Making Moves

Making Moves with Skin Sense, a day spa

December 17, 2021 The Rachel Kendall Team Season 1 Episode 17
Making Moves
Making Moves with Skin Sense, a day spa
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

Are you looking for that last minute Christmas gift or just want to get away from the stress and spend the day at the spa? You need to check out Skin Sense, a day spa! Mahala sits down with Angela Padgett, founder and president of Skin Sense, in our newest Making Moves podcast. 

Skin Sense offers:


Get to know Skin Sense:

  • Website: https://www.skinsense.com/
  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skinsenseadayspa/?ref=page_internal


Reach out to The Rachel Kendall Team:

  • Website: https://rachelkendall.com/about/team/
  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRachelKendallTeam/
  • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therachelkendallteam/
  • Touring the Triangle Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/touringthetriangle/
  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rachel-kendall-team/
  • Twitter: https://twitter.com/rkteam
  • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/rachelkendallteam
  • Phone: 919.782.4505

Hey Triangle lovers. Welcome to Making Moves hosted by The Rachael Kendall Team, where we will explore together the top restaurants, community hotspots and events in our area. Let's make some moves. Hello, everybody. Welcome back to Making Moves. And we have a really great guest today Angela Padgett with Skin Sense, a day spa in North Raleigh. Welcome, Angela. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me here today. That's great. We're really excited. So this is near and dear to my heart in terms of day spa, and just the history of your company. So first off, tell me a little bit about you and how you found Raleigh. Wow. Okay, so I'm born in the eastern part of the state in Wilson County, in a little town called Stantonsburg, which no one knows what that is. It's incorporated by a thousand people. Wow. And so my grandmother was an Aesthetician before anyone knew what that was that someone that does facials and waxing and, and so I grew up in that industry. My grandmother was a platform makeup artist and traveled and I got into the skincare side of it. And I knew that it was always something that I wanted to do. But back in the day, there were only destination spas. And so you with a destination spa, you had to have seawater, so you had to live near coasts. So I ended up moving to California and studying there. And that was going to be one I decided to do. But as my grandparents got older, I had to you know, move back, take care of them. And I had to figure out, okay, I'm just going to go with a clinic setting which we had in California. And so I did that we took on 600 square feet. And it was just me. And it was so interesting, because I did a little bit of advertising. And I would get a lot of calls saying what's a facial? And this was back in 1991. And I thought, oh my goodness, I'm in trouble. Because in California, it's kind of a staple. And so I built my business on gift cards and waxing, believe it or not. And so we ended up hiring nail technician massage therapist, other estheticians and took on more square footage on 6801 Falls of Neuse Road, which we've been there since 1986. And it's kind of pieced together because we took on 2,200 square feet. Wow. Yeah. And now it's we've got about 5,500. Wow. And at that point, what was so interesting, as soon as we moved, there was some lady in California, bless her heart. She came on point the word day spa, which turns the industry on its head. So we were the first day spa here we changed our name from Skin Sense, Face and Body Works to Skin Sense, a day spa. Wow. And what year was that Skin Sense, a day spa? 1996 is when we changed our name and move to Falls of Neuse. It's amazing to see how far the spa industry has come in just the time that you became an entrepreneur in the triangle. And yes, The Rachel Kendall Team clearly is a women owned business. So I always love to see other women and how they say that. Okay, well, now what are we going to do? I'll do it myself. Exactly. So, skin sense, as you've told your story, what really resonates with me is that skin sense has always been centered around the education behind skincare, facials, that it's it's not just about something nice to treat yourself. It's it's so much more than that in a holistic experience. And that's something that I know is very big for you. And how do you show women men that they need to have this part of treatment in their life? Well, as a day spa, we're extremely goal oriented. And so it's really meeting and exceeding the goals of the client by one. So we really want to, you know, ensure that we know very well what they are looking to achieve and what they want. And so we make sure that that is something that we give them, which is extremely important. And you're right. It's not just women, it's it's men, and believe it or not children as well. And we position ourselves is it's not a want, it's a need, because we all want we all know we have. And so we have built our business based on the needs of the client. Yeah. So it's been it's been wonderful. And this is our 30th year. Wow. Yeah, running. So we feel very proud of that. We feel as though we have a really great business model. And we have a wonderful team. Yeah, really, really great team. Yeah. And you're helping, you know, our economy and our community and everything by being that business owner. What would you say has been one of the biggest challenges as you've watched the industry shift. I mean, now, I mean, there's medi spas, there's day spas. There's still destination spas. Yes, and Um, what what helps you stay differentiated in the day spa model? Well, I think it comes back to, you know, exactly what I, our whole business model is based on is, you know, really meeting the needs of our