December 17, 2021 • 23 mins
Are you looking for that last minute Christmas gift or just want to get away from the stress and spend the day at the spa? You need to check out Skin Sense, a day spa! Mahala sits down with Angela Padgett, founder and president of Skin Sense, in our newest Making Moves podcast.
Skin Sense offers:
Get to know Skin Sense:
- Website: https://www.skinsense.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skinsenseadayspa/?ref=page_internal
Reach out to The Rachel Kendall Team:
- Website: https://rachelkendall.com/about/team/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRachelKendallTeam/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therachelkendallteam/
- Touring the Triangle Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/touringthetriangle/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rachel-kendall-team/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/rkteam
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/rachelkendallteam
- Phone: 919.782.4505
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Hey Triangle lovers. Welcome toMaking Moves hosted by The
Rachael Kendall Team, where wewill explore together the top
restaurants, community hotspotsand events in our area. Let's
make some moves. Hello,everybody. Welcome back to
Making Moves. And we have areally great guest today Angela
Padgett with Skin Sense, a dayspa in North Raleigh. Welcome,
(00:24):
Angela.
Thank you so much. Thank you forhaving me here today. That's
great.
We're really excited. So this isnear and dear to my heart in
terms of day spa, and just thehistory of your company. So
first off, tell me a little bitabout you and how you found
Raleigh. Wow. Okay,so I'm born in the eastern part
of the state in Wilson County,in a little town called
(00:47):
Stantonsburg, which no one knowswhat that is. It's incorporated
by a thousand people. Wow. Andso my grandmother was an
Aesthetician before anyone knewwhat that was that someone that
does facials and waxing and, andso I grew up in that industry.
My grandmother was a platformmakeup artist and traveled and I
got into the skincare side ofit. And I knew that it was
(01:10):
always something that I wantedto do. But back in the day,
there were only destinationspas. And so you with a
destination spa, you had to haveseawater, so you had to live
near coasts. So I ended upmoving to California and
studying there. And that wasgoing to be one I decided to do.
But as my grandparents gotolder, I had to you know, move
(01:30):
back, take care of them. And Ihad to figure out, okay, I'm
just going to go with a clinicsetting which we had in
California. And so I did that wetook on 600 square feet. And it
was just me. And it was sointeresting, because I did a
little bit of advertising. And Iwould get a lot of calls saying
(01:53):
what's a facial? And this wasback in 1991. And I thought, oh
my goodness, I'm in trouble.
Because in California, it's kindof a staple. And so I built my
business on gift cards andwaxing, believe it or not. And
so we ended up hiring nailtechnician massage therapist,
(02:15):
other estheticians and took onmore square footage on 6801
Falls of Neuse Road, which we'vebeen there since 1986. And it's
kind of pieced together becausewe took on 2,200 square feet.
Wow. Yeah. And now it's we'vegot about 5,500. Wow. And at
that point, what was sointeresting, as soon as we
(02:35):
moved, there was some lady inCalifornia, bless her heart. She
came on point the word day spa,which turns the industry on its
head. So we were the first dayspa here we changed our name
from Skin Sense, Face and BodyWorks to Skin Sense, a day spa.
Wow.
And what year was that SkinSense, a day spa?
1996 is when we changed our nameand move to Falls of Neuse.
(02:57):
It's amazing to see how far thespa industry has come in just
the time that you became anentrepreneur in the triangle.
And yes, The Rachel Kendall Teamclearly is a women owned
business. So I always love tosee other women and how they say
that. Okay, well, now what arewe going to do? I'll do it
(03:17):
myself. Exactly. So, skin sense,as you've told your story, what
really resonates with me is thatskin sense has always been
centered around the educationbehind skincare, facials, that
it's it's not just aboutsomething nice to treat
yourself. It's it's so much morethan that in a holistic
experience. And that's somethingthat I know is very big for you.
(03:42):
And how do you show women menthat they need to have this part
of treatment in their life?
Well, as a day spa, we'reextremely goal oriented. And so
it's really meeting andexceeding the goals of the
client by one. So we really wantto, you know, ensure that we
know very well what they arelooking to achieve and what they
(04:03):
want. And so we make sure thatthat is something that we give
them, which is extremelyimportant. And you're right.
It's not just women, it's it'smen, and believe it or not
children as well. And weposition ourselves is it's not a
want, it's a need, because weall want we all know we have.
(04:25):
And so we have built ourbusiness based on the needs of
the client. Yeah. So it's beenit's been wonderful. And this is
our 30th year. Wow. Yeah,running. So we feel very proud
of that. We feel as though wehave a really great business
model. And we have a wonderfulteam. Yeah, really, really great
team.
Yeah. And you're helping, youknow, our economy and our
(04:45):
community and everything bybeing that business owner. What
would you say has been one ofthe biggest challenges as you've
watched the industry shift. Imean, now, I mean, there's medi
spas, there's day spas. There'sstill destination spas. Yes, and
Um, what what helps you staydifferentiated in the day spa
model? Well, Ithink it comes back to, you
know, exactly what I, our wholebusiness model is based on is,
(05:08):
you know, really meeting theneeds of our clients. Because,
you know, you're right. Thereare I mean, there's hot dog
stands out hot dog spas, right?
