S.P.A. Business Podcast

If your clients aren't rebooking, the answer probably isn't your pricing, your location, or the economy. In this conversation with business coach Brittany, we get into the real reasons client retention breaks down in spa businesses and what to do about it. We talk about why the person doing the most talking usually thinks the appointment went the best, why not asking a client to rebook is like end...

Search itself has changed, and if you haven't heard about it yet, this episode is your heads-up before it becomes a problem. I'm closing out this SEO series by breaking down what's genuinely different about Google going into 2027, from AI-generated answers replacing the old list of ten blue links, to a new "dynamic profile" ranking factor that rewards businesses for looking actively alive online,...

Getting Google reviews isn't the hard part anymore, how you get them is what actually matters now. In this episode, I'm walking through my full review strategy: why every review needs your esthetician's name attached, the exact ask system that's driven over half my new clients from Google, and the new 2026 update that changes how you should be thinking about review velocity and response time. I'm...

Still doing the same old thing for SEO and wondering why it's not working like it used to? In this episode, I'm revisiting my "boring" SEO spa method for 2026, the exact weekly content engine that's helped over half of my new clients find me on Google. You'll learn why the method itself hasn't changed, but why the way Google decides who to trust absolutely has. I'm breaking down the simple weekly...

Last week we talked about social media burnout. This week we're going into exactly what to do about it. In this episode, I'm sharing the perspective shift that helped me go from dreading social media entirely to actually enjoying it again: logging on as a client, not as a spa owner. I walk through my exact system for finding content inspiration, organizing footage on my phone, and using Instagram...

If social media feels like one more thing draining you at the end of an already long day, this episode is for you. Amanda gets real about her own complicated relationship with social media, including the year and a half she was doing the bare minimum and the moment she started falling back in love with it. The shift wasn't about posting more. It was about posting smarter and focusing on what actua...

Every spa owner feels it. That shift in energy when the calendar isn't as packed as it usually is and the slow season starts to creep in. But slow is a feeling, not always a fact. And what you do with that time is what separates the spa owners who stay stuck from the ones who come out of every slow season stronger than before. In this episode, Amanda walks through exactly what she does and what sh...

Just because you can automate something doesn't mean you should. In this episode, you'll learn the three places in your spa business where the human touch is non-negotiable. The first real conversation with a new client, any moment of service recovery when something goes wrong, and how you recognize and develop your team.  You'll hear why an automated response in the wrong moment can cost you a cl...

Automation should give you your time back, not replace the personal touch that makes your spa yours. In this episode, you'll get three specific places to start automating right now: appointment reminders and confirmations, rebooking and retention nudges, and intake paperwork that should never happen in your waiting room.  You'll hear a real example of a spa owner who got an hour back every single...

Ask three spa owners to define "system," "automation," and "strategy," and you'll get three different answers — which is exactly why so many spas end up automating the wrong things or calling busywork a strategy.  In this episode, you'll get clear, spa-specific definitions for all three: what a system actually is, what automation really does, and why strategy has to come first.  You'll learn why b...

From Esthetician to Business Owner: The Investment Shift That Changes Everything Think about where you invested the most money in your spa business over the last two to three years. Now think about where your actual growth came from. Do those two things line up? For most spa owners, they don't. In this episode, Amanda breaks down the mindset shift that separates spa owners who stay stuck from the...

You're scrolling Instagram. You see the machine. The before and afters are stunning, the rep is charming, and the financing feels manageable. Sound familiar? In this episode, Amanda gets real about one of the most expensive patterns she sees in the spa industry: spa owners buying equipment to feel like they're growing, when what they actually need is a better strategy. This is not an anti-equipmen...

If you've ever sat across from an ads manager, scrolled through your meta dashboard, or tried to follow along in a marketing conversation and felt completely lost, this episode is for you. Amanda sits down with ads expert Pamela to break down the most commonly used meta ads terms in plain language, no jargon, no overwhelm. From campaigns and ad sets to impressions, CPM, and click-through rates, yo...