clients. Because, you know, you're right. There are I mean, there's hot dog stands out hot dog spas, right? So it's, it's, we definitely are not that business where, you know, you go in, you get a massage leave, right, you know, it's really about how can we, you know, make our clients better in the long run, you know, how can we make sure that, you know, their care grows, and it's not just about, oh, they're coming in to get a facial or coming in to get a massage? Oh, it was really nice to see you hope you come again, right? It's not about that. It's really about the value, the value, and this is what you need to do. And we, we educate our clients and our therapist are highly educated, we constantly do, you know, ongoing training. So everyone's always up to date. And we're constantly changing our menu. Oh, my gosh, our menu is vast. It's fast, but it works. Yeah. And the products that you use, I feel like is another huge differentiator, you know, how you select that, and how you build that into your treatment plans is is really a lot different. Can you share a little bit about how you pick the products? Absolutely. So eminence is dear to our heart, it's a it's a great line, it's a very natural and organic line, but with a punch. So it really, they have the same philosophy. They're very goal oriented as well. And so their products work amazingly. So it's not a lot of, you know, fluff and buff that you see from you know, some natural baselines. And we also use a clinical baseline, which is SkinCeuticals, which is also wonderful. And they go together so well. And we interact them with them all the time. And so our clients see the benefits, which in makes them come back again. Right, right. I mean, results is every they're very results oriented. Yes. And of course we carry out other lines to our body lines are great. We have Gifty lines, and it's just it's a, it's a fun boutique. Yeah. Well, and you mentioned training, and training is something that on our team, we are we can never have enough. You're never done training. There's professional development everywhere. And especially when you are so client focused, you learn that, that they're driving, how you're training and how you're delivering your services. So that's a reputation that you have of being a great trainer. What advice would you give to an Aesthetician massage therapist, nail technician, if they're considering this career? Or what do they need to look for in terms of training? Yes, I, you know, I, when when you're in school, you know, it's all about getting through passing your boards. And you know, schools are wonderful. Obviously, there's, you need to have it. Yeah, you got to pass it. But postgraduate training is the best thing that you could ever do for yourself. And one of the things that skin senses actually just started doing is we are offering C's for our massage therapist. Yeah. So we offer a plethora of different classes, so they can, as we grow with the CEE portion of it, we will start offering classes and marketing those and having new massage therapists come on board, we're going to do the same thing with aesthetics as well. So we're already working on that product process. But you know, I've been training Well, 30 years. Yes. So whenever we have hires, we, you know, it's all about training, no one starts until they are fully trained, and have the skin sense, influence and the experience. Yeah. The other part of the experience is just the spa itself. I mean, we've talked a lot about the treatments. We've talked about the product, talked about the the treatment providers that are coming in, but the actual location itself, how did you design that concept? And what is the experience that you're trying to create by having the decor and just the ambience that you have? Well, like I said, you know, early on when I wanted to create that destination spa, that's really how it's, it's built? No, we don't have the sea water. But we we have everything about it gives you the ambiance of wanting to stay from our lounges, to our steam rooms, to our locker rooms, and of course, our treatments. We have a great boutique area. So people usually don't want to leave when they come in. And we actually have people that just after their treatments, they will sit in the lounge read a book we have my grandmother's tea that was passed down from years to years. Spy her mother and her mother, and we're known for our nannies to everyone I even have clients that say I come back for this And we have our spa water, our cucumber, water, cucumber and lemon. So it's just a wonderful environment. Yeah, I mean, it's it, when I walk in there, some of the things that really stand out to me is the warmth of the color, and the textures on the walls, and just how when you, you know, step in from outside, you can absolutely feel yourself just disconnect, get totally out of your head, and just take a minute and be in that kind of quiet environment. And it's very quiet, which is so important. I mean, I know when I do a med spa, it's not quiet, you know, it's not the relaxation that you're looking for on top of the skincare treatment or whatever you're there for. I think that that's so important when, as we were talking about is a need, it's not a want, we need to learn how to decompress, we need to learn how to disconnect, a love that there's no cell phones in the lobby in the lounge, you know, it's it's total encouragement to take care of yourself and your wellness. And that's something that's so important. Especially now, I mean, we are coming out, we're still talking about it. Oh, clearly still there, COVID and the pandemic, and what have been some of the challenges for your business? And how have you overcome those challenges and still met the needs of your clients? Well, we were, as with COVID, we closed for two months by you know, per the state. And we ended up taking that time because we are open seven days a week. And so it's really hard to make changes to a location