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<strong>Spa</strong> <strong>Executive</strong><br />
For leaders in the business of wellness<br />
ISSUE # 29: AUGUST <strong>2021</strong><br />
Software:<br />
3 ways to increase<br />
revenue in your spa<br />
Wellness:<br />
Kool for Men: Carlos Calvo<br />
Rodriguez on his new<br />
venture with Todd Hewit<br />
Staffing:<br />
7 ways to increase employee<br />
productivity in your spa<br />
Shane Upson<br />
ON BEING A “PASSION TRANSFER SPECIALIST”
ISSUE # 29: AUGUST <strong>2021</strong><br />
In this month’s<br />
issue:<br />
3<br />
6<br />
11<br />
15<br />
20<br />
23<br />
26<br />
7 ways to increase employee<br />
productivity in your spa<br />
Kool for Men: Carlos Calvo<br />
Rodriguez on his new venture<br />
with Todd Hewitt<br />
Shane Upson on being a<br />
“passion transfer specialist”<br />
How spa management software<br />
makes your life easier<br />
Featured property:<br />
Nobu Hotel<br />
3 ways to increase<br />
revenue in your spa<br />
The world needs massages right<br />
now to fight touch deprivation
Letter from Publisher<br />
Dear readers,<br />
One thing most people in spa and wellness share is a passion for their<br />
industry. The love of all things that bring about wellbeing for themselves<br />
and others is apparent in everything you do. Shane Upson, Director of <strong>Spa</strong><br />
Operations at San Manuel Casino in Highland, CA, embodies this quality.<br />
Upson calls himself a “passion transfer specialist,” and his enthusiasm for<br />
the things he loves is infectious.<br />
In our spotlight interview this month, we asked Upson about this term and<br />
how it helps with retail revenue and retail experiences. He said, “I believe<br />
in changing the narrative from sales to solutions. Don’t talk about retail<br />
products and items. You’re talking about solutions. You’re listening to the<br />
guests’ needs, wants, and concerns, and offering them solutions. People are<br />
open to solutions. They’re not open to being sold products.”<br />
To read more insights from Upson, read “Shane Upson on being a “passion<br />
transfer specialist.”<br />
Speaking of passion for wellness, Carlos Calvo Rodriguez, former Assistant<br />
Vice President, Training at Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts, has teamed with<br />
former ISPA chair and Shangri-La head of wellness, Todd Hewitt to launch<br />
KOOL 4 Men, an innovative lifestyle brand. Calvo Rodriguez talked to us about<br />
the brand’s mission to improve men’s lives, give back to communities and do<br />
their part for the environment in “Kool for Men: Carlos Calvo Rodriguez on<br />
his new venture with Todd Hewitt.”<br />
Also this month: we look at the issue of touch deprivation and why the world<br />
needs massage more than ever; Book4Time Sales Director, Erica Martin,<br />
gives you three ways to increase revenue in your spa, we discuss seven ways<br />
to increase employee productivity in your spa; and we take a look inside the<br />
elegant Nobu Hotel London Portman Square.<br />
I hope you enjoy reading this month’s articles in <strong>Spa</strong> <strong>Executive</strong> and they<br />
provide valuable information to help you achieve success.<br />
About<br />
<strong>Spa</strong> <strong>Executive</strong>:<br />
<strong>Spa</strong> <strong>Executive</strong> is<br />
Book4Time’s magazine<br />
for leaders in the business<br />
of wellness. News, views,<br />
and interviews for those<br />
who want to attract top<br />
talent, increase customer<br />
retention, and offer the best<br />
possible guest experience.<br />
The <strong>Spa</strong><br />
<strong>Executive</strong><br />
Team<br />
Publisher<br />
Roger Sholanki<br />
Creative Director<br />
Emily Moxley<br />
Editor<br />
Elizabeth Bromstein<br />
Designer<br />
Andrea Fernández<br />
Hernández<br />
Roger Sholanki,<br />
CEO<br />
Book4Time
A happily engaged workforce is a<br />
productive one. Are you getting the<br />
best out of your team members?<br />
Try these strategies to increase<br />
employee productivity in your spa.<br />
7 WAYS TO INCREASE<br />
EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY<br />
IN YOUR SPA<br />
Employee productivity is a key element of business success. You want your team<br />
to work hard, be productive, and make the best use of their time. Sometimes<br />
this requires coaching and guidance. Not everyone instinctively knows what<br />
they should be doing at all times. This is where leadership comes in. It’s up to<br />
leaders to create an environment where people are encouraged to be at their<br />
most productive.<br />
This means engaging employees and ensuring that they have all the tools and<br />
resources they need to do and be their best.<br />
<strong>August</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Issue • p. 3
HERE ARE SEVEN WAYS TO INCREASE EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY<br />
Communicate expectations<br />
Too many employers in all sectors are unclear<br />
about what they expect from their employees, and<br />
then they complain when they don’t get it. From the<br />
moment an employee is hired, there should never<br />
be a time that they don’t know what is expected of<br />
them. If you want to increase employee productivity,<br />
they should know what success means for their<br />
role and how that fits in with what success means<br />
for your business. Set clear goals and targets,<br />
communicate those goals from day one, and keep<br />
communicating. A lack of communication can<br />
leave employees confused and unmotivated, and<br />
one study reportedly found that businesses with<br />
good communication practices were more likely<br />
to have lower than average turnover.<br />
Track and analyze data<br />
Once goals are set and communicated, they must<br />
be tracked. Your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)<br />
tell you how your business is doing and how your<br />
team is doing. Your spa software should be able<br />
to tell you everything you need to know about your<br />
revenue performance, retail, occupancy, and more,<br />
in seconds with just the click of a button. Then we<br />
determine what role the employee plays in those<br />
KPIs and whether they are meeting expectations.<br />
Staff KPIs might include retail penetration (retail<br />
vs services), request rates, and repeat guests. How<br />
much is their average ticket and are they doing<br />
well at upselling? Are they frequently requested by<br />
guests or not at all? If goals are easily reached,<br />
move them, or your employees will have nothing<br />
to work towards.<br />
Respect your employees for the unique<br />
value they bring<br />
Analyze performance from more than one angle.<br />
It’s important to look at retail sales, but also at<br />
how much unique value a service provider brings<br />
overall. For example: maybe Lisa is a sales dynamo<br />
and many customers love her exuberant energy.<br />
Jeremy is more of a quiet and calming personality<br />
whose retail numbers are significantly lower than<br />
Lisa’s. But, upon further inspection, you learn that<br />
Jeremy has a much higher request rate and that<br />
