Skip to content
Read More
EP 470: From Burnout to Balance: Why Your Spa Business Needs More Feminine Energy (with Dr. Neeta Bhushan)

The Leadership Shift Every Spa Owner Needs: From Hustle to Heart

If you’re in treatment rooms four days a week, checking Slack before your feet hit the floor, and leading team meetings with frantic energy, this episode is your permission slip to pause.

Dr. Neeta Bhushan joins me to talk about something most spa owners don’t realize is sabotaging their leadership: leading exclusively from masculine energy. And before you think this is about being “soft” or “less driven,” let me be clear. This conversation is about becoming a more effective leader, making better decisions, and building a team culture that actually thrives.

Why Masculine Energy Alone Isn’t Sustainable

Most of us started our businesses leading with pure hustle. Go mode. Do mode. Get it done mode. It’s the energy that helps you open the doors, book the clients, and push through the hard days.

But here’s what happens when you never shift out of that gear: you walk into your spa with chaotic energy, you react to problems instead of responding strategically, and your team feels the stress radiating from you before you even speak.

Neeta describes it perfectly when she talks about the frenetic energy of thinking, “If I don’t get everything done, I’m behind.” That constant state of urgency? It’s not leadership. It’s survival mode.

And your business can’t scale when you’re leading from survival.

The Five-Minute Ritual That Changes Everything

One of the most practical takeaways from this conversation is Neeta’s approach to nervous system regulation through ritual. Not hour-long meditations or complicated routines, but five minutes with intention.

For Neeta, it’s chai. For you, it might be something else. But the concept is universal: before you dive into the chaos, can you create a moment to ground yourself?

When you lead from a grounded place instead of a stressed place, everything shifts. Your tone with your team. Your ability to problem-solve. Your capacity to think strategically instead of reactively.

The feminine energy Neeta talks about isn’t about being less productive. It’s about being more present, more intentional, and more effective in everything you do.

What This Looks Like in Your Spa

Neeta shares practical examples that any spa owner can implement immediately. Dance parties before team meetings. Taking five minutes for yourself before opening the schedule. Creating rituals that signal to your nervous system: we’re okay, we can slow down, we can lead from clarity.

And here’s the thing—when you model this for your team, you give them permission to do the same. You create a culture where people aren’t just surviving their shifts but actually showing up grounded and ready to serve clients well.

Why This Matters for Women in Their 40s and Beyond

If you’re navigating perimenopause, dealing with hormone shifts, or noticing that your energy isn’t what it used to be, this conversation also addresses the reality of leading a spa business while managing your own health.

Neeta talks about the importance of being keenly aware of what you’re putting into your body, how you’re managing stress, and what rituals support your nervous system during this season. It’s not just woo-woo wellness talk. It’s strategic self-care that directly impacts your ability to lead, make decisions, and show up as the CEO your business needs.

The Invitation

This episode isn’t about adding more to your plate. It’s about giving yourself permission to pause, to lead from a grounded place, and to recognize that the most powerful thing you can do for your business is regulate your own nervous system first.

Because when you’re grounded, your team feels it. Your clients feel it. And your business benefits from it.

Tune in to hear the full conversation with Neeta, including her journey from cosmetic dentist to founder, the story behind Chai Tonics, and why rituals are the secret weapon of effective spa leaders.

Resources Mentioned in Episode #470: From Burnout to Balance: Why Your Spa Business Needs More Feminine Energy (with Dr. Neeta Bhushan)

  • Chai Tonics 
  • Dr. Neeta Bhushan on Instagram 
  • Neeta’s Podcast
  • That Sucked. Now What? (Neeta’s book)

Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Subscribe on YouTube

Join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast Community

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Stay up-to-date with our email newsletter to receive important updates, news, and offers!

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Name(Required)

IG / @addoaesthetics

WEB / addoaesthetics.com

YOUTUBE / @addoaesthetics

LINKEDIN / @addoaesthetics

About Your Host, Daniela Woerner

Daniela Woerner is the founder of Addo Aesthetics and creator of the Growth Factor® Framework, a proven system that’s helped hundreds of spa owners build profitable, systemized businesses. With nearly 20 years in the aesthetics industry, she transforms overworked aesthetic professionals into confident Spa CEOs through strategy, systems, and soul led support. Daniela is also the host of Spa Marketing Made Easy, a top ranked podcast with over 1 million downloads, where she shares real world strategies to help spa professionals grow with clarity and confidence.

Well, hello, my dears, and welcome to another episode of the Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast. My name is Daniela, and if you’re new here, I want to welcome you to our community. We talk a lot about marketing systems, operations, leadership and entrepreneurship, but a big piece of success in all of these areas, the thread that ties everything together is personal development. It’s taking good care of yourself so that you can show up as the best version of yourself. You don’t want to operate your company from an overworked and overwhelmed space. If you’re doing that, you can’t think clearly. You react to situations rather than responding to them. Instead, you want to lead your company and your team towards the directions of the goals that you have set for yourself.

You don’t want to get stuck in this like hamster wheel cycle that happens when you don’t take good care of yourself when you don’t show up as the best version of what you are truly capable of. And that conversation how you do that, that’s exactly why I invited back one of my favorite humans, dr, Neeta Bhushan. Neeta and I were in a pure form to mastermind several years ago. We became close during that year, and we’ve stayed in touch since. And I invited her on to talk about self care, to talk about rituals, to talk about pausing, and how to do that when you’re a busy working mom and or entrepreneur wearing every single hat in the business. So I’m going to go ahead and read her bio, and then we will jump right into the interview. Dr Neeta Bhushan is a TEDx speaker, former cosmetic dentist and a world renowned emotional health advocate. She’s the author of multiple best selling books, including her five time award winning title that sucked now, what endorsed by Jay Shetty as the founder of the global grit institute dedicated to helping people reframe life’s toughest moments, and the Dharma coaching institute a leading organization training coaches and becoming the highest version of themselves. Neeta is a transformative force in personal development. Neeta has shared her thought leadership on grit, resilience and emotional well being on international stages and as the host of her top rated podcast, the brave table, her expertise has been featured in Forbes, ABC, NBC, CBS, Grazia, ok magazine, Verve magazine, and toddler after realizing how unfulfilled she felt running her multi million dollar dental practice, NIA embarked on a life changing journey across 45 countries, studying the intersection of human behavior, ancient wisdom, Eastern philosophy and therapeutic psychology. This deep exploration combined with her personal experiences of overcoming adversity, including being orphaned at a young age, surviving an abusive marriage and navigating profound loss, has shaped the powerful message of resilience that she shares with the world today. Neeta lives in Dubai with her husband and two children. She’s an incredible human. She’s one of my favorite humans, and I hope that you enjoy this interview with her. All right. Miss Neeta, welcome back to the spa marketing Made Easy Podcast. I’m so excited to see you. I’m so excited to have you here, and I just loved our pre show conversation, and I wish I would have recorded that. But this episode, I really wanted to bring you in, because for me, when I look at you, we’ve known each other. We’ve been in each other’s world for a couple years now, I don’t know, maybe five years now, yeah, today, the day that we’re recording, it marks three years of that suck. Now, what of my book? So really, yes, and when you came, you came to the launch. So it is so crazy three years.

There’s all these different chapters that we have in life as humans, as women, and you know, you like where I was going is you started with a as a cosmetic dentist. You were in the esthetic space you moved into coaching. You then became an author, as we talked about, that sucked. Now, what? Which, by the way, I gave my mom the book for Christmas, and she’s like, listening to it on Audible, like, on audio, and she’s like, Oh, this lady isn’t I was like, that’s one of my good friends. And she’s like, she is so good. So I was like, Oh, I’m gonna make sure that I tell her that. Thanks, Auntie.

But you have now moved into I was so proud of myself that I got the chai talk. Oh, my goodness, I have them here both. Of them, I’ve got my Chai here, and for me, this is my moon cup, yes, because it’s my reminder to stay focused on the feminine. But you created this company that it’s not just Chai. I mean, Chai is so much of who you are and what. Like, every time I would come to your house, we would make Chai. That was like, what we would do, we would have the rose petals. It was like this whole vibe that I loved so much. It was a whole ritual. It was a ritual, yeah, and I think it’s, it’s kind of, I mean, in the, you know, in the traditional Ayurvedic culture, Indian culture, anything that we do as a ritual, you know, and obviously, when you and the whole idea for rose petals, or any sort of intention behind what you’re doing is, you know, the adornment is the intention of, okay, how? What am I going to fill my cup with, literally? Is it going to be positive words or a mantra, or something that, really, you know, speaks to me in the in the way that I need it for it to land for me today, and it’s only for me, not for you, not for anybody else. But what does it mean to you, particularly for, you know, the time of the month that you’re doing this for, or just the seasonality of where life is. And I think that, you know, these types of things, rituals and times and moments in our life can be so sacred. And for me, this was a sacred homecoming for many, many years since, you know, obviously, as you know, I lost my parents when I was young, and the one thing that kept me really just coming back home to myself was a ritual of chai. And then, of course, in the throes of early motherhood, when I wrote my book, that sucked. Now, what the only thing that could keep me sane during all the craziness of, you know, motherhood, you know, serial entrepreneurship, writing a book, all of these things, moving, you know, cross country, to a different home, in a different city, in a different state, and then, of course, doing it, not even cross country, not moving across the world, subcontinent, continents. I think, because we just did that a year ago, and we’ll get into that a little bit, it has always come back to the ritual, you know. And I think so many people talk about their meditation rituals and, you know, going to the gym, all of these things.

But what if you don’t have that time because you are super busy and you have things going on. It’s not even super busy. It’s like there is something that you can only understand, the chaos of the mornings. Wonderful chaos, the best chaos, but the chaos of the mornings when you have small children like you, if there’s so many things, anything can happen. Anything can happen between six and 8am and so, and all of it can happen between six and eight. So you never know. And so the idea of, like, I’m going to meditate and I’m going to cold plunge and I’m going to exercise and I’m going to do all these things you could get pooped on or vomited on, or like, God knows what, and it’s all just totally normal, totally normal. And you’re just like, I’m gonna roll with the punches. But you know what? You know what they cannot take away from you.

You can not, yeah, and you can have your chai and, and here’s the thing, you know, the reason why I think I’ve always been a health nut as well as you know, I mean, obviously, you know, losing both of my parents to cancer, losing my brother to, you know, an asthma attack, I think that I was just primed from a young age to just say, Okay, what is going into my body? And I’ve, I’ve been so, I think, well, and being a doctor too, like that, well, and then adding on to the mix of just like, add on, add on, add on. You know, you can’t take the girl away from from her medical training. So, I mean, I wanted something that was going to feel good in our bodies, in our nervous systems and and that was kind of the place that I arrived at even writing the book, and, you know, getting burnt out from the book, doing 200 plus, you know, interviews for the book, doing a whole book tour in several different cities. I mean, it was a beautiful time. And of course, the book reached, you know, 10s of 1000s of people. And but you know, at the end of it, I was burnt out. And, you know, we can talk a little bit about just the the idea of burnout and how badly I needed ritual for myself. And while chai and the making of the chai, the sacred moment of the five to 10 minutes, you know, even if the kids are screaming in the background, I always had.

That was my meditation. And I know some people have their ritual of coffee, you know, the aroma, smelling it. And of course, in the ancient cultures, of the Japanese cultures, of the Chinese cultures, the Indian cultures, they all have this reverence to a tea ceremony, which is, you know, this metaphor of, you know you’re, you’re brewing the hot water, you’re steeping the tea. You’re, crushing the herbs, you’re pouring it in a cup. I know we don’t have that much time, obviously, because a lot of us do have so many things, but I wanted to make it sacred. Okay, how do we do this without getting all of these things? But this is a metaphor to take five minutes out of our day to have something, and I kind of call it an upgraded Chai, because it has all the adaptogens, and the one that you know you’re drinking has its focus flow. So it has lion’s mane. It has Brahmi for mental clarity. Lion’s Mane, obviously, is a neurotropic supports, you know, neuroplasticity, as well as saffron for mood, which obviously there’s so many studies for and then it actually tastes like Chai, and it’s vegan and it’s only one gram of sugar. So I’ve taken out all of you know, kind of the messiness and the grunt work, and I wanted to make it super easy for women to literally come back home to herself, so that she can carve out that five minutes or 10 minutes to just pause and reset her nervous system and pour back into her before she goes on with her day.

I think it’s such an important conversation to have for women who identify as kind of leading with the masculine when you’re that type A personality, when you are like, go getter, hustle like you want all the things, and you’re smart and focused and committed, and you have all of this.

But it’s so it wasn’t until, I think it was when I turned 40 that I really started to become aware of the feminine and the masculine, and like, how I had been leading up to my up to 40 with only masculine, so I was, like, severely out of balance. And it’s my natural state to be like, something needs done. Like, I’m gonna go, just do it. I’m not gonna, you know, like, I figure it out, and I like that about myself, but I also know that, like, everything needs to be in balance, and there’s beauty in being able to receive and there’s beauty in just knowing, like, I Think it impacts our leadership in our companies, how we engage with our team, and so for someone who leads with masculine creating, it’s not like you have to become a different person, but just like you’re saying, you create these times and spaces for you to actually pause and reset the nervous system, because if you do wake up, grab your phone, start checking, Slack, go.

You know you’re running downstairs, there’s, you know, kids running around everywhere. You’re going to lead into the start of your work day with like chaotic energy or stressed energy, instead of coming from a grounded place, your default is going to be, like, if a problem comes up, you’re going to be in, like, grumpy or angry, or, Why did this happen, instead of trying to understand the bigger picture and be able to solve that problem in a better way? Oh, 100% and I feel like you’ve just kind of, you know, hit the nail on the head when, when you’re sharing about the grounded energy. And I think it’s so easy for us to just kind of be in go mode, because the masculine energy is the Go mode, is the doing mode, is the let’s get it done mode. And it’s like, okay, let’s, let’s slay the day. Whereas the feminine energy is more so this, you know, it’s the soft power, it’s the it’s the being. It’s the, you know, kind of observing and just being present and seeing, okay, what? What else can I create? And, you know, it kind of is reflected in taking that pause. Well, if we’re leading with our masculine we forget to take that pause, because we think, okay, if I don’t get all of these things done, if I don’t do everything that’s on my to do list, then I’m going to be behind. I’m not going to, you know, be able to serve my team, etc, etc. And it’s this frenetic energy, you know, for lack of a better word, of this, like angst and anxiety, that’s like leading the day, versus Okay, I’m gonna have, you know, I know you love the rose ritual. I’m gonna have the rose ritual. And it is this feminine. I call it the nervous system reset in a cup, because it’s so beautiful. It’s pink, it’s floral, it’s, you know, it’s, obviously, it just reminds me when I’m leaning in. Masculine, especially in the middle of the day when I don’t want heavy caffeine.

This has, you know, green tea. It has all of the adaptogens in it that really supports calm and just taking a rest in our day. However, it’s also that kind of time where you’re like, Okay, I am going to pause and remember that I can actually be for five minutes and then I can go and slay the rest of my day. And to your point, can we remind ourselves to actually lead with our feminine and how much better our team members and our families can benefit because of that? So tell me about that journey with you of learning how to lead with your feminine when you know, from the like dental era to the coach era to the book era to now. I mean, like I feel like, as we age, we just get better and better. I love a woman in their 50s. They’re like, my muse right now. I love women in their 50s too. I’m like, Oh my gosh, you’re my spirit animal. You know? I think there is this, there is this idea of, you know, I I have so much more reverence for spaciousness and time. And, you know, I think there’s this discerning factor of, okay, what’s, what gets to be on my plate, and what, what doesn’t, I think, as someone for myself who’s always led in her masculine and, you know, it hasn’t been until having children and multiple to really say, okay, and that’s one of the reasons why I wrote the book. And of course, from that really birthed this idea of becoming a you know founder, again, in a full CPG, you know, consumer product, good business that’s completely different than, you know, starting a coaching enterprise, a coaching institute, you know, Coach Training, business, altogether, speaking, etc, writing. And, you know, I think, though, to challenge yourself and to try, you know what I mean, like if you just keep doing the same thing that you’re good at over and over, like your brain, you’re not like building those brain muscles. I think it’s amazing You’re so right. I, you know, I recently spoke to a VC, and he’s like, Neeta, with all the things you did.

