Spa Executive December
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that and about the habits of effective leaders<br />
in spa and wellness.<br />
Tell us about your spa at Four Seasons Toronto<br />
It’s very special because we opened this place<br />
– we literally ripped open the boxes. I was<br />
very happy to come back because a good<br />
portion of the team is still the same from<br />
10 years ago. There are a lot of people that<br />
I hired myself. It’s the biggest city spa in the<br />
company at 30,000 square feet. We have 16<br />
treatment rooms, 5 spa suites, a relaxation<br />
pool, outdoor terrace, nail and hair bar and<br />
20 massage tables. Three more rooms will<br />
be developed into a wellness and biohacking<br />
center. It’s a busy place – we’re booked out<br />
up to two months in advance. The business<br />
is locally driven – ninety-five per cent of our<br />
customers are locals with the remaining Hotel<br />
guests and Residents. Our target has always<br />
been the local community. This has a bigger<br />
impact. When we opened, we had a business<br />
development manager who was out literally<br />
knocking on the doors of the community<br />
around us, inviting them to try the spa.<br />
It was a new product for the city. Four<br />
Seasons had never had a spa in Toronto<br />
before. Expectations were high and we hired<br />
the best in the city. I remember I conducted<br />
383 therapist interviews and hired 30<br />
massage therapists. We wanted to be the<br />
best and have the best. I think that paid off<br />
because within the first year of opening,<br />
we went up to $2 million in revenue and<br />
we manage a budget of six or seven million<br />
a year. On weekdays we have 85 to 90<br />
appointments per day, and on the weekends<br />
from 100 to 120.<br />
What did you learn about running a spa while<br />
working as an AVP of Training? What did you<br />
take away from that?<br />
Training is so important because the more<br />
time you spend on training, the better quality<br />
your service will be. I find sometimes we<br />
overlook that part. Communication is key and<br />
so is investing in enough training for everyone<br />
so that they feel like they are a part of things.<br />
On the operations side, we need to improve<br />
communication with the rest of the team.<br />
We need to be specific and give reasons as<br />
to why we’re doing things, rather than saying<br />
“We’re going to do it this way, and that’s it.”<br />
Everyone wants to be part of things and<br />
everyone should understand why we do<br />
things the way we do.<br />
What are some training gaps you see in the<br />
spa industry?<br />
On the therapy side, I think the biggest gap<br />
is the balance between health and scientific<br />
knowledge and knowledge of hospitality.<br />
These things don’t always go together.<br />
Someone who comes from a very health and<br />
science-focused background will sometimes<br />
have to learn how to deliver the best<br />
customer service. We need to make sure our<br />
team merges these things. On the front-ofhouse<br />
side, I think it’s dealing with special<br />
requests. There’s always a little bit of fear<br />
and we should provide the tools to handle<br />
unexpected situations.<br />
What are some habits of effective leaders in<br />
spa and wellness?<br />
Mental health is very important because<br />
we are dealing with a lot of people and<br />
situations all at the same time. I think one<br />
of my life savers is daily meditation. Every<br />
morning I do 20 minutes of meditation, 20<br />
minutes of journaling, and 20 minutes of<br />
exercise.<br />
Another habit I really like getting into is<br />
getting on the floor and being with my team<br />
for a minimum of one hour a day doing what<br />
they’re doing; checking in guests, helping<br />
people get set up for the showers, cleaning<br />
up – not just being the manager.<br />
And, of course, just communicate,<br />
communicate and communicate.<br />
What’s your favorite thing about your job?<br />
The people that I work with. That was easy.<br />
What are you excited about?<br />
I’m very excited about the expanding<br />
concept of wellness and about introducing<br />
the concept of biohacking into the<br />
hospitality industry. It’s important because<br />
people want to live longer and healthier. I’m<br />
excited about that and about how in spas<br />
we can bring not only the relaxation side of<br />
wellness but also expand into longevity and<br />
the biology of our bodies.<br />
What are you excited about at Four Seasons?<br />
We’re going to have a yacht collection! It<br />
was recently announced that the first Four<br />
Seasons Yacht will launch in the next couple<br />
of years. We already have a private jet that<br />
takes you around the world to our different<br />
locations and now we’re going to conquer<br />
the seas – and there will be a big wellness<br />
component. That is exciting.<br />
20 | <strong>Spa</strong> <strong>Executive</strong>