The Wellness in Hospitality Podcast

How can you create impactful wellness concepts?   Today, I’d like to share the first episode of a 3-part guide on how you can master creating impactful wellness concept. I’ll guide on how you can master creating impactful wellness concepts – concepts that are profitable, loved by your guests and team, AND make a positive impact. This isn’t about creating a bling concept; it’s about the strategy an...

"There are over 80,000 chemicals in our interior and architectural materials, most of which are not regulated. By focusing on organic, non-toxic materials, we can improve indoor air quality and reduce the harmful effects these chemicals have on our health" - Valentina Cereda In the recent Wellness in Hospitality Spotlight 2024 we talked about Responsible Design. To kick off the topic, Va...

"Effective communication starts with aligning your internal stakeholders. When your team is unified in their understanding and execution of your wellness vision, it transforms guest interactions - it ensures you deliver the exceptional wellness experience you promise." - Yasemin Oruc   It's one thing to have an amazing wellness-oriented vision and hotel. It's an entirely differ...

What are the secrets of success with wellness in hospitality? 16 years ago, I launched my own business, which allowed me to collaborate with a diverse and dynamic group of social entrepreneurs. In my book, I describe them as forward-thinking and innovative—dedicated to sustainability, the wellbeing of people, the community, and the environment. It's been fascinating to observe the journeys of...

Tired of the traditional definition of luxury? You've seen it before: glass hotels with marble lobbies, 5-star restaurants serving gourmet dishes, grand spas, gold taps and uniform service with scripted greetings.  As the owner of a small, boutique hotel... You don't resonate with the hospitality of traditional luxury hotel chains. You believe true luxury is about allowing guests to reco...

It’s that special time of the year for my Wellness and Hospitality Spotlight, taking place on the 11th and 12th of July 2024 . For those new to following me, here's a brief back story. In 2020, while researching for my book, The Wellness Asset , I began interviewing hoteliers worldwide to understand their approaches to wellness, their challenges, and their successes. These interviews were ini...

Does wellness really have such a long incubation period?   Does it really take so long to see your return on investment?   Today, I’d like to throw a curveball out there and challenge this ageold assumption we carry around with us in the wellness industry.   Here is what I have preached (and in some cases, still do):   That wellness takes time.   We’re dealing with people’s wellbeing, and as both...

What happens when you design your wellness concept around an individual service?   Today, I’m going to address the one of the most dangerous mistakes wellness and hospitality leaders make with their wellness concept, and in turn the design of their entire wellness facility.   That is: designing your wellness concept based on an individual service.   I see this happen time and again in the industry...

How do you create wellness concepts that resonate & endure?   This is a question I often get from my wellness and hospitality clients. How do you create a wellness concept that truly resonates with your target guests and stands the test of time?   The challenge lies in the diversity of ideal guests, each with unique buying and consumption habits. With so many different segments, it can be over...

What is the difference between the RIGHT wellness concept for a particular property and a wellness ASSET?   If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that I use the terms “the right, most profitable wellness offering” and “the wellness asset”.   When I take my wellness leaders through both my signature programme, The Wellness Asset Academy and my mentorship programme, Asset Builder, I h...

Before diving into today’s episode, I’m thrilled to announce the collaboration between the UK Spa Association and my signature programme, The Wellness Asset Academy.   Our spa and wellness industry has always struggled with education.    There’s no straightforward way to tackle the disconnect between wellness businesses, educational organisations, and the role of not-for-profit organizations like...

Have you ever stopped to think what business we are in? Whenever I speak with hoteliers and wellness leaders, even though it is evident that they truly believe in the impact of wellness, when it comes to crunch time, that is managing their businesses and reaching budget, they slip into automatic pilot mode. They fall into the trap of thinking they sell massages, treatments and products. They build...

Harsh truths:  → More than 90% of luxury hoteliers report never recouping their investment from the initial cost of build of their entire wellness-related offering.  → Less than 1% of wellness leaders become hotel GMs.    It is no surprise then that most wellness offerings in hotels represent a meagre 1-3% of total hotel revenue.  If less than 1% of wellness leaders occupy key decision-making posi...

