Latest / Be Locally Loved / 010 - Tori Clark - How Faith, Risk, and Surrender Shaped an Award-Winning Entrepreneur

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010 - Tori Clark - How Faith, Risk, and Surrender Shaped an Award-Winning Entrepreneur · Be Locally Loved

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: We all need grace and we all need we all need that moment in our life.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: It does not matter what you look like in this world.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody needs grace.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_02: Today we're featuring a special conversation that previously aired on our sister podcast, The Unbridled Creative, because its themes align beautifully with what we explore here on Be Locally Loved.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_02: We hope you enjoy it.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_02: This episode is sponsored by Be Local, the nation's leader in welcoming newcomers and connecting them to the best places to go, the best things to do, and the best businesses to use in our community.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: If you want to reach new families moving into your backyard, visit reachnewcomers.com.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_02: Hey Tori, welcome back to the Unbridled Creative Podcast.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for having me back, guys.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: Really appreciate it.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_03: It's good to have you.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_02: We're so glad that you're that you're back with us, Tori.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_02: So when we were with you the first time, you were talking to us about how you created this award-winning luxury spa.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_02: You talked to us about how you became an entrepreneur.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: You told us about your story and you told us about your culture.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_02: And it was really an amazing, inspirational conversation.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: We're so grateful for that.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_02: We know that that's blessed our listeners.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_02: Today we want to dive into like the business skills that you have used to create these successful brands.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_02: What I'd like to do is have you pick up from where we left off.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_02: You were just having the opportunity to acquire another med spa that was struggling and you love a good turnaround.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: Take us back, take us back to back then and tell us where you were then and kind of how you've gotten to where you are now.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_02: And we're we got our pen and paper, we're ready to take some notes.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: Laura, you're so funny.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: And you're so right.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: I love a good turnaround story.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: So to catch you up, we we did end up acquiring that Austin Med Spa.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: So historically, our Spa Lux brand has been non-medical.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: So we took this as an opportunity to really expand our footprint in the spa space by taking on medical.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: So that's been that's been a great journey.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: The spa itself, I would say with the the new location, the number one, the number one factor that has been the most difficult is changing the culture.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: So our our culture, we talked about it on the on the last uh podcast, is very strong.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: And a fun fact for you is a company culture takes on average, this is about to blow your mind, on average, eight years to turn around.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: What?
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, that's the average.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: So think, and that's and that's all that's the the whole spectrum, right?
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: So that's your your fortune 50 companies all the way down to like your your mom and pop.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: That's the average.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: And considering that and and me knowing that fact, I don't go into this thinking, okay, I'm gonna gain their trust, I'm we're gonna gain, you know, respect amongst each other, things are gonna be great in two months.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: That's not generally how it goes.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: But what you do find out over those first few months is who is going to be a champion for you, who is gonna be a detractor, who needs a little bit more of a push in the right direction, who do you need to spend more time with?
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: So the first few months we've spent honing in on who are our champions, who really is embracing the Spadlux experience and and wants to take that to the next level.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: So we've really been fostering those champions, and that has gotten us pretty far.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: I'll say the first month was a really rocky start because the team that that we inherited, we kept every single employee and we're really proud of that.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: So the team that we inherited, they were in fight or flight mode.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: So getting them out of fight or flight mode takes a lot of time and investment in them.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: Why are they in this fight or flight mode?
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: What can I do to mitigate that?
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: How can I support them better?
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: What does that look like?
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I can't just say, here's the spa-in-the-box concept, adapt to it, and you're going to be fine, even though that's the theory.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's what we all want so quickly.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: Doesn't happen that quickly.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: So we've really done our best.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: Our leadership team has taken their time to say, okay, here, here, here's the negative that they've been dealing with.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: How do we combat that?