And hopefully this adds value to, you know, whoever needs to hear this today. But, you know, sometimes being a multi hyphenate, it’s, it’s, he was saying that you’re actually a builder, and that’s just who you’ve always been. You’re, you’re a builder. And then you take it to a certain point. And because he’s a VC, and he invests in a lot of these, you know, startups, and early stage startups, that there are certain founders who they take it to a certain point, and then they hand it off to, you know, the team that manages it and runs it until they want to exit. And so it’s interesting, because for me, I get really excited about projects, and that really fuel me. And then, and I’m in this build mode, and this going mode. So it’s very much in the masculine. And so to your point, your question of, how have you been able to manage the feminine? Honestly, in my early we were talking about early, early, early back, way back when, you know, before kids, and when you’re in your 20s and early 30s. I was just, you know, in the Go, go, go. And I think it’s taken many iterations of being burnt out, you know, health scares or health situations, obviously, you know, and recognizing that you know what my my nervous system needs more prioritization, and so I think becoming smarter and more wise in my 40s, it’s a whole new game, because now I was just sharing with another group that I was speaking with today, I have my playlist of of the songs that really turn me up out on whether it’s my 90s Hip Hop playlist, whether it’s I have an amazing 90s Hip Hop playlist, whether it’s a Michael Jackson, whether it’s Whitney, Houston, I don’t care, you know, some EDM, whatever it is, I will just turn it on. And if I’m having a slump in the day, especially with my Chai, I will have it and I will sip it, and it will be the most loaded dance party.

It’s a kitchen dance party. It’s a kitchen dance party. And you dance parties are the ultimate mood lifter. Ultimately, they are the best. And you know, I’ve done it with my teams, and it’s great. And if we’re having a team meeting. And you know, I challenge this to whomever has not had a dance party on their team meeting. Just start the call with a song. I guarantee you everyone and play the song for the three minutes, the full three minutes, and dance it up and do what you got to do. But I guarantee you the mood of your team meetings will fully change. You will fully shift. The energy will fully shift. And because you are more in your feminine and, and because we’ve dropped into our heart, or because we’ve gotten, you know, we’ve got the energy shaken up in our bodies, oh, we’re coming more from a grounded place than more from this, like logical headspace and, and it just, it just shifts the energy. So I am such a big believer that if you can, I highly recommend carving out those spaces where you can add more of, you know, the feminine side. So it’s, it’s adding things like dance. I there was a time where I put a you know, pole in my in my garage.

I remember, because I wanted to, and this was not for anybody else but myself. This was for me to get more into my feminine. And then I realized that pole dancing is actually not feminine, because you have to, like, you have to be very strong, yeah.

I mean, it’s a huge workout. Masculine, I want to do belly dancing. Have you ever done belly dancing, right? Of course. Oh, yeah, oh, of course. It’s, that’s like, my next. That’s my next. You know, adventure is belly dancing. Oh yes, I think, I think that’s a okay, you and I both. That would be great. So tell me what your vision or your focus is as you’re building Chai tonics like, what is the, you know, when we’re looking at coaching or when we’re looking at, you know, business education, being an author, these different types of things, there’s a very clear focus or message or mission that you’re trying to accomplish. And this is a completely different business model. So going into this, how are you thinking about, like, the impact that you wanted to make for the end user?

Yeah, well, you know, first and foremost, this is, this is your chai, but upgraded, you know, I wanted to not necessarily compete with Starbucks, I feel like, but everybody knows, you know, Chai or Chai lattes, and there hasn’t been something that is, you know, not the sugary, syrupy that are sort of guys that are, yeah, it’s so sweet. It’s so sweet. And it’s funny, because we pulled in our pre launch, we pulled about 500 people on, you know, what kind, what kind of chai they like, and not just people from the diaspora, like everybody, like whoever drinks Chai, like why they like Chai or why they don’t. And there were a lot of people who said, I don’t like Chai because I’ve tried it and it’s so sweet, and I’m like, okay, that’s just not Chai. You have not tried Chai. If it’s like a cinnamon, sugary, syrupy bomb, it’s just that’s just not Chai. And so I wanted something where, of course, you have all the grounded spices, like the cinnamon, the cardamom, the ginger, the fennel, which is great for digestion, it’s great for, you know, Ayurveda has been around for 5000 years. It’s the oldest science, and it supports our nervous system, it supports our gut, it supports our glow. So I wanted to be able to use that. But also, you know, the main mission is to teach women in every season and stage an era of her to come back home to herself, to come back home to a ritual and a ritual that’s easy, a ritual that’s great for you, a ritual that reminds you that it’s a hug and a cup, a ritual that takes five minutes. So yes, to you know all of the things that’s really holistic, wholesome and great for not just you, your body and your nervous system. It’s vegan, you know, it’s powered by coconut milk. The focus flow has MCT oil, so it’s great for brain fuel. So not only did I want to make a really amazing, beautiful, holistic, clean, you know, product without any of the artificial ingredients and or any natural, quote, unquote, natural flavorings that has endocrine disruptors in it. But I wanted to make something where it is a ritual to come home to ourselves, because in this day and age where we are, we have so many things on our plate where there’s just all of the to do’s, can we actually give women permission to pause, and that is my mission. I feel like it’s always been that underlying mission with everything in the through line and all my work is to, you know, obviously I love bringing people together. I’ve been doing live events in every single aspect of my life in the last decade of doing, you know, coaching and. Writing and Speaking, and that’s the beauty. I mean, you, you’ve come you’ve stayed at our home, you’ve seen kind of just, you know, the gatherings. And I wanted to make this in a way, Chai as a way to have that circle with other women, you know, whether it’s in your own home, whether it’s with your team, but also as a way to connect with other people. Because, you know, that’s that’s the human element, right there.

One of my favorite things to do whenever I’m on a trip with another woman, and we’ve done this before, is the walk and talk, right? Like you go for your morning walk, and I feel like the best conversations happen during the walk and talk, and if you’re not in a like, the other time that the best conversations happen is when you’re having a chai or having a like, let’s have a coffee, or let’s and with we bought a farm. I don’t think I told or did I message you, yeah, we bought a farm.

You bought a farm. Oh my gosh, I’ll tell you about that after but Christy on my team, her family came down to the farm, and our kids are great friends, and I adore her and her husband, you know, on a personal level as well. And my favorite moment from that whole weekend was 20 minutes that she and I got to have some alone time. We sat on the porch, we were overlooking the water, and we just had the chai. And it was like such a deep, connective moment. It was the rose ritual. I put the rose things on the top. She loved it. That was the reason that I got the idea to get everybody the chai as a as a gift, to pause and have those moments, those because we don’t have them as much, you know, because women are working or we’re you know, a lot I know, I’m sure this is the case for you, but a lot of my deepest, closest friendships are not in close proximity, right? Yeah. And so I have women that I’m in in, you know, deep friendship with, but I only see them once or twice a year, right? And so when you get that 20 minutes to actually sit with them and have those conversations, and feel seen and see them. It’s such a connection point that is so so vital. And I know for me, coffee is my ritual in the morning, but I got rid of the afternoon coffee, and I’m drinking this. And for me it’s so important like again, turning 45 this year. I think anybody in their 40s, if you’re dealing with perimenopause, or any of those types of things like you really have to be aware of your sleep, your exercise, what you’re putting into your body. I feel the best I’ve ever felt and but I’m also, like, keenly aware of the foods that I’m eating, the exercise, the like, extremely limited alcohol, which are all like, that’s what works for me. And figuring that out, you know, no and actually, because you’re loving the rose ritual. I mean, Rose ritual has shit over in it, which is really supportive for postpartum. It’s great for pregnancy. It’s great for fertility, and it’s also great for perimenopause and menopause, because they the the Ayurvedic herb Shatavari is great for just women’s hormones in general, and so. And then it also has holy basil, which is like the anchor of if you go to anybody’s house in India, they will always have a Tulsi, or holy basil plant, just from a spiritual aspect. It literally grounds the energy of the home. And so we put that in the Rose ritual to help ground the energy of you. So it’s no wonder that you are going to have this grounded, sustained energy. Rhodiola is also great because it, while it’s activating, it gives you that you know kind of sustained energy. So you can have it in the middle of the day without having this like crazy crash. It’s not going to keep you up at night. So yeah, it’s a nice little it’s a nice little treat.

I have a question, as a non Indian person, isn’t Chai

just the Indian word for tea, or is there something that’s different, because there’s so many different types of teas. Yeah, like, but when I think of chai, I think of this like a particular drink. But isn’t it all tea? Please educate Yes.

So when you say chai tea, okay, so this is we’re gonna school. Everyone. We cannot say chai tea, because it’s just Titi in you would just be saying Titi. But for any, any, for anybody from the diaspora, traditional Chai, and there’s different names for Chai, you know, there’s karak chai, there’s, there’s all different kinds other Chai, which is Ginger Chai, elaichi Chai, which is cardamom Chai. And so you’re absolutely right, it just means tea. But when we’re thinking just the word Chai, of course, it’s always associated with a lot of the the herbs and spices. And you know, I like to call it the upgraded Chai, because it’s obviously with adaptogen superfoods that really support our nervous systems and, you know, our focus and our energy, but, but yeah, so I’m glad everybody is getting a masterclass on Chai. Thank you.

All right, so for our listeners that want to learn more about Chai tonics. Want to follow. You want to follow the brand. Where can we send them? Yes.

So if you are curious, definitely try tonics. You can follow our journey along. If you would like to carry it. At the spa, we have a wholesale deal at Fair, which is F, A, I, R, E out there we know all Yeah, on fair. A lot of spot people love our products on fair, and so you can get wholesale deals there, as well as try tonics.com we are on Shopify, and we are soon going to be on Amazon. So wow, that’s exciting.

Yes, thank you, Neeta. I love you. I’m so glad that for this next chapter for you in business, and it’s going to be incredible.

I’m super excited. I’m super excited. I mean, this is the whole the whole idea is to, you know, come back home to yourself in one way or another. So if I can leave anybody with, you know, whatever is going on in life, I hope you find that thing, whether it’s shy, whether it’s, you know, some sort of practice for you. I mean, it’d be great if it’s shy, but if it’s something else, just find something that you can come home to you at the end of the day.

Read More
Read More
EP 466: From Solo Esthetician to Spa CEO: How to Build a Team That Runs Without You

What Happens When You Can’t Work? The Wake-Up Call Every Solo Spa Owner Needs

If you’re working solo in your spa, ask yourself this: What happens if you get pregnant? Hurt your hand? Need surgery? Want to take an actual vacation?

For most solo providers, the answer is terrifying: revenue stops completely.

In this week’s episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy, I sat down with Susan, a spa owner who faced this exact reality. After seven years of running her own practice and 13 years in the esthetics industry, she found herself pregnant with her first child and suddenly realized she had no safety net. No savings specifically set aside for maternity leave. No backup plan. No one who could keep the business running while she was out.

That moment of clarity led to her first hire, a decision she credits to listening to this very podcast during room flips and appointment gaps. What followed was a masterclass in learning to lead, building systems that actually work, and making the strategic transition from primary revenue generator to spa CEO.

The Hiring Reality Check: Systems Must Come First

Here’s what Susan learned the hard way: you can’t just bring someone on and expect them to read your mind.

When she hired her first esthetician before maternity leave, she assumed the new team member would simply know what to do. After all, they were both estheticians, right? The technical skills were there. But within weeks of being on maternity leave, Susan discovered countless gaps. There was no operations manual. No clear opening and closing procedures. No standardized client communication approach. Everything that made her spa successful was locked inside her head, running on autopilot.

The lesson? Hiring isn’t just about finding good people. It’s about having documented systems that allow those people to succeed. Before you can scale, you need handbooks, training protocols, and step by step processes for every aspect of your client experience. Otherwise, you’re not building a business. You’re creating another full time job for yourself as the person who has to explain everything constantly.

Learning to Lead: Why Your First Hire Might Not Be Your Forever Hire

Susan’s first hire didn’t work out long term, and she’s refreshingly honest about it. After about a year, they parted ways. Her second hire? Still with her today.

The difference wasn’t the people. It was Susan’s evolution as a leader.

Leadership is a skill that has to be developed, just like mastering a facial technique or learning a new laser protocol. You have to learn how to communicate clearly, set boundaries, give constructive feedback, and create accountability. You’re not hiring someone to be your best friend. You’re building a team to serve clients, generate revenue, and create a sustainable business model.

Many spa owners go through multiple rounds of turnover before they truly understand their role as leaders. That’s normal. Every hire teaches you something new about what you need, how to communicate it, and what kind of culture you’re trying to build. The key is treating each experience as a learning opportunity rather than a personal failure.

The Revenue Paradox: Why You Have to Step Back to Scale Forward

Susan hit the classic sticking point that traps so many spa owners between $25,000 and $35,000 per month. She was still the primary revenue generator, working in the treatment room multiple days per week. She wanted to hire more support, but she was terrified that if she stepped back, revenue would drop.

It’s a catch-22. You can’t grow the business while you’re stuck doing all the treatments. But you’re afraid to stop doing treatments because that’s where the money comes from.

The solution requires strategic planning and intentional execution. Susan started by communicating openly with her clients about her plans to step back. She introduced them to her other providers, emphasizing that they would receive the same exceptional care. She gradually shortened her hours, giving clients time to adjust and build relationships with the rest of her team.

Then life made the decision for her when she injured her hand and had to step out completely. What she discovered surprised her: the business didn’t fall apart. In fact, with proper systems in place and a well trained team, the spa could run without her being in the treatment room at all.

The CEO Role: What Actually Happens When You Step Out

Once Susan was fully out of the treatment room, she expected to finally have time to relax. Instead, she discovered just how much work there was to do on the business itself.

Systems she thought were solid had holes everywhere. Marketing needed consistent attention. Team development required ongoing coaching and support. The operations she assumed were running smoothly needed refinement and adjustment. She hired a spa manager to help oversee the day to day details, which freed her up even more to focus on strategy and growth.

This is the reality of becoming a spa CEO. It’s not about working less. It’s about working on the right things. Instead of performing treatments, you’re building the infrastructure that allows your business to scale. You’re developing your team, refining your client experience, implementing marketing systems, analyzing your numbers, and planning for future growth.

Planning for Evolution: The Med Spa Vision

Susan didn’t step out of the treatment room to disappear forever. She’s currently in nursing school with a clear vision: she wants to come back part time as an injector, offering services like Botox and fillers while keeping esthetic treatments at the heart of her business model.

This is what I call “med spa light.” You’re not abandoning your esthetic roots. You’re elevating the experience you can offer clients while building a business model that doesn’t require you to be the only provider doing everything.

Her plan demonstrates the power of strategic thinking. She’s not reacting to circumstances. She’s creating the future she wants, one decision at a time. That’s what spa CEOs do.

The Bottom Line: Systems Are Your Safety Net

Even if you want to stay solo forever, you need systems. You need documentation. You need a plan for what happens when life throws you a curveball, because it will.

Whether it’s a baby, an injury, a family emergency, or simply wanting to take a real vacation, your business needs to have some protection built in. That might mean hiring team members. Or it might mean creating enough financial cushion and documented procedures that you can step away temporarily without everything crumbling.

The spa owners who thrive long term aren’t just great at their technical skills. They’re strategic about building businesses that can function beyond their personal capacity to perform treatments.

Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Subscribe on YouTube

Join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast Community

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Stay up-to-date with our email newsletter to receive important updates, news, and offers!

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Name(Required)

IG / @addoaesthetics

WEB / addoaesthetics.com

YOUTUBE / @addoaesthetics

LINKEDIN / @addoaesthetics

About Your Host, Daniela Woerner

Daniela Woerner is the founder of Addo Aesthetics and creator of the Growth Factor® Framework, a proven system that’s helped hundreds of spa owners build profitable, systemized businesses. With nearly 20 years in the aesthetics industry, she transforms overworked aesthetic professionals into confident Spa CEOs through strategy, systems, and soul led support. Daniela is also the host of Spa Marketing Made Easy, a top ranked podcast with over 1 million downloads, where she shares real world strategies to help spa professionals grow with clarity and confidence.

Hello my dears, Daniela here And welcome to another episode of the Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast. You are listening to our 466 episode right now? Yes, we’ve been going strong since April of 2018 sharing marketing strategies and business development for esthetic professionals. Today’s guest has been a longtime listener of our show. She’s been a member in our growth factor community, and more importantly, she’s actually implemented what she’s learned to build a business around a life she wants to live.