So it's, it's, we definitely arenot that business where, you
know, you go in, you get amassage leave, right, you know,
(05:31):
it's really about how can we,you know, make our clients
better in the long run, youknow, how can we make sure that,
you know, their care grows, andit's not just about, oh, they're
coming in to get a facial orcoming in to get a massage? Oh,
it was really nice to see youhope you come again, right? It's
not about that. It's reallyabout the value, the value, and
(05:54):
this is what you need to do. Andwe, we educate our clients and
our therapist are highlyeducated, we constantly do, you
know, ongoing training. Soeveryone's always up to date.
And we're constantly changingour menu. Oh, my gosh, our menu
is vast. It's fast, but itworks. Yeah.
And the products that you use, Ifeel like is another huge
(06:15):
differentiator, you know, howyou select that, and how you
build that into your treatmentplans is is really a lot
different. Can you share alittle bit about how you pick
the products? Absolutely.
So eminence is dear to ourheart, it's a it's a great line,
it's a very natural and organicline, but with a punch. So it
(06:35):
really, they have the samephilosophy. They're very goal
oriented as well. And so theirproducts work amazingly. So it's
not a lot of, you know, fluffand buff that you see from you
know, some natural baselines.
And we also use a clinicalbaseline, which is
SkinCeuticals, which is alsowonderful. And they go together
so well. And we interact themwith them all the time. And so
(06:58):
our clients see the benefits,which in makes them come back
again.
Right, right. I mean,results is every they're very
results oriented. Yes. And ofcourse we carry out other lines
to our body lines are great. Wehave Gifty lines, and it's just
it's a, it's a fun boutique.
Yeah. Well, and you mentionedtraining, and training is
(07:19):
something that on our team, weare we can never have enough.
You're never done training.
There's professional developmenteverywhere. And especially when
you are so client focused, youlearn that, that they're
driving, how you're training andhow you're delivering your
services. So that's a reputationthat you have of being a great
trainer. What advice would yougive to an Aesthetician massage
(07:40):
therapist, nail technician, ifthey're considering this career?
Or what do they need to look forin terms of training?
Yes, I, you know, I, when whenyou're in school, you know, it's
all about getting throughpassing your boards. And you
know, schools are wonderful.
Obviously, there's, you need tohave it. Yeah, you got to pass
it. But postgraduate training isthe best thing that you could
(08:02):
ever do for yourself. And one ofthe things that skin senses
actually just started doing iswe are offering C's for our
massage therapist. Yeah. So weoffer a plethora of different
classes, so they can, as we growwith the CEE portion of it, we
will start offering classes andmarketing those and having new
(08:23):
massage therapists come onboard, we're going to do the
same thing with aesthetics aswell. So we're already working
on that product process. But youknow, I've been training Well,
30 years. Yes. So whenever wehave hires, we, you know, it's
all about training, no onestarts until they are fully
trained, and have the skinsense, influence and the
(08:45):
experience. Yeah.
The other part of the experienceis just the spa itself. I mean,
we've talked a lot about thetreatments. We've talked about
the product, talked about thethe treatment providers that are
coming in, but the actuallocation itself, how did you
design that concept? And what isthe experience that you're
(09:06):
trying to create by having thedecor and just the ambience that
you have? Well, likeI said, you know, early on when
I wanted to create thatdestination spa, that's really
how it's, it's built? No, wedon't have the sea water. But we
we have everything about itgives you the ambiance of
wanting to stay from ourlounges, to our steam rooms, to
(09:28):
our locker rooms, and of course,our treatments. We have a great
boutique area. So people usuallydon't want to leave when they
come in. And we actually havepeople that just after their
treatments, they will sit in thelounge read a book we have my
grandmother's tea that waspassed down from years to years.
Spy her mother and her mother,and we're known for our nannies
(09:51):
to everyone I even have clientsthat say I come back for this
And we have our spa water, ourcucumber, water, cucumber and
lemon. So it's just a wonderfulenvironment. Yeah,
I mean, it's it, when I walk inthere, some of the things that
really stand out to me is thewarmth of the color, and the
(10:13):
textures on the walls, and justhow when you, you know, step in
from outside, you can absolutelyfeel yourself just disconnect,
get totally out of your head,and just take a minute and be in
that kind of quiet environment.
And it's very quiet, which is soimportant. I mean, I know when I
do a med spa, it's not quiet,you know, it's not the
relaxation that you're lookingfor on top of the skincare
(10:33):
treatment or whatever you'rethere for. I think that that's
so important when, as we weretalking about is a need, it's
not a want, we need to learn howto decompress, we need to learn
how to disconnect, a love thatthere's no cell phones in the
lobby in the lounge, you know,it's it's total encouragement to
take care of yourself and yourwellness. And that's something
(10:54):
that's so important. Especiallynow, I mean, we are coming out,
we're still talking about it.
Oh, clearly still there, COVIDand the pandemic, and what have
been some of the challenges foryour business? And how have you
overcome those challenges andstill met the needs of your
clients?
