Tuesday, July 3, 2018
Monday, July 2, 2018
Growing up in Guyana, his parents encouraged him to dream big. Now he’s the AHA president.
By AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION NEWS
Dr. Ivor Benjamin, the new president of the American Heart Association, speaks at the organization’s Gold Heart Awards banquet in late June. (Photo by Tim Sharp for AHA)
MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin – With a father who worked as a postmaster and a mother who was a homemaker, Ivor Benjamin grew up under modest circumstances.
The Benjamins lived in Guyana, a small nation on the Caribbean side of South America. Their home in Beterverwagting was about 9 miles outside Georgetown, the capital city. Ivor was the second child among five children.
“Our family didn’t necessarily have ‘riches’” he said of his formative years. “But what we did have was a pioneering spirit. My parents gave us this sense that we can get up and go – that we can aspire.”
On many of these occasions, his mother, Edna Benjamin, would say, “Maybe one day you’ll be like your great-uncle James.”
James Henry Murrell – Mrs. Benjamin’s uncle and Ivor’s great-uncle – exemplified the family’s legacy of the world’s boundless possibilities. He left Guyana in the late 1890s and was educated in the United States, then earned a medical degree from the University of Glasgow (Class of 1922) in Scotland. He settled in Ghana and, purportedly, performed the first blood transfusion on Africa’s Gold Coast. In his honor, Ivor’s middle name is James.
As it turns out, Ivor Benjamin did in many ways become like great-uncle James.
Guyana at the time did not have its own medical school, but fueled by parental encouragement and an innate desire to achieve, he became a cardiologist and scientific researcher. He’s risen to prominent roles at university medical programs across the nation. Along the way, he became involved with the American Heart Association. From joining committees to editing journals, he’s risen through the ranks of the organization’s volunteer leadership.
On July 1, he became the AHA’s 82nd president, beginning a yearlong tenure.
“Under the leadership of Dr. Benjamin, we are inspired by the possibilities he brings to further our mission,” American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown said. “His intellect, passion, desire to help others and pioneering spirit are the hallmarks of our association and the foundation for our future.”
***
As a youngster, Ivor excelled in school, especially in mathematics and the natural sciences. When he wasn’t focusing on academics, he enjoyed meeting up with friends to play sports. His mother, however, wasn’t keen on those outings and would often prioritize academic studies over sports and play. So his beloved grandma stepped in and hatched a plan.
About once a week, Grandma went to the market and brought along young Ivor to help. At least, that was the cover story for him to play ball. Mom never caught on, even when the trips occurred more often and lasted longer. Ivor developed a strong connection with his grandma, who recognized his talents and helped him enjoy time playing a game he loved.
The relationship Ivor had with his grandma would serve as a defining relationship in Ivor’s childhood. When Ivor was 9, his grandma – his mother’s mother and great-uncle James’ sister – suffered a stroke.
“My entire world came crashing down,” he said.
She moved into the room he shared with his brother where he fed her and helped with other caregiving needs. She essentially became his first patient. She passed away a year later.
“That was probably when the seeds of wanting to become a doctor were planted,” he said.
***
After Ivor finished high school, his family moved to the United States.
His mother paved the way, becoming a housekeeper for a young family in New Jersey. When she saved enough for her family, she sent for everyone else.
His father, who’d worked his way up to being one of the three chief postmasters in Guyana, got a job at a bank in New York. Ivor worked during the day and then sought a college that offered night classes. He also needed a campus that was close and convenient and picked Hunter College.
It just so happened the convenient school he chose also produced world-class scientists.
***
After one year at Hunter College, Benjamin was selected for a Thomas Hunter Honors curriculum.
The program provided the freedom to study as he desired. And through a summer enrichment program for minority students, he did cardiovascular physiology research at Cornell University Medical School.
Benjamin’s commitment to education and love of science paid off when he was accepted to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He worked in the lab of Bernadine Healy who would go on to become president of the AHA and the first female National Institutes of Health director.
While completing his residency at Yale, his father called suddenly. Something had happened to his mom. She couldn’t speak, but she managed to scribble on a napkin, “Call Ivor.”
His mother had a stroke, triggered by hypertension-induced atrial fibrillation. Benjamin believes that’s what his grandma similarly had suffered. Luckily, his mom received immediate care and recovered quickly. Six months later, his mother recovered and accompanied him on a trip to Europe to celebrate the end of his medical training and start of his medical career.
