The Truth About the Spa Industry (From Someone Who’s Given Their Heart to It)

This might be one of the hardest pieces I’ve written — not because the words are difficult, but because the reality is.

Recently, I was forced to step back from work due to heart complications. And like many of us do when life slows us down, I found myself reflecting.

Not just on my health. But on the industry I love.

The spa and wellness world has been my life’s work. I’ve spent over 30 years in this space — from treatment rooms and reception desks to boardrooms and brand launches. I’ve trained teams, turned around failing businesses, and helped spas go from break-even to breaking records.

But today, I’m writing not as a consultant. Not as a director.

Just as a woman who loves this industry — and is tired of watching it quietly fall apart.

Let Me Say It Plainly: The Spa Industry Has a People Problem

Not a product problem.
Not a lack of trends.
Not a shortage of influencers or tech tools.

It’s people. It’s how we treat them. How we pay them. How we build — or neglect — the culture around them.

And I know what some will say.
“That’s a bit much, isn’t it?”
“Do you have to go so hard on LinkedIn?”
“Isn’t this supposed to be a positive industry?”

Yes. It is. But positivity without action is just PR.

I don’t write hard-hitting posts to shock.
I write them because someone has to say it.
Because when you’ve worked in this industry long enough — and you’ve seen what I’ve seen — staying silent becomes complicity.

What I’ve Witnessed

I’ve seen therapists walk out mid-shift because no one ever asked how they were doing.

I’ve seen managers cry in storage cupboards because they’ve got the weight of five people’s jobs on their shoulders.

I’ve seen highly skilled practitioners leave for jobs in retail or admin — not because they stopped loving what they do, but because it stopped loving them back.

And I’ve seen spas with marble floors, celebrity guests and champagne facials — paying the very hands that deliver the guest experience less than a supermarket shelf-stacker.

We are running a wellness industry on burnout. And we wonder why recruitment is in crisis?

What Wellness Really Means (and Where We're Getting It Wrong)

We sell wellbeing to our guests… but we haven’t embedded it in our teams.

We throw around words like “culture” and “gratitude” — but don’t fund them.

We talk about being “like a family” — but avoid the tough conversations about pay, progression, and retention.

Wellness doesn’t begin with product houses or scented corridors. It begins with people. With making sure that your team are seen, supported, and paid with the same reverence you give to guest experience.

Because they are the guest experience.

The therapist is the treatment.
The receptionist is the first impression.
The spa manager is the culture driver.
The team is the business.

And yet far too often, they’re the last ones considered in the budget.

Why I’ll Keep Speaking Up

So if my LinkedIn posts are bold, it’s not for engagement. It’s not a brand-building strategy.

It’s because I care too much to pretend anymore.

I care too much to sit through another panel talking about “innovation” while we’ve got teams struggling to pay rent.

I care too much to see talented, passionate professionals squeezed out of a space that should be one of the most healing, progressive and inspiring sectors in the world.

I’ve given my life to this industry — and I want it to survive. I want it to evolve. And that won’t happen unless we start having uncomfortable conversations.

So What Needs to Change?

It’s not rocket science.

• Pay people fairly

• Train them properly

• Give managers the support they need

• Treat therapists like the skilled professionals they are

• Stop spending fortunes on rebrands when what’s broken is culture, not colour schemes

We say we’re a wellness industry. Let’s be one.

Starting in the staff room. Not just in the spa suite.

2025 doesn’t need another gadget.
It needs courage.
It needs leaders who fight for people, not just profit.
It needs us.

And if speaking up makes a few people uncomfortable?
So be it.

Because maybe that discomfort is exactly what’s needed to create the kind of change we keep saying we stand for.