Well, we were, as with COVID, weclosed for two months by you
(11:17):
know, per the state. And weended up taking that time
because we are open seven days aweek. And so it's really hard to
make changes to a location whenyou're always open. And so we
took lemons and made lemonade.
They did a thorough cleaning ofthe spa, we updated it. We
changed out some of the rooms,we ended up actually getting rid
(11:38):
of our nail treatments. Oh, yes,that was a big deal for us,
because we've offered nailtherapy since 91. But we found
the needs of our clients to bemore massage oriented. So we
were able to do that we added toour boutique area. So we have a
lot more products than we'veever had in the past. And so
it's a beautiful environment.
(12:02):
And you know what you weresaying about the walls and the
the ambience, you know, ourtagline is bringing balance to
life. And it's something that welive by. So when people come in,
we want to get them out of theirheads and back into their bodies
and not have to to really thinkabout anything. It's all about
them as soon as they walk inthat door. So they you know,
(12:23):
because being right here, bringhis strings dis ease. So you
want to get out of your head. Imean, we're so designed now to
be in our heads all the time.
Yeah. And so just to have youknow, the time that you're
there, whether it's an hour or aday, you're out of your head and
back into your body, and you'restarting to bring balance to
that, which is really, reallyimportant. Yeah,
(12:43):
I totally agree. So there's onething that really sets you
apart, and I think NorthCarolina I think there is only
one other spa that has a saltcave,
I believe so. Yeah. Nashville.
Yes.
So what the heck is a Himalayansalt? Because I mean, you have
one, I do have one. There's areason for it.
There is a reason? Well, itstarted off with actually, my
(13:06):
own personal experience withsalt cave. I was going through
some challenges in my life,probably eight years ago, and I
was having problems sleeping. Imean, it was insomnia. It was
really, really bad. And I met Isaw a friend of mine who says,
wow, you know, my wife has asalt cave, it was in Virginia,
(13:26):
and said, You really need to goand sit in here because it
really may help you start toregulate your sleep. And I
thought okay, why have I hadsmall children at that time? You
know, they're twins. And theywere
probably challenging. And yes,themselves? Yes. 10 year
olds, nine and 10 year olds. Andso I thought, how is this going
(13:46):
to work? You know, sitting in asalt cave, trying to relax with
two, nine or 10 year old can'tremember how the right time. And
we get into salt cave sit inzero gravity chairs. And you
just take the salts and I fellasleep. And believe it or not.
They did the same thing. Theywere on the floor with crushed
salt, just playing with a saltand never said a word out and I
(14:09):
started regulating my sleep andsleeping through the night. And
I thought okay, this could bevery beneficial to our clients.
We've got to get one of thethings we have to That's how
much because I went and spent.
We went two or three times thatweek to get my sleep regulated.
And it worked. Yeah. So when wedecided to put this in, I had
done a lot of research onhalotherapy and just salt caves
(14:33):
in general. And decided to gowith this company out of
California, who they get all oftheir they have a there's a salt
mine in Poland. And so they getall of their salt from there.
It's a family owned company.
It's been around for hundreds ofyears. And so they decided that
they built this cave by hand andit's drop dead gorgeous. Yeah,
(14:56):
it's a beautiful salt cave. Sothere's salt blocks all over the
walls, there's crushed salt onthe floor. And we have a water
feature to keep it the humiditygoing because that's what
excites the salt. Okay, and wekeep the temperature around is
between about 7375. But as yourblood pressure drops, you feel
(15:18):
cool. So most everyone's wearinga blanket. Okay. Um, during that
time,I was gonna say, what are you
wearing during Yeah, soyou just wear something, you
know, you wear street clothes,something that you is very
comfortable and loose fitting,and clients that are there for
you know, other treatments,they'll put on a robe. Okay, and
so by nature is sedated. So whenyou go to the beach, and you put
(15:38):
all your stuff out, you get yourchair out. You get your your
drinks going apart, and you fallasleep. It's not the margarita,
it's a salt.
Well, and you're a wonderfulcook two in your spare time. Do
you use Himalayan salt? My gosh,that's all I use? Is it? Yes,
(15:58):
yes. No iodized salt, I wouldsuggest that everyone go with
Himalayan salt, becauseHimalayan salt is the purest
form of salt on the planet. Andit doesn't have you know, a lot
of the processes that has noprocess in it right now. So it's
very, very, very natural. And soyes, I do love to cook, to cook,
(16:19):
and I do only cook withHimalayan salt.
Well, it sounds gorgeous. And Ican definitely see it as a great
add on to a day being there.
Because one of the things Idon't think people understand
about that need was that youwere talking about what we need.
And part of that is touch.
Right? Yes. And just how touchcan be, you know, a real healer.
(16:41):
And that's one thing I thinkthat is very different in your
facials is the type of massagethat you use, and just how
you've grown that part of yourbusiness and remind me what it's
called again.
So we do a lymphatic drainage,facial massage, and then we do
some lymphatics on the neck anddecolletage as well. It is very,
(17:02):
the massage was made to beextremely flowing. No hands ever
leave the face or the body. Soit's, it's very relaxing. And so
yes, it's great. It's wonderful.
