Pulse October 2016 | Page 54

SUCCESSSTORIES INSPIRING TALES OF STARTUPS, GROWTH AND OVERCOMING HARDSHIPS Blu Spas Inc. Helping Clients Create the “Living Well” Experience BY MAE MAÑACAP-JOHNSON CARY COLLIER Principal, Blu Spas Inc. hen Cary Collier and Doug Chambers launched Blu Spas Inc. in 2000, the spa industry was still in its infancy stage and very few understood the business of spa. In fact, educating clients on operations, planning, design and best practices was one of the earliest challenges the full-service firm had to face during its early years of operations. “No one really understood the planning and business of spas—‘What in the world is a spa? Sounds like a weird brothel.’ In the late 80s, I had two other jobs to support the notion of being a ‘spa consultant,’” Collier says, recalling the years when he and wife, Kim, founded Collier & Collier Spas before he eventually ventured into launching Blu Spas Inc. His extensive years of experience with spas while working and living in Asia in the 90s has given him the foresight of the vast potential of the global spa market, so he held on to the dream of getting Blu Spas Inc. off the ground. Today, the team has grown to include Project Consultant Brian Lombardi, Senior Spa Consultant Lisa Jacobs and Kim, who serves as senior consultant, trainer and educator. The international firm offers key services such as business analysis and modelling, concept develo