Meet Melissa Stewart | Holistic Day Spa Owner & Skin Therapist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Melissa Stewart and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Melissa, how do you think about risk?
Taking risks in my life has always been about having trust and a belief in my abilities and willingness to walk thorough fear.

I grew up in New Orleans as the 16th of seventeen children and I had to fight to be seen and to be heard. I was a high school drop out at 16 years old but I got my GED at 18. I then went on to complete a Bachelors Degree in Marketing from Loyola University in 1994. I was the only person in my family to complete college. I was used to being the underdog and I had to learn to be scrappy and how to figure things out.

When I started Soak Spa in July 2017 it was a huge risk both financially and emotionally. I look back on it now and I compare the risk I undertook to being strapped to the mast of a small sailboat in the middle of a hurricane! The first year of my entrepreneur journey, the business worked me. It was a daily, sometimes minute to minute struggle of decision making, coaching, leading, not knowing what to do but being willing to get help while wearing 10 different hats all at one time in a day!

My investment was not just the money but the 10-12 hour days, 7 days a week for the first two years. I was fortunate to have a husband and assets to invest our own money in the business. Our son was a senior in high school and his last year of school was tough. He hung in there and graduated. Both him and my husband along with many friends helped with the business.

I like to think I am a risk taker and that I felt compelled to own a business one day. As a young girl and young adult I talked incessantly about being an entrepreneur. After looking to purchase a holistic wellness spa I knew this was the industry and the type of business that called out to me. I was blessed to have a Mother that was warm and affectionate and remember her healing hands. The gift of touch was given to me by her and it is what has inspired me to provide a place that would encompass nurturing and healing. I wanted to open a day spa since 2008 and opened Soak Spa in 2017, almost 9 years later. This was not from lack of trying. I tried to buy my previous mentor’s spa twice and looked at purchasing at least 5 other spas over the years or I thought of starting my own spa from scratch.

When I took the leap to open Soak Spa, the risk was lessened by taking over a previously established spa’s lease and I was able to purchase all equipment and supplies needed in one fell swoop. This enabled me to manage the level of risk with opening the spa. I would say the risk of making rent and handling payroll was what caused many nightmares and stressful times over the years.

The first day I opened the spa, I met the previous owner and the 7 employees that worked for her so she could inform them I was the new owner. She made the announcement that she sold this spa to her staff, thanked them and then walked out of the door! I had 7 sets of eyes staring at me as if to say “What the Hell Just Happened?” We had clients walking in the door in 15 minutes. I looked them each in the eye and said, “we got this.” I was shaking in my shoes but I also knew I needed to stand up tall and reassure them. It was a huge risk but it worked!

We took another huge risk last year and relocated the spa. This included almost doubling our space, a renovation that had to be completed in 7 weeks, and we rebranded the spa with a new look and feel. Soak Spa’s 7 yr Anniversary was on 6/30/2024 and we are hosted a celebration on August 29th, 2024. We’ve been nominated as one of the “Top Three Best Day Spas” in Northern Colorado the last 5 years by NOCO Style Magazine and our local community. This year we’re nominated in the Top Three Category for “Best Massage & Best Facial in Fort Collins by the The Coloradoan’s Choice Awards in 2024!

I believe my family history and background has enabled me to be successful in taking risks both in business and personally. I recently completed a 70 mile Spiritual Pilgrimage in Spain. This was not something I had ever done before and I was not sure I could do it. But I knew if I took it a step at a time I would and could complete this journey. I am happy to say I completed the Santiago Camino along with my husband who completed 500 miles!

This journey of being a successful entrepreneur has given me the courage to walk through difficult and challenging times and trust my inner wisdom.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
At Soak Spa we believe that by creating an atmosphere of healing and wellness for our clients we help them feel better about themselves.

Our mission is to provide holistic spa services for the body, mind and spirit. Our guests can be expected to be treated with value, kindness, and professionalism. We believe in building time into our scheduled appointments with guests so they never feel rushed. All service times reflect the true hands-on time of each session. We promise to take the time to listen to your specific needs and requests as well as recommend practices that best serve your health and wellness.
At Soak Spa we provide an oasis from stress, a healing touch, a kind word, a place to let go and breathe slowly, deeply.

Within the caring and calming environment of Soak Spa, our clients can choose from an array of holistic and alternative spa treatments.

Our spa services will immerse you in total relaxation offering therapeutic massage, couples packages, alternative body therapies, luxuriating body scrubs and wraps, facials, anti-aging skincare treatments including acne treatments, back and deep cleanse facials, deramaplaning, dermaflash, gua-sha facials, hydro-facials, microchanneling, microdermabrasion, nano-infusion treatments, peels, ultrasonic and ultrasound + EMS facial treatments, waxing, brow and lash tinting. Our spa packages and foot soaks with massages in our Foot Sanctuary incorporate a whole body experience that will bring you to a peaceful state of being.

