.

Employees like working at Vanguard because jobs are created around people’s passions, Searcey said.

There also is a family feel to the organization. “We truly care for one another. Our motto is we never let another team member fail, Searcey said.