Now, I love sprinkling in positivity and possibility into your morning routine. So if you’re listening right now while you’re doing your makeup or going for your morning walk, I truly hope that this episode makes your day just a little bit better. Now, before I jump in and play that interview, I want to share a goal that I have myself this year. Now I know that this is January. It’s the time of resolutions and all of those things. And I’m not really like a resolutions or that type of girl I’ve shared before. I pick kind of a word, like a theme. My theme this year is open, being open to so many new possibilities. But we’re going to hit 500 episodes on the show this year. And you know, I want to hit 500 reviews, that’s my goal. And obviously I want those to be five star reviews. So 500 episodes, 500 reviews, five stars, that would be a dream, if I can make that happen, and you are the ones that can help me. So on my end, I am committed to bringing you so much value in this show that you can implement in your business, week after week, month after month, and year after year. And if you take the information from this podcast, just like our guest Susan has, and you implement it into your business. Imagine the positivity and possibility for you as well. So if you’re enjoying this show, please take two minutes out of your time, leave us a review, help us get that much closer to our goal, I would so deeply appreciate it. All right, so let’s go ahead and play the interview with Susan.

I hope that you enjoy all right, Susan, welcome to the spa. Marketing Made Easy Podcast. I’m so happy to have you here and to share your story today, which was like such a such an uplifting you sent us an email. It was like, the most beautiful story of progression. And I was like, this is exactly like the this is like the best email I got today, the best like, our whole team was so happy we shared back. So I’m excited to share it with the rest of our community.

Well, thank you. I’m excited to share too.

So why don’t we start kind of at the beginning? Tell us, like, how did you get into the esthetic space in the first place? What was your vision? What were those early years like for you?

So I have been in esthetics going on for 13 years now, seven of those have been in my own practice. I started solo back in 2019 in a small little Salon Suite about 250 square feet, just me. And it kind of just kind of like progressed from there, and I moved this was right before the pandemic, so it was a very scary time. So right before the pandemic, I had moved into another space, and then it kind of all just shut down. And so I made it through that, and then I ended up getting pregnant with my first child after we got married. And I was like, I don’t know what to do, like, if I’m not working, I’m solo, I’m not making any money. I didn’t really have, like, a savings like that. It just wasn’t something in my thought process at the time to have something like a savings account to be prepared for a baby or if I ever get injured or anything like that, really.

And I had followed along on the Addo esthetics podcast, and I’d be listening to the podcast as I’m flipping my rooms, having my cancelations or any downtime, and it honestly that’s really what gave me the courage to do my first hire and confidence to do my first hire, because I’d never really thought about that before. And so when I was about to go on maternity leave, I started looking, and I hired my first person, and that was my first esthetician that I brought on, and she was going to be working while I was on maternity leave.

I think it’s such an interesting point, because the schools, and not to downplay. Anything with the schools, but I think that they really encourage people to go solo. They kind of lead with that of, like, you can make all this money and you can be your own boss and and that’s great. Like, I feel that entrepreneurship is such an opportunity and a gift, and I would never want to discourage anybody from doing that, but to go solo right out of school. I mean, there’s so much that we’re learning in just our craft, in just our technique of and then if you throw in there, like, how do you run a business? Because that’s a whole other thing. It’s challenging and and so I love that, you know, you had time to go solo, and that’s, that’s good, but we’re not. It’s almost like solos are thinking about it as a job, like, that’s their job.

And like, Oh, I’m just gonna take time off, but you don’t get paid vacation, and you don’t get all of these, these other things that it’s like, no, this is actually, this is a business got a lot of other things to be thrown in there. So you kind of, were you thinking that? Or were you and it was the podcast that kind of said, Hey, I need to hire or, I’m sure the baby and like, the reality of life setting in was like, Oh, wow,

yeah, yeah. I think it was like a mixture of all of it, to be honest, because it was like the delusion of, like, I’m gonna have this grand business by myself, and I’m gonna have it run while I’m not there. But that doesn’t work like that when you’re not in it and you’re solo. And so it was that. And then, like, what am I going to do for six months? Like, I can’t take six months off if I don’t have income. It was all of it, I would say, yeah.

So what was the and then just throw a pandemic in there, yeah. So once you hired your first person, I mean, did you go through like leadership is a skill. You’ve got to be able to speak what you need. You’ve got to be able to have boundaries and be able to be kind, but also be able to give constructive feedback, because, like, you’re not hiring somebody so you can be besties, like, you know, you’re trying to do, you’re trying to serve a person, you’re trying to build a company together. You’re trying to make money, right? Yes, yeah. And that was a huge learning experience for me, because, so I brought the esthetician on and at the time, so it was like, Oh, just bring someone on, and they should know what to do, right, wrong. And so I went on maternity leave. And yes, the business was kept afloat, but there were so many little things that went into it, like, I need a handbook. I need to train her. She doesn’t know exactly what I’m thinking, so I need to tell her step by step, like, this is the process that we do every day. This is how you close, this is how you open, this is how I would like for you to talk to the clients and all that stuff. And it was me just bringing her on, like we’re good, and then quickly finding out there’s a lot more systems that have to come into play for it to work and be smooth.

So much of it is in our head, isn’t it? You don’t realize, like, how much you’re doing on autopilot and how much, and that’s what they talk about when they’re talking about decision fatigue and the exhaustion, just like the mental exhaustion of because you also you have a new baby at home, you’re running a household. There’s all kinds of like, I remember when my so my son was born April 2020, so I had a newborn, but he was my second.

But there’s still like, sleep schedules and eating schedules, and who washed the bottles. And do you know there’s all of that that’s taking up mental space. I nursed so I had, like, a pumping schedule, also that you’re like, throwing into the mix the eating. Did they eat this? Did they poop? You know, it’s like everything’s going on while you’re also still thinking of the details. And I find that if we don’t get that out of our head and onto paper so that other people can support us. We are just creating a giant trap for ourselves 100% so did that? Is that gal still with you? Or did you have some turnover? How did that? Yeah, so no, she is not currently with me, there was a parting of ways. It just didn’t work out in the end, and that’s okay. It’s, you know, it’s not always going to work out, which I’ve learned, and you’ll just move on.

But the person that I did hire after she is still currently with us, because I learned a lot. The first hire in order to prepare myself for the second hire so that one went a lot better.

Yeah, and honestly, that’s great. Like I will often see people that go through three, four or five times of turnover before they really understand every piece and and it’s not that’s actually normal. It’s nothing to feel bad about, and it’s it’s a learning process. Just like, you know, we have to learn how to do a particular service or treatment. We have to learn how to lead. We have to learn how to find our people and communicate effectively with our people. 100% Yeah, and it’s all about communication. I feel like, if, like you said, like, if you aren’t communicating with your team and telling them your needs, they don’t know they they’re not mind readers and vice versa.

So okay, so you came back, you hired, you know, you had the turnover. You came back from maternity walk me through kind of the process, because I know you have much more than one employee now, so tell me kind of the next steps of growth

In the business. So after that hire, I we actually partnered ways about, I would say it was, like a year into her employment. So then hired a new esthetician that’s still with us, and then we were both working. I was still in the treatment room at the time, and so I wanted to expand a little bit, so I moved, actually, across the street, to a larger location, and then hired my second esthetician. So there was three of us on staff, and that also didn’t work out for some reasons. And then hired someone else, and that worked out, and then hired a receptionist, because it was just kind of getting too busy, where I couldn’t take on the responsibility of the front desk, and either could the girls and we had, like, 30 minute turnaround time, so I wanted to shorten that, so we brought on our receptionist, and then I stepped back out of the room, and it’s just been kind of going since then.

So talk to me about the experience of getting your providers busy, and also, because are you in the room at all now? Are you totally out? Okay? So that I always, I feel like there’s a sticking point when you have a solo and I usually see this somewhere between 25 to 35,000 a month, the provider, the owner of the business, is still in the room, but they don’t want to hire support, because they’re the primary revenue generator. But then you’ve got to get your other providers busy, and you it’s like, this cycle of like, well, I need help. If I get out of the room, then the revenue is going to go down, because I’m the only one that makes the revenue. So it’s this kind of like, very it has to be a very intentional and strategic dance to be able to hit those milestones. And it sounds like you’ve done it well in terms of getting your providers booked and also getting yourself out of the room, because there’s also clients and patients that say, like, Hey, I only want to be with you. I don’t want to be with

anybody else. Yeah, yeah, there was a few points of that, so I knew that at some point that I wanted to go back to school. And in order to do that, I did try to juggle it both at one time, and found that was very difficult to do. So then, after realizing that, I knew I had to get out of the treatment room, and what I started to do was tell my clients, one that I was going to be stepping back, and I shortened my hours a lot, and then started introducing them to my other providers. And there’s always the worry like, oh, they want to see me. They only want to see me, but if you train your staff just as good as you are, they will be willing to go to someone else if they’re getting the same exceptional care. So I started transitioning most of my clients to my other estheticians, which they’re still seeing them today. And then I just kept shortening back my hours, back my hours. I actually hurt my hand, and then just kind of had to get out of the treatment room completely. And so that was like the final step of that. And then I completely stepped away, just started doing back at business the school, and then keeping them booked. That’s always a constant. It’s a worry because, like, if they’re, you know, not booked again, you know, it’s just a business owner kind of worry thing, but keeping them booked is priority. We do a lot of marketing, social media, ads, referrals are really big in the community that we’re in, so that’s been great, too.

So you’re in nursing school. Yes, you just said school. We didn’t say nursing school. So is the plan for you to go back into the room as an injector or as a. You know what? What is the vision? Why did you want to go to nursing school?

Yes, so the vision is for myself to come back and do esthetic treatments, such as, like Botox fillers and things like that. I knew I wanted to get back in at least, like part time, like one or two days a week doing that, because I still love seeing people and interacting with them, but just I want to elevate the services that I provide to them.

So as you’ve stepped out of the room, I know you, I know you’ve got nursing school, which is, you know, a big thing in itself. What were you the most surprised about because I know when a lot of times when people step out of the room, they’re like, Well, what am I supposed to do now? What am I supposed to do? And there’s actually, like, once you really get into it, you mentioned social media, ads, there’s there’s like, brand development, there’s online presence, there’s marketing, there’s getting out in your community. There’s team development, you know, fine tuning your systems. There’s all of these aspects that are not even on your radar when you’re full time in the room, because you’re just focusing on fulfillment. So what were the biggest surprises for you in terms of, like, Oh, wow? Like, now that I’m out of the room, I can actually focus on these things as well.

Yeah, I think the biggest surprise would be, I thought that my systems were, like, fine tuned, but how many loose screws there were? So I had the systems in place, but as I started to have time to look at them and kind of reevaluate them, is that there were a lot of holes in them. So I think that was the biggest surprise, because I was like, kind of set it and forget it, and that’s, that’s not true. Yeah.

I mean, systems, that’s such a great point, because it’s, we talk a lot about how systems are a lifestyle. A lot of times when people in our in our programs, and we will set out, you know, we’ll do this calendar, and it’ll be, you know, you create these 18 month plans that you’re executing in quarters, and they’ll be like, Okay, well, this month I’m going to get all my systems in place. And I was like, Okay, it’s, I mean, hundreds of people have said that it’s not and it’s just this misconception that you can just get everything in place and set it and forget it. And it’s true that, like, once you have a good working system and you’ve also built the culture in your company that we follow, we are a systems based business. We just because you have a policy doesn’t mean that it’s being enforced. Just because you have a system doesn’t mean that it’s being used. And so part of the role of the CEO is to be able to oversee and spot check, refine all of those things. And I think that that’s so apparent when you step out of the day to day, the fulfillment, and really take a look at what it is that you’ve felt 100%

Yeah, and I wouldn’t be able to have done that unless I stepped out like that, because even half in, half out, you know, you’re still juggling, you know, your life and treatments and clients, and Then you’re trying to do the business end, and it’s just, it’s a lot. And I do have now a spa manager who also helps with refining the system, so that also is a great deal of help.

So how are you when you were talking with your clients about stepping out of the room, were you sharing that you were going to nursing school, or were you just okay? So that made it like an easier thing, like, Hey, listen, I’m, I’m, you know, really wanting to elevate our experience. I’m going to be going to nursing school. I’m going to pass you to this person, etc,

yes, yeah, they knew, and they’re excited. They, I mean, they still ask, I’ll see them in passing, and we’ll chat. We’re all very excited.

And so I imagine you’ll have to do, you know, some esthetic training also, once you get out. And, yeah, before introducing that. So do you have a vision of going like, full blown med spa or you wanting to do what I call Med Spa light? What do you feel? What’s your what’s your goal?

I think the vision right now, it would, maybe would lean more towards like, med spa light, just because I’m still an esthetician and like, skin is still like my heart and soul. So everything I feel like stems from that. So maybe just light right now. I’d love to, like I said, introduce, like, the Botox fillers and maybe a nice laser for some resurfacing. But that, that’s the vision right now. But who knows, it could involve evolve into more? Yes.

Okay, so for our spa owners that are listening. Thing that are out there right now, I would love any insights that you want to share, because I think that number one, there’s so many solos out there that are in that place, like, Oh, what if I want to have a baby, or what if I hurt my hand, or what if I something comes up that you’re not able and I’m actually in conversation with a lot of women who have been in the industry for 2030, years, and they’re physically like their bodies are just, I can only do this many facials because my body just won’t allow it. And so, so it’s a, it’s a physical work. You know, if you’re, if you’re, especially with your hands. And so what is your advice for someone at that stage solo? Because there’s a lot out there that say I just want to stay solo. That’s what I want to do.

Yeah, I think some good advice, even if they want to stay solo, is to still do systems and still plan, because I feel like if you’re not planning, then that’s when things can go wrong. Of course, things can go wrong even if you do plan, but you’ll be a little bit more prepared on that side. You know, if you do want to have a baby, or if you do hurt your hand and things like that, you just always have some kind of like safety

behind it. Yeah, wonderful. Well, I hope that everybody listening just takes a little bit of inspiration. I love hearing from spa owners, especially spa owners that started during the pandemic, because, my gosh, like that. The past like five ish years have been the craziest years in our industry. I’ve been here for 20 years, and I’m like, the last five years have thrown so many curve balls, and it’s so inspirational to hear spa owners that are like, knocking it out of the park, continuing to grow, continuing to evolve, even with those things. I feel like, if you can make it through those things, you can make it through anything.

Yeah, a little bit of grit goes a long way.

So good. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story. I know it’s going to touch so many estheticians and spa owners out there, and congratulations on all that you’ve accomplished. It’s really wonderful.

Thank you.

Read More
Read More
EP 465: Open to Growth: Why Comfort Zones Are Killing Your Spa Business in 2026

The Growth That Scares You Is the Growth You Need

If you’ve been playing it safe in your spa business, staying comfortable even though you know you need to stretch, this episode is going to challenge you in the best possible way.

The truth is, the version of you that got your business to where it is right now is not the same version that’s going to get you where you want to be. You’re going to have to evolve. You’re going to have to do things that feel uncomfortable. And you’re going to have to recognize when fear is holding you back from something you actually want.

In this first episode of 2026, Daniela is pulling back the curtain on her personal growth journey and the specific commitments she’s making this year that genuinely terrify her. But more importantly, she’s connecting it to what’s happening in the spa industry right now and why your willingness to step out of your comfort zone will determine your success in the next three to five years.

When Comfort Becomes the Enemy of Growth

Here’s something most spa owners don’t want to hear: your comfort zone is probably costing you more than you realize.

Maybe you’ve been avoiding raising your prices because you’re scared clients will leave. Maybe you’ve put off hiring that spa manager because delegating feels risky. Maybe you haven’t invested in that new piece of equipment because the financial commitment makes you nervous.

Whatever it is, there’s something in your business right now that you know would move the needle forward, but it feels too uncomfortable to actually do. And that discomfort? That’s exactly where your growth is waiting.

The spa industry is moving faster than ever before. AI is evolving every few months. Consumer behavior is shifting in ways we haven’t seen before. The tools and technologies available to us are constantly changing. And the massive opportunity right now belongs to spa owners who are willing to act with speed and adapt quickly.

The Power of Choosing One Word

Instead of setting traditional resolutions, Daniela chooses a single word each year that becomes the lens through which she makes every decision. This year, that word is “open.”

Open to doing things differently. Open to opportunities that scare her. Open to pushing herself further out of her comfort zone than she’s been willing to go before.

