THE CW Story
Every business has a founding story, and ours is no different. A good idea, the right timing and a whole lot of grit...
In the winter of 2017, I found myself smack dab in the middle of grief with no outlet to process it. A guy took me on a date to a thermal cycle spa in Portland and encouraged me to try the cold plunge. I didn’t really love saunas, and I disliked being cold. Plus, people were naked... I was really out of my comfort zone. I am proud to say I stayed in my first cold plunge for almost a full minute, and from that point on, I became hooked. Why isn’t this everywhere?! I thought. I eventually realized my life responsibilities wouldn’t allow me to visit a spa as much as I wanted—I needed my own. When I say need, I mean neeeeeed. In 2019, I used my entire tax refund and bought a barrel sauna kit without a solid plan of where I was going to put it. I built a simple spa in my backyard, added a shower, and found some clawfoot tubs for sale on the side of the road. I spent a lot of time in my little spa, healing my mind, soul, and body. As I started exploring the US spa culture, I realized there was a hole in the market for thermal cycle spas.
My real job at the time was running the office for my parents' construction company and being a solo parent. In my free time, I started working on a business plan to open a spa and started saving my money. Whenever I traveled, I’d look up hot springs and spas and just kept dreaming. Covid hit, and everything kind of tumbled around. At this point, my parents had sold their company, and the new corporate owners laid me off. As the unemployment checks started to dwindle, I looked at how much longer I had and thought, “I wonder if anyone will pay just to use the spa I already have? Would it be weird if they just came to my backyard?”
I opened Connect Wellness in the fall of 2021 with some serious grassroots marketing. I flagged down the guy running on the street, I invited the girl I met while picking out tile, I passed out free spa sessions to waiters, and dragged as many friends as I could to my space. I made sure they understood the process: you’re shooting for 3 cold cycles, you have to stay in for at least 30 seconds, and BREATHE! My timing was perfect—everyone was talking about cold plunges, but there weren’t very many places to cold plunge. I worried about strangers sitting in a sauna together, I worried about all the things until I just stopped worrying and gave it over to the universe. You know, the thing bigger than us, The flow of life, Chi, Spirit… whatever you want to call it.
Most people told me this idea was weird and that it wouldn’t work. Fortunately, I had renewed a relationship with God, and His whispers were louder. But what if it does work? What if it’s not just me that feels good after a spa session? What if everyone feels as incredible as I do after a spa session?!
It was such an easy sell! People were hooked after their first session. They bought memberships and spa packs. They told their friends. They told their co-workers. It was an exciting time to see all of these newbies trying it for the first time.
Within a couple of months, my space that could only fit 4 was getting crowded. I used the equity in my house and bought a mobile sauna. Now I could have 8 people. We grew more. I rented another mobile sauna... Now I could have 12 people! I found salvaged material and built our permanent cabin sauna and stopped renting…. Now I could have 15 people at a time! I trained staff, utilized volunteers, opened as many credit cards as they’d give me, and put almost every dollar we earned back into building out the spa... We grew and grew, and new people just kept coming.
In 3 years, this business has grown into a vibrant community of the coolest people! Our spa members and customers are like family, my staff is top-notch, and the contractors who have built for me finally understand my vision and communication style. Haha. We have big things on the horizon and are committed to continuing to provide access to cool spas for everyone who wants to try it. I don't see myself stopping anytime soon as it brings me great joy designing, building and inviting people into my spaces.
As I start dreaming about what the future of Connect Wellness will be, I hope to continue to inspire others to just go for it. Whatever you can do to make this world a better place, just do it.
The cold water isn’t all that cold when you do it with new friends.
Xoxox,
Michelle