when you're always open. And so we took lemons and made lemonade. They did a thorough cleaning of the spa, we updated it. We changed out some of the rooms, we ended up actually getting rid of our nail treatments. Oh, yes, that was a big deal for us, because we've offered nail therapy since 91. But we found the needs of our clients to be more massage oriented. So we were able to do that we added to our boutique area. So we have a lot more products than we've ever had in the past. And so it's a beautiful environment. And you know what you were saying about the walls and the the ambience, you know, our tagline is bringing balance to life. And it's something that we live by. So when people come in, we want to get them out of their heads and back into their bodies and not have to to really think about anything. It's all about them as soon as they walk in that door. So they you know, because being right here, bring his strings dis ease. So you want to get out of your head. I mean, we're so designed now to be in our heads all the time. Yeah. And so just to have you know, the time that you're there, whether it's an hour or a day, you're out of your head and back into your body, and you're starting to bring balance to that, which is really, really important. Yeah, I totally agree. So there's one thing that really sets you apart, and I think North Carolina I think there is only one other spa that has a salt cave, I believe so. Yeah. Nashville. Yes. So what the heck is a Himalayan salt? Because I mean, you have one, I do have one. There's a reason for it. There is a reason? Well, it started off with actually, my own personal experience with salt cave. I was going through some challenges in my life, probably eight years ago, and I was having problems sleeping. I mean, it was insomnia. It was really, really bad. And I met I saw a friend of mine who says, wow, you know, my wife has a salt cave, it was in Virginia, and said, You really need to go and sit in here because it really may help you start to regulate your sleep. And I thought okay, why have I had small children at that time? You know, they're twins. And they were probably challenging. And yes, themselves? Yes. 10 year olds, nine and 10 year olds. And so I thought, how is this going to work? You know, sitting in a salt cave, trying to relax with two, nine or 10 year old can't remember how the right time. And we get into salt cave sit in zero gravity chairs. And you just take the salts and I fell asleep. And believe it or not. They did the same thing. They were on the floor with crushed salt, just playing with a salt and never said a word out and I started regulating my sleep and sleeping through the night. And I thought okay, this could be very beneficial to our clients. We've got to get one of the things we have to That's how much because I went and spent. We went two or three times that week to get my sleep regulated. And it worked. Yeah. So when we decided to put this in, I had done a lot of research on halotherapy and just salt caves in general. And decided to go with this company out of California, who they get all of their they have a there's a salt mine in Poland. And so they get all of their salt from there. It's a family owned company. It's been around for hundreds of years. And so they decided that they built this cave by hand and it's drop dead gorgeous. Yeah, it's a beautiful salt cave. So there's salt blocks all over the walls, there's crushed salt on the floor. And we have a water feature to keep it the humidity going because that's what excites the salt. Okay, and we keep the temperature around is between about 7375. But as your blood pressure drops, you feel cool. So most everyone's wearing a blanket. Okay. Um, during that time, I was gonna say, what are you wearing during Yeah, so you just wear something, you know, you wear street clothes, something that you is very comfortable and loose fitting, and clients that are there for you know, other treatments, they'll put on a robe. Okay, and so by nature is sedated. So when you go to the beach, and you put all your stuff out, you get your chair out. You get your your drinks going apart, and you fall asleep. It's not the margarita, it's a salt. Well, and you're a wonderful cook two in your spare time. Do you use Himalayan salt? My gosh, that's all I use? Is it? Yes, yes. No iodized salt, I would suggest that everyone go with Himalayan salt, because Himalayan salt is the purest form of salt on the planet. And it doesn't have you know, a lot of the processes that has no process in it right now. So it's very, very, very natural. And so yes, I do love to cook, to cook, and I do only cook with Himalayan salt. Well, it sounds gorgeous. And I can definitely see it as a great add on to a day being there. Because one of the things I don't think people understand about that need was that you were talking about what we need. And part of that is touch. Right? Yes. And just how touch can be, you know, a real healer. And that's one thing I think that is very different in your facials is the type of massage that you use, and just how you've grown that part of your business and remind me what it's called again. So we do a lymphatic drainage, facial massage, and then we do some lymphatics on the neck and decolletage as well. It is very, the massage was made to be extremely flowing. No hands ever leave the face or the body. So it's, it's very relaxing. And so yes, it's great. It's wonderful. That's awesome. I would suggest everyone's try that. Speaking of suggesting everyone try it. You mentioned gift cards. Yes, they're a huge part of your business, they are definitely a part of our business. It's when we have during the holidays, we do a lot of gift cards, or, you know, stocking stuffers, Christmas holiday gifts, Annika, and we got obviously birthdays still running right? as well. But yes, we do a lot in there great gifts, and especially for our clients that have come in for years and years. That's the