And the Universe immediately tested her on this commitment. Within weeks of choosing this word, opportunities started coming in that were exactly the kind of things she would have said no to in the past. But this year, she’s saying yes. Even when it’s uncomfortable. Even when it scares her. Because she knows that growth doesn’t happen in comfort zones.

What Being Open Actually Looks Like

It’s one thing to say you’re committed to growth. It’s another thing entirely to actually do the uncomfortable work. So what does this commitment look like in practice?

For Daniela, it means saying yes to three major in person commitments in the first quarter alone. Speaking at a 500 person conference in Vegas. Hosting intimate CEO intensives with 50 action taking spa owners. Manning a booth at the massive Javits Center trade show in New York with thousands of attendees.

These are the kind of events that push every single one of her “I’d rather not” buttons. She’s not someone who naturally thrives in large crowds. She loves one on one conversations and small group settings, but big events with hundreds or thousands of people? That drains her energy and makes her nervous.

But the opportunity to connect face to face with spa professionals, to have real conversations, to exchange ideas and energy in the same physical space, creates a bond that Zoom calls and Instagram DMs simply cannot replicate.

Why In Person Matters More Than Ever

There’s something powerful about in person connection that virtual meetings will never capture. When you meet someone face to face, when you have a real conversation in shared physical space, it creates a lasting impression. And even when you connect virtually afterwards, you’re going back to that feeling you had when you were together.

The serendipity of in person events can’t be replicated online. Someone stops by your booth with a simple question, and 15 minutes later you’re discussing their entire business strategy. You meet someone in line for coffee and realize you have a mutual connection. These moments create opportunities you can’t predict or plan for.

The Question You Need to Ask Yourself

So here’s what this means for you and your business: What is the one thing you’ve been avoiding because it feels uncomfortable? What’s the one thing that would genuinely move your business forward if you actually had the courage to do it?

Maybe it’s not about in person events for you. Maybe it’s finally implementing that pricing strategy you’ve been putting off. Maybe it’s investing in technology that will save you time but requires upfront capital. Maybe it’s showing up on video even though you’re uncomfortable on camera. Maybe it’s hiring someone even though delegation feels risky.

Whatever it is, that’s where your growth is waiting. And the longer you avoid it, the longer you stay exactly where you are.

Your Business Will Only Grow as Much as You’re Willing to Grow

This is the hard truth: if you’re not willing to step out of your comfort zone, your business will stay comfortable too. Which means it will stay exactly where it’s at.

The spa owners who are going to thrive in the next three to five years won’t be the ones with the most experience. They’ll be the ones who adapt fastest, who test boldly, who pivot when things aren’t working, who are willing to be uncomfortable because they know the opportunity on the other side is worth it.

So what are you going to do differently this year? How are you going to step out of your comfort zone? What are you going to say yes to that you would have said no to last year?

Write it down. Put a date on it. Put it on your calendar. Make it real. And then actually do it.

Don’t overthink it. Don’t talk yourself out of it. Don’t wait until you feel ready, because you’re never going to feel ready. Just take the first step.

Growth requires discomfort. Success requires courage. And the next level of your business is waiting for you on the other side of fear.

Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Subscribe on YouTube

Join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast Community

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Stay up-to-date with our email newsletter to receive important updates, news, and offers!

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Name(Required)

IG / @addoaesthetics

WEB / addoaesthetics.com

YOUTUBE / @addoaesthetics

LINKEDIN / @addoaesthetics

About Your Host, Daniela Woerner

Daniela Woerner is the founder of Addo Aesthetics and creator of the Growth Factor® Framework, a proven system that’s helped hundreds of spa owners build profitable, systemized businesses. With nearly 20 years in the aesthetics industry, she transforms overworked aesthetic professionals into confident Spa CEOs through strategy, systems, and soul led support. Daniela is also the host of Spa Marketing Made Easy, a top ranked podcast with over 1 million downloads, where she shares real world strategies to help spa professionals grow with clarity and confidence.

Hello, my dears, and welcome back to the Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast. I am your host, Daniela Woerner, and today we are talking about one of my very favorite strategic planning exercises. This is something that I do every single year. So we are going to break down exactly what to stop doing, what to start implementing, and what to continue doubling down on as you position your spa for that next level of growth. And here’s what I love about this exercise, it is not about adding more to your already full plate. It’s about strategic subtraction, intentional addition and amplifying what is already working. So whether you’re in the treatment room just two or three times a week, or you’re ready to fully step into that CEO role, maybe you’ve got a team of three to five people, and you know you need to up level your leadership skills to get to that next revenue milestone. I want you to grab your notebook.

Okay? Because we’re going to go deep today. So we’re going to start with what to stop. And this is the strategic subtraction section. I’m going to be really direct with you here, and I’m going to give you a little bit of tough love, because if you’re listening to this episode, my guess is that you don’t need someone to be nice to you. You’re looking for advice on your business. You need someone to tell you the truth about what is actually holding you back from that seven figure goal. And you know in our past 12 years that we have been working with spa owners. We’ve worked with over 1700 spot owners. So I’ve seen a lot of behind the scenes in business. Okay? And what you need to stop to be able to scale to that seven figure mark or more is to stop making decisions based on short term comfort instead of long term strategy. Okay, so you’ve built a successful business. You’re doing well, right? But you’re still making decisions based on what feels comfortable in the moment rather than what aligns with your long term vision. So let me give you an example. You need to raise your prices. You’ve done the math. Your cost of treatment is higher than it should be. Your margins are squeezed. You’re actually undervaluing what you deliver. But the economy is weird right now, and you don’t want to deal with the uncomfortable conversations with your staff or with the pushback from your clients, so you put it off for a quarter and then another and then another quarter. You don’t want to face it right? 1000s of dollars gone because you didn’t want to deal with that uncomfortable situation. Maybe you know that you need to highly hire a spa director or a lead esthetician, a role for someone to take some things off your plate, but you’re worried about the upfront cost and you’re worried about the time that it’s going to take to train them properly. You’re you end up staying in the day to day operations, which means that you’re not spending time on the strategic initiatives that would grow your revenue.

Okay? So every time that you make a short term decision based on that short term comfort, there’s an opportunity cost to that you’re choosing to stay exactly where you are. And look, I understand financial responsibility. I understand, you know, knowing the numbers and all of those things there, that that is something I believe deeply in. But if you’re not going to push yourself to that next level, if you’re not going to do the work to move into that next level of business, you’re going to stay exactly where you’re at. Okay? It you’ve got to rock the boat. So to say, if you want to scale, okay, it’s you’ve got to step out of your comfort zone. If you want to scale, you’ve probably heard me say before that, entrepreneurship, being a business owner is the greatest lesson in personal development, apart from being a parent, and that’s because we’re constantly having to get out of our comfort zones and and make those decisions, have those tough conversations, all things that we’re going to be talking about a little bit more today. Okay, so stop asking yourself, what feels easiest right now, and start asking, What will my future self thank me for six months from now? That is CEO level thinking. That’s the difference between staying at three or 400,000 and breaking through to a million. Stop. Number two, I want you to stop trying to be everything to everyone. This one is huge, right? It’s gonna show up in so many ways in your business. It shows up so many ways in our personal lives as women, right? So maybe you’re still offering every single store. Of us under the sun because you don’t want to turn anyone away. You are doing chemical peels and micro nailing and facials and lack lashes and brows and waxing and laser and body contouring. Your menu is 10 pages long. Your team is trained on 17 different modalities. Here’s the problem with that, you are diluting your brand.

The brand that does everything is the brand that does nothing, not to mention the complications with inventory management, how you’re making it so much harder to train your team to true excellence, and you’re confusing your ideal client about what you actually specialize in. Niche down become known for something specific. You don’t have to get rid of all of these other services. I mean, I do think that there needs to be kind of a container of what we offer, but have something that you are known for, whether it’s a particular service or particular condition, get really focused on that. Okay, that is something that can help you to own a position in the market. I remember years ago, when I had just gone to esthetic school, this is back in 2006 I wanted to get a Brazilian wax. I’m not looking for a spa that does everything under the sun. I’m looking for a wax studio that they specialize in Brazilian waxing. Right? That was what I was searching for. If I have a particular problem, whether it’s anti aging or brown spots or red spots, or I’m looking for hair removal, right? I want to go to a spa that. That’s their focus. That’s what they do all day, every day. They are clearly going to be the best at that thing. That’s what I want. Okay, so keep that in mind. Do not dilute your brand. The brand that does everything is the brand that does nothing. Okay, maybe this concept of trying to be everyone to or everything to everyone shows up in how you manage your team, because you’re trying to make everyone happy. You’re saying yes to every scheduling request, and then you have nobody working on Saturday, your busiest day, you’re avoiding difficult conversations. You’re hoping problems will resolve themselves.

You are so focused on being liked, on being a people pleaser, that you are not leading effectively. Being a great leader does not mean being everyone’s best friend. It means having clear standards, holding your team accountable and being willing to have uncomfortable conversations when necessary. Your job isn’t to be popular. Your job is to create an environment where your team can do their best work and where your business can thrive. Now that doesn’t mean that you can’t have personal relationships with your team. My I consider my team chosen family. I adore these humans, but I also can very clearly put my CEO hat on when it’s work time and take it off and put my friend hat on when it’s not work time. That’s a skill that took something that took a long time to learn how to do. Okay, so stop trying to be everything to everyone. Get clear on what you’re best at, what is most profitable, what you want to be known for, and have the courage to say no, no, is a complete sentence. All right. Stop number three. Quit operating without clear KPIs. Okay, so if you are serious about scaling to seven figures, you cannot fly blind anymore. Okay, I know you’re tracking your revenue. I know you’re looking at your bank account, but do you know your cost of treatment for each service? Do you know your exact client retention rate by quarter? Can you tell me your average client lifetime value? Do you know what marketing channels are actually converting to booked appointments versus which ones are just vanity metrics. If you don’t have clear KPIs, you’re making decisions based off of your feelings, not data.

So you think something is working because it feels busy, but when you actually run the numbers, you’re barely breaking even on that service. You’re putting energy into Instagram because you love creating content, but your highest value clients are actually coming from Google, and referrals. See this all the time. We have a client acquisition cost tracker, and it inside of our growth factor program, and inside of there, it’ll have social media, word of mouth, SEO. It’s got all these different like sources, and we’re keeping track of where all new clients come from. And then we’re additionally keeping track of, do they join our membership, and do they rebook their appointments? So we’re understanding quantity of leads, but also quality of leads from the specific channels. And it is eye opening. It is eye opening. We had somebody that was dumping $2,000 a month into Instagram and into ADS, barely getting any clients. And on the other side, she’s getting like, 30 new clients a month from SEO and not doing anything over there. I was like, Okay, let’s change our focus, right? Like, this is data. And yes, it made a difference. So we really want to understand we want to make data based decisions. Okay, stop running your business on gut feelings alone. You’ve got to have a simple dashboard where you are tracking your key metrics every single month. All right, I track them weekly and monthly and quarterly and yearly, right? We’re looking at what is the the cadence of how these are shifting and changing, because it will matter based on the season or best based on your location. Okay, this is a huge priority as we’re heading into the new year. And look, I don’t want you to track 47 different things and spend hours in spreadsheets. I am a lover of spreadsheets, but I just want you to identify, you know, three to five, maybe five to seven, numbers that are actually going to move the needle in your business. I want you to check them consistently. That’s it, revenue, profit margin, client retention rate, average ticket, client acquisition cost, team productivity.

Track those consistently, and you will make exceptionally better decisions. Stop number four, stop under s, under investing in your own development. Okay, so this is the last thing that you need to stop, and this one is specifically for my Type A achievers out there, the ones who are focused on growing the business, so focused on growing the business, that they forget that they need to grow as a leader, something that was a hard thing for me to learn, and I’m still learning. But almost every time there is something wrong in my business, it’s my fault, that there’s your personal development thing. Every day I’m doing something wrong, and every day I have to have the resiliency to get back up and figure it out and keep moving forward. It is. It always comes back to me, because I’m the person that hired them, or I’m the person that didn’t hold them accountable, or I’m the person that didn’t establish the system, it comes back to me. Okay? Now, if you’ve done those things and that person still is not aligning them in your company, then you let them go right, and they they move on and do something different. But for us, as the owner, as the leader, we’ve got to constantly be investing in our growth, and this can be time investment, this can be money investment, right? So you’re probably invested in your spa, you’ve invested in your team’s training, you’ve invested in equipment and technology, but when was the last time you actually invested significantly in your own business education? Not a free webinar, right? But meaningful investment in developing yourself as a CEO, this is something that I have a budget for every single year. It’s it, and it’s also something that has been invaluable to me to help me grow my business, because your business is only going to grow as much as you do. So if you’ve been bootstrapping on your own development, trying to figure everything out on YouTube and free content, time to stop, okay, make the real investment in yourself, because every dollar that you put into becoming a better leader has an exceptional return on what you can build. Okay? So those are the four big things that you need to stop doing. And let’s talk about what you need to start.

All right, so what to start? If we were if that first part was about strategic subtraction, this next section is about intentional addition, and these are the things that we see successful seven figure spa owners doing. And the good news is you don’t have to implement all of these at once. Okay, so pick one right? Pick the one that resonates the most. Commit to that fully. So start number one. Start treating yourself like the CEO that you are. So I want you to do a quick exercise with me. Open up your calendar. I recommend Google calendar if you don’t have Google Google Calendar, start there. Get Google Calendar. Think about your calendar for this week. How much time is blocked for you to work on your business versus working in your business? How much time is dedicated to strategic thinking, analyzing your numbers, developing your team, planning your marketing, reviewing your systems, if the answer is not much or whatever else time is left over after everything else, we’ve got to fix that. Okay, so here’s what I want you to start doing. I want you to block out one full day per week, or if that feels impossible right now, block out a half a day per week only dedicated to CEO time. Now, I know a lot of you have you know what you’ll call administrative days, but those administrative days are not filled with CEO work. You might be catching up on laundry. You might be working the front desk. You might be doing tasks that actually should be delegated to others. This time is dedicated CEO time that I’m talking about. Okay, it’s non negotiable, time where you are not in the treatment room. You are not answering client questions, you are not putting out fires. It is for strategic work only you are reviewing your KPIs. You’re working on your 90 day plan. You’re developing your team. You’re analyzing what’s working and what’s not. You’re planning for next quarter’s marketing. You’re reviewing your P and L you’re working on your systems and SOPs. This might feel selfish, or this might feel like I don’t have time to do this right? There’s other things that are more pressing, because it’s not as clear to be able to see the ROI on this type of work might feel uncomfortable to block that time off when you could be in the treatment room generating revenue. But I promise you, this is the single most valuable time that you can spend in your business, because every hour that you spend working on high level strategy creates exceptionally more value than another hour in the treatment room when you implement a system that saves your your team 30 minutes a day. That’s one hour strategic work, creating two and a half hours of time savings every single day for your entire team, when you refine your marketing strategy and improve your conversion rate by even just 5% that’s 10s of 1000s of dollars in additional revenue. So start treating yourself like the CEO that you are.

Put it on the calendar, protect that time and watch what happens when you consistently show up for the strategic work. Start number two, I want you to start getting comfortable with tough conversations. Okay, real talk. You probably became a spot owner because you love skincare. You loved esthetics. You loved helping people look and feel good. Nobody goes to esthetic school dreaming about performance reviews and team accountability systems. You just don’t but now you’ve got, you know, three, four or five people on your team, and if you want to scale, you’re going to need more, right? That means that you’ve got to have tough conversations. They are in the cards for you. If you’ve ever read Brene Brown’s books, she says clear is kind that was something that was huge for me in kind of reframing these tough conversations, because I’m only having the conversation with that individual because I believe that there is more inside of them, and I am working To help them elevate into their full potential. If I am not giving them that critical feedback and helping them understand what their potential is, I’m doing them a disservice. So clear is kind learning how to give effective feedback, not making someone feel less than or not, making someone feel like they’re being attacked, but giving true, constructive feedback and understanding how to set clear expectations, to hold people accountable without being a micromanager is essential to your growth. If someone on your team isn’t meeting the standards, but you don’t want to deal with that discomfort of addressing it. You let it slide, you let it slide again, and before you know it, you’ve got a culture problem. You’ve got entire teams walking out like that is not good. And that happens, right? That happens a lot. Maybe you’re on the flip side, and you are so hands on with your team that you’re essentially doing everyone’s job for them. You’re the one checking the schedule, following up on retailers, making sure that the treatment rooms are stocked. Your team hasn’t stepped up because you haven’t stepped back. Great leadership is about finding that balance. It’s about setting crystal clear expectations, providing the training and support that your team needs to meet those expectations, and then holding them accountable to actually do it. So start getting comfortable with tough conversations, or, I should say, clear conversations, they do get easier over time, and it is so worth it. Okay? Start number three, start implementing paid advertising strategically. This is a super important word here, strategically. We’ve got to talk about marketing, and we’ve got to talk about advertising, right?