Sixty-five spa owners answered this question in a Facebook group and almost all of them got it wrong. Not because their answers weren't valid, but because they were focused on the wrong thing entirely. Equipment, marketing, education, mentorship, those can all be great investments. But if you're not auditing what you've already spent, you're just throwing money at problems and hoping something sti...

In this quarterly check-in episode, Amanda pulls back the curtain on exactly what happened inside her spa in Q2: what she implemented, what surprised her, and what she's building toward in Q3. From finally raising her prices (and why literally nobody complained), to launching Monday morning huddles that her team actually looks forward to, to creating a hybrid esthetician-support staff role she's n...

If your books feel inconsistent month to month, the problem probably isn't your marketing, it's your retention. In this episode, we break down a distinction that changes everything: total client retention versus new client retention. These two numbers tell completely different stories about your spa business, and most owners are only looking at one of them, if any. You'll learn what healthy benchm...

You've been here from the beginning or maybe you just found us. Either way, this episode is for you. This week marks the final episode of Bougie and Boring and the official launch of the SPA Business Podcast. Same host. Same philosophy. Same commitment to the systems that build profitable spa businesses. But the new name? It means something. SPA stands for Strategy, Profit, and Automation, the thr...

You've made it through 90 days. Now what? The way you close this reset matters just as much as how you opened it. Today we're covering the three possible outcomes, how to tell the difference between genuine improvement and someone who just performed well for 90 days, and how to close the conversation with integrity no matter what happens.  You'll learn: The three possible outcomes of a 90-day rese...

You had the conversation. Your team member nodded and agreed. They seemed genuinely motivated. And then two weeks later, nothing changed. Everything is exactly the same. Here's why: a conversation without structure is just a conversation. It doesn't create accountability. It doesn't create clarity. And it definitely doesn't give your employee a roadmap to follow. Today, we're building the structur...

Do your team members actually know what's expected of them? Not in a general sense, but specifically and clearly in a way they can act on every single day? If you're dreading walking into work because you're dreading seeing your team, this three-part series is for you. Today, I'm introducing the 90-Day Employee Reset, one of the most powerful leadership tools I use in my spa.  This is Part 1 of a...

You just launched your first meta ad campaign. Week one passes. Nothing happens. Week two passes. Still nothing. You start panicking: "This isn't working. I'm wasting money." But here's the truth: ads don't work like viral posts. In this episode, Pamela Howe is back to walk us through what the first month of meta ads realistically looks like and why patience is your biggest asset.  You'll learn: W...

  Things feel slow. Clients are canceling. There are gaps in the schedule. But here's the truth: I don't believe people aren't getting spa services anymore. A meaningful portion of spa owners I work with are hitting all-time highs in profit, revenue, and bookings. So if your spa is slow, don't chalk it up to the economy. Treat it like a data point. Something in your business has a crack, and when...

Things feel slow. You just hired someone and payroll went up, but it feels like everyone's canceling or no-showing. Your books are slower than they've been in a long time. Sound familiar? In this episode, I'm breaking down the only three ways to fill your books: build it, borrow it, or buy it. And why trying to do all three at once is watering down your results.  You'll learn: The three ways to fi...

For years, I've been tracking profit using something I call a Profit Protection Number (PPN). It's helped me stay grounded and protected. But there were still weeks when my PPN would drop to an uncomfortable level, and I couldn't figure out why. Then I learned about cash flow. You have a healthy profit margin. Revenue is up. So why does your bank account still feel tight sometimes? I recently star...

Q1 is done. Whether it was challenging, good, or somewhere in between, it happened. Now let's talk about what worked, what didn't, and what I'm focusing on in Q2. In this episode, I'm sharing my wins, my learnings, and the exact questions I ask myself at the end of every quarter to stay clear and focused. You'll learn: What happens when you step back into the client experience and how it can shift...