E37: Therapeutic Care Meets Luxurious Relaxation at Fort Collins' Award-Winning Day Spa

Surviving Hurricane Katrina and a global pandemic might break some people, but for Melissa Stewart, these catastrophes became catalysts for an unexpected journey into wellness entrepreneurship. After losing everything in Katrina, Melissa's path led her to a small North Carolina town where a chance encounter with a spa owner sparked a passion that would eventually become Soak Spa – now a seven-time award winner recognized by Noco Style as one of Fort Collins' top three day spas.

What makes Soak Spa special isn't just their comprehensive menu of services including therapeutic massage, facials, body treatments, and acne care. Their standout offering is the unique foot sanctuary experience that shouldn't be confused with standard pedicures. These therapeutic foot soaks paired with head, neck, and shoulder massages prioritize wellness over aesthetics, allowing clients to remain fully clothed while receiving profound relaxation benefits. This perfectly represents Melissa's mission to provide genuinely therapeutic care rather than mere "fluff" – a misconception she actively works to dispel, especially among male clients who might not realize the sports and deep tissue massage options available.

Melissa's background combines formal education in massage and aesthetics with a marketing degree from Loyola, creating the perfect foundation for building a thriving wellness business that serves clients from 18 to 65+ through memberships that make regular self-care accessible. When not running the spa, she embraces life's adventures – from walking 100 miles of Spain's Camino de Santiago to baking for loved ones and hiking Colorado's beautiful landscapes. Experience the calm environment and skilled care that customers rave about by visiting https://soakspashop.com/ or calling 970-377-9868 to discover why Soak Spa represents the perfect synthesis of therapeutic expertise and luxurious relaxation. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Nick George.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of an elevatedsoak and spa treatment?
One might be closer than youthink.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor,
Melissa Stewart, with Soak Spa.
Melissa, how's it going Goinggreat, Thank you.
We're excited to learn allabout you and your business.
Please tell us about yourcompany.

Speaker 3 (00:35):
Well Soak Spa was founded back in June 2017.
We've been really lucky to earnawards with Noco Style for the
last seven years, being the topthree best day spa, and we are a
holistic day spa, so we offermassage, therapeutic massage,

(00:56):
facials, acne treatments, spapackages, body scrubs, wraps,
and then we have a uniqueservice called the foot
sanctuary, where we do footsoaks with massage.
We do not do pedicures andmanicures.
It really is more about thecare of the feet and really
doing a really good massage ofthe feet, head, neck and

(01:19):
shoulder, while people areclothed and soaking their feet
at the same time.
How did you get into this?

Speaker 2 (01:25):
business.

Speaker 3 (01:29):
I actually went to Hurricane Katrina and I wound up
moving to this really smalltown called Brevard, north
Carolina, and I was sellingadvertising and I walked into
this amazing spa called Elementsand I met this wonderful woman
named Patty and she'd been inthe spa business for 25 years at
that point and she was lookingfor a partner to come in and buy

(01:52):
her spa.
And we met and talked and Itried to buy her spa a couple of
times and I started workingthere and managing the spa and
then I fell in love with theindustry and then I went back to
school and got a degree incertification in massage and in
aesthetics and I also have adegree, a four-year degree from

(02:13):
Loyola in marketing.
So all of those combined havereally benefited me greatly with
starting my own business.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
What are some myths or misconceptions in your
industry?

Speaker 3 (02:25):
I think a big myth is that people think spa and they
think fluff.
They don't think, especiallygentlemen, that you can come in
there and get a reallytherapeutic massage or sports
massage.
And we offer all of that.
We do the fluff too, which is arelaxation massage or Swedish

(02:46):
massage, but we really also getin there too.
We have very skilled therapiststhat do very therapeutic work.
So that, I think, is one of thebiggest misnomers that I think
is out there about spas.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
Who are your target customers and how do you attract
them now?

Speaker 3 (03:04):
Oh, my goodness, there's uh, there's a lot of
ways.
I do a monthly newsletter, I dosocial media, I do SEO, I do
community events um corporatechair massage events, um events
with other community partners,um, and then we also offer a
membership for clients to makeit a little bit more cost
effective and for people toreally embrace their health and

(03:27):
wellness and have a plan monthlyto come in.
And our clients range, honestly, from 18 years old to, you know
, 65 plus.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
Have you ever thought about doing your own podcast?

Speaker 3 (03:44):
Sometimes.
Yes, I've been considering thatIf I can get away from daily
running of the spa, managing ofthe spa, which I'm really trying
to do.
One of my other loves, besidesjust doing skincare, is I love
to educate people.
So I have thought about it.

Speaker 2 (04:00):
Yes, Well, that segues into my next question.
Outside of work, what do you dofor fun?

Speaker 3 (04:13):
I travel.
Last year I went to Spain and Iwalked the Camino with my
husband.
He walked 500 miles and Iwalked 100 miles.
I also love to bake, andespecially for my staff and for
friends and family, and I loveto hike and walk a lot outside.

Speaker 2 (04:25):
Let's switch gears.
Can you describe the hardshipor life challenge that you
overcame and how it made youstronger?
What comes to mind?

Speaker 3 (04:33):
Well, there are two big things I lost my home and
everything in it and Katrina anddang it.
I also went through a pandemic.
I had two major catastrophes inmy life.
It's like what the heck right?
But with Katrina, honestly thatwas a really challenging

(04:54):
situation.
To lose everything, all myfamily was displaced, having to
come back and figure out what wewere going to do, where we were
going to move.
But it really opened up a greatopportunity for me to really
live in other states and toreally embrace starting over,
and I really love being able todo that and have had that

(05:15):
opportunity to do that quite afew times now.

Speaker 2 (05:19):
Melissa, tell our listeners one thing that they
should absolutely remember aboutyour Soak Spa.

Speaker 3 (05:24):
our listeners one thing that they should
absolutely remember about yourSoak Spa.
That's a tough one becausethere's just a lot of things.
A lot of the reviews we get arejust the calm environment that
we provide and then the skilledand caring therapists and
therapeutic care that we give toour clients.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
Nice.
Well, how can our listenerslearn more about Soak Spa?

Speaker 3 (05:58):
Well, they can go to our website, and that's
wwwsoakspashopcom.
And yes, we do sell skin careproducts and other products from
local vendors.
I do really like to support ourlocal community, and you can
also call us at 970-377-9868.

Speaker 2 (06:14):
Well, Melissa, I really appreciate you being on
the show and we wish you andyour Soaks spa the best moving
forward.

Speaker 3 (06:19):
Thank you.
I really appreciate beinginvited to do the show, nick,
thanks so much.

Speaker 1 (06:30):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go tognpfortcollinscom.
That's gnpfortcollinscom, orcall 970-438-0825.