So up until this point, you’ve probably grown primarily through word of mouth, organic, social, maybe some partnerships that you have in your local community, and that’s great. It got you here, but for you to scale to that next level, you need a more predictable client acquisition system, and that’s where paid advertising comes in. And maybe you’re gonna say, I’ve tried Facebook ads. They didn’t work. I’ve I’ve heard horror stories about people wasting 1000s of dollars with. No results, and I’ve boosted post it posts and hoped for the best. But listen, every business out there advertises like you. You advertise. That’s part of getting in front of people. You can major in advertising in college. I mean, it is a thing, right? Just because an ad doesn’t work. Doesn’t mean that advertising doesn’t work. It means that you’ve got to get clear on the messaging for your ICA, the service, the offer, all of those things have to be in alignment for an ad to make sense. Okay, so the key word here, when I’m talking about start implementing paid advertising strategically, is strategically. We’re not going to just boost posts and hope for the best. We’ve got to have a real strategy that means understanding your CIC, knowing your lifetime value, creating compelling offers for both cold traffic and building proper landing pages, building your email list right not just with patients who have already come in, but with potential patients to be able to nurture them, to get them into your world. Okay, this is very, very important, so I want you to set aside a specific budget for paid advertising and testing. You can start with, you know, $300 a month, you can go to $1,000 a month, maybe 1500 a month, whatever makes sense for your business. But treat this as a learning investment, not just an expense. Okay, start with one platform. I typically recommend Facebook and Instagram. Meta is going to kind of divide. The majority of your ads are going to go on Instagram, unless you are very clear that you want them on Facebook. But meta ADS has really incredible targeting capabilities, and with the visual nature of what it is that we do in Spa, it’s just a really great platform. So create one really strong offer.

Maybe, maybe it’s a service. Maybe you’re wanting to book a consultation, make it aligned with what it is that you are wanting to niche into what it is that you’re wanting to be known for. Build a simple landing page, set up your pixel create your ads, track, test and optimize. Okay, you most likely will not get it right on the first time, and that is why we test, track and optimize. Okay, you’re going to learn so much in those first three months of testing. You’re going to learn what messaging resonates with your market. You’re going to learn what offer converts best. You’re going to learn what your actual cost per lead is and whether your back end support can handle you know that the lead flow right. It’s really an incredible thing. Once you crack the code, it’s game changing, because now you have this predictable way to generate new clients that doesn’t consistently depend on you creating content asking for referrals, you can literally dial up your growth by increasing your ad budget. So if you’ve been relying solely on organic marketing, start building out a paid advertising strategy for next year. This is one of the most powerful tools that you have for scaling All right, start number four. Start delegating based on your highest value activities. So here’s something that I want to you to sit with. If you could only spend your time on three activities in the business, what would create the most value. So is it strategic planning, business development, client relationships or consultations, team development, culture building, marketing strategy, partnership development, whatever those things are for you, everything else should be delegated, automated or eliminated. Now you might be thinking, I can’t afford to hire. I can’t afford to hire right now, but here’s what I want you to start doing. Create a delegation roadmap so that you know who is your next hire. Again, we’re all about financial responsibility. I do not want you to spend beyond your means, but I want you to understand what is the next thing that needs to be passed off with AI. There’s a lot that can be automated and that alone could free up time without having to hire somebody. Okay, so list out every single task or responsibility that you currently handle in your business, literally everything. Okay? I want to know what you are doing, from ordering to ordering supplies, the weekly schedule, posting on social media, handling payroll, training new hires. Get it all written out, write it on paper.

Right? We are. I. If you’re like me, you’re a pen and paper kind of gal, and I want you to categorize them into different buckets so only I can do this and it’s high value. So strategic work, key relationships, CEO level decisions. The next bucket is someone else could do this, but I need to train them first. The next bucket is someone else could do this, and they probably can do it better than me. And the last bucket is this shouldn’t be done at all, or this could be automated. Okay, so everything that you have in buckets, 234, that’s your delegation roadmap. Now we’re going to prioritize and we’re going to say, well, what’s the first thing that I want to get off my plate? Maybe it’s hiring a VA to handle scheduling or admin tasks. Maybe it’s promoting someone on your team to lead Aesthetician and have them take over training and quality control. Maybe it’s outsourcing your bookkeeping to a professional instead of you doing it yourself at midnight. The point is you need to deliberately start moving tasks off of your plate that aren’t your highest value activities, because every hour that you spend on these $10 an hour tasks, you’re not spending on the $1,000 an hour CEO work. Now I know delegation is hard, especially when you’re used to doing everything yourself and when you’re really good at it, but you’re not going to be able to scale if you are still the bottleneck in your business. So start building that delegation muscle. Start with one thing. Get comfortable with the discomfort of letting go. Train someone properly and trust them to do it, then move on to the next thing. Okay, so we’ve talked about what to stop, we’ve talked about what to start, and now let’s talk about what to continue, because I don’t want to forget about the things that are already working. So what are we going to double down on on what’s working and make sure that we don’t abandon the good stuff in pursuit of anything shiny. So we want to continue building recurring revenue. If you have not already implemented memberships in your spa, I am going to keep pushing you on this.

I am a big believer in memberships. If you have not introduced a membership, I want this to be a focus for you in 2026 why? Because recurring revenue is the foundation of scalable businesses. It’s predictable cash flow that you can count on month after month. It allows you to make better hiring decisions, better inventory decisions, better marketing decisions, because you know what your baseline revenue is going to be. So I have seen spas go from 40% recurring revenue to 70% recurring revenue, and it completely changes how the business operates. You’re not constantly stressed about filling the schedule every single month. You’ve got a solid base, and everything else is growth on top of that. So if you’re already building recurring revenue, keep going, keep enrolling new members, keep improving your member experience, keep optimizing that client journey, and if you’re not there yet. Make this a major initiative for next year. The spas that weather economic uncertainty the best. They’re the ones with strong recurring revenue models, the spas that scale the fastest, the ones with predictable monthly revenue that they can build on. All right, continue. Number two is going to be continue investing in your team’s development. I am so blessed to have had doctors and spa owners who believed in me, who invested in my education along the way. Dr Stolley was one of the first, the first doctor, actually, that I worked for AT MediSpa Valley, and he was so great about investing in our education. Anytime that a product company was putting on something, we would fly over to Oahu, we would fly to California. There were so many things that he invested in us that I’m so grateful for because that was really setting me up for success. So investing in your team is essential. This is continuing education opportunities, advanced training, certification, certifications, and you know how estheticians love certificates, bringing in guest educators, sending your team to industry conferences. But it also can be internal development, like you coaching them, you teaching them about retail sales, you teaching them about client experience, about business operations. When you invest in your team, they feel valued. They become more skilled. They look at it as a career, not just. An hourly job, they stay with you longer. Okay, it’s really important to kind of shift that perspective and get them to look at the spa as a long time career choice, and from a purely business perspective, every skill that your team develops increases the value that your spa can deliver when your estheticians can confidently perform advanced treatments, you can charge premium prices. When your front desk knows how to sell effectively, your revenue goes way up your front desk is a sales team sitting up there, okay, when your team understands business metrics, they make better decisions. So continue investing in your team. Make it a line item budget, make it a regular part of your culture, because that team is a huge part of what is going to help you scale.

All right, so let’s do a quick recap. Let’s bring this all together. I know we’ve covered a lot of information. I told you to grab grab a pen and paper for some notes. So where to stop? We wanted to stop making decisions based on short term comfort instead of long term strategy. We want to stop trying to be everything to everyone. We want to stop operating without clear KPIs, and we want to stop under investing in our own development. We want to start treating ourselves like the CEOs that we are. We want to start getting comfortable with tough conversations. We want to start implementing paid advertising strategically. And we want to start delegating based on your highest value activities and where to continue. We want to continue building that recurring revenue. We want to continue investing in your team’s development. Now, here’s what I want you to do before you move on to the next thing in your day. I want you to take out your phone or grab your notebook, and I want you to write down one thing from each category. And if that feels like too much, just write down one thing, okay, that’s it. And one thing that you’re going to stop doing, one thing that you’re going to start doing, one thing that you’re going to continue doing. Okay, don’t try and tackle everything all at once then. And this is important. This is a very important piece. I want you to put a date on the calendar for when you’re going to implement, not someday, not not on the shelf. I want an actual date on the calendar. Block the time and make it real. You don’t need more information. You need implementation.

You need to take what you already know and actually do it. You’ve got to apply it, right? If you read a book and get the knowledge, but you don’t actually apply it, you just wasted hours of your life, right? You’ve got to apply what you learn, okay? So you have what it takes. You’ve already proven that by building what you have. Remember, believe in yourself. Now it is time to take it to the next level. All right, before we wrap up, can I ask you a quick favor if you have been enjoying the spa, marketing Made Easy podcast, if you’ve been getting value from these episodes, could you please take a quick second to leave us a review on Apple or Spotify your reviews help other spa owners find the show. And honestly, they’re incredibly encouraging for myself and for my team to read, just open up your podcast app. Search for spot marketing Made Easy. Scroll down to the ratings and reviews section. Leave us a few words. Leave us that five star review.

Let us know how this podcast has helped you and has helped your business. Takes just a couple of minutes and makes a huge difference. All right, my friend, that is all I have for you today. Thank you so much for spending time with me. I will see you back here next week on another episode of Spa. Marketing made easy. Now go and take action on what we talked about. Stop, start, continue, and let’s make next year your best year yet.

Read More
Read More
EP 464: Stop, Start, Continue: The CEO Planning Exercise That Will Transform Your Spa in 2026

The Strategic Planning Framework That Separates Six Figure Spas from Seven Figure Spas

If you’ve been stuck at the same revenue level for the past year (or two), this episode is your wake up call.

You’ve built something successful. Your schedule is full. Your clients love you. But you’re working harder than ever, and the growth has plateaued. Sound familiar?

In this episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy, I’m sharing my favorite strategic planning exercise that I do every single year. It’s called Stop, Start, Continue, and it’s designed to help you make the tough decisions that will actually move the needle in your business.

This isn’t about adding more to your already overflowing plate. It’s about strategic subtraction (what needs to go), intentional addition (what needs to start), and amplification (what’s working that you need to double down on).

Why Most Spa Owners Stay Stuck

Here’s what I’ve learned after working with over 1,700 spa businesses: most spa owners aren’t failing because they lack knowledge. They’re stuck because they’re making decisions based on short term comfort instead of long term strategy.

You know you need to raise your prices, but you don’t want the uncomfortable conversations. You know you need to hire a spa director, but you’re worried about the upfront cost. You know you need to step back from the treatment room, but you’re afraid revenue will drop.

Every time you choose short term comfort, you’re choosing to stay exactly where you are.

The spa owners who break through to seven figures? They get comfortable with discomfort. They make the tough calls. They invest in their future selves.

What You Need to Stop Doing Right Now

In this episode, I break down the four things you need to stop immediately if you want to scale:

Stop making decisions based on short term comfort. That means having the pricing conversation, making the hire, and stepping out of your comfort zone even when it feels scary.

Stop trying to be everything to everyone. Your 10 page menu is diluting your brand. The brand that does everything is the brand that does nothing. Get focused on what you’re best at and what you want to be known for.

Stop operating without clear KPIs. If you can’t tell me your cost of treatment, your client retention rate, or your average lifetime value, you’re flying blind. Data driven decisions beat gut feelings every time.

Stop under investing in your own development. Your business will only grow as much as you do. When was the last time you made a significant investment in becoming a better CEO?

What Seven Figure Spa Owners Are Doing Differently

The second part of this framework focuses on what you need to start implementing. These are the things I see successful seven figure spa owners doing consistently:

They treat themselves like CEOs by blocking out dedicated strategic time every single week. They get comfortable with clear, direct conversations with their team. They implement paid advertising strategically to create predictable client acquisition. And they delegate based on their highest value activities, not just what they have time for.

One of the most powerful shifts you can make? Stop spending your time on $10 an hour tasks when you should be focused on $1,000 an hour CEO work.

Double Down on What’s Already Working

The final piece of this framework is about continuing what’s working. If you’re already building recurring revenue through memberships, keep going. If you’re investing in your team’s development, keep doing it.

The key is not abandoning the good stuff in pursuit of something shiny. It’s about amplifying what’s already creating results in your business.

Your Action Step

Before you move on to the next thing on your to-do list, I want you to do one thing: write down one item from each category. One thing you’ll stop, one thing you’ll start, one thing you’ll continue.

Then put an actual date on the calendar for when you’ll implement it. Not someday. An actual date.

You don’t need more information. You need implementation. You need to take what you already know and actually do it.

Ready to make 2026 your best year yet? Tune in to hear the complete breakdown of each strategy, plus the tough love you need to actually take action.

Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Subscribe on YouTube

Join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast Community

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Stay up-to-date with our email newsletter to receive important updates, news, and offers!

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Name(Required)

IG / @addoaesthetics

WEB / addoaesthetics.com

YOUTUBE / @addoaesthetics

LINKEDIN / @addoaesthetics

About Your Host, Daniela Woerner

Daniela Woerner is the founder of Addo Aesthetics and creator of the Growth Factor® Framework, a proven system that’s helped hundreds of spa owners build profitable, systemized businesses. With nearly 20 years in the aesthetics industry, she transforms overworked aesthetic professionals into confident Spa CEOs through strategy, systems, and soul led support. Daniela is also the host of Spa Marketing Made Easy, a top ranked podcast with over 1 million downloads, where she shares real world strategies to help spa professionals grow with clarity and confidence.

Hello, my dears, and welcome back to the Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast. I am your host, Daniela Woerner, and today we are talking about one of my very favorite strategic planning exercises. This is something that I do every single year. So we are going to break down exactly what to stop doing, what to start implementing, and what to continue doubling down on as you position your spa for that next level of growth. And here’s what I love about this exercise, it is not about adding more to your already full plate. It’s about strategic subtraction, intentional addition and amplifying what is already working. So whether you’re in the treatment room just two or three times a week, or you’re ready to fully step into that CEO role, maybe you’ve got a team of three to five people, and you know you need to up level your leadership skills to get to that next revenue milestone. I want you to grab your notebook.

Okay? Because we’re going to go deep today. So we’re going to start with what to stop. And this is the strategic subtraction section. I’m going to be really direct with you here, and I’m going to give you a little bit of tough love, because if you’re listening to this episode, my guess is that you don’t need someone to be nice to you. You’re looking for advice on your business. You need someone to tell you the truth about what is actually holding you back from that seven figure goal. And you know in our past 12 years that we have been working with spa owners. We’ve worked with over 1700 spot owners. So I’ve seen a lot of behind the scenes in business. Okay? And what you need to stop to be able to scale to that seven figure mark or more is to stop making decisions based on short term comfort instead of long term strategy. Okay, so you’ve built a successful business. You’re doing well, right? But you’re still making decisions based on what feels comfortable in the moment rather than what aligns with your long term vision. So let me give you an example. You need to raise your prices. You’ve done the math. Your cost of treatment is higher than it should be. Your margins are squeezed. You’re actually undervaluing what you deliver. But the economy is weird right now, and you don’t want to deal with the uncomfortable conversations with your staff or with the pushback from your clients, so you put it off for a quarter and then another and then another quarter. You don’t want to face it right? 1000s of dollars gone because you didn’t want to deal with that uncomfortable situation. Maybe you know that you need to highly hire a spa director or a lead esthetician, a role for someone to take some things off your plate, but you’re worried about the upfront cost and you’re worried about the time that it’s going to take to train them properly. You’re you end up staying in the day to day operations, which means that you’re not spending time on the strategic initiatives that would grow your revenue.