That's awesome. I would suggesteveryone's try
that. Speaking of suggestingeveryone try it. You mentioned
gift cards. Yes, they're a hugepart of your business,
they are definitely a part ofour business. It's when we have
(17:27):
during the holidays, we do a lotof gift cards, or, you know,
stocking stuffers, Christmasholiday gifts, Annika, and we
got obviously birthdays stillrunning right? as well. But yes,
we do a lot in there greatgifts, and especially for our
clients that have come in foryears and years. That's the
(17:47):
expectation, they say mysignificant other is going to
get me. But we also offer giftcards for the salt cave. But
also what's great for the saltcave is series, okay, because
one of the things about the saltcave is it's great for upper
respiratory, so allergies,asthma, colds, COVID, oh, leave
(18:12):
or not yes, very good for COVIDbecause it affects your upper
respiratory system. And so thisjust happened helps to open
those the lung capacity, as wellas your sinuses. So you know,
coming in congested, you startto breathe very well. So we have
a series of six for those, butwe have a series of six for all
(18:33):
of all of our treatments. And wealso have memberships to so
whenever someone purchases amembership, they get membership
pricing for everything. So it'snot just so let's say for
instance, if you came in and youpurchased a massage membership,
if you will, and you get thatonce a month membership for you
know a certain amount, I thinkit's I think it's $48. But you
(18:56):
want to come in for otherthings. So we have that same
membership pricing for all ofour treatments. So for instance,
to give you a great example, oursalt cave, are $30. So now with
the membership pricing, you getit for $25. So it's a great
savings and the membership isand why we did it that way is
because we believe that peopleneed more than just a monthly
(19:18):
right, you know, otherwise, likeI said, everyone has needs so if
you have needs if you're workingin a computer and you're feeling
this, you know in your upperback, neck, shoulders, one time
a month, not gonna do it foryou, that's just not Yeah,
you're spinning your wheels andeverybody gets frustrated. And
so you know, you really have todo what's best for your body,
whether it's weekly sessions,you know, twice a month, things
(19:41):
like that, right? And so we makeit you know, affordable so that
you can do that.
So and the and the wholeeducation of what you're doing
at home too, I thinkabsolutely. You have to have
homecare. Otherwise, you'respinning your wheels, right. The
only time I would say you don'thave to have home care if you're
coming in, you know, once a weekor every day And we just take
careof that. That's why you're just
creating a family communityright there. And speaking of
(20:03):
community, you know, what wetalked about the training that
you provide to your employeesand how that is a benefit to
your clients. But you run areally great team, you know, and
what are some of the things as abusiness owner, what is so what
is it? What is your perspectiveon that team and how you run the
company for your employees, andwhat's been your main focus of
success for thatour main focus are, you know, to
(20:24):
find really great talent and tobuild on that talent. And then
to teach them the Skin Sensephilosophy. That is, you know,
again, we're very goal oriented,it's built on trust, it's built
on meeting the needs of theclient, at least by one, we
consider our employees as ourinternal clients. I mean, we're,
(20:45):
we're a family, it's and webuild that family atmosphere, so
that they have that trust in usthat they can go out and do what
they need to do for our clients.
Right takes confidence, it doestake care of somebody, it
definitely definitely does. Soyou have to have confidence in
yourself. And you have to haveconfidence in your team around
(21:07):
you to make that happen.
Well, this has been amazing. Oh,good. I'm so glad wrap it up for
us in a bow, you know, if youcould, if you could say anything
to somebody that has been on thefence about whether or not this
is something they need, whetherit's a aesthetician massage
therapist, or even a client,where they're, they're thinking
like, Well, why would I go toskin scents? How would How would
(21:27):
you help get them off the fence?
Well, again, it comes down toskin since a day spa is
extremely goal oriented, we youknow, look at you as a whole and
want to make sure that all ofyour needs are met, and that
whatever is going on with yourface or body is addressed, and
it may not even be somethingthat you know, that can be
(21:48):
addressed. And we have such agreat team that they can address
that for you. So that happensmore often than not where we're
talking to clients about theirneeds. And, and as as
therapists, they're looking atthem a whole different way and
say, Oh, I see this about you.
And the client says, Oh, Ididn't even know that I could do
that. I didn't even know I couldfix that. So it's from that
(22:08):
aspect. i That's a real winnerfor wanting to come to skin
since but as far as ourtherapist, you know, again, we
do a lot of in house training.
So we take a lot of time withstaff so that they can gain the
confidence, they can gain theeducation so that they can, you
know, take care of our clients.
But as their career goes and,and you know, whether they go
(22:31):
into their own practice or theygo they move and go into another
spa or destination spa. Theyhave that valued education that
never goes away. That's right inus. That's right. Yeah.
And you know, cats out of thebag. I'm a Skin Sense alum, Yes,
you. And I do know, just that.
That camaraderie that we've allbuilt as a result of what you've
(22:55):
created here in the triangle isreally strong. So I hope
everybody enjoys listening tothis. And I hope if you haven't
tried skin sense that you getyourself in there. And if you
need to make a suggestion to asignificant other about a gift
card. I think you should do thattoo.