Lisa and Jeremy bring equal value — or maybe<br />
Jeremy even brings more. Maybe this is because<br />
people enjoy his lower key energy and lack of sales<br />
pressure, and some of Jeremy’s clients would<br />
actually stop requesting and recommending him if<br />
he started pushing retail sales. Does it make sense<br />
to tell Jeremy he has to sell more retail? Maybe<br />
not. Be careful of working against your employee’s<br />
strengths and, ultimately, against your business.<br />
Offer feedback and coaching<br />
That said, people often need help. Be there to<br />
provide it and make sure that your team has all the<br />
resources they need to reach company goals. Give<br />
feedback in a constructive and productive way. Tell<br />
people when they’re doing well and don’t reserve<br />
feedback for when you have something negative to<br />
say. If there are areas that need improvement, offer<br />
support and solutions rather than just criticism.<br />
Be consistent, doing regular check-ins rather than<br />
once or twice yearly check ins. Everyone will be<br />
more productive if you communicate regularly.<br />
Recognize and reward performance and<br />
improvement<br />
Offering performance incentives is a great way<br />
to motivate employees. Employee incentive<br />
programs are great, but avoid only recognizing<br />
top performers. When companies do this they<br />
risk falling into a trap of always recognizing the<br />
same people: the A Players. This means that your<br />
B Players are consistently overlooked, and that is<br />
demotivating and demoralizing for them. It’s also<br />
unfair. Not everyone can be A Players, and, while<br />
your B Players don’t bring in the most revenue<br />
individually, as a group, they likely make up the<br />
bulk of your revenue. You don’t want to lose them.<br />
So, reward them too. Also, rewards are great but<br />
don’t underestimate the power of praise and a<br />
heartfelt “thank you.”<br />
<strong>August</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Issue • p. 4
Trust people to make decisions<br />
Make sure everyone has what they need<br />
to be great<br />
Your team members should not be spending time<br />
on tasks that could otherwise be automated and<br />
looking for information that should be readily<br />
available to them. What this means:<br />
• Making guest information available before<br />
an appointment so service providers<br />
know who they will be working with. Your<br />
software system should store your guests’<br />
names, purchase and treatment history,<br />
personal preferences (sparkling water over<br />
tea, Brahms over Enya, favourite scent is<br />
rosemary-lime, etc.), details like robe and<br />
slipper size, and even past conversations,<br />
across multiple properties and make it<br />
readily viewable for those who need to see<br />
it. Then your team can access all of this<br />
before an appointment to prepare a highly<br />
personalized experience.<br />
An empowered team is a productive team.<br />
When people feel like they have to consult<br />
a superior before doing anything – whether<br />
it’s offering a small gift with a service to a<br />
loyal customer, moving an appointment, or<br />
reversing the charge on a service due to a<br />
complaint – that is exactly what they will<br />
do, and that eats up time and morale. When<br />
you step back and trust your team, rather<br />
than micromanaging their every move, they<br />
grow into the space offered to them and<br />
take responsibility. This makes everyone<br />
more productive and operations run<br />
more smoothly.<br />
It’s easy to motivate people with the right<br />
tools and resources. An engaged workforce<br />
is a productive one.<br />
• Optimizing schedules with no double booking<br />
and no long gaps between appointments for<br />
individual providers.<br />
• Making these schedules viewable from<br />
anywhere with a cloud-based system so<br />
your team can be prepared.<br />
• Properly managing inventory in your<br />
software system so everyone knows what is<br />
available and items that have run out can be<br />
immediately restocked.<br />
• Utilizing online and mobile booking,<br />
virtual intake, and contactless payment<br />
options to free up front desk staff time and<br />
allow them to productively focus on the<br />
guest experience.<br />
<strong>August</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Issue • p. 5
KOOL FOR MEN:<br />
CARLOS CALVO RODRIGUEZ<br />
ON HIS NEW VENTURE WITH<br />
TODD HEWITT<br />
Carlos Calvo Rodriguez and<br />
Todd Hewitt have teamed with<br />
two more friends to launch<br />
KOOL for Men, an innovative<br />
and exciting lifestyle brand.<br />
KOOL for Men is an innovative lifestyle<br />
brand for men featuring a collection of<br />
clean, conscious, sustainable grooming<br />
and wellness products designed to help<br />
active men look better, feel better, perform<br />
better, do better, and live better.<br />
<strong>August</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Issue • p. 6
and more; a grooming range; and a soon-to-launch<br />
skincare and makeup line. All of these were created<br />
by leading industry experts and meticulously<br />
formulated by doctors, nutritionists, and scientists<br />
from around the globe.<br />
KOOL for Men’s line is currently available for<br />
purchase in Hong Kong with a variety of payment<br />
options, while international transactions outside of<br />
Hong Kong can be made through Bitcoin, making<br />
the brand one of the first men’s lines in the world<br />
to offer cryptocurrency as a payment method.<br />
Also great is that a portion of the proceeds will<br />
support the children’s charity, GO Campaign, an<br />
organization with a mission to provide children<br />
around the world with access to education,<br />
medical care, shelter, food and clean water,<br />
and enrichment.<br />
What’s not to love?<br />
We spoke with Carlos Calvo Rodriguez (always a<br />
pleasure) about the KOOL for Men concept and<br />
the drive behind this amazing venture.<br />
Talk to me about the KOOL for Men concept<br />
The new global brand is led by four men who have<br />
made health, wellness, balance, and connection<br />
part of their lives. The co-founders include Todd<br />
Hewitt, former chair of the International <strong>Spa</strong><br />
Association and head of wellness for Shangri-<br />
La Hotels and Resorts; Carlos Calvo Rodriguez,<br />
wellness expert and former Assistant Vice<br />
President, Training (<strong>Spa</strong>) at Shangri-La Hotels and<br />
Resorts; fitness expert and Hong Kong Crossfit<br />
gym owner Allen Cai; and popular Chinese<br />
influencer Berlin Tan.<br />
The unique, results-driven collection includes<br />
CBD tinctures, gummies, sprays, soft gels, and<br />
relief rubs; topical wellness patches to support<br />
immunity, energy, male endurance, joint mobility,<br />
When we decided to start this project, we had<br />
three things in mind: improve men’s lives, give<br />
back to the communities and do our part for the<br />
environment by having clean ingredients and<br />
being vegan friendly.<br />
There are a lot of hidden toxic chemicals in skincare<br />