We nurture your body and skin with all-natural organic products that will delight your senses. We are committed to a pro-aging approach to skin-care using fruit and vegetable enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and active botanicals to regenerate your skin. We carry three professional skincare product lines including Lemieux Skincare Products, Lira Clinical Products and Face Reality Skincare.

What sets us apart is we are locally and female owned and managed. Both myself and my partner Gretchen Engelhorn are therapists which enables us to understand first hand what our staff needs and how best to be present to our guests.

The original founder Melissa Stewart was born and raised in New Orleans where one of their local traditions is providing “Lagniappe” (A Little Something Extra) which is what will be added to your experience while you are visiting with us! Providing “Lagniappe” to our guests sets as apart in that we pay attention to the smallest of details in that we begin and end our services with aromatherapy inhalations, heat packs are warmed and used in all of our services, warm foot booties are used for most facial services that we offer and we conclude our guests services by wrapping their feet in heated, wet towels with a gentle release of energy.

The creation of the Foot Sanctuary was how the name Soak Spa came to be. The first time I experienced a foot soak with beautiful copper bowls, salts, essential oils and flowers. The serene and nurturing ambience of the setting resonated deeply within. I knew then I wanted to create a Foot Sanctuary at my spa and chose the name “Soak Spa”.
I felt called to create a “Sanctuary” that would provide a safe and healing space for guests who could benefit from our curative Foot Soaks.

The Foot Sanctuary was created in October 2017 as a unique spa experience to provide a place of healing for our guests.
As a guest, you are completely clothed for our soothing Foot Soak services and can share this experience with a spouse, family member, co-worker or a trusted friend. The Foot Soak packages include sandals, a heated neck wrap, water or our signature ginger tea along with massage enhancements and a charcuterie board or dessert treat can be added to enjoy during your soaking experience!

Our Foot Soaks are a wonderful way to share in a joyful celebration together including celebrations for birthdays, bridal showers, bachelorette parties, anniversaries, graduation, girls spa time, employee appreciation events and more…
We invite you to come and Soak your cares and stress away and be rejuvenated at Soak Spa…

Getting to the place we are now took hard-work, risk, faith, belief in my staff and always embracing changes along the way. On a daily basis having the ability to juggle many hats along with learning how to delegate and let go is what I believe truly has led to Soak Spa’s success. I love mentoring women, empowering them to make decisions and believing in the gifts that we all as a team bring to the spa!

Many times over the last seven years I doubted myself and struggled with the ongoing shifts of employing and maintaining staff. It has taken time to build a team and to trust in their abilities. One of the more difficult things with being a small business owner is letting go and finding a work-life balance. I started walking 20-25 miles a week outdoors and this has been a game changer for me. Allocating this time for me to be reflective and to be in nature has been transformational in helping me to let go.

I want people and our community to know that we value healing touch and how profound and needed it is for all of us. So many people in our world have never experienced nurturing touch due to trauma, fear or just not understanding how beneficial it can be.. This is why the “Foot Sanctuary” was such a heart-felt calling. It provides a truly safe space for people to experience the power of touch all while being fully clothed. We train our staff and believe that intentional touch and paying attention to the details is what makes Soak Spa such a special place.

I believe in the power of dreams, that you can come from a place of lack and change your life!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
There are so many amazing and wonderful places to visit and experience in Fort Collins. I am a New Orleans Native so food is big on my list of experiences! I enjoy taking visitors to the Silver Grill, Rainbow Cafe, Cafe Bluebird Cafe, Rise, Great Harvest Bread, Backporch Cafe and sitting outside. Lunch and dinner places I love are Tacostop, Austins, 415, Lucilles, Blue Agave, First Watch, Island Grill, Cafe Rio, Domenics, Cafe Vino, The Exchange, Ginger & Bakers, and so many more….

There are an abundance of Breweries located in Northern Colorado that guests love to visit and sample the local beers. Many of the breweries invite local Food Trucks to provide very tasty and local dishes including Charlottes’s Lil Kitchen, Mile High Lobster Shack, The Waffle Lab, Maggies Tacos, Get Plattered and more…

One must experience the abundance of bookstores and coffee houses including one of my favorites The Crooked Cup, Mugs, Lima, The Cart and to be honest I am a Starbucks fan!