And again, thank you so much forhaving me. Thank
(23:15):
you, Angela. It's been great.
Thank you for joining us on thisepisode of Making Moves. We want
to deliver the highlights of theTriangle that you want to hear.
Let us know your feedback,comment on our social media like
and of course subscribe tocontinue and discover why we
love where we live until nexttime with Making Moves hosted by
The Rachel Kendall Team.
Hey Triangle lovers. Welcome toMaking Moves hosted by The
Rachael Kendall Team, where wewill explore together the top
restaurants, community hotspotsand events in our area. Let's
make some moves. Hello,everybody. Welcome back to
Making Moves. And we have areally great guest today Angela
Padgett with Skin Sense, a dayspa in North Raleigh. Welcome,
(00:24):
Angela.
Thank you so much. Thank you forhaving me here today. That's
great.
We're really excited. So this isnear and dear to my heart in
terms of day spa, and just thehistory of your company. So
first off, tell me a little bitabout you and how you found
Raleigh. Wow. Okay,so I'm born in the eastern part
of the state in Wilson County,in a little town called
(00:47):
Stantonsburg, which no one knowswhat that is. It's incorporated
by a thousand people. Wow. Andso my grandmother was an
Aesthetician before anyone knewwhat that was that someone that
does facials and waxing and, andso I grew up in that industry.
My grandmother was a platformmakeup artist and traveled and I
got into the skincare side ofit. And I knew that it was
(01:10):
always something that I wantedto do. But back in the day,
there were only destinationspas. And so you with a
destination spa, you had to haveseawater, so you had to live
near coasts. So I ended upmoving to California and
studying there. And that wasgoing to be one I decided to do.
But as my grandparents gotolder, I had to you know, move
(01:30):
back, take care of them. And Ihad to figure out, okay, I'm
just going to go with a clinicsetting which we had in
California. And so I did that wetook on 600 square feet. And it
was just me. And it was sointeresting, because I did a
little bit of advertising. And Iwould get a lot of calls saying
(01:53):
what's a facial? And this wasback in 1991. And I thought, oh
my goodness, I'm in trouble.
Because in California, it's kindof a staple. And so I built my
business on gift cards andwaxing, believe it or not. And
so we ended up hiring nailtechnician massage therapist,
(02:15):
other estheticians and took onmore square footage on 6801
Falls of Neuse Road, which we'vebeen there since 1986. And it's
kind of pieced together becausewe took on 2,200 square feet.
Wow. Yeah. And now it's we'vegot about 5,500. Wow. And at
that point, what was sointeresting, as soon as we
(02:35):
moved, there was some lady inCalifornia, bless her heart. She
came on point the word day spa,which turns the industry on its
head. So we were the first dayspa here we changed our name
from Skin Sense, Face and BodyWorks to Skin Sense, a day spa.
Wow.
And what year was that SkinSense, a day spa?
1996 is when we changed our nameand move to Falls of Neuse.
(02:57):
It's amazing to see how far thespa industry has come in just
the time that you became anentrepreneur in the triangle.
And yes, The Rachel Kendall Teamclearly is a women owned
business. So I always love tosee other women and how they say
that. Okay, well, now what arewe going to do? I'll do it
(03:17):
myself. Exactly. So, skin sense,as you've told your story, what
really resonates with me is thatskin sense has always been
centered around the educationbehind skincare, facials, that
it's it's not just aboutsomething nice to treat
yourself. It's it's so much morethan that in a holistic
experience. And that's somethingthat I know is very big for you.
(03:42):
And how do you show women menthat they need to have this part
of treatment in their life?
Well, as a day spa, we'reextremely goal oriented. And so
it's really meeting andexceeding the goals of the
client by one. So we really wantto, you know, ensure that we
know very well what they arelooking to achieve and what they
(04:03):
want. And so we make sure thatthat is something that we give
them, which is extremelyimportant. And you're right.
It's not just women, it's it'smen, and believe it or not
children as well. And weposition ourselves is it's not a
want, it's a need, because weall want we all know we have.
(04:25):
And so we have built ourbusiness based on the needs of
the client. Yeah. So it's beenit's been wonderful. And this is
our 30th year. Wow. Yeah,running. So we feel very proud
of that. We feel as though wehave a really great business
model. And we have a wonderfulteam. Yeah, really, really great
team.
Yeah. And you're helping, youknow, our economy and our
(04:45):
community and everything bybeing that business owner. What
would you say has been one ofthe biggest challenges as you've
watched the industry shift. Imean, now, I mean, there's medi
spas, there's day spas. There'sstill destination spas. Yes, and
Um, what what helps you staydifferentiated in the day spa
model? Well, Ithink it comes back to, you
know, exactly what I, our wholebusiness model is based on is,
(05:08):
you know, really meeting theneeds of our clients. Because,
you know, you're right. Thereare I mean, there's hot dog
stands out hot dog spas, right?