After seeing two of his family members suffer from strokes, Benjamin had a new interest in understanding health events within families and not solely one patient at a time. This encouraged a budding career as a cardiology researcher as he aimed to understand how to prevent future health events that ran in his own family.
“I recognized that being a phenomenal physician was necessary, but not sufficient,” he said. “I wanted to find a way to help people on a larger scale.”
***
After his residency and internship at Yale, Benjamin entered a fellowship at Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center in Chicago. While there, he was among the earliest recipients of the Minority Medical Faculty Development Award given by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The funding allowed him to join a lab at Duke University Medical Center, where he studied molecular cardiology under R. Sanders Williams.
When Williams went as Division Chief of Cardiology to UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Benjamin was appointed to the faculty. As an attending cardiologist, one of the first medical residents he worked with in Dallas was Dr. John Warner. Benjamin is now succeeding Warner as AHA president.
While in Dallas, Benjamin earned his first AHA grant. It came during the first research investment by the Henrietta B. and Frederick H. Bugher Foundation. The Bugher Foundation has gone on to invest more than $48 million in AHA-guided research, primarily into previously underfunded areas. Benjamin is the first Bugher-funded researcher to become AHA president.
***
In 2003, Benjamin became Division Chief of Cardiology at the University of Utah. Patients, research, advancing an academic mission – this job had it all. In 2009, he received a crowning achievement in his research portfolio, a $2.5 million Pioneer Award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
The grant proposal funded studies of how certain inherited modes of heart failure, which share similar features of neurodegenerative disorders, contribute to protein misfolding conditions and the extremes of oxidative metabolic stress, termed reductive stress.
In 2013, Benjamin relocated to Milwaukee to be the Director of the Cardiovascular Center at The Medical College of Wisconsin, a role in which he continues to serve.
***
Throughout Benjamin’s career, he has remained committed to the mission of the AHA to improve cardiovascular health while reducing the burden of cardiovascular disease and stroke in all communities.
It started in Dallas, mostly with scientific work such as a peer-review committee. He’s gone on to chair the Scientific Publishing Committee, the International Committee and the Research Committee. He’s on the editorial board of many of the AHA’s top publications, including Circulation and a founding member on the board of the Journal of American Heart Association.
“I just did what was the natural fit for me,” he said.
When it was time to pick Warner’s successor, the AHA’s leaders naturally felt Benjamin would be an excellent president.
“I am a very blessed human being to be in this space,” he said. “I do not take it for granted.”
***
One of Dr. Ivor Benjamin’s fondest memories is when he took his family to Guyana to explore where he grew up. (Photo courtesy of Ivor Benjamin)
Benjamin credits his family as a key source of pride and stability.
He’s been married to his wife, Carol Benjamin, for 30 years. They have two sons and a daughter. Their oldest son, Lawrence Benjamin, is a resident in internal medicine; their other son, Alexander Benjamin, is in hospital administration; and their daughter, Charis Benjamin, is pursuing graduate studies in Maternal Health and Biostatistics.
One of Dr. Benjamin’s fondest memories was when he took his children to Guyana to explore where he grew up. While on this trip, he shared stories and lessons, and showed his children the family’s roots.
A lesson he passed on to the next generation was a line he heard many times from his father, one penned by the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: “Choose well, son, for your choice is brief, and yet endless.”
Benjamin considers the line a call to action – a challenge to make his world, and the world at large, a better place.
It’s a responsibility he’s eager to take on as AHA president, a role he’s essentially been preparing for his entire life.
If you have questions or comments about this story, please email editor@heart.org.
The post Growing up in Guyana, his parents encouraged him to dream big. Now he’s the AHA president. appeared first on News on Heart.org.
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First Look: Miura IC-601
Miura continues its 2018 redefinition tour with the launch of its IC-601 irons ($280/club MSRP), a hollow-body distance-oriented iron targeted at mid to high handicap golfers who want to bag Miura irons, but who may not have the game for its flagship muscle-back and players cavity-back models. Out of the gate, the IC-601 is currently available for right-hand golfers only in 4-PW.