Okay? So every time that you make a short term decision based on that short term comfort, there’s an opportunity cost to that you’re choosing to stay exactly where you are. And look, I understand financial responsibility. I understand, you know, knowing the numbers and all of those things there, that that is something I believe deeply in. But if you’re not going to push yourself to that next level, if you’re not going to do the work to move into that next level of business, you’re going to stay exactly where you’re at. Okay? It you’ve got to rock the boat. So to say, if you want to scale, okay, it’s you’ve got to step out of your comfort zone. If you want to scale, you’ve probably heard me say before that, entrepreneurship, being a business owner is the greatest lesson in personal development, apart from being a parent, and that’s because we’re constantly having to get out of our comfort zones and and make those decisions, have those tough conversations, all things that we’re going to be talking about a little bit more today. Okay, so stop asking yourself, what feels easiest right now, and start asking, What will my future self thank me for six months from now? That is CEO level thinking. That’s the difference between staying at three or 400,000 and breaking through to a million. Stop. Number two, I want you to stop trying to be everything to everyone. This one is huge, right? It’s gonna show up in so many ways in your business. It shows up so many ways in our personal lives as women, right? So maybe you’re still offering every single store. Of us under the sun because you don’t want to turn anyone away. You are doing chemical peels and micro nailing and facials and lack lashes and brows and waxing and laser and body contouring. Your menu is 10 pages long. Your team is trained on 17 different modalities. Here’s the problem with that, you are diluting your brand.

The brand that does everything is the brand that does nothing, not to mention the complications with inventory management, how you’re making it so much harder to train your team to true excellence, and you’re confusing your ideal client about what you actually specialize in. Niche down become known for something specific. You don’t have to get rid of all of these other services. I mean, I do think that there needs to be kind of a container of what we offer, but have something that you are known for, whether it’s a particular service or particular condition, get really focused on that. Okay, that is something that can help you to own a position in the market. I remember years ago, when I had just gone to esthetic school, this is back in 2006 I wanted to get a Brazilian wax. I’m not looking for a spa that does everything under the sun. I’m looking for a wax studio that they specialize in Brazilian waxing. Right? That was what I was searching for. If I have a particular problem, whether it’s anti aging or brown spots or red spots, or I’m looking for hair removal, right? I want to go to a spa that. That’s their focus. That’s what they do all day, every day. They are clearly going to be the best at that thing. That’s what I want. Okay, so keep that in mind. Do not dilute your brand. The brand that does everything is the brand that does nothing. Okay, maybe this concept of trying to be everyone to or everything to everyone shows up in how you manage your team, because you’re trying to make everyone happy. You’re saying yes to every scheduling request, and then you have nobody working on Saturday, your busiest day, you’re avoiding difficult conversations. You’re hoping problems will resolve themselves.

You are so focused on being liked, on being a people pleaser, that you are not leading effectively. Being a great leader does not mean being everyone’s best friend. It means having clear standards, holding your team accountable and being willing to have uncomfortable conversations when necessary. Your job isn’t to be popular. Your job is to create an environment where your team can do their best work and where your business can thrive. Now that doesn’t mean that you can’t have personal relationships with your team. My I consider my team chosen family. I adore these humans, but I also can very clearly put my CEO hat on when it’s work time and take it off and put my friend hat on when it’s not work time. That’s a skill that took something that took a long time to learn how to do. Okay, so stop trying to be everything to everyone. Get clear on what you’re best at, what is most profitable, what you want to be known for, and have the courage to say no, no, is a complete sentence. All right. Stop number three. Quit operating without clear KPIs. Okay, so if you are serious about scaling to seven figures, you cannot fly blind anymore. Okay, I know you’re tracking your revenue. I know you’re looking at your bank account, but do you know your cost of treatment for each service? Do you know your exact client retention rate by quarter? Can you tell me your average client lifetime value? Do you know what marketing channels are actually converting to booked appointments versus which ones are just vanity metrics. If you don’t have clear KPIs, you’re making decisions based off of your feelings, not data.

So you think something is working because it feels busy, but when you actually run the numbers, you’re barely breaking even on that service. You’re putting energy into Instagram because you love creating content, but your highest value clients are actually coming from Google, and referrals. See this all the time. We have a client acquisition cost tracker, and it inside of our growth factor program, and inside of there, it’ll have social media, word of mouth, SEO. It’s got all these different like sources, and we’re keeping track of where all new clients come from. And then we’re additionally keeping track of, do they join our membership, and do they rebook their appointments? So we’re understanding quantity of leads, but also quality of leads from the specific channels. And it is eye opening. It is eye opening. We had somebody that was dumping $2,000 a month into Instagram and into ADS, barely getting any clients. And on the other side, she’s getting like, 30 new clients a month from SEO and not doing anything over there. I was like, Okay, let’s change our focus, right? Like, this is data. And yes, it made a difference. So we really want to understand we want to make data based decisions. Okay, stop running your business on gut feelings alone. You’ve got to have a simple dashboard where you are tracking your key metrics every single month. All right, I track them weekly and monthly and quarterly and yearly, right? We’re looking at what is the the cadence of how these are shifting and changing, because it will matter based on the season or best based on your location. Okay, this is a huge priority as we’re heading into the new year. And look, I don’t want you to track 47 different things and spend hours in spreadsheets. I am a lover of spreadsheets, but I just want you to identify, you know, three to five, maybe five to seven, numbers that are actually going to move the needle in your business. I want you to check them consistently. That’s it, revenue, profit margin, client retention rate, average ticket, client acquisition cost, team productivity.

Track those consistently, and you will make exceptionally better decisions. Stop number four, stop under s, under investing in your own development. Okay, so this is the last thing that you need to stop, and this one is specifically for my Type A achievers out there, the ones who are focused on growing the business, so focused on growing the business, that they forget that they need to grow as a leader, something that was a hard thing for me to learn, and I’m still learning. But almost every time there is something wrong in my business, it’s my fault, that there’s your personal development thing. Every day I’m doing something wrong, and every day I have to have the resiliency to get back up and figure it out and keep moving forward. It is. It always comes back to me, because I’m the person that hired them, or I’m the person that didn’t hold them accountable, or I’m the person that didn’t establish the system, it comes back to me. Okay? Now, if you’ve done those things and that person still is not aligning them in your company, then you let them go right, and they they move on and do something different. But for us, as the owner, as the leader, we’ve got to constantly be investing in our growth, and this can be time investment, this can be money investment, right? So you’re probably invested in your spa, you’ve invested in your team’s training, you’ve invested in equipment and technology, but when was the last time you actually invested significantly in your own business education? Not a free webinar, right? But meaningful investment in developing yourself as a CEO, this is something that I have a budget for every single year. It’s it, and it’s also something that has been invaluable to me to help me grow my business, because your business is only going to grow as much as you do. So if you’ve been bootstrapping on your own development, trying to figure everything out on YouTube and free content, time to stop, okay, make the real investment in yourself, because every dollar that you put into becoming a better leader has an exceptional return on what you can build. Okay? So those are the four big things that you need to stop doing. And let’s talk about what you need to start.

All right, so what to start? If we were if that first part was about strategic subtraction, this next section is about intentional addition, and these are the things that we see successful seven figure spa owners doing. And the good news is you don’t have to implement all of these at once. Okay, so pick one right? Pick the one that resonates the most. Commit to that fully. So start number one. Start treating yourself like the CEO that you are. So I want you to do a quick exercise with me. Open up your calendar. I recommend Google calendar if you don’t have Google Google Calendar, start there. Get Google Calendar. Think about your calendar for this week. How much time is blocked for you to work on your business versus working in your business? How much time is dedicated to strategic thinking, analyzing your numbers, developing your team, planning your marketing, reviewing your systems, if the answer is not much or whatever else time is left over after everything else, we’ve got to fix that. Okay, so here’s what I want you to start doing. I want you to block out one full day per week, or if that feels impossible right now, block out a half a day per week only dedicated to CEO time. Now, I know a lot of you have you know what you’ll call administrative days, but those administrative days are not filled with CEO work. You might be catching up on laundry. You might be working the front desk. You might be doing tasks that actually should be delegated to others. This time is dedicated CEO time that I’m talking about. Okay, it’s non negotiable, time where you are not in the treatment room. You are not answering client questions, you are not putting out fires. It is for strategic work only you are reviewing your KPIs. You’re working on your 90 day plan. You’re developing your team. You’re analyzing what’s working and what’s not. You’re planning for next quarter’s marketing. You’re reviewing your P and L you’re working on your systems and SOPs. This might feel selfish, or this might feel like I don’t have time to do this right? There’s other things that are more pressing, because it’s not as clear to be able to see the ROI on this type of work might feel uncomfortable to block that time off when you could be in the treatment room generating revenue. But I promise you, this is the single most valuable time that you can spend in your business, because every hour that you spend working on high level strategy creates exceptionally more value than another hour in the treatment room when you implement a system that saves your your team 30 minutes a day. That’s one hour strategic work, creating two and a half hours of time savings every single day for your entire team, when you refine your marketing strategy and improve your conversion rate by even just 5% that’s 10s of 1000s of dollars in additional revenue. So start treating yourself like the CEO that you are.

Put it on the calendar, protect that time and watch what happens when you consistently show up for the strategic work. Start number two, I want you to start getting comfortable with tough conversations. Okay, real talk. You probably became a spot owner because you love skincare. You loved esthetics. You loved helping people look and feel good. Nobody goes to esthetic school dreaming about performance reviews and team accountability systems. You just don’t but now you’ve got, you know, three, four or five people on your team, and if you want to scale, you’re going to need more, right? That means that you’ve got to have tough conversations. They are in the cards for you. If you’ve ever read Brene Brown’s books, she says clear is kind that was something that was huge for me in kind of reframing these tough conversations, because I’m only having the conversation with that individual because I believe that there is more inside of them, and I am working To help them elevate into their full potential. If I am not giving them that critical feedback and helping them understand what their potential is, I’m doing them a disservice. So clear is kind learning how to give effective feedback, not making someone feel less than or not, making someone feel like they’re being attacked, but giving true, constructive feedback and understanding how to set clear expectations, to hold people accountable without being a micromanager is essential to your growth. If someone on your team isn’t meeting the standards, but you don’t want to deal with that discomfort of addressing it. You let it slide, you let it slide again, and before you know it, you’ve got a culture problem. You’ve got entire teams walking out like that is not good. And that happens, right? That happens a lot. Maybe you’re on the flip side, and you are so hands on with your team that you’re essentially doing everyone’s job for them. You’re the one checking the schedule, following up on retailers, making sure that the treatment rooms are stocked. Your team hasn’t stepped up because you haven’t stepped back. Great leadership is about finding that balance. It’s about setting crystal clear expectations, providing the training and support that your team needs to meet those expectations, and then holding them accountable to actually do it. So start getting comfortable with tough conversations, or, I should say, clear conversations, they do get easier over time, and it is so worth it. Okay? Start number three, start implementing paid advertising strategically. This is a super important word here, strategically. We’ve got to talk about marketing, and we’ve got to talk about advertising, right?

So up until this point, you’ve probably grown primarily through word of mouth, organic, social, maybe some partnerships that you have in your local community, and that’s great. It got you here, but for you to scale to that next level, you need a more predictable client acquisition system, and that’s where paid advertising comes in. And maybe you’re gonna say, I’ve tried Facebook ads. They didn’t work. I’ve I’ve heard horror stories about people wasting 1000s of dollars with. No results, and I’ve boosted post it posts and hoped for the best. But listen, every business out there advertises like you. You advertise. That’s part of getting in front of people. You can major in advertising in college. I mean, it is a thing, right? Just because an ad doesn’t work. Doesn’t mean that advertising doesn’t work. It means that you’ve got to get clear on the messaging for your ICA, the service, the offer, all of those things have to be in alignment for an ad to make sense. Okay, so the key word here, when I’m talking about start implementing paid advertising strategically, is strategically. We’re not going to just boost posts and hope for the best. We’ve got to have a real strategy that means understanding your CIC, knowing your lifetime value, creating compelling offers for both cold traffic and building proper landing pages, building your email list right not just with patients who have already come in, but with potential patients to be able to nurture them, to get them into your world. Okay, this is very, very important, so I want you to set aside a specific budget for paid advertising and testing. You can start with, you know, $300 a month, you can go to $1,000 a month, maybe 1500 a month, whatever makes sense for your business. But treat this as a learning investment, not just an expense. Okay, start with one platform. I typically recommend Facebook and Instagram. Meta is going to kind of divide. The majority of your ads are going to go on Instagram, unless you are very clear that you want them on Facebook. But meta ADS has really incredible targeting capabilities, and with the visual nature of what it is that we do in Spa, it’s just a really great platform. So create one really strong offer.

Maybe, maybe it’s a service. Maybe you’re wanting to book a consultation, make it aligned with what it is that you are wanting to niche into what it is that you’re wanting to be known for. Build a simple landing page, set up your pixel create your ads, track, test and optimize. Okay, you most likely will not get it right on the first time, and that is why we test, track and optimize. Okay, you’re going to learn so much in those first three months of testing. You’re going to learn what messaging resonates with your market. You’re going to learn what offer converts best. You’re going to learn what your actual cost per lead is and whether your back end support can handle you know that the lead flow right. It’s really an incredible thing. Once you crack the code, it’s game changing, because now you have this predictable way to generate new clients that doesn’t consistently depend on you creating content asking for referrals, you can literally dial up your growth by increasing your ad budget. So if you’ve been relying solely on organic marketing, start building out a paid advertising strategy for next year. This is one of the most powerful tools that you have for scaling All right, start number four. Start delegating based on your highest value activities. So here’s something that I want to you to sit with. If you could only spend your time on three activities in the business, what would create the most value. So is it strategic planning, business development, client relationships or consultations, team development, culture building, marketing strategy, partnership development, whatever those things are for you, everything else should be delegated, automated or eliminated. Now you might be thinking, I can’t afford to hire. I can’t afford to hire right now, but here’s what I want you to start doing. Create a delegation roadmap so that you know who is your next hire. Again, we’re all about financial responsibility. I do not want you to spend beyond your means, but I want you to understand what is the next thing that needs to be passed off with AI. There’s a lot that can be automated and that alone could free up time without having to hire somebody. Okay, so list out every single task or responsibility that you currently handle in your business, literally everything. Okay? I want to know what you are doing, from ordering to ordering supplies, the weekly schedule, posting on social media, handling payroll, training new hires. Get it all written out, write it on paper.

Right? We are. I. If you’re like me, you’re a pen and paper kind of gal, and I want you to categorize them into different buckets so only I can do this and it’s high value. So strategic work, key relationships, CEO level decisions. The next bucket is someone else could do this, but I need to train them first. The next bucket is someone else could do this, and they probably can do it better than me. And the last bucket is this shouldn’t be done at all, or this could be automated. Okay, so everything that you have in buckets, 234, that’s your delegation roadmap. Now we’re going to prioritize and we’re going to say, well, what’s the first thing that I want to get off my plate? Maybe it’s hiring a VA to handle scheduling or admin tasks. Maybe it’s promoting someone on your team to lead Aesthetician and have them take over training and quality control. Maybe it’s outsourcing your bookkeeping to a professional instead of you doing it yourself at midnight. The point is you need to deliberately start moving tasks off of your plate that aren’t your highest value activities, because every hour that you spend on these $10 an hour tasks, you’re not spending on the $1,000 an hour CEO work. Now I know delegation is hard, especially when you’re used to doing everything yourself and when you’re really good at it, but you’re not going to be able to scale if you are still the bottleneck in your business. So start building that delegation muscle. Start with one thing. Get comfortable with the discomfort of letting go. Train someone properly and trust them to do it, then move on to the next thing. Okay, so we’ve talked about what to stop, we’ve talked about what to start, and now let’s talk about what to continue, because I don’t want to forget about the things that are already working. So what are we going to double down on on what’s working and make sure that we don’t abandon the good stuff in pursuit of anything shiny. So we want to continue building recurring revenue. If you have not already implemented memberships in your spa, I am going to keep pushing you on this.