products. They don’t even list them because they<br />
don’t have to if they are in a minimal amount.<br />
We wanted to be entirely natural, organic when<br />
possible, and to have all non-toxic ingredients,<br />
without parabens, sulphates, phthalates, etc. In<br />
small doses, you might think that these chemicals<br />
are okay, but you get to the point that you can harm<br />
yourself, just think how often you put them on your<br />
skin. And there are so many of those products on<br />
the market. We wanted to do something different<br />
in that area as well as being cruelty-free.<br />
<strong>August</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Issue • p. 7
Another key point for us is giving back to the community. We wanted to help kids, and we found the Go<br />
Campaign. The good thing with them is that 100% of the donations go to the projects. Sometimes with<br />
charities or foundations, 80% of it goes to the admin expenses and only a little to the actual projects.<br />
We’re happy because we’re able to choose the projects to which we donate. Kids are the future, and if<br />
we can contribute through Kool For Men, then we reach one of our dearest goals – contribution.<br />
You have launched CBD products and wellness patches and will be launching a skincare/<br />
makeup line, correct?<br />
Yes. The idea was to start with skincare and makeup, but we encountered a few issues because of our<br />
specific requirements. It was hard to find a lab to work with that could meet all our needs. We eventually<br />
found one in New Zealand, and in the meantime, we decided to debut the CBD line and the wellness<br />
patches, which are coming out of different labs in the US and UK. We aim to launch the skincare and<br />
makeup line at the beginning of next year. We also have the grooming line, which are eyebrow and beard<br />
pencils that are pretty popular here in Asia.<br />
<strong>August</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Issue • p. 8
Tell us about the patches<br />
These patches are indeed the best. I liked the idea<br />
because I take a few supplements on a daily basis.<br />
I’m a vegetarian, and I take B12, iron, and some<br />
other things. So, you end up taking six or seven<br />
pills, plus your multivitamin. Plus, when you take<br />
a pill, they have to go through the stomach, and<br />
the absorption is not a hundred percent. But, with<br />
the patches, you put them on your skin and absorb<br />
them throughout the day. The advantages are that<br />
you don’t have to take any extra pills, and it doesn’t<br />
go through the digestive system. You stick it on<br />
and forget about it and get a higher absorption to<br />
your bloodstream.<br />
Talk about your decision to use<br />
cryptocurrency<br />
We always wanted to use Bitcoin, and currently,<br />
that is what is allowing us to sell globally. People<br />
might be a little scared of that, but cryptocurrencies<br />
are here to stay, whether we like it or not. People<br />
will get used to it. Twenty years ago, people were<br />
scared to use their credit cards online. It was like,<br />
“Oh no, I’m not going to put my credit card on the<br />
website because they’re going to steal it.”<br />
And now we don’t even look. We just type it in.<br />
So, it’s going to take time, but we want to be on<br />
that trend because our target audience is males<br />
between 25 and 45 years old, and those are the<br />
people who created cryptocurrency and the people<br />
who will start to use it daily.<br />
Did you start this business out of COVID<br />
necessity?<br />
Todd and I have known each other for 14 plus<br />
years, and we always wanted to create a side<br />
business. We had started working on it. Then<br />
COVID hit at the beginning of 2020, and things<br />
started to shut down. My last day of work was<br />
December 31, 2020. We knew that something<br />
was going to happen with our department. All the<br />
hotels were closed, all the spas were closed. It<br />
got to a point where we realized we need to push<br />
this through because it was going to be our next<br />
gig. We realized that COVID and its effects would<br />
not go away anytime soon and that we needed to<br />
dedicate 100% to the project. But I always wanted<br />
to do something entrepreneurial, and suddenly I<br />
had the time to focus on this opportunity. So, yes,<br />
we were pushed, but I think it’s more that COVID<br />
has allowed us to say, okay, let’s really do this.<br />
More of an opportunity than a necessity!<br />
And we have further plans. We own the rights to<br />
KOOL for Women, KOOL for Kids. KOOL for Pets,<br />
KOOL for All, and Kool Botanicals. So, we’re here<br />
for a while, for the long run.<br />
<strong>August</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Issue • p. 9
DISCOVER THE<br />
WORLD OF SOTHYS<br />
To celebrate its 75th anniversary, the SOTHYS<br />
family is organizing an International Summit on<br />
September 27th and 28th, <strong>2021</strong>, accessible and free<br />
to all professionals in the SPA industry.<br />
The origins of the SOTHYS Summit take us to the<br />
United States. SOTHYS, a branch of SOTHYS Paris<br />
Group launched its first Summit back in 2020 and its<br />
second summit at the beginning of the year <strong>2021</strong> to<br />
help and support its partners during the Covid crisis.<br />
The SOTHYS USA Summit gathered more than<br />
1500 professionals online for 2 days of live classes<br />
during which attendees immersed themselves in the<br />
SOTHYS world and improved their training, sales,<br />
and marketing skills.<br />
Strong off its past Summit experiences, SOTHYS<br />
USA joined forces with SOTHYS Paris to organize<br />
and create the first online professional skincare<br />
Summit Worldwide.<br />
THE GOAL?<br />
Share SOTHYS knowledge with the world by<br />
creating one online event with its partners located in<br />
120 countries.<br />
At SOTHYS International Summit, attendees will<br />
have the opportunity to discover, participate and<br />
exchange with spa experts on training, well-being,<br />
business, and marketing topics.<br />
SOTHYS invites all the professionals in the spa<br />
industry to surf with them on this new digital<br />
wellness trend and discover its universe from<br />
another perspective.<br />
Many surprises, fun experiences, exciting new<br />
launches, and success story interviews are planned<br />
during this summit.<br />
To register and download the program, follow<br />
this link:<br />
https://sothys-summit.orbits.live/registration<br />
ABOUT<br />
SOTHYS:<br />
For 75 years, the Sothys brand has been known for its commitment to research<br />
and innovation and is recognized as an expert in avant-garde aesthetics for men<br />
and women.It developed Digi-Esthétique®, an exclusive massage method which<br />
is now poised to turn salon treatments into an unforgettable experience for the<br />
senses, with beauticians playing a key role. The brand owns more than 15,000<br />
salons and spas (including 1,000 salons and 50 hotel spas in France) and has long<br />
been present in the most prestigious hotels in 120 countries across the globe.