This release will likely be a head-scratcher for some Miura traditionalists as, apart from the branding and chief designer (founder Katsuhiro Miura), the rest of the story lacks may of the expected Miura elements.
For starters, the IC-601 is cast, not forged. It's not that casting is a less desirable manufacturing process, but precision casting hasn't ever been Miura's forte nor does it fit with Miura's self-proclaimed status as makers of "The World's Finest Forged Golf Clubs." It's unfair, but cast irons don't typically garner the same level of attention as forged clubs – and when an OEM renowned for its forging prowess departs from this recipe, it's noteworthy.
The 455 Carpenter Steel face and SUS304 stainless steel body surround a vacant inner cavity structure allowing for a wider sole which pushes discretionary weight low and rear in the clubhead. Carpenter steel is noted for its properties of high strength, low weight, and native durability. As such, it allows the face more room to flex, which increases ball speeds, enlarges the sweet spot and boosts MOI (forgiveness). Miura states, the result is an iron which "is higher, longer, and more forgiving than any other in the Miura lineup.”
The other notable departure from the Miura way with the IC-601 is where it's manufactured – Taiwan. In so far as JDM junkies associate Japan with quality craftsmanship, advanced forgings and adherence to ridiculously tight spec tolerances, this is well, something different – though we've seen a portion of this movie before as Miura exported a portion of the Genesis PP-9005 club manufacturing to Taiwan as well.
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Effectively, Miura set up a de facto satellite facility in Taiwan which is capable of the advanced precision casting processes required for the IC-601. There, Miura-san trained laborers on proper grinding techniques and frequently visited to ensure, regardless of geographic location, quality standards of all products bearing the Miura name remained present. Post production, all irons go through Miura's home facility in Himeji, Japan to pass rigorous final inspection before worldwide distribution.
North America is still the largest golf market in the world (dollars spent/year), and the IC-601 is a calculated move by Miura to bring its product to the masses. The cast design allows for technological elements which serve the needs of a large cross-section of golfers, a fact not lost on OEMs with similar product offerings (Ping G700, TaylorMade M4, Callaway Rogue). It's an intelligent and necessary step if Miura believes it can be the first historically Japanese OEM to find a sustainable measure of success in a market dominated by Callaway and TaylorMade – though it won't be without its critics.
Is this a step in the right direction or is a cast distance iron too much of a departure from Miura's core identity?
For more information, visit MiuraGolf.com.
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Former diving champion brushed off symptoms that turned out to be heart valve disease
By AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION NEWS
Len Rapkins (left), with his son Marc Faux, attributed his fatigue and shortness of breath to getting older. The symptoms were actually caused by heart valve disease. (Photo courtesy of Len Rapkins)
Len Rapkins can barely remember a time when he wasn’t fit.
As a teen growing up in Great Britain, he trained as a boxer, gymnast and diver, and earned a silver medal in the 1961 World Student Games, the world’s second-largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games.
He went on to serve as a military pilot before flying for British Airways, eventually settling down to run a golf course in Scotland, walking 36 holes most days.
In 2001, at age 60, Rapkins moved to the United States, where work as a golf pro meant riding in a golf cart rather than walking. And unlike his home in Scotland, errands were done by car rather than walking.
“It was a whole different lifestyle, and after a few years, I noticed I was getting tired quicker and huffing and panting,” said Rapkins, who now lives in Monroe, North Carolina. “I thought it was because I was getting older and driving so much more.”
Len Rapkins (far right) won a silver medal in diving for Great Britain at the 1961 World Student Games. (Photo courtesy of Len Rapkins)
In February of 2017, he finally complained to his doctor about his declining stamina and testing revealed his breathlessness and fatigue were caused by heart valve disease.
About 2.5 percent of Americans have heart valve disease, which occurs when one or more of the heart valves have been damaged, disrupting blood flow by not opening or closing properly. The condition becomes more prevalent with age, affecting one in 10 people age 75 and older.
Because symptoms such as feeling short of breath and fatigue are vague and can come on slowly, they often aren’t noticed, said cardiologist Dr. Vuyisile T. Nkomo, director of the Valvular Heart Disease Clinic at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Some people, even those with severe valve disease, may have no symptoms, leaving many cases undetected, he said.
“If you find yourself unable to keep up with your peers, then something may be wrong,” Nkomo said. “It’s not just a normal part of aging.”