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: So it's really a day-to-day, week-to-week strategy of let's see how this week goes.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: We're going to going to throw this portion of our culture in the mix.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: Let's see how this goes.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: Let's see, um, let's see if we have champions here.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: Let's see if we don't.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: Let's see if we have pushback.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: Let's see if we have um, you know, an embracing of this concept.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: And then we keep moving forward.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: So we've utilized that strategy for the past two and a half months.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: And um I uh I will tell you that we send out feedback surveys to our guests.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: And Laura has been a guest at Spotlux, so she's very familiar.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: But what that is is, you know, Trent, you come in for a massage and within 24 hours after your service, we're gonna send you a survey.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: And you can tell us anything you'd like in that survey.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's gonna have you rank on a scale of one to 10 how the experience was.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: 10 is the best.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: And then it'll say, hey, Trent, you rated you rated us a nine.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: Why'd you rate us a nine?
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: And you can put anything in that in that text box.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: So the first month, I'm just gonna be really open and vulnerable.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: The first month at SpaLux Austin, our overall feedback score was a 60.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: We have never had a feedback score for the month less than um, I would say an 85.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: Never.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: So we knew right then we had a lot of work ahead of us, not just the culture of the team, but the culture of the guests.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: And and you can attract a certain culture of guests.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_03: That's true.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: So we knew right then, not only does our team need to adapt, but how can we pull in adaptation from our customers?
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: So we got to work very quickly on that.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: I personally responded to every feedback that was what we would call a detractor.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: That gave me so much insight as an owner and operator.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: So we turned that around in December.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: Our average feedback score 100.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_03: That's huge.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um from you know, think about it in school, right?
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: To go from an F to a perfect.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: And um, and we're sending out hundreds of these.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: And we're so our um our return, if we send out feedback scores to a thousand guests, we'll receive about 300 of them back.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: So we have about a 30% response rate pretty good.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: So out of that random 30%, every single one of them in the month of December rated us a perfect 10.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: So that we were very, very proud of.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: And that just shows that that I Loris heard me use this term, but I had a lot of courageous conversations with guests, with with our team.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: And uh and it's turning around.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: Again, though, I know it takes eight years.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: So can we do it sooner?
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, eight years is the average, right?
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: And there's a lot of outliers in that.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: Can we do it sooner than eight years?
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: Faster?
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: Potentially.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: But we're really taking our time.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: But the strategy is how can we fine-tune this week after week?
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: So I would say that while we had a very rocky start, we've used a lot of technology to help us push where we need to.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: And it's definitely improving.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: The numbers are showing it's improving for us.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_02: You know, Tori, what comes to mind when you say the average is eight years?
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, that I mean, a lot of small businesses couldn't wait eight years to turn something around.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_02: They'd be out of business.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_02: But it reminds me of when that person broke the four-minute mile.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_02: Remember how people thought it was impossible for humans to run faster than a four-minute mile, and then someone did, and now lots of people do.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_02: So maybe you are redefining that eight years.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't have to be eight years.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_02: You can show people that it can be much quicker.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: I I agree.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: I will definitely tell you I can't run a four-minute mile.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_03: Heart would explode, right?
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: More than just my heart would explode, right?
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: But I think that there's definitely a secret sauce in expediting culture.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: And it's really a mix of your team, your leadership, and what facets you're using to get there.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're um, you know, we're using real-time data to give us the feedback that we need.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of operators are missing that big piece of technology.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: And if that's the case, then either A, you have to adapt to using some type of technology that gives you real-time data, or B, you need to be in the trenches a lot more.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: And there's nothing wrong with either one of those approaches.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: Budget sometimes is a constraint to having to having this type of technology.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: But I would also challenge that theory and say AI is a brilliant tool.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: There's so many AI applications.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and you can even form a simple survey on SurveyMonkey.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's it, there, there are not a lot of expensive, uh, there, there are a lot of, you know, pricey platforms, but it's very simple to use technology to bring that in.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: But the technology does nothing if you don't have a good team.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: So making sure that your team knows your mission, your values, what's what's an absolute no, and what's a we can't live without.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: And go ahead, Laura.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_02: So, Tori, if I'm uh an employee at the spa that you acquired, what is my experience of you coming in and trying to change the culture?
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_02: Can you kind of walk me through that dissect?
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_02: Like, how do you change a culture?