Have you ever found yourself say: “I know that!”? Well, today I’d like to talk about the problem with supposedly “knowing it all”.  Now, I’m sure we’ve all lived situations where we’ve been humbled.  Where we thought we knew it all, and in the end we realized we really didn’t.  There was something we didn’t know, or there was something we missed, and we would have probably picked on that thing had...

How useful are feasibility studies? Today’s a controversial one. Most consultants and business strategists will strongly advice to commission a feasibility study. Why? Because: 1.    It ensures you have a good feel of the business idea you have in mind and where the market is headed. 2.    Technically speaking, it saves you thousands, hundreds or even millions of dollars in costly mistakes The rea...

Why is the crystal ceiling placed so low for wellness leaders in hospitality?  Today I’d like to address the elephant in the room.  Less than 1% of wellness leaders make it to hotel general manager. And over 90% of wellness leaders find that they hit this invisible but strong crystal ceiling that they’re unable to get past.  Why?  Here are two root causes that play a pivotal role: 1.    The image...

What exactly does it mean to be a ‘good’ wellness leader? Have you ever stopped and asked yourself how we, as an industry, define a ‘good’ wellness leader? What leadership skills and traits do they have? Some words that come to mind from the image we’ve painted over the years are the following: “wellness-oriented” “gentle” “connected to emotions” “sensitive” “not business-oriented” “not hard-wired...

Today I'd like to talk about something I’ve noticed we wellness leaders do with our businesses, probably without realising, and that is complicating our businesses more than we need to.   As wellness leaders, we get stuck in the weeds of our business, where we think we’re the mini-GM of our area (we must lead our teams, carry out HR functions, look after the sales and marketing of our offerin...

Today I'd like to talk about something I've been noticing recently: sense of entitlement.   I don't think this is something new - I think as humans we naturally veer towards that mindset, but I wonder if it really serves us.   The upside of the chaos we were thrown into over  the past few years has been how much importance wellness has gained.   Wellness is now considered that &quot...

What is the difference between your wellness offering’s “brand” and its “concept”, and does it matter? I’ve been observing many of us wellness leaders when it comes to creating the concept for their wellness offering. And what I’ve noticed, particularly in those hotels which are part of established chains with clear guidelines and brand standards, is that many wellness leaders confuse the terms “b...

We all know wellbeing is important – we can’t deny it’s intangible value. We know we must look after the wellbeing of both our guests and our people. But, the question is, can we measure the tangible benefits of enhancing overall wellbeing? Can we demonstrate that when we consider the total human hospitality experience in every aspect of our business, that we enjoy healthier top and bottom lines?...

The million-dollar question for wellness leaders: How can I get my GM to GET ME?   This is a question I get asked often. And many wellness leaders might not think it out loud, but deep down, this is something they truly desire. That their GM GETS them, that their GM gets wellness.   Now, let’s now kid ourselves. We all want to be, or at least feel understood. It allows us to feel appreciated and r...

Today I’d like to talk about a subject I see many wellness and hospitality leaders fall victim to, and that is failing ahead of time with our wellness offerings. And I know this because I, too, have fallen victim to this notion, without even realizing it. So what does failing ahead of time mean? It basically means that we, intentionally or not, decide to fail ahead of time. We think that wellness...

Does this sound familiar? A treatment isn’t selling, hence we write that treatment off as one that isn’t good. A brand isn’t selling as well as we expected, hence we think it isn’t good and instead we find another brand to replace it.   You wellness offering isn’t working, hence the leader isn’t good enough, so we change the leader. And, hopefully, once we get rid off the things that we think aren...

As wellness becomes more and more popular across all industries and businesses across the globe, I’ve noticed  the topic around the notion of doing true wellness and making money from enhancing people’s overall wellbeing as being something unethical or dare I say even morally wrong.   And today, I’d like to be controversial again and call the big red BS card on that notion.    Doing wellness, that...