SHANE UPSON ON BEING<br />
A “PASSION TRANSFER<br />
SPECIALIST”<br />
Shane Upson talked with <strong>Spa</strong><br />
<strong>Executive</strong> about why he calls<br />
himself a “passion transfer<br />
specialist,” why some spas<br />
struggle with retail, and what<br />
he’s excited about.<br />
<strong>August</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Issue • p. 11
Shane Upson is a luxury hospitality leader<br />
with a passion for the high-end spa/salon,<br />
beauty and retail industry.<br />
An eclectic career history began in culinary<br />
art and education and evolved into wellness<br />
and all things hospitality. On the way, Mr.<br />
Upson worked in the entertainment industry<br />
as a model and actor, and as a regional sales<br />
manager for Rock & Republic, with stints at<br />
Saks Fifth Avenue and some boutique beauty<br />
brands in between. His hospitality career<br />
includes positions at InterContinental Hotels<br />
& Resorts, W Hotels, and Hilton Hotels &<br />
Resorts.<br />
He recently took on a new role as Director<br />
of <strong>Spa</strong> Operations at San Manuel Casino<br />
in Highland, California. A bold personality,<br />
Mr. Upson takes a passionate and creative<br />
approach to leadership that motivates and<br />
begets positive results.<br />
We spoke to Shane Upson about why he calls<br />
himself a “passion transfer specialist,” why<br />
some spas struggle with retail, and what he’s<br />
excited about.<br />
I spent some time in the entertainment industry<br />
and fell in love with makeup artistry. I became<br />
passionate about it. There was something beautiful<br />
about empowering an individual by just making<br />
them a more glamorous version of themselves or<br />
showing them the way to embrace who they<br />
really are.<br />
I then managed salons and spas, moved on to Saks<br />
Fifth Avenue, then to smaller scale beauty brands<br />
and was a regional manager for Rock & Republic<br />
for three years. But, I wanted to work with small<br />
teams again, rather than having 1600 associates<br />
across the country or internationally. So I took a<br />
chance and went back to the spa industry.<br />
You call yourself a “passion transfer<br />
specialist.” Can you elaborate on that?<br />
When I talk about what I love I get so engaged in<br />
it and it comes across in a very authentic way.<br />
I’m very passionate about the things that I love.<br />
People tell me “You could sell me anything.” But I<br />
hate being called a salesperson. My perception of<br />
sales is of someone trying to earn a commission<br />
rather than doing what’s right for the other person.<br />
I just speak from a place of passion and try to<br />
transfer that passion, and this makes people want<br />
whatever it is I’m talking about. So, I started calling<br />
myself a passion transfer specialist.<br />
Can you talk about your career trajectory<br />
and how you came to be where you are<br />
today?<br />
My career started in food and beverage. I went to<br />
school for culinary arts, graduated when I was 17<br />
years old, and started cooking for Steve and Elaine<br />
Wynn, opening up hotels in Las Vegas at age 17.<br />
But I realized quickly that my personality was too<br />
strong for the confines of a small kitchen, so I<br />
decided to go to the front of the house and make<br />
some tips.<br />
Does that mindset help with your retail<br />
revenue and retail experiences?<br />
It does. People are resistant to sales. The minute<br />
you think you’re being sold to, your guard goes<br />
up and you cautiously listen to whatever is being<br />
said. I believe in changing the narrative from<br />
sales to solutions. Don’t talk about retail products<br />
and items. You’re talking about solutions. You’re<br />
listening to the guests’ needs, wants, and concerns,<br />
and offering them solutions. People are open to<br />
solutions. They’re not open to being sold products.<br />
<strong>August</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Issue • p. 12
Why do you think so many spas struggle<br />
with retail?<br />
Oftentimes it’s a lack of communication and a lack<br />
of accountability. It’s not part of the conversation<br />
and it’s not set as an expectation. If an expectation<br />
isn’t set, people will always fail to meet it. It’s not<br />
top of mind, it’s an afterthought. Making it part of<br />
your language and talking to your team about it on<br />
a consistent basis will change the environment.<br />
I like to make goals mandatory and hold people<br />
accountable. According to research on retail<br />
penetration to services, between 10-12% of service<br />
revenue should be represented by retail sales for<br />
massage therapists. For estheticians, it should be<br />
40-100%, and in the nail and hair space it should<br />
be 20-25%. I put that into my job descriptions and<br />
give people the tools to meet those expectations.<br />
We need to consistently be talking about it, giving<br />
our teams the tools and encouragement they<br />
need, and tracking progress so they know where<br />
they stand.<br />
One of my best practises is using the retail<br />
report card in the Book4Time system, which<br />
makes tracking very easy. I also have coaching<br />
conversations with my teams, and work with each<br />
of them individually to learn about their passion<br />
points and individualize their approach.<br />
You have said that you love Book4Time.<br />
Can you talk about some ways it’s made<br />
your life easier in places you’ve worked?<br />
In every way. It’s difficult to nail down how much<br />
easier everything is with the system. It’s just ease<br />
of use, being able to manipulate appointments,<br />
working with guests, having your marketing<br />
campaigns at your fingertips without having to<br />
partner with other departments.<br />
The fact that teams can see their appointments<br />
and changes in real time on their phones because<br />
it’s cloud based. If a system isn’t cloud based,<br />
you print appointments out at the end of the day<br />
and what happens if something changes? They<br />
don’t know about it. The team is more in tune with<br />
what’s going on and more connected. There are so<br />
many different ways that the system works well.<br />
In major corporations senior management wants<br />
to see reports and numbers before they will give<br />
you approval for something. With Book4Time<br />
you have everything that you need to show those<br />
reports and also to be able to run a successful<br />
operation and deliver a luxury level of service. It’s<br />
everything. It’s like a full service spa concierge at<br />
your fingertips. I love it.<br />
<strong>August</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Issue • p. 13
Thank you! What makes a great luxury guest<br />
experience?<br />
I think it’s the extra little touches that make a big difference.<br />
Having more than just the basics and going beyond.<br />
Remembering the guests name and previous conversation<br />
topics. They feel special when you remember their dog’s<br />
name or what they talked about during their last visit.<br />
That’s another way Book4Time is wonderful because you<br />
can enter this information into the guest’s profile.<br />
People want to know that they matter and that you’ve<br />