I am a big believer in memberships. If you have not introduced a membership, I want this to be a focus for you in 2026 why? Because recurring revenue is the foundation of scalable businesses. It’s predictable cash flow that you can count on month after month. It allows you to make better hiring decisions, better inventory decisions, better marketing decisions, because you know what your baseline revenue is going to be. So I have seen spas go from 40% recurring revenue to 70% recurring revenue, and it completely changes how the business operates. You’re not constantly stressed about filling the schedule every single month. You’ve got a solid base, and everything else is growth on top of that. So if you’re already building recurring revenue, keep going, keep enrolling new members, keep improving your member experience, keep optimizing that client journey, and if you’re not there yet. Make this a major initiative for next year. The spas that weather economic uncertainty the best. They’re the ones with strong recurring revenue models, the spas that scale the fastest, the ones with predictable monthly revenue that they can build on. All right, continue. Number two is going to be continue investing in your team’s development. I am so blessed to have had doctors and spa owners who believed in me, who invested in my education along the way. Dr Stolley was one of the first, the first doctor, actually, that I worked for AT MediSpa Valley, and he was so great about investing in our education. Anytime that a product company was putting on something, we would fly over to Oahu, we would fly to California. There were so many things that he invested in us that I’m so grateful for because that was really setting me up for success. So investing in your team is essential. This is continuing education opportunities, advanced training, certification, certifications, and you know how estheticians love certificates, bringing in guest educators, sending your team to industry conferences. But it also can be internal development, like you coaching them, you teaching them about retail sales, you teaching them about client experience, about business operations. When you invest in your team, they feel valued. They become more skilled. They look at it as a career, not just. An hourly job, they stay with you longer. Okay, it’s really important to kind of shift that perspective and get them to look at the spa as a long time career choice, and from a purely business perspective, every skill that your team develops increases the value that your spa can deliver when your estheticians can confidently perform advanced treatments, you can charge premium prices. When your front desk knows how to sell effectively, your revenue goes way up your front desk is a sales team sitting up there, okay, when your team understands business metrics, they make better decisions. So continue investing in your team. Make it a line item budget, make it a regular part of your culture, because that team is a huge part of what is going to help you scale.

All right, so let’s do a quick recap. Let’s bring this all together. I know we’ve covered a lot of information. I told you to grab grab a pen and paper for some notes. So where to stop? We wanted to stop making decisions based on short term comfort instead of long term strategy. We want to stop trying to be everything to everyone. We want to stop operating without clear KPIs, and we want to stop under investing in our own development. We want to start treating ourselves like the CEOs that we are. We want to start getting comfortable with tough conversations. We want to start implementing paid advertising strategically. And we want to start delegating based on your highest value activities and where to continue. We want to continue building that recurring revenue. We want to continue investing in your team’s development. Now, here’s what I want you to do before you move on to the next thing in your day. I want you to take out your phone or grab your notebook, and I want you to write down one thing from each category. And if that feels like too much, just write down one thing, okay, that’s it. And one thing that you’re going to stop doing, one thing that you’re going to start doing, one thing that you’re going to continue doing. Okay, don’t try and tackle everything all at once then. And this is important. This is a very important piece. I want you to put a date on the calendar for when you’re going to implement, not someday, not not on the shelf. I want an actual date on the calendar. Block the time and make it real. You don’t need more information. You need implementation.

You need to take what you already know and actually do it. You’ve got to apply it, right? If you read a book and get the knowledge, but you don’t actually apply it, you just wasted hours of your life, right? You’ve got to apply what you learn, okay? So you have what it takes. You’ve already proven that by building what you have. Remember, believe in yourself. Now it is time to take it to the next level. All right, before we wrap up, can I ask you a quick favor if you have been enjoying the spa, marketing Made Easy podcast, if you’ve been getting value from these episodes, could you please take a quick second to leave us a review on Apple or Spotify your reviews help other spa owners find the show. And honestly, they’re incredibly encouraging for myself and for my team to read, just open up your podcast app. Search for spot marketing Made Easy. Scroll down to the ratings and reviews section. Leave us a few words. Leave us that five star review.

Let us know how this podcast has helped you and has helped your business. Takes just a couple of minutes and makes a huge difference. All right, my friend, that is all I have for you today. Thank you so much for spending time with me. I will see you back here next week on another episode of Spa. Marketing made easy. Now go and take action on what we talked about. Stop, start, continue, and let’s make next year your best year yet.

Read More
Read More
EP 458: From Apparel Empire to Facial Bar Franchise: Michele’s Journey Building Face Foundrié®

Could Your Spa Concept Become a Franchise? This Entrepreneur Did It 

If you’ve ever wondered whether franchising could be the path to scaling your spa business, this episode will either ignite that dream or help you realize a different route serves you better. Either way, you’ll walk away with clarity.

Michele didn’t start in the aesthetics industry. She built a nine-location women’s clothing chain that hit $25 million in revenue, all debt-free. But in 2017, while struggling with postpartum hormonal acne and her third baby, she couldn’t find an approachable, affordable med spa with easy booking. That frustration sparked an idea she couldn’t shake.

The Five-Minute Business Sale

On December 14, 2018, at 10:30am, Michele signed over her shares of Primp, her clothing business. Five minutes later, she signed the lease for what would become Face Foundri鮑s flagship location in the Galleria. Five minutes. Not five months of deliberation. Not a carefully planned transition. Just five minutes between one empire and the next.

Why? Because she knew if she gave herself more time, she’d talk herself out of it.

Face Foundrié® launched March 1, 2019, as an open-air facial bar concept with no treatment room walls, just curtains. The model was intentionally designed to be approachable, affordable, and efficient. Michele documented every process from day one because she knew she wanted to franchise once she hit the one-year mark.

Then COVID Hit

March 2020 arrived right as Michele was preparing to launch her franchise program. The world shut down. She had a newborn in April 2020. Everything stopped.

But instead of giving up, Michele used the shutdown to refine operations, put training online, and open a third corporate location to prove the concept in multiple demographics. By January 2021, she launched the franchise model. Within 30 days, Minnesota sold out.

Here’s what made the difference: her first franchisees were clients or friends of clients. They already understood the mission, the brand, and the culture. There was no need to convince them or educate them on the vision. They were already believers.

Franchisee vs. Solo Spa Owner: Which Path Is Right?

Michele gets asked this constantly, and her answer is refreshingly honest. She starts by asking potential franchisees: What do you love doing? What are you best at? Where are your areas of opportunity?

If you don’t love real estate, operations, or marketing, franchising gives you playbooks for all of it. You can lean on the system where you’re weak and showcase your strengths where you’re strong.

But if you’re deeply entrepreneurial, love constant change, want to switch protocols weekly, and crave total control, franchising might feel restrictive. Michele has those transparent conversations. Not every spa owner is meant to be a franchisee, and that’s okay.

The Sisters, Not Twins Philosophy

Unlike most franchises that require identical buildouts, Face Foundrié® takes a different approach. They view their locations as sisters, not twins.

Instead of tearing a space down to the studs, they work with existing assets. A former Starbucks in Milwaukee? Keep the exposed brick and hardwood floors. A space with a unique bathroom layout? Repurpose it. This approach saves franchisees significant money and gives each location character while maintaining brand consistency.

Starbucks does this too. Every location feels like Starbucks, but each one has local touches. That’s the balance Michele has mastered.

The Legal and Financial Foundations You Can’t Skip

Michele’s top advice for anyone considering franchising? Get a legal team that specializes exclusively in franchising. Not general business attorneys. Franchising attorneys.

The Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) is a public document. You’re showing potential franchisees exactly how much it costs to build, how you make money, and all your financials. Your numbers need to be airtight, and your legal structure needs to be bulletproof.

This isn’t an area to cut corners or DIY. Michele is adamant about this.

What Makes a Successful Franchisor?

Beyond legal and financial expertise, Michele believes confidence and passion are non-negotiable.

Most people search their entire lives to be truly passionate about something. If you’ve found that thing, hold onto it. Believe in it. That belief will carry you through the challenges, the pivots, and the moments when you want to quit.

Michele thought her passion was apparel until she discovered skincare. The mission of helping clients feel confident in their skin drives everything she does. That kind of purpose-driven passion is what builds lasting businesses.

The Bottom Line

Franchising isn’t for everyone, and Michele is the first to say that. But if you’ve built systems, proven your concept in multiple demographics, and want to scale through empowering other entrepreneurs, it might be your next chapter.

Whether you’re a solo esthetician dreaming of expansion or an Ambitious Ashley ready to build a legacy brand, this episode will challenge you to think bigger about what’s possible.

Resources Mentioned in Episode #458: From Apparel Empire to Facial Bar Franchise: Michele’s Journey Building Face Foundrié®

  • Face Foundrié®
  • Face Foundrié® on Instagram
  • Michele on Instagram

Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Subscribe on YouTube

Join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast Community

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Stay up-to-date with our email newsletter to receive important updates, news, and offers!

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Name(Required)

IG / @addoaesthetics

WEB / addoaesthetics.com

YOUTUBE / @addoaesthetics

LINKEDIN / @addoaesthetics

About Your Host, Daniela Woerner

Daniela Woerner is the founder of Addo Aesthetics and creator of the Growth Factor® Framework, a proven system that’s helped hundreds of spa owners build profitable, systemized businesses. With nearly 20 years in the aesthetics industry, she transforms overworked aesthetic professionals into confident Spa CEOs through strategy, systems, and soul led support. Daniela is also the host of Spa Marketing Made Easy, a top ranked podcast with over 1 million downloads, where she shares real world strategies to help spa professionals grow with clarity and confidence.

Welcome back to the Spa Marketing Made Easy podcast. I’m your host, Daniela Woerner, and today’s episode is one that is going to stretch your thinking, spark your creativity, and maybe even shift the way that you see what is possible for your business. Have you ever wondered what it would look like to take everything that you’ve learned from one successful business pivot completely into a new industry and build a franchise model that sells out an entire state in just 30 days. That is exactly what today’s guest Michele did. Michele is the founder of  Face Foundrié, an open air facial bar franchise that launched just months before the world shut down for covid, but before skincare Michele built a $25 million women’s clothing Empire, and in this episode, she shares the story of selling her business, her clothing empire, signing away that retail Business, and signing the lease for her first  Face Foundrié  location, all within five minutes. I mean, talk about trusting your gut. So we dive into the realities of franchising from the legal foundations that you cannot afford to skip to the mindset shifts required to go from a solopreneur to a successful franchisor. Michele also shares why she follows a sisters, not twins, approach to brand consistency, and how her franchisees balance creativity with structure. So whether you’re dreaming of an expansion, considering franchising or just love a behind the scenes, look at what it takes to build a scalable beauty brand. This is a conversation that you do not want to miss. All right, let’s go ahead and play that interview. 

 

All right, Michele, welcome to the Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast. I you know you are the first guest that we have had on in quite a while, because we really, we were focusing on a lot of training episodes and a lot of kind of in depth stuff. And we get a lot of pitches every single every single day, really, but yours really stood out as something that I thought, oh my gosh, this is going to be something, this interview, this story, would be so valuable to our audience. And so I’m so happy to have you here, and so happy to welcome you. 

Well, thanks for having me. I’m very excited to be here and share, hopefully what I’ve learned, and ultimately, hopefully I spark some curiosity or inspiration with your listeners. So let’s start at the beginning, or where whatever the beginning is for you, I know that you have entrepreneurial blood. This is not your first business. You had a clothing store previously,

right? Yep, exactly. So I actually graduated. I was an apparel design and merchandising major, so not in skincare. I’m I’m actually not a certified esthetician by trade, either. But I graduated from college, and myself and my business partner started a women’s clothing chain back in 2010 which was like such a weird, volatile time to start a business, and then, having lived through covid, it felt like very much some PTSD, yeah, we started a clothing business right out of college, and we ended up building it to nine stores. It was not franchised, it was all corporately owned, and hit 25 million in revenue, all debt free. So it was fast learning curve, and I loved everything about it.

So what was the transition there? Did you sell that and you were just ready for something new, or what kind of pivoted that said, like, hey, I need this. I want to make this shift into the esthetics industry.

Great question. So it was 2017 I had my third child, and I was just riddled with hormonal acne and the struggle of trying to find a affordable med spa that had really easy booking or approachable hours, it didn’t exist. And so 2017 I just I sat on this idea forever, of like, why doesn’t something like  Face Foundrié, this open air concept that truly has approachable skincare exist in the world. And at the time, I still had my women’s clothing chain, and it apparel was really all I had ever known. But I could not let go of this feeling for this focus facial bar. So it was December 14, 2018, at 10:30am I signed over the rights for my shares of my clothing store. It’s still in existence. It’s called primp, and at 1035 I signed the lease for what would become our flagship store in the Galleria for Face Foundrié. So it’s five whole minutes. I was scared to death. I’m not. In a lot, like, I knew if I gave myself any more time, I’d probably talk myself out of it, right? But I just couldn’t let go of this feeling and skincare. I I look back, and it’s so easy to look back and see the obvious, like, oh, the aha moments. But I was obsessed with skincare and makeup as a kid, and I just didn’t know that that would really just stick with me and evolve into something special. So two things that just stood out that are actually personal things. My daughter was born in 2017 so we have a child that’s the same age. And my business was started on December 14, although it was 2014 so those are just good omens. When is your daughter’s birthday? May 5. Oh, mine’s may 21 so may babies. May babies.

Yes. Okay, so you’re moving into you sign this lease. You haven’t really been in the esthetics industry to under I mean, you’ve have the entrepreneurial background, but, you know, there’s, there’s a lot of, as I’m sure you’re well aware of now, there’s a lot of industry specific, you know, types of things. So did you go into that location immediately knowing that you wanted to franchise, or were you just trying to take this concept and say, I want to build, I want to solve a problem for my community first?

For sure, that is a great question. So with my clothing chain, I actually did pursue franchising, and I love the idea of the franchising model. I think it’s amazing. It has it attracts this entrepreneur that wants a little bit more of the framework and a blueprint laid out for them and a proven concept. So I love that idea, because I think that ultimately you bring in good people, you can grow way faster. The clothing concept, it was not the model I felt was right for franchising. There were too many nuances, lots of skews. It just didn’t fit. But I knew whatever I did next I wanted to franchise. So to your point, the day we opened, I was documenting everything, all of our processes. I knew that we wanted to franchise. Once we hit that one year mark, we opened, march 1 2019, and I was like, waiting for March 1 2020 because we’d have a year’s worth of data, we could launch our franchising program. Oh, Daniela, it was going to be perfect, right? Great timing. Super fast. Obviously, the world had other plans. But yeah, it was March 2020 the world ended. And then you were right as I was about to launch that franchising program, I think the, like, the entire world shut down. And of course, you know, that’s when I had another baby, in April of 2020, so I was like, okay, great, yeah, I guess I’m on an extended maternity leave. Totally get that. Totally get that. Yeah, so. And I will say to your point, I am not a trained esthetician, and walking in, I almost I knew that was going to be the area of opportunity for me. So I really tried to surround myself with amazing estheticians that I trusted, that I was able to work with. I mean, one I had started working with back in 2017 on my skin, and just kind of evolved from there, because it is an area that I really wanted to perfect, but 90% in my opinion, of business translates. So I was able to bring a lot of the business acumen that I learned through our clothing store and then working for my parent, parents prior, it really did translate. And so I’m, I’m grateful for that, but the estheticians that signed on with us right away, they were instrumental in providing feedback as to what we should do when we launched protocols. All of it. Okay?

So March 2020, you’re, I’m assuming you’re not launching your franchise model with everything that happened. So what was the next step there? What? What did you do? Because we all had to, I mean, that was such a crazy time, but I also believe that it made us so strong and so resourceful. And any time that things you know, there’s been a lot of natural disasters, there’s been a lot of you know, whether it’s uncertainty in an election year or all of these different types of things that happen that are challenges for business owners. I’m like, Look, we made it through covid. We couldn’t even do facials without a mask on the patient. So, like, we figured it out, and like, you can do this, you know, well, and it, it breeds such innovation. Because I’ll never forget, we had to furlough all of our staff members. And I remember talking to this manufacturer in the Twin Cities, and I was like, I want you to create this, like plastic bubble, a dome that goes over their face, and our estheticians could just put their hands in. And thinking about, like, how can you do a facial, kind of under plastic to make sure that someone feels protected? Because even, I mean, I felt so bad for the Board of Cosmetology, you know, they they didn’t know how to navigate this. No one did. And so it was like trying to find feedback, or how we could reopen. Everybody was just kind of like awestruck and wondering, how do we do this? How do we relaunch? But I will say we were really innovative in the process, and we learned a lot. And you really do not at the time, but in hindsight, you realize how resilient you become in figuring out a way. And so for us, it was okay. How do we? How do we use this time to really document everything and put it online, if we can’t ever train in person again, what is this going to look like? We opened March 1, 2019, like I mentioned, and within a month, we knew, and part of the franchising model I knew I wanted multiple corporate locations to show proof of concept in various demographics, so we opened our second site not long after our first and then once covid rolled around, we had just signed a lease for our third site.

