Spa Leadership Lessons Learned From a Family Crisis

Almost two weeks ago now, my youngest son was in a very serious car accident not far from our home. Upon arrival at the hospital, the Trauma staff told us he had a ruptured spleen, a severe concussion, broken ribs, contused lungs and kidneys and a fractured pelvis in multiple places. While my husband and I were able to get on scene immediately, having him be in life-threatening condition in the hospital is a horrifying situation that I would never wish on any parent.

Mathew spent 5 days in the ICU and 5 days in the orthopedic ward but has now recovered enough to be at home. He will be in a wheelchair for 5 more weeks to allow his pelvis to heal and his road to recovery will be a long one, both mentally and physically. We are so deeply grateful to our local first responders and that we had a trauma center within 30 mins of the accident. Mathew is a very lucky young man. 

Even though this incident is still raw and emotional for me, I wanted to take the time to share the two spa leadership lessons I’ve taken from this experience because they are the things that allowed me to quickly shift my entire focus to my child while simultaneously keeping my spa coaching business running hiccup-free.

Spa Leadership Lesson #1: When People Offer You Help When You Need It, Take It

Before I dive in, I wanted to thank everyone, especially my industry friends and collegues, for your outpouring of support; it has made me feel so cared for during this terrible time and I have never been more thankful for having such a wonderful community. 

I have been a “doer” my whole life; even back before I was running my own spa I was a born leader. The downside? As people with similar tendencies know, it can be hard to accept help when you’re so used to being the one offering it. Crises can teach (or re-teach!) us vital facts, such as:

• I don’t always have to be the “strong” one

• I don’t always have to be the one “doing”

• I have to be able to be okay with accepting help if I want to get through this with my sanity

The steady stream of thoughts, prayers, and positive spiritual energy sent to Mathew after I called for the community’s support floored me. Between my husband and I’s personal, professional, local, and international networks, I have zero doubt that they have played a crucial role in his quick recovery. (Plus, my family hasn’t had to cook a meal since the accident! If I was any more grateful for my community I think my heart might explode.)

As with most small businesses, it can be easy to feel siloed. Whenever you encounter tough times during COVID-19, family crises, or financial stresses, keep the three mantras above in mind to ward off the (wrong!) idea that you have to face everything in life alone.

Spa Leadership Lesson #2: If You Haven’t Already, Systemize Your Spa ASAP

Both coaching clients and spa coaching peers of mine have heard me beat the dream on systemizing your spa business for ages. And guess what? Here’s a real-life example of how it saved both the coaching portion of my spa biz and the social media management portion of it when I had to drop everything 2 weeks ago.

In the Fall of 2019 I hired my wonderful manager, Delia, who has been working side-by-side with me to build team systems, workflow systems, client systems, and management systems to increase our business efficiencies and client outcomes. And what did that yield? Being able to automate our workflows to seamlessly transfer mine to Delia’s when I needed to take time off to take care of my son. 

This meant that all of our blogging, website rehabs, social media marketing, and strategy calls were able to run efficiently even when I took a full step back from my business; each and every client had their deliverables on time, their desired results met, and strong communication even without me being there as an overseer. 

What Spa Leadership Lessons Have Past Crises Taught YOU?

2020 has been a hard year in general; between not being able to see loved ones to COVID-19, to financial stresses due to spa closures, to the everyday curveballs life likes to throw at us, the need for community (and the need for absorbing the spa leadership lessons life is trying to teach us) has never been so vital.

What spa leadership lessons have past crises taught you? Drop me a line today to connect with me about what 2020 has imparted on you so far.