Although Rapkins had been told two decades earlier that he had a heart murmur – a sign of heart valve disease – the diagnosis came as a surprise.
“My doctor told me it wasn’t anything I should worry about back then,” he said. “I wished I had known it was something I needed to pay attention to.”
Rapkins was diagnosed with severe aortic stenosis, a narrowing of the aortic valve opening that restricts blood flow, and one of the most common and most serious valve disease problems.
By August, his symptoms had worsened. He struggled to drag his trash can to the end of the street.
“I felt bloody awful,” he said. “It was like I was in a deep hole.”
Rapkins shared his symptoms with his daughter, Tina Allenby, a longtime nurse and midwife who lives in England, and she urged him to contact his cardiologist.
More testing revealed Rapkins’ condition had deteriorated and he’d need a new valve and also a stent to reopen a previously blocked heart artery.
Rapkins learned all he could about his condition and the treatment options, including a less invasive procedure called transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, in which a replacement valve is positioned into the aortic valve’s place through a catheter in the groin, similar to how stents are placed. The American Heart Association offers an online treatment explorer tool to help patients understand the treatment options for their specific type of heart valve disease.
Initially, Rapkins wasn’t eligible for TAVR and would need open-heart surgery. That terrified him.
“I wasn’t sleeping and had terrible nightmares,” he said. “The more I learned about open-heart surgery, the more horrified I became of complications and the pain of recovery.”
After consulting with another doctor, Rapkins eventually gained approval for TAVR, undergoing the procedure last December.
“When I woke up, it was like someone flicking a switch,” Rapkins said. “I felt energy through my whole body and couldn’t wait to get up and do stuff.”
A few days later, he was already walking his dogs. Allenby said the change in her father was “startling.”
“Within two weeks, he was back to his old self, with much more energy and vigor,” she said.
Rapkins, now 76, walks 3 miles a day and swims every other day.
“I should have listened to my body more and talked to my doctor, rather than sitting back and assuming is was just a natural progression of getting old,” he said. “It really is a stealthy illness that creeps up on you.”
If you have questions or comments about this story, please email editor@heart.org.
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VIDEO – Quick Hits: 2018 Rangefinders
As we touched on in our 2018 Rangefinder Buyer's Guide, in just one year, technology has taken a massive leap forward. In previous years, features like Bushnell's Jolt technology and the slope adjustment were considered differentiators. This year, however, manufacturers stepped up their game with things like onboard GPS, mobile app integration, and vibration reduction technology that finally makes the rangefinder a viable choice for those with less than steady hands.
In today's Quick Hits, our Harry Nodwell gives you an overview of some of the more compelling new rangefinder models and the unique technologies that differentiate them from the field.
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The 5 Signs of a Struggling Startup, and How to Reverse the Trend
Entrepreneurs are actually proven to be happier and healthier than employees who work for someone else. It is uniquely rewarding to own and grow a business.
That said, there are plenty of obstacles in the way. This is why failures are so common. As a business owner, it’s important to monitor the health of your growing company to spot warning signs—a fractured team, negative customer reviews, poor customer retention, and a lack of creative innovation.
In this article, I’ll explore these how to spot and reverse these problems.
1. A fractured team
Hiring is a minefield for startups, but with the right approach, you can recruit top talent. No matter how carefully you consider recruitment, the team can become fractured under pressure. If the culture doesn’t feel right and your team isn’t synchronized, this may highlight a dysfunctional workforce.
Some of the indicators of a dysfunctional team include:
Communication breakdowns
Communication channels themselves can foster a toxic culture. With the wealth of tools at your disposal, bad practice will fester if you don’t set guidelines for how and why to communicate. The team must buy into company messaging systems (e.g. Slack), and know the policies for communicating on email and project management systems.
Low morale, lack of understanding, or even bullying might happen within a fractured team. You must be fully aware of the landscape by talking to team members regularly, on a one-to-one basis, and providing a safe space for honest conversations.
Lack of trust
If your team doesn’t trust you as a leader or they don’t trust each other, don’t share workloads, or if they dread spending time together, this is a problem. In this case, you need to cultivate a better team culture. Scott Gerber’s useful article about building team culture features 13 tips by business leaders, from hosting out of office meals to improving transparency.