So it's, it's, we definitely arenot that business where, you
know, you go in, you get amassage leave, right, you know,
(05:31):
it's really about how can we,you know, make our clients
better in the long run, youknow, how can we make sure that,
you know, their care grows, andit's not just about, oh, they're
coming in to get a facial orcoming in to get a massage? Oh,
it was really nice to see youhope you come again, right? It's
not about that. It's reallyabout the value, the value, and
(05:54):
this is what you need to do. Andwe, we educate our clients and
our therapist are highlyeducated, we constantly do, you
know, ongoing training. Soeveryone's always up to date.
And we're constantly changingour menu. Oh, my gosh, our menu
is vast. It's fast, but itworks. Yeah.
And the products that you use, Ifeel like is another huge
(06:15):
differentiator, you know, howyou select that, and how you
build that into your treatmentplans is is really a lot
different. Can you share alittle bit about how you pick
the products? Absolutely.
So eminence is dear to ourheart, it's a it's a great line,
it's a very natural and organicline, but with a punch. So it
(06:35):
really, they have the samephilosophy. They're very goal
oriented as well. And so theirproducts work amazingly. So it's
not a lot of, you know, fluffand buff that you see from you
know, some natural baselines.
And we also use a clinicalbaseline, which is
SkinCeuticals, which is alsowonderful. And they go together
so well. And we interact themwith them all the time. And so
(06:58):
our clients see the benefits,which in makes them come back
again.
Right, right. I mean,results is every they're very
results oriented. Yes. And ofcourse we carry out other lines
to our body lines are great. Wehave Gifty lines, and it's just
it's a, it's a fun boutique.
Yeah. Well, and you mentionedtraining, and training is
(07:19):
something that on our team, weare we can never have enough.
You're never done training.
There's professional developmenteverywhere. And especially when
you are so client focused, youlearn that, that they're
driving, how you're training andhow you're delivering your
services. So that's a reputationthat you have of being a great
trainer. What advice would yougive to an Aesthetician massage
(07:40):
therapist, nail technician, ifthey're considering this career?
Or what do they need to look forin terms of training?
Yes, I, you know, I, when whenyou're in school, you know, it's
all about getting throughpassing your boards. And you
know, schools are wonderful.
Obviously, there's, you need tohave it. Yeah, you got to pass
it. But postgraduate training isthe best thing that you could
(08:02):
ever do for yourself. And one ofthe things that skin senses
actually just started doing iswe are offering C's for our
massage therapist. Yeah. So weoffer a plethora of different
classes, so they can, as we growwith the CEE portion of it, we
will start offering classes andmarketing those and having new
(08:23):
massage therapists come onboard, we're going to do the
same thing with aesthetics aswell. So we're already working
on that product process. But youknow, I've been training Well,
30 years. Yes. So whenever wehave hires, we, you know, it's
all about training, no onestarts until they are fully
trained, and have the skinsense, influence and the
(08:45):
experience. Yeah.
The other part of the experienceis just the spa itself. I mean,
we've talked a lot about thetreatments. We've talked about
the product, talked about thethe treatment providers that are
coming in, but the actuallocation itself, how did you
design that concept? And what isthe experience that you're
(09:06):
trying to create by having thedecor and just the ambience that
you have? Well, likeI said, you know, early on when
I wanted to create thatdestination spa, that's really
how it's, it's built? No, wedon't have the sea water. But we
we have everything about itgives you the ambiance of
wanting to stay from ourlounges, to our steam rooms, to
(09:28):
our locker rooms, and of course,our treatments. We have a great
boutique area. So people usuallydon't want to leave when they
come in. And we actually havepeople that just after their
treatments, they will sit in thelounge read a book we have my
grandmother's tea that waspassed down from years to years.
Spy her mother and her mother,and we're known for our nannies
(09:51):
to everyone I even have clientsthat say I come back for this
And we have our spa water, ourcucumber, water, cucumber and
lemon. So it's just a wonderfulenvironment. Yeah,
I mean, it's it, when I walk inthere, some of the things that
really stand out to me is thewarmth of the color, and the
(10:13):
textures on the walls, and justhow when you, you know, step in
from outside, you can absolutelyfeel yourself just disconnect,
get totally out of your head,and just take a minute and be in
that kind of quiet environment.
And it's very quiet, which is soimportant. I mean, I know when I
do a med spa, it's not quiet,you know, it's not the
relaxation that you're lookingfor on top of the skincare
(10:33):
treatment or whatever you'rethere for. I think that that's
so important when, as we weretalking about is a need, it's
not a want, we need to learn howto decompress, we need to learn
how to disconnect, a love thatthere's no cell phones in the
lobby in the lounge, you know,it's it's total encouragement to
take care of yourself and yourwellness. And that's something
(10:54):
that's so important. Especiallynow, I mean, we are coming out,
we're still talking about it.
Oh, clearly still there, COVIDand the pandemic, and what have
been some of the challenges foryour business? And how have you
overcome those challenges andstill met the needs of your
clients?
Well, we were, as with COVID, weclosed for two months by you
(11:17):
know, per the state. And weended up taking that time
because we are open seven days aweek. And so it's really hard to
make changes to a location whenyou're always open. And so we
took lemons and made lemonade.
