Finding Inspiration

As a spa professional, where do you find your inspiration? Is it through your friends? Family? Networking with other professionals? Appreciating all that is around you? There are days when inspiration is not easily found. I recently had dinner with David Wagner, founder/owner of JUUT Salonspas, and also the founder of The Daymaker Movement. He shared with me a story about a particularly bad morning he once had.

The day of a national television appearance, Wagner rose out of bed, only to find that his hotel shower did not work—as he put it, “not good for a hair guy.” So he washed his hair in the sink and went about his business. On his way out to the television studio, he stopped by the front desk, fully intending to give the desk clerk a piece of his mind. As the woman looked up and Wagner opened his mouth to speak, he stopped himself—after all, this person had nothing to do with the situation. He told her that he was appearing on national television that morning and that it was a big day for him. And his shower didn’t work.

Wagner told the clerk that he wanted to thank her for the experience he had had that morning because having to wash his hair in the sink had brought back fond memories of his mother and how she used to wash his hair in the same manner. Of course, he did add that he would like the shower to be repaired by that evening. Not surprisingly, the woman at the desk was amazed. Wagner had made her day with a random act of kindness. Think about that for a while. Don’t you have days when you wish you could take your words back, but it’s simply too late?

In her presentation “The Spa Experience: Trends in Personalized Wellness in a Global Marketplace,” Bonnie Baker, group spa trainer for the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, encouraged America’s Expo for Skin Care & Spa ® attendees to look for “blissors”—things that make you happy and feel good. As a spa professional, it is your job to find ways to increase bliss in your clients’ lives. However, as a nurturer who also needs nurturing, it is important to achieve bliss in your own life, as well. Once again, inspiration comes into play. What are your blissors, and how can you relate them back to your clients’ experience in the treatment room?

On www.daymakermovement.com, Wagner’s Web site, he offers the following suggestions on how to become a Daymaker at work.

  • Volunteer to pick up lunch for someone who you know is swamped.
  • Offer to pick up others on a snowy day if you have an SUV.
  • Pass the bouquet. Give flowers to someone special, and have the person pass them on to someone else the following day. It’s a week of Daymaking with one bouquet.
  • Have everyone bring in their high school graduation pictures to post on the bulletin board.
  • Write a thank-you note to the boss. It’s lonely at the top, and everyone needs to know that they’re appreciated for their efforts.
  • Acknowledge promotions; send a card to the employee’s home.
  • Offer to drive someone home who could use a ride.
  • Pool your money together and buy someone a spa gift certificate as a thank-you.
  • Bring in a massage therapist to do chair massages.
  • Post an employee’s baby picture, and encourage everyone to guess who it is.
  • Ask everyone in the room at monthly meetings to say something nice about team members who have a birthday that month.

Everyone needs to find inspiration. John Winsor, author of Beyond the Brand (Dearborn Trade Publishing, 2004), offers these strategic steps for finding inspiration: Be curious; be keenly aware; use your imagination; have a human touch; be patient; and always stay connected. Keep these points in mind the next time you are looking for inspiration.

Whether you strive to become a Daymaker or simply want to be a happier, more fulfilled person, finding inspiration is key. Use it to help others, and it will come back to you full circle.

Melinda Taschetta-Millane

Editor

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