High turnover rates
Losing talent is one of the clearest indications of a dysfunctional team. If multiple employees are leaving, this needs to be addressed. Their reasons for departure may be unrelated, but they might also be related to dissatisfaction with pay, stress levels, lack of direction, poisonous culture, or something else entirely. Collect candid feedback from outbound staff to get a handle on their true reasons for departure so you can recognize and address trends.
In an article on the Forbes magazine, leadership expert David Kruse points to organizational psychologist Liane Davey’s advice on how to counter dysfunctional team dynamics. Davey says it’s important to take steps to recognize and appreciate your team on a regular basis. But she also says healthy, respectful disagreements that consider multiple viewpoints can actually build a culture of collaboration and openness.
2. Negative customer reviews
Sometimes your business, product, or service is going to receive bad reviews. They don’t mean all is lost and you should close your doors immediately, but you should pay attention and respond to negative feedback. As Emily Washcovick of Yelp points out, 53 percent of customers expect a reply when they write an online review.
Analyzing your bad reviews will help identify patterns and see where you fall below expectations. A study in 2016 by Capterra revealed that 52 percent of customers are actually more likely to trust of a product or brand if it has a few negative reviews. However, it’s not a good sign if the majority are bad reviews—this indicates a fundamental problem that needs to be addressed immediately or it will affect your sales.
So, what should you do if you notice that your reviews are increasingly negative? First, you should respond to all reviews, positive and negative. This highlights great customer service and protects your brand’s reputation.
Simultaneously, identify the reason(s) why you’re getting the bad reviews. Are your customers complaining about the same issue? Does this signify a bug in the software? Are the complaints isolated incidents, or do they reflect a pattern? Aim to take the detailed conversation off the public forums and always provide satisfactory compensation when appropriate.
Too many startups ignore them and suffer the consequences. Whether or not all the negative feedback is valid (and fair), your customers’ feelings of disappointment are real. This might mean that you’re framing your value proposition wrong, setting unrealistic expectations, or not delivering on promises. Don’t take the bad reviews at face value. Look deeper into whether they reflect a broader problem with your product, your positioning, and your customer service.
3. Depleted cash reserves
Cash flow is critical. According to studies, 90 percent of failed small businesses closed their doors due to poor cash flow management.
To build a fiscally strong business, you’ll need robust invoicing processes so you can avoid situations where you’re not getting paid on time or at all. Depleted cash reserves are a signal of difficult times, but are often avoidable.
How can you keep on top of the finances from the start of your startup journey?
Document projections
Document all financial projections, and record all transactions so you can compare and address any gaps quickly. Seek the advice of a financial professional to create accurate cash flow projections and determine where you can make the most impact. You can stay on top of your financials, comparing your forecast to actuals using simple Excel spreadsheets, but a financial dashboard tool that integrates with your cloud accounting solution can make it easier and save you time.
Maintain strict budgets
And stick to them. As a startup, you will need to factor in the possibility of unforeseen situations so delayed payments or extra expenses aren’t catastrophic. There’s always a risk, especially when investing in recruitment and marketing, but staying within your means will minimize the impact of mistakes.
Save for a rainy day
Plan the quiet times of the season when revenue drops. Also, prepare for emergencies. This could be a natural disaster like flooding, storms, or a technical failure. An unplanned pivot will drain cash quickly, so it’s important to have reserves.
How can you reverse cash flow problems when they hit acutely?
Find the source
Determine the source of your pain, and plan targeted action against it. Are late payments hurting you? Has there been an unexpected expense? Have you been affected by fraud? Are you paying more recruitment fees than expected? Is there a downturn in new customers?
Change your terms
If you invoice customers or clients, look at whether the terms are too generous. Be proactive with payment collection. Offer a discount for early payment as an incentive. Streamline the payment process; automate if possible. If you’re on a subscription model, determine whether this is working for you in the long-term.
Maintain lender relationships
Lenders are important for businesses in their earliest stages. In most cases, lenders are brought on board in a timely and considered manner. However, sometimes they come into play when a startup needs urgent cash. Build trust over time, and keep solid relationships.
Reduce overheads
Audit your current outgoings and determine where to make short-term cuts. This doesn’t always need to be drastic, but unnecessary expenses add pressure.
