Slip on the slippers, pull on the robe, grab your glass of champagne and get ready to unwind with Alethea Austin co-founder and CEO of Achieve Wellness Spa.

Self-care can mean different things to different people but the one thing I think we can all agree on is that self-care means we deliberately do an activity in order to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health.

Where better to take care of all three of these needs than at Achieve Wellness Spa. They offer services ranging from massage & physical therapy to microdermabrasion & nail treatments. To see their full list of available services visit their website.

MM: You've won a fair amount of awards over the last couple years but you've just won one recently?

Alethea: We won the top 25 spas of Canada in early 2018 which we're very proud of and we've won the Gold Star Award for customer service. 

MM: Are you the sole owner or is it group ownership and can you tell me a-little bit about your background?

Alethea: I am a co-founder with my husband, I moved here 15 years ago for our three-year plan and I fell in love with the community; I couldn't imagine being anywhere else.

I'm a physical therapist by trade; I've worked in hospitals, schools, private clinics & rehab facilities. I just didn't like any of the models out there for wellness; I wanted to create something better. 

In 2009 my husband and I came up with the idea while we were on our honeymoon. We looked into different franchise models that were out there but nothing fit what we were looking for, so we did it ourselves. 

I wouldn't recommend going this route; its a lot of work but it's paying off.

We opened our first location uptown five years ago and we opened our second location downtown a year ago. We are actually planning on franchising this year and we will have locations opening in Edmonton, Red Deer & Calgary shortly.

​MM: You said you were on your honeymoon when you decided to open your business, how did you come up with the concept and decided what services you would offer?

Alethea: The services came about somewhat gradually, we knew right of the bat we wanted to open a wellness centre we just didn't know exactly what that would look like. We even trialled yoga when we first opened up but it didn't fit with our model; having yoga classes going on at the same time as a relaxing spa atmosphere. We tried counselling services, holistic nutritionist, hypnotherapist, those more holistic services didn't really fit the city wasn't really ready for them so we stuck with more "mainstream" services. ​

MM: Is there a particular struggle you've had to overcome having a business in Fort McMurray?

Alethea: Yes many; we signed our lease deal in 2013 when times were still booming. We signed in for a 10-year lease at a very high cost. 

It's a very high cost for personnel here; it's much higher than anywhere else. When the minimum wage increased to $15 an hour we all kind of joked because it wouldn't affect anyone here. 

We also had the economic downturn and a lot of people weren't spending money on luxuries like spa treatments. 

Then, of course, we had the 2016 wildfire which shut us down for two months and as we were about to open our doors there was a flood when the city flushed all their water lines that shut us down for another two months.

Its also not easy to find good quality staff members, so we offer retention bonuses and signing bonuses to bring people from across Canada to work here because we don't have a big pool of qualified professionals here.

Theirs no aesthetics school here in Fort McMurray so not a lot of aestheticians are wanting to make the move up here to Fort McMurray.

MM: Is there anything particular that you're proud of with your business?

Alethea: I think the reasons we have survived five difficult years are we really did a lot of strategic planning and business planning. We stuck to our core values we never skimped on anything; if it didn't fit in with what our core values were and our ethics were and the character of our company then we didn't do it. There were times when we didn't think we could stay open, financially it was tough for a lot of years. It's still tough because we keep reinvesting into the business, but we know it can be something fantastic.

I'm really proud of our quality, we are one of only twenty-one spas in Canada that is quality assured. so that means we bring people in that pick through our HR, charting, sanitation & training process.

MM: What is your most popular service here.

Alethea: Definitely massage, part of that is most people have benefits and they realize the importance of getting a regular massage. If you're going to get a massage that's paid for in part or full from your insurance would you rather go to a stale boring clinic or get the robe and slipper experience somewhere you can enjoy a glass of champagne and still get a therapeutic massage paid for by insurance. 

We have some very exciting news we have made a deal with Arlene Dickinson from dragons den, she has invested in our company. She believes in our model so much that she is now going to help us spread our wellness across Canada. ​