How to Support Local - Jem Glamorganic Spa Edition
Jem Glamorganic Spa brings a whole new level to the spa experience.
Bringing together internal and external wellness to the table, Jem has shown their ability to transform their clients with the wide spread of services they offer in multiple locations (and growing)! Emilee Fernandes of Jem Glamorganic Spa spoke to us about business:
Tell us about your business and why you decided to open. Jem Glamorganic Spa was created first based out of need. I had moved home from Toronto after a corporate job with a Beauty College, specializing in institutional sales and counselling. I was jobless and decided to begin operating out of my house, providing facials and skincare. My mom and I started doing makeup for wedding parties (she was an esthetician!), and my sister, 16 at the time, joined in too! We grew into spa parties and loved connecting with people. We brought new energy to the local beauty economy. After opening for one year in the back of a hair salon with my sister, then 19, we decided to open our spa and retail storefront in our hometown of Harrow (2016). People resonated with what we offered because it felt different. We believe that beauty is a feeling and that everyone deserved to feel beautiful, seen and radiant. Our methods weren't conventional at the time. We infused services with reiki and angel healing, crystals and clean/organic beauty products. Our beauty rituals and skin health ideals combine Ayurvedic practice, Lymphatic Drainage, Fascial Remodelling and Energy Esthetics to transform every soul that we have the honour of working with. Our services leave our clients transformed, informed and empowered to embody the beauty they are! We are now operational in two locations, Harrow and Tecumseh, with two more skin spas coming this year, a global educational institute, and product line. We have 13 amazing teammates who share the same vision of greatness and joyful service! What business was like before COVID-19?
The business was booming! With last year being a huge growing year for us as business and launching our Tecumseh location, we finally felt like we gained momentum and were picking up speed! It's never without struggle, growing into a new market, despite having a flagship location not far away, but we were rocking! We had so many new referrals and beautiful faces gracing our new site daily. Our Harrow location was flourishing with our Staycation March Promotion, and we were operating at 94% capacity- what a dream. We are so grateful for our growing and longstanding clients, friends and family who always send us the best referrals for Jem newbies! Before COVID-19, we were busy executing plans of growth and expansion into new markets. We were preparing to release a new skincare product (oooo, we can't wait to share it with you when the world returns to love!), and collaborating with other great professionals to provide some community initiatives. Although on hold, for now, we know we will shift and adjust to pivoting out of this!
What has business been like since the outbreak of COVID-19?
Business is hard to sustain when you are primarily a service-based business. We have never liked the idea of overselling retail products (a common spa practice) as many of solutions to your most ideal skin, do not involve a slew of topical treatments. However, we have decided to offer retail solutions for our supportive clients still if, and only if, they need something. We've also developed mini skincare kits to help our clients replenish their products when they do not have the financial means to do so, and it has been a hit! We've been offering great at-home beauty hacks and rituals through videos and postings. These little seeds of connection allow us to feel deeply connected to our work and serve our clients too! We truthfully miss our clients, connecting with them and being of service, so we decided to continue to build our community deeper. We are finding new ways through events, like our Virtual Soul School Event, to bring people together, meet them where they are at and support them. The nervous system is a significant factor in our skin health, and ironically, everyone is in overdrive at the moment, so we have been finding ways to develop content to bring solutions and shifts. It has been a fantastic way to bring our core values to the forefront right now and giving us a platform to speak more about how we treat the whole person while helping them achieve excellent skin health.
How will this impact your business long term?
Longterm is tough to think about. We know that we will have challenges to overcome as the economy shifts. We know that our staff may take on a different work-life balance to ensure financial balancing at first. This structure will be a win-win for everyone as we ease back into operational life from quarantine life. We will have to see how long this goes for until we decide what the end shift will be. What we do know for sure is that we have always priced our services well for the value that we offer because beauty shouldn't only be for the elite, but everyone! We also know that our services are multidimensional; Mind, Body, Soul, so the opportunity to come for one hour service is just as beneficial for your soul shell (body) as it is for your emotional/mental/spiritual health. The value is high, and that will be a massive asset for us!
How can people help? People can help by sharing our content on social media, commenting on our posts and videos, referring friends and family to us once operational and coming in to enjoy a service once we are operational. We would love to see everyone collectively use this time to embody their innate gifts, their power, and to choose to serve the world by spreading love. This simple idea can create the spaces we need to allow the world to return to love as quickly as possible. Choose love first in each intention, interaction and act in every way every day! We know that we aren't going back to our old "normal", that this current normal isn't it either, but we know for sure that this new world ordinary is full of big magic and you are it! You can like and share on Facebook and Instagram, as well as check out all the services available on their website!