They did a thorough cleaning ofthe spa, we updated it. We
changed out some of the rooms,we ended up actually getting rid
(11:38):
of our nail treatments. Oh, yes,that was a big deal for us,
because we've offered nailtherapy since 91. But we found
the needs of our clients to bemore massage oriented. So we
were able to do that we added toour boutique area. So we have a
lot more products than we'veever had in the past. And so
it's a beautiful environment.
(12:02):
And you know what you weresaying about the walls and the
the ambience, you know, ourtagline is bringing balance to
life. And it's something that welive by. So when people come in,
we want to get them out of theirheads and back into their bodies
and not have to to really thinkabout anything. It's all about
them as soon as they walk inthat door. So they you know,
(12:23):
because being right here, bringhis strings dis ease. So you
want to get out of your head. Imean, we're so designed now to
be in our heads all the time.
Yeah. And so just to have youknow, the time that you're
there, whether it's an hour or aday, you're out of your head and
back into your body, and you'restarting to bring balance to
that, which is really, reallyimportant. Yeah,
(12:43):
I totally agree. So there's onething that really sets you
apart, and I think NorthCarolina I think there is only
one other spa that has a saltcave,
I believe so. Yeah. Nashville.
Yes.
So what the heck is a Himalayansalt? Because I mean, you have
one, I do have one. There's areason for it.
There is a reason? Well, itstarted off with actually, my
(13:06):
own personal experience withsalt cave. I was going through
some challenges in my life,probably eight years ago, and I
was having problems sleeping. Imean, it was insomnia. It was
really, really bad. And I met Isaw a friend of mine who says,
wow, you know, my wife has asalt cave, it was in Virginia,
(13:26):
and said, You really need to goand sit in here because it
really may help you start toregulate your sleep. And I
thought okay, why have I hadsmall children at that time? You
know, they're twins. And theywere
probably challenging. And yes,themselves? Yes. 10 year
olds, nine and 10 year olds. Andso I thought, how is this going
(13:46):
to work? You know, sitting in asalt cave, trying to relax with
two, nine or 10 year old can'tremember how the right time. And
we get into salt cave sit inzero gravity chairs. And you
just take the salts and I fellasleep. And believe it or not.
They did the same thing. Theywere on the floor with crushed
salt, just playing with a saltand never said a word out and I
(14:09):
started regulating my sleep andsleeping through the night. And
I thought okay, this could bevery beneficial to our clients.
We've got to get one of thethings we have to That's how
much because I went and spent.
We went two or three times thatweek to get my sleep regulated.
And it worked. Yeah. So when wedecided to put this in, I had
done a lot of research onhalotherapy and just salt caves
(14:33):
in general. And decided to gowith this company out of
California, who they get all oftheir they have a there's a salt
mine in Poland. And so they getall of their salt from there.
It's a family owned company.
It's been around for hundreds ofyears. And so they decided that
they built this cave by hand andit's drop dead gorgeous. Yeah,
(14:56):
it's a beautiful salt cave. Sothere's salt blocks all over the
walls, there's crushed salt onthe floor. And we have a water
feature to keep it the humiditygoing because that's what
excites the salt. Okay, and wekeep the temperature around is
between about 7375. But as yourblood pressure drops, you feel
(15:18):
cool. So most everyone's wearinga blanket. Okay. Um, during that
time,I was gonna say, what are you
wearing during Yeah, soyou just wear something, you
know, you wear street clothes,something that you is very
comfortable and loose fitting,and clients that are there for
you know, other treatments,they'll put on a robe. Okay, and
so by nature is sedated. So whenyou go to the beach, and you put
(15:38):
all your stuff out, you get yourchair out. You get your your
drinks going apart, and you fallasleep. It's not the margarita,
it's a salt.
Well, and you're a wonderfulcook two in your spare time. Do
you use Himalayan salt? My gosh,that's all I use? Is it? Yes,
(15:58):
yes. No iodized salt, I wouldsuggest that everyone go with
Himalayan salt, becauseHimalayan salt is the purest
form of salt on the planet. Andit doesn't have you know, a lot
of the processes that has noprocess in it right now. So it's
very, very, very natural. And soyes, I do love to cook, to cook,
(16:19):
and I do only cook withHimalayan salt.
Well, it sounds gorgeous. And Ican definitely see it as a great
add on to a day being there.
Because one of the things Idon't think people understand
about that need was that youwere talking about what we need.
And part of that is touch.
Right? Yes. And just how touchcan be, you know, a real healer.
(16:41):
And that's one thing I thinkthat is very different in your
facials is the type of massagethat you use, and just how
you've grown that part of yourbusiness and remind me what it's
called again.
So we do a lymphatic drainage,facial massage, and then we do
some lymphatics on the neck anddecolletage as well. It is very,
(17:02):
the massage was made to beextremely flowing. No hands ever
leave the face or the body. Soit's, it's very relaxing. And so
yes, it's great. It's wonderful.
