the only constant in life? change.
The world of spa is no different, having changed and evolved considerably over
the past five, ten or twenty years. Spa is more mainstream than ever; the rising
tide of awareness around wellness and self-care has lifted spa’s profile in the
public consciousness, and even greater changes and transformations may be in
store for the industry.
Keeping in mind that theme of the 2019 ISPA Conference & Expo is “EvOLvE,”
Pulse sat down to gain insights from industry veterans with more than a half
century of combined experience in spa, asking them about the changes they’ve
seen over their long careers—as well as what might be around the corner in the
2020s and beyond.
Bobbie arsenault sPa director, inn By the sea sPa
On the product trend that will define our industry going
forward: conscientiousness. clean beauty continues to
rise, and single-use plastics are on the way out. Those that
move in that direction will be the next hot thing. as
consumers, we are more and more educated on the effects
of chemicals on our bodies and the impact of waste on the
planet. Demand is showing consumers want all the good
stuff and are finally ready to get rid of the bad.
i think that the salt and cBD trends are the
first of many underutilized elements that will
come to the forefront. much like bar
shampoos are becoming all the rage these
days, i hope that bar soap for face gets
some time in the limelight. Vitamin c is
also having a resurgence of popularity
again.
school and my spa in showing paths interested students
could take.
How the industry can grow its talent base: our industry
needs to help resolve the misunderstanding that the trades
are less desirable. We need to demonstrate to our youth
that this industry is flourishing, that they can be successful,
that it can be very lucrative and that there are so many
opportunities for those within this industry. The state
of maine has started offering some cosmetology
classes within vocational high schools, and i
think that developing those programs can help
us out of this labor crisis.
What it takes to recruit talent in 2019: at this point, i
have an open-door hiring policy: there is never a time that i
am not accepting applications. Even with a full staff today,
you never know what tomorrow brings, and if i can have
someone on the bench to help out all the better. my staff
also values work/life balance more now and appreciate
having more flexibility in their schedules.
i am also making more of an effort to recruit students
for schools. The more that go to school, the more will come
out. i give the local spa schools whatever resources they
need that i can offer; presenting, offering job shadowing
opportunities, etc. i feel that this has helped both the
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