heard them and remember them. So, when Mrs. Jones’<br />
profile pops up and reminds you that her husband had<br />
just been through knee surgery the last time you saw her,<br />
you can ask about it and maybe recommend a great CBD<br />
cream that might help with his pain.<br />
What are you excited about?<br />
I’m excited about the rise of interest in wellness and the<br />
love and admiration we’re seeing for the wellness industry.<br />
Rather than being an amenity, as it was for so many years,<br />
it’s become a requirement for a lot of travelers and it’s the<br />
main topic of conversation.<br />
That connection to wellness, spirit, and overall wellbeing<br />
is extremely exciting. Everything that we, as passionate<br />
wellness people, have been preaching has now come to<br />
the forefront and become part of the mainstream. Where<br />
we may have been lower down on the priorities list for<br />
some hotels or brands in the past, now we’re at the top of<br />
the list. Owners of these properties are demanding that<br />
there be a wellness component in their new builds. It’s a<br />
beautiful and exciting time.<br />
<strong>August</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Issue • p. 14
If you’re managing a spa,<br />
you’re pulled in a millions<br />
different directions at once.<br />
<strong>Spa</strong> management software can<br />
make your life a lot easier.<br />
HOW SPA MANAGEMENT<br />
SOFTWARE MAKES YOUR<br />
LIFE EASIER<br />
<strong>August</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Issue • p. 15
Running a spa means juggling a lot to keep things running smoothly. There’s so much to do, from<br />
booking appointments and looking after guests, to managing and supporting your staff, day-to-day<br />
administration, tracking KPIs, and keeping stakeholders happy – often while understaffed. There are<br />
ways to make this life easier with spa management software.<br />
Software is an incredible tool that can help you streamline operations, track data, understand your<br />
business operations, take care of admin work, maintain guest relationships, and more.<br />
Here’s how spa management software makes your life easier.<br />
Integrations are easy with spa management software<br />
If you’re using other systems, like a property<br />
management system, point of sale system, or<br />
access control system, you want to integrate all<br />
your systems for a seamless guest experience, to<br />
save time, and to make everything more efficient.<br />
In software, an integration is where two solutions<br />
exchange data.<br />
Say Company A is a retail POS solution and<br />
Company B is an eCommerce solution. A retail<br />
business that uses Company A’s solution for<br />
instore purchases and Company B’s solution for<br />
online purchases without an integration has to<br />
manually track stock levels every time a sale is<br />
made online or in store, to ensure they don’t sell<br />
something they don’t have. This is a tedious and<br />
time-consuming task that leaves plenty of room<br />
for error.<br />
An integration allows Company B to share<br />
transaction information with Company A and<br />
vice versa, and inventory levels are adjusted<br />
automatically. Easy.<br />
This is just one example of how software<br />
integrations make life easy. Integrations allow<br />
businesses to save time, improve customer<br />
experience, run smoothly and do things they would<br />
never be able to do otherwise.<br />
<strong>August</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Issue • p. 16
Understanding your business operations<br />
is easy<br />
A comprehensive reporting suite is the key to<br />
understanding what’s happening in your business,<br />
so you can see what’s working and what isn’t,<br />
optimize operations and set realistic projections<br />
for the future based on real-time data.<br />
Tracking your KPIs manually is a time-consuming<br />
nightmare and there is no excuse for doing it<br />
anymore. Data is king and you must be able to<br />
access and understand your own data if you want<br />
to be competitive in today’s market. Real-time<br />
intelligence and dashboards provide you with<br />
reports on occupancy, operational efficiency, sales<br />
performance, and other KPIs (service specific<br />
reports, for example, allow you to conduct analyses<br />
of the success/failure of special promotions) and<br />
are easy to export to Excel. All of this puts the<br />
power to improve your business into your<br />
own hands.<br />
Administrative tasks are easy<br />
The right software takes care of administrative<br />
tasks so that you can focus on the guest<br />
experience. For example, you can save hours<br />
of time with automated end-of-day reports and<br />
financial summaries, and calculation of pay<br />
rates and commissions earned on products and<br />
services sold. The information you need is<br />
easily extracted.<br />
Shane Bird, Director of <strong>Spa</strong> Operations at<br />
Turning Stone Resort Casino, told us that using<br />
Book4Time’s booking and payment systems<br />
allowed Turning Stone to reduce time spent on<br />
payroll from 6-7 hours a week to about 15 minutes.<br />
This is a 95% reduction in time spent, or 350 hours<br />
saved per year.<br />
Bird also said, “It was taking another 5-6 hours<br />
every day for someone in finance to sit and audit<br />
the transactions. Book4Time has eliminated<br />
all of that. We estimate that our time spent on<br />
administrative tasks overall was reduced by about<br />
92%, which is monstrous.”<br />
Software will also automatically track loyalty<br />
points and update balances on customer<br />
accounts. It easily integrates with a hotel PMS,<br />
processes room charges in real-time, and can<br />
transfer all spa revenue to your hotel system. Plus,<br />
inventory management is a breeze when you can<br />
centrally track and view balances across all of your<br />
locations in real time with a central, cloud-based<br />
online tool. Track purchase order progress in real<br />
time over the cloud, automatically update on-hand<br />
counts, easily record received products.<br />
Personalizing the guest experience is easy<br />
Centrally managed notes, guest profiling, and<br />
automatic alerts allow you to log all of your<br />
guest information, build customer profiles, and<br />
give your staff quick access to that information,<br />
across multiple locations. This makes it easy to<br />
personalize guest experience, no matter which of<br />
your spas they’re visiting.<br />
Build relationships and make emotional<br />
connections. Be ready before the guest arrives at<br />
your spa. Access purchase history and preferences<br />
collected across multiple points of contact. Keep<br />
notes of customers’ important dates, like birthdays<br />
and anniversaries, and records of conversation<br />
topics, so staff and therapists can pick up where<br />
they left off and ask about that recent trip to<br />
Europe or family member’s graduation.<br />
This level of personalization makes people feel<br />
seen and appreciated and there is no stronger<br />
relationship builder than making someone feel<br />
seen and appreciated.<br />
Justifying your needs is easy<br />
Hotel and resort spa directors may have to go<br />