That's awesome. I would suggesteveryone's try
that. Speaking of suggestingeveryone try it. You mentioned
gift cards. Yes, they're a hugepart of your business,
they are definitely a part ofour business. It's when we have
(17:27):
during the holidays, we do a lotof gift cards, or, you know,
stocking stuffers, Christmasholiday gifts, Annika, and we
got obviously birthdays stillrunning right? as well. But yes,
we do a lot in there greatgifts, and especially for our
clients that have come in foryears and years. That's the
(17:47):
expectation, they say mysignificant other is going to
get me. But we also offer giftcards for the salt cave. But
also what's great for the saltcave is series, okay, because
one of the things about the saltcave is it's great for upper
respiratory, so allergies,asthma, colds, COVID, oh, leave
(18:12):
or not yes, very good for COVIDbecause it affects your upper
respiratory system. And so thisjust happened helps to open
those the lung capacity, as wellas your sinuses. So you know,
coming in congested, you startto breathe very well. So we have
a series of six for those, butwe have a series of six for all
(18:33):
of all of our treatments. And wealso have memberships to so
whenever someone purchases amembership, they get membership
pricing for everything. So it'snot just so let's say for
instance, if you came in and youpurchased a massage membership,
if you will, and you get thatonce a month membership for you
know a certain amount, I thinkit's I think it's $48. But you
(18:56):
want to come in for otherthings. So we have that same
membership pricing for all ofour treatments. So for instance,
to give you a great example, oursalt cave, are $30. So now with
the membership pricing, you getit for $25. So it's a great
savings and the membership isand why we did it that way is
because we believe that peopleneed more than just a monthly
(19:18):
right, you know, otherwise, likeI said, everyone has needs so if
you have needs if you're workingin a computer and you're feeling
this, you know in your upperback, neck, shoulders, one time
a month, not gonna do it foryou, that's just not Yeah,
you're spinning your wheels andeverybody gets frustrated. And
so you know, you really have todo what's best for your body,
whether it's weekly sessions,you know, twice a month, things
(19:41):
like that, right? And so we makeit you know, affordable so that
you can do that.
So and the and the wholeeducation of what you're doing
at home too, I thinkabsolutely. You have to have
homecare. Otherwise, you'respinning your wheels, right. The
only time I would say you don'thave to have home care if you're
coming in, you know, once a weekor every day And we just take
careof that. That's why you're just
creating a family communityright there. And speaking of
(20:03):
community, you know, what wetalked about the training that
you provide to your employeesand how that is a benefit to
your clients. But you run areally great team, you know, and
what are some of the things as abusiness owner, what is so what
is it? What is your perspectiveon that team and how you run the
company for your employees, andwhat's been your main focus of
success for thatour main focus are, you know, to
(20:24):
find really great talent and tobuild on that talent. And then
to teach them the Skin Sensephilosophy. That is, you know,
again, we're very goal oriented,it's built on trust, it's built
on meeting the needs of theclient, at least by one, we
consider our employees as ourinternal clients. I mean, we're,
(20:45):
we're a family, it's and webuild that family atmosphere, so
that they have that trust in usthat they can go out and do what
they need to do for our clients.
Right takes confidence, it doestake care of somebody, it
definitely definitely does. Soyou have to have confidence in
yourself. And you have to haveconfidence in your team around
(21:07):
you to make that happen.
Well, this has been amazing. Oh,good. I'm so glad wrap it up for
us in a bow, you know, if youcould, if you could say anything
to somebody that has been on thefence about whether or not this
is something they need, whetherit's a aesthetician massage
therapist, or even a client,where they're, they're thinking
like, Well, why would I go toskin scents? How would How would
(21:27):
you help get them off the fence?
Well, again, it comes down toskin since a day spa is
extremely goal oriented, we youknow, look at you as a whole and
want to make sure that all ofyour needs are met, and that
whatever is going on with yourface or body is addressed, and
it may not even be somethingthat you know, that can be
(21:48):
addressed. And we have such agreat team that they can address
that for you. So that happensmore often than not where we're
talking to clients about theirneeds. And, and as as
therapists, they're looking atthem a whole different way and
say, Oh, I see this about you.
And the client says, Oh, Ididn't even know that I could do
that. I didn't even know I couldfix that. So it's from that
(22:08):
aspect. i That's a real winnerfor wanting to come to skin
since but as far as ourtherapist, you know, again, we
do a lot of in house training.
So we take a lot of time withstaff so that they can gain the
confidence, they can gain theeducation so that they can, you
know, take care of our clients.
But as their career goes and,and you know, whether they go
(22:31):
into their own practice or theygo they move and go into another
spa or destination spa. Theyhave that valued education that
never goes away. That's right inus. That's right. Yeah.
And you know, cats out of thebag. I'm a Skin Sense alum, Yes,
you. And I do know, just that.
That camaraderie that we've allbuilt as a result of what you've
(22:55):
created here in the triangle isreally strong. So I hope
everybody enjoys listening tothis. And I hope if you haven't
tried skin sense that you getyourself in there. And if you
need to make a suggestion to asignificant other about a gift
card. I think you should do thattoo.
And again, thank you so much forhaving me. Thank
(23:15):
you, Angela. It's been great.
Thank you for joining us on thisepisode of Making Moves. We want
to deliver the highlights of theTriangle that you want to hear.
Let us know your feedback,comment on our social media like
and of course subscribe tocontinue and discover why we
love where we live until nexttime with Making Moves hosted by
The Rachel Kendall Team.
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