There are many local boutiques for shopping if that is your scene. Some of my fav’s are Madd Style, Lemons & Lace, Kansas City Kitty, Blue Harvest, Lilah Blue, Pilar Boutique, Hearne’s Footwear, Brownes, Jax, REI and there is the Foothill’s Mall in Fort Collins and Centerra Mall in Loveland for more shopping.

Last but not least visitors must take in some much need relaxation at Soak Spa where they can book a couples retreat, spa day, a foot soak with massage party or a luxurious facial or body treatment!

Taking a walk in downtown Old Town Fort Collins, City Park, walking the many beautiful trails, hiking, paddle boarding, kayaking or boating at Horsetooth Reservoir, Cache la Poudre River Canyon and a ride up to Estes for the day and a visit to Rocky Mountain National Park is a must. Taking in a concert at the many music venues is key in FOCO as there is such a vibrant music scene here. The Lyric is a mainstay and a favorite local hangout for music, movies and more…

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are a few people I would like to recognize including my husband Jimmy Stewart, Sam Stewart my son and my former employee now partner and who I consider my spa-daughter, Gretchen Engelhorn along with many other family and friends.

My husband Jimmy supported my desire in wanting to create a Holistic Wellness Spa. I shared with him my heart-felt calling to connect with people through touch. He listened to my dreams over the years and when the opportunity presented itself he took the risk with me to open Soak Spa. He was by my side through the many sleepless nights, the ups and downs of becoming an employer, the shut-down of the spa due to Covid and the eventual reopening. He has been my advisor and my champion and has helped me navigate so many challenging and rewarding situations over the last seven years. Our son Sam was blessed with a strong and powerful body from being an avid Boulder Climber. I have called upon and taken advantage of his physical strength many times over the last seven years.

I meet Gretchen and her husband Alex 8 years ago from a mutual friend and local business owner Sarah Renee Hardin from Primp Hair Salon in Fort Collins. I discovered her organic hair salon when I moved to Fort Collins 10 years ago. I was working in advertising at the time but was trying to figure out how I could open my own spa. Sarah was a local and she was very familiar with the wellness industry in Fort Collins. She introduced me to Gretchen and Alex. Gretchen had completed her Massage Therapist Training and was hoping to begin her career in the wellness spa environment. We met and I told her once I opened my spa I would reach out to her.

On June 30th, 2017 I opened Soak Spa and Gretchen started working as a part-time Licensed Massage Therapist in August 2017 while working Full-time at a local bank. She worked two jobs for over a year until she established herself and started building a consistent clientele at the spa. Her dedication and strong work ethic were incredible. I made her an offer for a Full-time position and she accepted. It was a risky move for her and myself but it paid in spades. Gretchen shared in this dream of mine and worked tirelessly with me to to create an environment of healing in our local community. She became that person that I could rely on to help with the daily needs of managing a spa.

She became the trainer for all new Massage Therapists and lead Massage Therapist along with many other duties and responsibilities. She worked side by side and helped me manage the staff and her knowledge and gifts were invaluable. We went through the closing of the spa due to Covid in 2020 and the reopening 3 months later. We had to face so much uncertainty during that time including wearing masks so that we could still support people through healing touch. It was such a challenging and scary time for everyone. However, we were committed to our mission to provide a place of nurturing and therapeutic care.

In March 2023 Gretchen and her husband Alex became minority partners of Soak Spa. She was managing the spa for the last two years along with her other responsibilities. Around this same time we placed in a position to either move or close the spa. We took a leap of faith yet again and decided to move to a new location in Scotch Pines Shopping Center. We renovated and expanded the space and went from 1500 to 2200 square feet with 6 treatment rooms including two Couples Suites, two calming client spaces along with a larger Foot Sanctuary that allows us to offer spa parties, events and classes to the community.

We rebranded the business from Soak Spa & Foot Sanctuary to Soak Spa – Integrative Massage + Holistic Skincare and have maintained the honor of being nominated as one of the “Top Three Best Day Spas in Northern Colorado for the last 5 years!

Over the years there have numerous staff, friends and other local community partners including: Edith Dore, Abbie Reade, Janna Clark, Indrani Kelly, Tommilou Robinson, Kristin Bloom, Phil Matthews and many others over the years that have helped us reach our dreams! We also believe in supporting other local businesses including Christie Leighton Jewelry, Ambrette Gilkey, Rene’ Dillon’s body heat wraps, Karen Bailey’s art, Evolve Spine & Rehabilitation, Pure Drip IV Health & Wellness, Primp Hair Salon and many other community partners who have supported Soak Spa!

Website: https://soakspashop.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soakspafortcollins/?hl=en

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-stewart-932075301/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soakspaandfootsanctuary/

Image Credits
Greg Drissel