through several layers of approval before being<br />
able to upgrade or make any changes. <strong>Spa</strong> and<br />
wellness has traditionally had a difficult time<br />
justifying costs and is often regarded as an<br />
afterthought. Stakeholders want to see that their<br />
investment will be returned, which is hard to<br />
demonstrate without evidence of past success.<br />
<strong>August</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Issue • p. 17
Comprehensive reporting dashboards are the<br />
answer. With these, it’s easy to pull up the numbers<br />
to show exactly how well your spa is doing, how it<br />
could be doing better, and what you need to make<br />
that happen. The proof is at your fingertips.<br />
Daisy Tepper, <strong>Spa</strong> Director at The Post Oak Hotel<br />
at Uptown Houston, a Forbes Five Star hotel and<br />
spa, is a great example. She used Book4Time’s<br />
reports to justify the cost of a new treatment room.<br />
She said, “The treatment room utilization shows<br />
us how much money our rooms are pulling in and<br />
what we can do better regarding occupancy. This<br />
report actually allowed me to justify the cost of a<br />
new treatment room for the spa. The owner of the<br />
Post Oak is all about performance and he needs to<br />
see justification before he can decide if he’s going<br />
to expand the spa and how. I ran the report and<br />
he could immediately see the benefit, so he gave<br />
me the money to build another one. I’m happy to<br />
report that we’re getting a beautiful new couples<br />
suite with a fireplace!”<br />
Vivian Villamizar, <strong>Spa</strong> Director at The Palms<br />
AVEDA <strong>Spa</strong>, Miami Beach, also told <strong>Spa</strong> <strong>Executive</strong><br />
that Book4Time is “very user friendly.” She said,<br />
“I have therapists who didn’t even dare to use our<br />
system before, They now feel very confident about<br />
using the software system.”<br />
And Jane Fellows, <strong>Spa</strong> Manager at The Willow<br />
Stream <strong>Spa</strong> at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn<br />
& <strong>Spa</strong>, said, “I think the thing that I hear from most<br />
of the team is that they like the ease of actually<br />
reading the diary and the interface itself. If you’ve<br />
got a busy day, it’s easy to look at the screen and<br />
you can see the provider, the guest, the treatment,<br />
the room that will be used. It’s very straightforward.<br />
They don’t have to dig into anything to find any<br />
information.<br />
“It’s very simple and easy to read. I run a report and<br />
it’s got what I need.”<br />
ARE YOU READY TO MAKE YOUR<br />
LIFE EASIER?<br />
There are a number of different spa management<br />
software solutions on the market. One of the top<br />
platforms for hotels and spas today is Book4Time,<br />
which offers more than 200 reports and has the<br />
widest scope of integrations in the industry. There<br />
are many things our customers love about our<br />
software, but we think the one thing we hear most<br />
often is that they love how easy it is to use.<br />
Daisy Tepper, who we mentioned above, <strong>Spa</strong><br />
Director at the Post Oak Hotel, said, “When you<br />
hire someone, the easier the system is for them to<br />
learn, the better for us. [Book4Time is] very userfriendly.<br />
That’s what I was looking for, and that’s<br />
what I got.”<br />
<strong>August</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Issue • p. 18
<strong>August</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Issue • p. 19
FEATURED PROPERTY:<br />
NOBU HOTEL LONDON<br />
PORTMAN SQUARE<br />
The Nobu Hotel London<br />
Portman Square is an elegant,<br />
contemporary new property<br />
defined by a unique aesthetic<br />
and exceptional culinary<br />
experiences.
Nobu Hotel London Portman Square is a stunning 249-room<br />
property in Marylebone, London, the 13th hotel from the<br />
iconic brand and third collaboration between L+R Hotels and<br />
Nobu Hospitality.<br />
The property features a signature Nobu Restaurant & Bar,<br />
year-round outdoor terrace, two-bedroom Nobu Penthouse,<br />
and Nobu Pilates studio. Drawing inspiration from Japanese<br />
architectural disciplines and minimalist design, and using a<br />
refined color palette influenced by heritage Japanese color<br />
combinations, Nobu employs a contemporary approach to<br />
aesthetics and hospitality. Central to the unique aesthetic is a<br />
focus on exceptional craftsmanship, from hand-blown glass<br />
chandeliers and bespoke lighting to large scale sculpture<br />
and original artworks.<br />
<strong>August</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Issue • p. 21
Elegantly appointed rooms<br />
The hotel boasts elegantly appointed rooms and four suite categories: One Bedroom<br />
Suite, Zen Suite, Saijoukai Suite and the two-bedroom, top-floor Nobu Penthouse offering<br />
unparalleled 360-degree views of London. Rooms and suites feature striking wall prints,<br />
bespoke lighting, an abundance of natural light and materials that create a calm, bright,<br />
warm environment.<br />
Exceptional culinary experiences<br />
The iconic Nobu Berkeley Street restaurant has moved into this new space, bringing with it<br />
the signature handcrafted approach to cuisine and continuing a 15-year legacy of exceptional<br />
culinary experiences. And in the Roku Japanese Gin Garden at Nobu Portman Square,<br />
guests can enjoy an authentic taste of Haru (Japanese spring) in the floral and sweet aroma<br />
of cherry blossom in the Roku Gin cocktails and the spring-like ambience of the ornately<br />
designed terrace. Signature dishes from the Nobu Restaurant menu include Nigiri & Sashimi,<br />
classic Bento Boxes and Nobu’s famous Black Cod Miso and Yellowtail Jalapeno. Based on<br />
the Japanese culinary concept of ‘shun’ – to enjoy food and drink in their proper season –<br />
cocktails in the Gin Garden feature ingredients harvested at the peak of their flavor, like the<br />
Sakura flower harvested in the spring and green tea in the summer.<br />
Fitness and wellness at Nobu Hotel London Portman Square<br />
Fitness and wellness offerings include a comprehensive range of both traditional and<br />
cutting-edge treatments, as well as a state-of-the-art gym, pilates studio, and juice bar.<br />
Nobu Hotel’s Wellness Centre features three beautiful treatment rooms offering an array of<br />
bespoke, luxury treatments specially curated to reflect the brand’s core beliefs.<br />
These include:<br />
N O B U Z E N<br />
“Our signature Nobu massage uses<br />
techniques from across the world and is<br />
tailored to each guest. No two bodies are<br />
alike and no one treatment will fit them all.<br />
Our talented therapists utilise a combination<br />
of several massage techniques along with<br />
your own chosen oil blend in a completely<br />
customised treatment. Feel stress and<br />
tension melt away.”<br />
N O B U N A G O M I R I T U A L<br />
“This ritual takes you on a journey to<br />
stimulate the senses. Beginning with a<br />
body exfoliation with our coconut shell<br />
cream body scrub the treatment follows<br />
with an Asian-inspired bespoke massage,<br />
combined with warm handmade coconut<br />
