Page 8 - Healthcare News Nov_Dec, 2020

Urban Oasis
SkinCatering Moves into Larger Space in Tower Square
By Joseph Bednar
When spas were allowed to reopen several months ago following a statewide economic shutdown, clients of SkinCatering, LLC were happy to return — even if booking became a little trickier.
“I haven’t been able to meet the demand,” owner Leanne Sedlak said, noting that
some staff couldn’t return during a raging pandemic because they or a family member were immunocompromised, while fewer cli- ents than normal were allowed in the space, and extra time had to be added in between appointments for cleaning and sanitizing.
“I feel like we’ve been limping along in
a way,” she added. “It is frustrating for the client, and it’s hard to tell them, ‘no, we’re booked up for the next three weeks because we have two people working.’”
Meeting that demand will be easier now that SkinCatering has moved downstairs to the main level of Tower Square in down- town Springfield, in a larger, renovated space offering massage, skin care, hair and nail treatments, among other services.
“It’s nice coming down here,” she said.
“We’re definitely blessed because we know other businesses had the opposite experience, so our heart goes out to them for sure.”
“We can offer them more relaxing experi- ences, and we have a little more space as well to keep everybody spread out, so we can have more services happening at the same time.”
Sedlak and Kim Brunton-Auger, a licensed aesthetician who joined the company in 2012 and now serves as vice president of skin-care development, celebrated the move downstairs with a VIP event last week, tak- ing time amid the bustle to recognize the challenge of keeping their enterprise not only alive, but thriving during a year of un- precedented challenge for small businesses.
“We’re definitely blessed because we know other businesses had the opposite experi- ence, so our heart goes out to them for sure,” Sedlak said. “We’re very grateful; we know how fortunate we are in that regard.”
Hit the Road
Like many who start down the path of entrepreneurship, Sedlak did so out of necessity. In 2010, the U.S. was dealing with a different sort of eco- nomic crisis, the Great Reces- sion, and both she and her husband were laid off from their jobs.
So, when she finished her time in massage school, she went into business for herself with a venture she would call SkinCatering. At first, it was a traveling enterprise, with Sed- lak taking her massage table door to door.
“I’d load up my Tahoe with all my stuff and drive to my first appointment of the day, and that would pay for my gas the rest of the day,” she recalled. “To be in this space now, to build something like this, and to be in business for 10 years, feels validating.”
Since opening a salon in Tower Square toward the end of 2013, the company — main- ly focused on massage and skin care — has grown significantly over the years, and the new space will allow for a salon and nail services, which had been a dream of Brunton-Auger’s for some time.
These days, SkinCatering offers massages, body wraps, waxing, Reiki, facials, an infra- red sauna, and more. The company formu- lates its own line of skin-care products that don’t use harsh chemicals and are vegan, gluten-free, and ‘cruelty-free,’ meaning they’re not tested on animals.
“That’s been the mission all along,” Sedlak said of the company’s ‘clean’ products. “It’s a big trend now, and I hate using the word ‘trend’ because it’s not going away; it’s a way of life now. I love it when other estheti- cians discover our products and their clients have great results.”
Indeed, SkinCatering sells its products
in other salons, and is also commissioned by other companies to create private-label products. Both Sedlak and Brunton-Auger would like to see the skin-care line grow in the future.
While retaining its original location up- stairs for offices and a product-development laboratory, the new space downstairs is completely dedicated to client services,
Leanne Sedlak (right) and Kim Brunton-Auger renovate the mani-pedi area of their new location.
including four rooms for massages — includ- ing always-popular couples massages — and skin care, as well as two hair stations, two stations for manicures and pedicures, and an infrared sauna for one or two people. The latter is perfect, Sedlak said, for people who might want to try a sauna experience, but are intimidated by a larger, group sauna at
a gym.
Equally important is a comfortable, subtly
lit ‘tranquility area’ where clients can sit between appointments for multiple services, or while waiting on a friend, while sipping tea or water — a more important amenity now that each piece of furniture and surface must be well-sanitized between treatments. “It’s part of the spa experience now instead of there being an awkward pause,” Sedlak said.
“We have to take extra time to super-sani-
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