expectation, they say my significant other is going to get me. But we also offer gift cards for the salt cave. But also what's great for the salt cave is series, okay, because one of the things about the salt cave is it's great for upper respiratory, so allergies, asthma, colds, COVID, oh, leave or not yes, very good for COVID because it affects your upper respiratory system. And so this just happened helps to open those the lung capacity, as well as your sinuses. So you know, coming in congested, you start to breathe very well. So we have a series of six for those, but we have a series of six for all of all of our treatments. And we also have memberships to so whenever someone purchases a membership, they get membership pricing for everything. So it's not just so let's say for instance, if you came in and you purchased a massage membership, if you will, and you get that once a month membership for you know a certain amount, I think it's I think it's $48. But you want to come in for other things. So we have that same membership pricing for all of our treatments. So for instance, to give you a great example, our salt cave, are $30. So now with the membership pricing, you get it for $25. So it's a great savings and the membership is and why we did it that way is because we believe that people need more than just a monthly right, you know, otherwise, like I said, everyone has needs so if you have needs if you're working in a computer and you're feeling this, you know in your upper back, neck, shoulders, one time a month, not gonna do it for you, that's just not Yeah, you're spinning your wheels and everybody gets frustrated. And so you know, you really have to do what's best for your body, whether it's weekly sessions, you know, twice a month, things like that, right? And so we make it you know, affordable so that you can do that. So and the and the whole education of what you're doing at home too, I think absolutely. You have to have homecare. Otherwise, you're spinning your wheels, right. The only time I would say you don't have to have home care if you're coming in, you know, once a week or every day And we just take care of that. That's why you're just creating a family community right there. And speaking of community, you know, what we talked about the training that you provide to your employees and how that is a benefit to your clients. But you run a really great team, you know, and what are some of the things as a business owner, what is so what is it? What is your perspective on that team and how you run the company for your employees, and what's been your main focus of success for that our main focus are, you know, to find really great talent and to build on that talent. And then to teach them the Skin Sense philosophy. That is, you know, again, we're very goal oriented, it's built on trust, it's built on meeting the needs of the client, at least by one, we consider our employees as our internal clients. I mean, we're, we're a family, it's and we build that family atmosphere, so that they have that trust in us that they can go out and do what they need to do for our clients. Right takes confidence, it does take care of somebody, it definitely definitely does. So you have to have confidence in yourself. And you have to have confidence in your team around you to make that happen. Well, this has been amazing. Oh, good. I'm so glad wrap it up for us in a bow, you know, if you could, if you could say anything to somebody that has been on the fence about whether or not this is something they need, whether it's a aesthetician massage therapist, or even a client, where they're, they're thinking like, Well, why would I go to skin scents? How would How would you help get them off the fence? Well, again, it comes down to skin since a day spa is extremely goal oriented, we you know, look at you as a whole and want to make sure that all of your needs are met, and that whatever is going on with your face or body is addressed, and it may not even be something that you know, that can be addressed. And we have such a great team that they can address that for you. So that happens more often than not where we're talking to clients about their needs. And, and as as therapists, they're looking at them a whole different way and say, Oh, I see this about you. And the client says, Oh, I didn't even know that I could do that. I didn't even know I could fix that. So it's from that aspect. i That's a real winner for wanting to come to skin since but as far as our therapist, you know, again, we do a lot of in house training. So we take a lot of time with staff so that they can gain the confidence, they can gain the education so that they can, you know, take care of our clients. But as their career goes and, and you know, whether they go into their own practice or they go they move and go into another spa or destination spa. They have that valued education that never goes away. That's right in us. That's right. Yeah. And you know, cats out of the bag. I'm a Skin Sense alum, Yes, you. And I do know, just that. That camaraderie that we've all built as a result of what you've created here in the triangle is really strong. So I hope everybody enjoys listening to this. And I hope if you haven't tried skin sense that you get yourself in there. And if you need to make a suggestion to a significant other about a gift card. I think you should do that too. And again, thank you so much for having me. Thank you, Angela. It's been great. Thank you for joining us on this episode of Making Moves. We want to deliver the highlights of the Triangle that you want to hear. Let us know your feedback, comment on our social media like and of course subscribe to continue and discover why we love where we live until next time with Making Moves hosted by The Rachel Kendall Team.

How did you get into this industry?
When did you start Skin Sense?
Biggest challenge in this industry?
Products offered
Cell phone policy
Changes during COVID
What is a salt cave?