poultices. Finish with a soothing mini facial<br />
massage to release stress and rejuvenate<br />
the skin. Muscles are soothed, joint mobility<br />
is increased, and your mind is left feeling<br />
grounded.”<br />
Nobu Hotel London Portman Square also regularly hosts highly-regarded therapists at the Wellness Centre.<br />
<strong>August</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Issue • p. 22
3 WAYS TO INCREASE<br />
REVENUE IN YOUR SPA<br />
It’s not always easy to measure<br />
ROI but these three ways to<br />
increase revenue in your spa<br />
are effective and quantifiable.<br />
By Erica Martin,<br />
Sales Director at Book4Time<br />
<strong>August</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Issue • p. 23
There are many ways of increasing profitability<br />
in the wellness industry but it’s not always easy<br />
to measure their true impact on the bottom<br />
line. Focusing on enhancing the overall guest<br />
experience and improving staff efficiency are sure<br />
fire ways of increasing revenue but quantifying the<br />
ROI of these strategies isn’t straightforward.<br />
Today I’ll focus on some of the more direct,<br />
measurable ways of bringing in more money and<br />
ensuring a steady cash flow. Here are three ways<br />
to increase revenue in your spa.<br />
Focus on ease of booking<br />
It’s no secret that accessibility and ease of booking<br />
are important when it comes to maximizing<br />
occupancy. As things start to ramp up again, people<br />
are looking to fill their calendars and indulge in the<br />
favorite activities they’ve been deprived of for so<br />
long. Now, more than ever, people want quick and<br />
immediate access to their desired services and<br />
to secure a booking as quickly as possible. While<br />
most spas (thankfully) now offer online booking,<br />
in many cases there isn’t a clear path for guests<br />
to get there. Countless times we’ve come across<br />
websites where you need to search and scroll,<br />
sometimes through several pages, to find that tiny<br />
“Book Now” button. In these cases, guests are<br />
more likely to lose interest or get frustrated and<br />
move on to one of your competitors. Keep your<br />
booking button front and center on your main web<br />
page, or on the spa page on your hotel website.<br />
This doesn’t mean it has to be right in the middle<br />
but somewhere visible and easy to access is key. If<br />
you have your treatment menu directly laid out on<br />
your site you can add a link to book that specific<br />
service next to each description. Another option<br />
is to build the booking tool directly into your site<br />
which would allow you to customize even more of<br />
the booking experience and overall flow for<br />
your guests.<br />
Other ways you can direct guests to view your menu<br />
and book an appointment include QR codes. Hotel/<br />
resort or casino spas can place advertisements<br />
for the spa with QR code at the hotel front desk<br />
and on posters throughout the property. Booking<br />
and menus should also be easily accessible from<br />
the guest room, either from a QR code or an inroom<br />
or IPTV style app. And hotel confirmation<br />
emails are a great way to prompt guests to book<br />
their spa appointments before they arrive.<br />
For local day spas or those looking to bring in<br />
more local guests, advertising on social media and<br />
ensuring your booking link is available through your<br />
bio on all of your social media pages is important.<br />
Search engines, like Google, also allow you to set<br />
up integrated booking right from your company<br />
profile. In your spa confirmation or follow up<br />
emails it’s helpful to include your booking link to<br />
either direct guests to invite a friend, perhaps with<br />
a referral incentive, or to simply book their next<br />
appointment.<br />
Enhancements and upselling<br />
Add-ons or spa enhancements are another way<br />
to directly increase your average ticket and bring<br />
in additional revenue. Look at offering a wide<br />
selection of add-on options and allow guests to<br />
select from a list of enhancements that can be<br />
added to their service without increasing the<br />
appointment time. Essential oils, scalp massage,<br />
eye or lip treatment and enhanced masks or<br />
exfoliation options, such as dry brushing, are all<br />
great options. Make these enhancements available<br />
on your online booking site, so the guest has the<br />
option to add to their service directly at the time<br />
of booking. In addition, this could be part of your<br />
intake process and something your therapist can<br />
offer the guest as part of a consultation before<br />
the start of their treatment. Give your therapists<br />
incentives when it comes to the number of addons<br />
or enhancements they sell, or their overall<br />
average ticket, and create an internal competition<br />
making it fun for everyone.<br />
<strong>August</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Issue • p. 24
Of course retail product upsells are a huge<br />
revenue driver for the spa. The way products are<br />
recommended to guests is key as it should be a<br />
smooth process internally for staff and should<br />
appear seamless and genuine to the guest. Make<br />
sure therapists are able to notify the front desk of<br />
which products are being recommended so that<br />
they can have them ready for the guest to physically<br />
see at checkout, and that both your therapists and<br />
front desk staff are well versed and trained on the<br />
benefits of each item and product line to ensure<br />
a continuous conversation, no matter where the<br />
guest is in the spa. Recommend a few select<br />
products and outline the reasons those would<br />
work well to create the best overall experience for<br />
your guest.<br />
Gifting and recurring revenue<br />
<strong>Spa</strong> services and self-care make great gifts.<br />
Offering spa gift certificates for treatments,<br />
packages and series, or set monetary amounts<br />
is essential to securing advanced revenue. In<br />
addition to offering gift cards or physical gift<br />
certificates in the spa, online gift certificates are<br />
a great option. Around the holidays people are<br />
always looking for quick gift ideas that they know<br />
their loved ones will appreciate. The same goes<br />
for personal celebratory milestones like birthdays,<br />
bridal showers, weddings, honeymoons, and even<br />
baby-moon gifts, which we’re seeing more and<br />
more of. Make the buying and delivery process<br />
quick and painless for your buyers which will allow<br />
you to accommodate last minute shoppers and<br />
buyers who may not live close to their intended<br />
recipient. If guests can purchase gift certificates<br />
online they can print it off themselves and send it<br />
as part of a card of gift, or just email it directly to<br />
the recipient. This also helps to improve your staff<br />
efficiency around holiday time and alleviate lines<br />
of holiday shoppers at your spa.<br />
Packages and series are also great for local guests<br />
to purchase for themselves and take advantage<br />
of discounted services when purchased in bulk.<br />
This helps to keep guests coming back and to<br />