4. Poor customer retention
For a startup, it’s critical to work on customer retention to ensure repeat revenue. If you notice that the number of happy repeat customers is dropping, it’s time to investigate where and why.
Customer service is a key player here; perhaps more influential than marketing. It’s normal to have some unsatisfied customers. However, these can be turned around into loyal long-term advocates. Avoid long waiting times, train support staff to an expert level, and invest in great CRM and customer service communication software.
Poor customer service combined with a lack of added value will undoubtedly result in bad retention levels. You must have a retention strategy in place, delivered with the sole focus of keeping customers on board for the long-term.
Consider incentives such as a loyalty program. Exclusive discounts, cumulative benefits, gifts, or random rewards need to be put into the mix. Be sure to acknowledge customer loyalty milestones. Use your loyalty programs to foster direct communication with your customers so you can hear what they really think straight from the source.
Ask your customers what they think using surveys, social media, or even formal interviews. These insights are critical to planning product or service updates and will help you improve the quality of your offering. Transparent communication is key here.
5. A lack of innovation and agility
Startups are known for their innovative and agile approach to business. Creativity, thinking outside the box, and a modern mindset is essential. If you’re not innovating, you’re probably in trouble. Think about how you can make your internal processes more efficient and less costly. But don’t forget that innovation doesn’t have to be earthshaking—it can be the long-term commitment to evolving your product or service into the best it can be for your customers.
Innovation starts with your capable team. Give them space to discuss new ideas, products, and methodologies. Your team will feel more empowered, excited, and like you trust them to help you make the best decisions for your company. Micromanaging will lower morale, erode trust, and shrink thinking space.
Especially encourage new team members to bring fresh ideas to the table and commit to diversity in terms of expertise, cultural backgrounds, and experience.
Not every idea can be executed. But everybody should feel safe to push innovative thoughts forward. If there is a fear of embarrassment or shutdown, fewer people will be willing to take the risk to speak up.
Consider new methods of working. Perhaps one or two days of remote working will provide more innovative thinking space for team members? Or maybe a more streamlined and efficient process for project management would alleviate stress and allow for more creative conversation.
Summary
With the wealth of data at your fingertips, there is no better time to track the health of your startup business—look for patterns that indicate opportunities or issues that need to be addressed. Potentially fatal problems can be spotted early, and mitigated before they threaten the success of your enterprise.
Above all, it is key that you focus on your customers’ pain points. With a customer-centric approach, you will increase retention, improve reviews, and generate new revenue. You will be able to develop your product or service to meet the needs of the most valuable customers. This success will breed a positive atmosphere on your team, and allow for time and space to think creatively. In the end, addressing the needs of your customers will reverse negative trends.
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Sunday, July 1, 2018
Vacuuming Mistakes You Need to Stop Doing
Cleaning your carpet is a task that you should always include in your to-do list. However, no matter how much you clean, your vacuuming may not be as effective as intended if you keep making the following mistakes:
Photo by The Creative Exchange on Unsplash
Vacuuming too quickly
If you perform a rushed vacuum job, your results simply won’t be as satisfying. Do it right by first scanning the room to pick up anything that may get stuck in the machine, such as coins, paper clips, small toys, or other items that may be hiding in plain sight. Then, push the vacuum slowly so that the machine’s brushes can properly agitate the carpet fibers and pick up the most dirt possible. Source: BobVila
Not adjusting the height
Make sure to adjust your vacuum’s height as you move from carpet to rug to hardwood! Some vacuums do this automatically, but if yours doesn’t, make sure to take the time to make the appropriate adjustments. It will make a huge difference in the cleanliness of your home’s different surfaces.
Vacuuming only when carpet looks dirty
Don’t wait until you can see the dust to start cleaning. Dirt can pile up underneath the fibers at the bottom of the rug long before you notice it, causing sniffles and allergies to flare. Set a regular vacuuming schedule and stick to it—even if you don’t think it’s necessary. Source: HouseBeautiful
Waiting until the bag is full to empty it
Even though some vacuums have “check bag” indicator lights, check the bag yourself and change it when it’s three-quarters full. This keeps your vacuum’s suction strong. And if you have a bagless vac, don’t forget the dust cup — dirt collects there, too. Source: GoodHousekeeping
Have your carpet deep-cleaned every once in a while to ensure the safety of your family from allergens. Call us for more information!
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