So that was really fun to kind of renegotiate and navigate and figure out how and when we could open that but three was really that sweet spot to then say, Okay, we have enough data to go back and launch franchising and launch our FTD with valuable insights and metrics as to how our stores did even through a little bit of a crisis. So when did you actually launch the franchising model?

When was we ended up launching January 2021, and within 30 days, we sold out the state of Minnesota, which is where we are based, all of our all of our franchisees found us very organically. They were actually clients or friends of clients. So it was perfect, because our original group of franchisees, they very much understood our mission, our brand. They aligned with what we wanted to do and how we wanted to execute it. And so there was very little education going in to having to explain what our brand and what our culture represented. And that was a huge blessing, too. And a lot of our growth, I attribute to those early franchisees that were just as gung ho very hungry and motivated to continue to help us spread the word.

So talk to me a little bit about the difference that an entrepreneur would experience whether they decide to become a franchisee. You know, they want to open their own spa versus just going and opening their own spa on their own. What are the diff? What are the primary differences, the benefits, the limitations, like to know, all of it going all in. How would they decide if being a franchisee is right for them, or just starting from scratch?

I think that’s a great question. First of all, we chat with a lot of our franchisees and potential franchisees, and I’m very transparent. I say, Yeah, Daniela, what do you love doing? What do you feel like you are the best at doing? And where do you feel like there are areas of opportunity? Because, to me, that’s meeting a franchisee where they’re at. So if you don’t love you know, real estate, let’s say you really need to lean on us for operations or marketing. We have playbooks for all of those things. So you get to really decide, do I want to where do I want to showcase my skill set versus lean on the system to help me. And there hasn’t been anything we haven’t been able to tackle, you know, accounting, if they need legal ops, like I had mentioned, any sort of educational side of things. I think on the flip side, if someone is very entrepreneurial and they have a lot of ideas and they want to kind of maybe they want a weekly facial where they are switching out the protocols, and they are really wanting to be hands on in their business, and wanting lots of change and lots of control, I think then that is probably the route that would serve them best. And we’ve certainly had those conversations and those transparent kind of outlooks of if that is the route you want to go franchising and that model might not be the best option for you, but if you do want that consistency and leaning on education and best practices, real estate marketing operations like we can help you fill all of those buckets.

What happens with a franchise when someone wants to exit? Are they able to sell the franchise or just similar as. You would sell a business, oh, yeah, business.

And I would argue because, you know, it depends on a brand. I wouldn’t just say, like Face Foundrié specifically, but a franchising model. Let’s say, if the brand is large enough, you’re going to have a much larger buyer pool, okay, as opposed to maybe a one off.

And in terms of, I think the thing I’m always curious about with a franchise is, does the owner have the opportunity to choose the product lines that they want to bring in, or are there set product lines? Does the owner have the choice if they want to create a particular type of marketing promotion, or are they limited to what the franchisee or franchise is saying each month?

Great question. So we have required skews and required product lines that we use in some of our protocols, or we just know that they sell well, retail wise, and then we have optional and so it’s very much on the owner to be able to say, Hey, I live in, let’s say, a southern region. I know I’m going to need more SPF, or I’m going to lean on more of the optional skews, because our clients are providing feedback. There’s a lot of optionality there within kind of the parameters we set. From a marketing standpoint, we are constantly doing customized marketing events. We, I would say, almost daily, our franchisees are working with other businesses, influencers, they’re doing pop ups. So really, in the marketing world, the options are endless. With what you can do. We are just here, kind of on the back end to support, to provide collateral that’s consistent with the brand, making sure that the verbiage fits the brand. Anything we can do then to take that off the franchisee,

wonderful, wonderful. And in terms of starting a franchise for yourself, like, what were the steps that went into that? You know, you knew from the beginning you obviously had a significant amount of business experience. You mentioned briefly that you used to work for your parents, so I’m assuming your parents were entrepreneurs as well. If you grew up with that, that kind of gets into your blood. But, you know, moving into that, that role, that model, what can someone expect, like, what are the the blind spots that they may not be thinking about?

I think it goes back to even the conversation we have with potential franchisees, what, where are your areas of opportunity, right? What are you not just, what are you passionate about, but what are you really, really good at? Because if you’re great at marketing, fantastic own that portion, but if you’re a little bit weaker at, say, accounting or finance or legal, like you need to have a very strong attorney that understands franchising. They should specialize in nothing else but franchising, because it is nuanced. And so that’s probably the one single best piece of advice I can pull out. Is if you are looking to franchise your concept, you have to have a fantastic legal team, and you have to make sure that your numbers are airtight, because the Franchise Disclosure Document is a public document, and you are really opening up your business to the world. You’re showing them what it costs to build it out, and you’re showing potential franchisees exactly how you make money?

Yeah, that’s a accounting and legal. I mean, the first thing that I did, you said you started your business and signed the lease. I started my business and I hired my accountant before $1 came in. Because I am black and white, like, I don’t like any gray area when it comes to the IRS, I am like, such a rule follower. I was like, Okay, let’s get that, that accountant in there.

And what do you think you like your unique skill set like when it comes to be like for someone to be successful at being a franchiser. They’re, you know, they’ve built one business, but it is a completely different model. And it is, you know, different locations can have different personalities. You know, before I started my company, I worked for a company called Bella sante, and there are three location, day spa, med spa in the Boston area. Huge operation, 200 employees, and incredibly systemized, incredibly well run. But every single location, even though they were exactly the same protocol, they had a different vibe, like it’s in a different city. There’s a different vibe of clientele that are coming in. There’s a different vibe of employees that are coming in. They’re still following step by step the protocols, but like your managing style, your leadership style, ensuring everybody is, you know, connected with the core values. It that was just all in the same in the Boston area. So going across the country, that’s, I mean, there’s some major cultural differences,

100% and I think to your point, you know, you can have this beautiful brand and lots of employees, and you have to have it systematically locked in. Your operations has to be lock step, because you want to make sure that you can replicate. And I do think that’s so important, not not even with franchising, because you can have corporate stores. And I felt this with our clothing brand. We had corporate stores across the Midwest, but it has to feel somewhat similar. Now, I do think Face Foundrié is unique in the sense that we view our sites as sisters, not twins, and that’s a little different in the franchising world. You think about McDonald’s or subway or even great clips you go in, you’re going to have to tear it down to the studs and rebuild it to make sure that it is the exact same model. We found that there’s ways to eliminate waste and cut costs if we work with some of the assets that are actually in a space. So I do think the sisters, not twins model for us has actually been really beneficial, but then the challenge becomes making sure that it feels very cohesive, state by state and space by space.

So I don’t know if this is the right way to ask, but like, Starbucks is a franchise, but then you go individually in each Starbucks and they’ll have, like, the local like, here’s the Hawaii cup and here’s the whatever cup, you know. So there’s something that’s kind of picking up on that vibe. Is that what you mean, or you’re like, it’s just not like a cookie cutter, like, every, every real estate space is exactly the same. Like, are you trying to connect with your local community 100%

And we usually do that through, like, business to business partnerships, the assets of the space, like, for example, I’ll use our Milwaukee location. It was actually a former Starbucks, beautiful, exposed brick walls, gorgeous floors, and instead of tearing it out, it felt like such a big waste of money right to put sheetrock over these walls and replace the hardwood, it was, wait a minute, we could save the franchisee a lot of money and also still make it feel like  Face Foundrié. How can we use some of the assets that are available to us and make it really work? And another example that comes up often is like the bathroom layout we’re oftentimes able to kind of repurpose layouts because of our square footage size. It’s not your typical larger Med Spa. It’s right around that 1500 square feet. So there’s some flexibility.

How many treatment rooms do you guys usually have?

So we don’t have rooms, but we there. It’s all Oh, you have the open with the Yes, yep, okay, actually served us really well, because we have, we host face parties a lot, and so it’s a great way for people to come in, if it’s their bachelorette or birthday with their friends, they can rent out the whole space. You can pull back the curtains, and it feels very communal and fun. Which face parties have been a huge, you know, huge hit for us so we don’t have the walls, which is also something that, you know, restricts build out and cost.

 

Okay, cool, yeah, I remember seeing that when I was going through the website and having that kind of open air concept. So any piece of advice that you want to share as we’re wrapping this up for either franchisees or franchisors, like thinking about something that you’ve learned across your journey?

Oh, let’s see here.

I know it’s a big question. What have you learned?

And I, I would say, like, it’s hard to write some up in just one answer. I don’t want this to come across cheesy, but like, believe in yourself, and I think that confidence goes such a long way, and that’s much easier said than done. But if you are super passionate about an idea, about a business, whatever it is, hold on to that, because most people search their entire lives to be passionate about something and really be moved by something. And for me, I feel very fortunate like skincare. I thought it was apparel, until I discovered skincare and how. Much we help our clients, and our mission is just very felt. And so if you can find something that you are truly moved by, I think that’s so special, so hold on to that and be confident in that decision.

Yeah, that’s beautiful. I love that. All right. So where can our listeners find you? Follow you, connect with you if they want to learn more.

Yeah, absolutely.  Face Foundrié with an IE at the end.com. Or on all of the social channels, it’s spelled that exact same way. Otherwise, my personal Instagram is Michele with 1 L manifest,

Oh, Michele. Manifest, love it, all right. Well, thank you so much for your time. This is such an incredible episode, so inspiring. I love celebrating women who have accomplished big things, and it’s it’s such a pleasure. Thank you so much.

I appreciate you having me. Thank you.

Read More
Read More
Read More
EP 371: The Legalities of Aesthetics – A Deep Dive with Mandie Gossert

If there’s one spa and aesthetics that is crucial to understand, it’s the impact of the legal framework within which we operate.


Creating sustainable growth and success in aesthetics means more than just mastering the art of skincare; it involves understanding the legal landscape that shapes our industry.

In today’s episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy, we’re diving deep into the legalities surrounding the aesthetics industry. I’m joined by Mandie Gossert, a passionate esthetician who has taken her love for skincare to the next level by founding the Aestheticians Alliance in her state. Mandie is an experienced and talented esthetician with a decade of experience.

Together, we explore the evolving landscape of state regulations affecting aesthetic practices, the importance of staying informed, and how to get involved in advocating for our profession.

In this episode, we discuss: 

  • Mandie’s Journey to create the Aestheticians Alliance in her state to advocate for regulations that affect our industry.
  • The evolving state regulations and their impact on aesthetic practices across the country and aestheticians on regulatory boards.
  • The steps Mandie and the Aesthetician Alliance are taking to address these changes in Maryland.

To read the full show notes for this episode and join the conversation in our Spa Marketing Made Easy Community, visit: https://www.addoaesthetics.com/blog/371

References Mentioned in Episode #371: The Legalities of Aesthetics – A Deep Dive with Mandie Gossert

  • Visit the website for the Maryland Esthetician Alliance
  • Follow Maryland Esthetician Alliance on Instagram
  • Follow Mandie’s business Skin Invidia LLC on Instagram
  • Here are all the bill hearings and dates mentioned in the episode:
    • SB629 2/15 Membership Alterations 
    • SB1044 2/22 Esthetic Definition (Scope Bill) 
    • HB1302 3/6 Esthetic Definition (Scope Bill) 
    • HB 1362 3/6 Membership Alterations

To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

Read More
Read More
EP 356: Embracing the Serial Entrepreneur Title with Charlie Carter

The greatest gift in coaching is witnessing the “Aha!” moments that happen for my students. 

My guest on this episode of the Spa Marketing Made Easy experienced a lightbulb moment on a recent coaching call when I gave her the title of serial entrepreneur.

Charlie Carter, CEO of Body Soul Spa in Jacksonville, FL, is multi-passionate and possesses a wide variety of talents and interests, and she has the itch of entrepreneurship. 

If you can relate to Charlie’s feelings of always wanting to take on the next big challenge and truly loving the build, the title of serial entrepreneur may be the answer you’ve been seeking. 

Listen in to hear how this defining moment gave Charlie so much clarity and validation for how she was feeling. 

Tune into this episode as we discuss:

  • How Charlie became an entrepreneur and her journey navigating the spa industry
  • The “Aha!” moment that defined her as a serial entrepreneur
  • What happens when she gets the itch of serial entrepreneurship
  • The decision making process she follows when presented with a new entrepreneurial opportunity
  • Charlie’s advice for aspiring entrepreneurs

References Mentioned in Episode #356: Embracing the Serial Entrepreneur Title with Charlie Carter

To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

Read More
Read More
EP 355: Announcing Addo Wellness Institute: A Post-Secondary School Specializing in the Business of Aesthetics

What you’re going to hear in this episode has been a long time in the making and I am ecstatic to finally share it with you – introducing Addo Wellness Institute, the first post-secondary school specializing in the business of aesthetics! 

This new venture is a marriage between my two personal worlds of being an aesthetics professional and being a military spouse, and our goal and vision with Addo Wellness Institute is that we’ll help 5,000 military spouses and veterans find meaningful employment by 2030. 

In addition to military spouses and veterans, Addo Wellness Institute aims to support aesthetic professionals, spa owners and Spa CEOs in both finding top-tier talent trained in key remote team member roles as well as obtaining spa manager training for that key role within your growing company. 

Tune into this episode as I share:

  • The mission and vision behind Addo Wellness Institute including how we’re starting and where we’re headed 
  • The three initial certification tracks that are now open for enrollment and why these roles are key within a successful spa company 
  • How we’re structuring our class sizes and learning environment, plus, how we’re making an even greater impact by focusing on providing training within the military community to fill remote aesthetic roles 
  • The first steps to getting started and becoming a student of our inaugural class

References Mentioned in Episode #355: Announcing Addo Wellness Institute: A Post-Secondary School Specializing in the Business of Aesthetics

  • Learn more about Addo Wellness Institute and our three certification tracks via our website 
  • Follow our Addo Wellness Institute company page on LinkedIn 
  • Follow @addowellness on Instagram

To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

Read More
Read More
EP 264: Expanding into Virtual Education with Kathy Taranto

Over the last couple of years, we’ve witnessed the world and our industry be flipped upside down and shaken up like a snow globe, and while that has been a jolting experience, it’s also made apparent some tremendous and exciting opportunities that exist for spa owners, especially in the realm of digital education. 

In 2022 and beyond, our industry is primed for new ways for service providers to learn and refine their skillset as well as become educators, consultants, and coaches, which is why I’m so excited for you to learn from my guest in this episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy because she is an incredible example to see what’s possible when you embrace your expertise and this business model. 

Joining me is Kathy Taranto, a partner at AesthetiCare Medspa in Leawood, Kansas and a partner at MINT Aesthetics, a full-service aesthetic training and consulting group. 

In 2020, AesthetiCare did over $7 million in non-surgical aesthetics at one location, and everything that Kathy learns and practices through her leadership at AesthetiCare provides the ultimate first-hand experience that has allowed her to serve over 1500 clinics across North America and through digital education, reach countries all across the globe including, Australia, India, England and China. 

Tune in as we talk about her journey to starting MINT Aesthetics and how she has leveraged her in-spa experience and leadership to build a truly impactful and impressive digitally-based business. 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Kathy’s journey to starting the online training brand, MINT Aesthetics, and how it was born out of efficiency, streamlining and seeing opportunity and being open to exploring it
  • The value of starting scrappy and getting your project or idea out into the world
  • Why now is a great time to consider integrating virtual and digital product and service offerings into your business 
  • What critical pieces you need to have in place to be able to make a dent in the digital space as an educator or consultant 

References Mentioned in Episode #264: Expanding into Virtual Education with Kathy Taranto

  • Learn more about MINT Aesthetics and take a look at their wide variety of courses, workshops, and trainings
  • Connect with MINT Aesthetics on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn
  • Visit Kathy’s spa in Kansas City, AesthetiCare Medspa and connect with them on Instagram
  • Host your digital courses and programs on Kajabi (this is the platform we use and love, this is an affiliate link!)
  • To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

As a thank you for being a loyal listener to the Spa Marketing Made Easy podcast and for helping us to reach more aestheticians working on growing their businesses and creating a life they love, we have created a free resource portal just for you! 

 

It’s totally free to join, and for every 25 reviews we get on iTunes, we’ll add a new training video, PDF, tracker, or other high-value resource to help you grow your aesthetic business!

 

If you have yet to leave a review, click here to leave one on iTunes, and click here to access the free resources already unlocked


Episode Transcript

Read More