fill up your downtime if you place restrictions on<br />
when they can be redeemed. Referrals and loyalty<br />
incentives are another way of incentivising guests<br />
to keep coming back and spreading the word<br />
about your spa. For example, a discount or spa<br />
credit incentive if they refer their friends and/or a<br />
discount or credit if they spend a certain amount<br />
on certain items.<br />
<strong>August</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Issue • p. 25
THE WORLD NEEDS<br />
MASSAGES RIGHT<br />
NOW TO FIGHT TOUCH<br />
DEPRIVATION<br />
Touch deprivation has<br />
become a rampant problem.<br />
Here’s how spas can support<br />
people suffering from it.<br />
<strong>August</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Issue • p. 26
As the world does its best to return to normal<br />
and people start travelling and visiting spas and<br />
wellness businesses again, there is an urgency for<br />
human touch. Touch is a human need and we’ve<br />
been missing it.<br />
Whether you’re accustomed to getting a lot of it<br />
may depend on where you live. People in some<br />
countries touch each other a lot more than others.<br />
In the 1960s, psychologist Sidney Jourard studied<br />
conversations between two friends sitting in cafes<br />
in different parts of the world and found that: In<br />
England, the friends didn’t touch each other at all.<br />
In the United States, they touched each other twice.<br />
In France, they touched each other 110 times per<br />
hour. In Puerto Rico, they touched each other 180<br />
times. So, maybe how much people miss it will<br />
depend on how accustomed they were to touch<br />
before the pandemic. But we can conclude that,<br />
no matter where you live, people are desperately<br />
missing touch and will be seeking it out.<br />
Touch deprivation increases negative<br />
health outcomes<br />
Touch deprivation goes by many names – touch<br />
starvation, touch depression, affection deprivation,<br />
touch hunger, or skin hunger — and has been<br />
discussed at length in the media recently, but the<br />
science isn’t new. Nor is it a trivial concern. In the<br />
1990s, scientists traveled to Romania to study<br />
sensory deprivation of children in understaffed<br />
orphanages. They reportedly found that the touchdeprived<br />
children showed significantly lower<br />
growth development than children who were not<br />
touch deprived.<br />
According to the Texas Medical Centre, “Touch<br />
starvation increases stress, depression and anxiety,<br />
triggering a cascade of negative physiological<br />
effects. The body releases the hormone cortisol as<br />
a response to stress, activating the body’s “flightor-fight”<br />
response. This can increase heart rate,<br />
blood pressure, respiration and muscle tension,<br />
and can suppress the digestive system and<br />
immune system—increasing the risk of infection.”<br />
The pandemic has brought an epidemic of touch<br />
starvation to the forefront. <strong>Spa</strong>s are well positioned<br />
to meet that head on with massage therapy, body<br />
treatments, facials, and signature services. This<br />
is something to communicate to your guests: that<br />
it’s OK to need human touch and that your team<br />
members are there to provide it.<br />
Touch has multiple physical and mental<br />
health benefits<br />
Touch can even help people fight off infection and<br />
disease. As mentioned above, touch deprivation<br />
can increase risk of infection. And being touched<br />
can reduce that risk. A study of healthy adults<br />
examined the roles of perceived social support and<br />
received hugs in buffering against susceptibility to<br />
infectious disease. Participants were exposed to a<br />
virus that causes a common cold and monitored<br />
in quarantine to assess infection and illness signs.<br />
The researchers found that “Among infected<br />
participants, greater perceived support and more<br />
frequent hugs each predicted less severe illness<br />
signs. These data suggest that hugging may act<br />
as an effective means of conveying support.”<br />
Massage shows similar benefits against illness.<br />
Tiffany Field, director of University of Miami<br />
School of Medicine’s Touch Research Institute, told<br />
Greater Good Magazine, “We found that massage<br />
actually increases natural killer cells. Natural killer<br />
cells are the front lines of the immune system.<br />
They kill viral cells, bacteria cells. We found it<br />
first in men who had HIV, and then we studied<br />
adolescents who had HIV and found the same<br />
results. Then we studied breast cancer and again<br />
found an increase in natural killer cells. We think<br />
that the reason that happens is because we’re<br />
knocking down cortisol levels, the body’s culprit<br />
stress hormone. Cortisol kills natural killer cells,<br />
and so if we can reduce the stress hormones, we<br />
can save natural killer cells.”<br />
Touch has emotional and cognitive<br />
benefits<br />
But wait. There’s more. Touch also has emotional<br />
and cognitive benefits.<br />
<strong>August</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Issue • p. 27
In another study. Field examined two groups of<br />
elderly participants. One group received regular<br />
social visits that included only conversation and<br />
the other group received social visits that also<br />
included massage and conversation. The second<br />
group showed more emotional and cognitive<br />
benefits than the first.<br />
According to the New Yorker, “Field has found<br />
similar gains in both premature and full-term<br />
infants, pregnant women, children and adults with<br />
chronic pain conditions or emotional problems,<br />
and healthy adults.” Just 15 minutes of touch is<br />
connected to enhanced growth and weight gain<br />
in children as well as emotional, physical, and<br />
cognitive improvements in adults.<br />
The best kind of touch includes massage<br />
therapy<br />
The research on the benefits of touch goes<br />
on. Studies show that touch is associated with<br />
increased feelings of trust and safety, reduced<br />
heart rate and blood pressure, reduced pain, and<br />
release of oxytocin (“the love hormone”) and<br />
serotonin.<br />
Massage, obviously, can play a big role.<br />
Field told Greater Good that holding hands,<br />
hugging, and cuddling are all “pretty good” but that<br />
more pressure is associated with more benefits.<br />
She said, “Light stroking is a bit aversive to most<br />
people because they feel like they’re being tickled.<br />
… Heart rate decreases when you’re getting<br />
moderate pressure. Heart rate increases when<br />
you’re getting light pressure. Same with blood<br />
pressure.”<br />
Facials, manicures, and any spa treatment that<br />
includes touch may be beneficial. (Regular hand<br />
massage may help ease pain, increase hand<br />
strength, and reduce feelings of stress and<br />
anxiety.)<br />
Physical contact is a key element of a healthy life<br />
and promotes wellbeing. Let’s get the word out.<br />
<strong>August</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Issue • p. 28
<strong>Spa</strong> <strong>Executive</strong><br />
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