Today we’d like to introduce you to Sheri Hollaway.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Sheri. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’ve spent most of my adult life as a licensed engineer in Austin and Houston. I’ve worked mostly in construction and aviation. In 2015, I decided to semi retire from engineering. I left the firm I was working for and struck out on my own as a part time engineering consultant.
My oldest daughter was working for Lumiere Fitness Spa as a technician. She knew I always tried to eat healthy, stay active and take care of my body and skin, so she encouraged me to visit the spa and try a few of the treatments. She explained to me that they were non-invasive, non-surgical and really worked. I really liked the treatments available, the body contouring, radio frequency skin tightening, and the strawberry lipo laser especially and became a semi regular client.
In the summer of 2016, the previous owner told me that she was considering selling the spa. I had been looking for other things to do with my life. I’d always wanted to own my own business – my own non-engineering business, but I’d never really had any good ideas for a non-engineering business. The thought of owning and running the spa kind of took hold over the course of a few weeks. After considerable thought and discussion with my husband, and my eldest daughter, I decided to make an offer to purchase the spa. I took over Lumiere Spa on September 26, 2016.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The three biggest challenges for me were re-organizing services, marketing, and changing attitudes of staff and clients. Re-organizing was a huge challenge, but it was the first one I tackled because it involved not only the services we offered, but which rooms those services were offered in and coordinating that with our scheduling software. I spent time talking with all of our staff and some of the clients, and then set about re-organizing the services we offered, service rooms, service times so that we could make certain that when a client arrived, we could timely complete their service with the proper tools, equipment and in an appropriately sized room with their preferred staff.
Marketing is a daily challenge. Engineering Marketing is so different from the marketing for the spa. It’s something I’ve had to learn as I go, although I’m thankful that I’ve had some good people help me along. I’ve learned about Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. I’m learning how to create ads, I’m learning about mass emails, and I still have so much more to learn.
Attitudes are much harder to change – many clients thought of Lumiere Fitness Spa as a place to receive good, but fast and cheap services. And that attitude was reflected by many of the staff as well. Most of our staff meetings focus on providing our clients with quality services, taking the time to do the service right, making the clients feel welcome and educating them on what we actually do. I think our clients can see that we are changing our focus to quality and it’s reflected in their willingness to return again and again for services.
Please tell us about Lumiere Spa.
At Lumiere Spa, we enhance you, from the inside out, naturally…. All of our treatments, from body contouring, to fascia blasting to facials and skin tightening focus on making your body work for you from the inside out. Body Contouring and Fascia Blasting both improve your circulatory and lymphatic systems while reducing cellulite and stimulating collagen production. Our facials, including microchanneling and radio frequency skin tightening, also stimulate collagen growth and visibly reduce the signs of aging.
I think we are best known for our body treatments – particularly fascia blasting and the strawberry lipo laser. We are one of the first spas in Houston, maybe Texas, to offer fascia blasting for cellulite reduction as a service. It is by far our most popular service, followed closely by the strawberry. We are one of the few spas in Houston to offer the Strawberry lipo laser treatment – an instant inch loss treatment and it continues to be one of our most popular services.
I am most proud of the fact that we are always looking for new and innovative, noninvasive treatments and products for our clients to help them achieve the results they are looking for. Since buying the spa, we have added Fascia Blasting, Coolifting and Microchanneling. Coolifting is a five-minute facial using cryo technology and hyaluronic acid lift, plump and hydrate the skin as well as promote and stimulate collagen production. Microchanneling is a 30-minute facial, similar to microneedling without the damage and downtime of microneedling. We also added a medical grade skin care line that is vegan, gluten free and paraben free. We’ll be adding more products in the near future.
What sets us apart from other medical spas is that we are focused on natural, non-invasive treatments and products that enhance our clients from the inside out. We believe that we can help you make your body work for you to achieve a younger you, naturally.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My most vivid memories from childhood all include my dad and playing softball. He was my softball coach for nearly ten years. Practices were always so much fun – he’d work us hard, going over drill after drill after drill until we got it right. But he made it fun. He was always laughing and joking with us. He expected our best effort and we always gave it to him. A lot of my teammates lived out of town on farms and didn’t have transportation to get to games or practices, so my dad and mom would make sure they picked up every single girl and got her to every practice and game. At the end of every season, we would have a huge pizza party and ice cream party. Then, he’d take us all roller skating. I learned so much from my dad – play fair, play hard, have fun, depend on your team, reward success.
Pricing:
- Fascia Blasting – 3 sessions with 3 free facials for $279
- Strawberry Lipo Laser – 3 sessions with 3 free facials for $319
- Coolift Facial – $225
- Microchanneling – $299
Contact Info:
- Address: 2950 S. Gessner Rd., Suite 205
Houston, Texas 77063 - Website: www.LumiereFitnessSpa.com
- Phone: (713) 977-0444
- Email: Glow@LumiereFitnessSpa.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lumierespahouston1/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GlowWithLumiereSpa/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SpaLumiere
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/lumiere-fitness-spa-houston-2
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