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: We um we came in early to the spa.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: We came in as a management partner with a 50% stake in um, I think it was like May or June of last year.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: And in the first couple of months we were there, we didn't really make many changes at all.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: We analyzed the the culture, we analyzed um the ebb and flow of the business.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: We made little tweaks here and there.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: And then we put them through really intense training.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: And that training is where we bring in our corporate, what we call our corporate trainers, our brand trainers from Svalux.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: And we train the team on what is the Lux experience, what does it look like, how does it feel?
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: Because the feeling is more important than anything.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: How does a guest feel when they leave Svalux?
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: We teach them all of our protocols.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: So there is a protocol for how you greet the guest, how you start a service, how you end a service.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we taught the Austin team all of these processes moving forward.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: They were improving month after month.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: However, what we were finding is that there was still this kickback of I'm so used to this way that I've that I've been doing things.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I'll add a fact about the business that we acquired is it is Boston, Texas longest, most tenured spa brand.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: This brand has been around for decades.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: So when you take a team, some of whom have been there for 15, 20 plus years, and you take a team that have been performing things the same way and challenging their thought process, and vice versa, they challenge some of my thought processes too.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: And we made some really positive changes based on their experience and tenure in the industry.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a two-way street.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: So what that looks like for the employee is on the I think it was two weeks before we formally took over 100% ownership.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: We brought each team member in, did I want to say an interview, but basically a one-on-one conversation where we say, Laura, this is what's happening.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we we presented everyone a job offer.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: We went into detail on our expectations, and we allowed them to ask questions.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: What does this look like?
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: What's the plan moving forward?
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: And we've been very transparent.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: And that transparency definitely gave an instant boost of respect and trust.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: And the most important is definitely the trust aspect.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: So they respected what we were doing and and what our goals are, and then they trust that we're the team to do it.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the most important part.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: So after those conversations, we went, we went into ownership.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: We were all on the same page with where we're going and the path that we're heading down.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: And we've taken some little side streets and got off a little bit and then came back.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: But we're we've been very open.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: And what open really looks like to your team is immediate coaching, coaching, immediate feedback, immediate, uh, immediate yes or noes.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: Some decisions take longer to make, but if you ask me a question and I already know the answer is no, I'm not afraid to tell you the answer is no.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: But I am going to tell you why the answer is no.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: So that's that's what it looks like for our team.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: The good thing is that this team, we we we got through some of the the muddy, difficult conversations, but they're happy to still be together.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: And we had one of our busiest days that I've seen since we've been there.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: We saw nearly 70 guests in in one day.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: And for this location, that's a lot.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_01: So we were really happy with that.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um and that also showed our leadership team where do we need to improve on this 70 guest day?
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: So we have some challenges in that space, but everything, every every trouble, every delta that we feel we have, we're overcoming it week by week.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so it's just like learning how to walk.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_03: I Tori, I wanted to reflect on a few things as I've been listening, uh, because that was my reason for listening in the beginning.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_03: Because I know where your heart is.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_03: I know your heart, and and Laura knows your heart more than I do.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_03: And what I'm hearing is your willingness to listen, your willingness to guide with it with purpose, and to make sure that your guests, your clients, are getting the best service possible and you're willing to have the hard conversations to be able to do that.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_03: And and I don't say that to put you on a pedestal.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_03: What I the reason I say that is for our listeners to say, okay, we've we've got to be, we have to have those hard conversations with people and to be transparent and to and to build trust.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_03: The only way you build trust is transparency and conversation.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_03: You know, even in in battle, what you know, a military, what do they what do they blow up first on the enemy?
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_03: Communication, right?
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, oh yeah.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_03: So so the same thing, it you'll never be successful unless you're able to communicate with each other.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_03: So you broke down any walls or barriers for communication and allowed those conversations to happen and accepted them rather than being a dictator coming in saying, okay, this is what we're gonna do, whether you like it or not, you know.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_03: So thank you for that.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's great that you touched on that point of communication.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm an I'm currently an MBA student at Baylor.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_01: And I cannot remember, it was a recent um, it was a recent course.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: I can't remember the course name, but the professor gave us some interesting facts about employers and what they're looking for in the coming years.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: And the number one concern is communication skills.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: And it's no that's no surprise, right?
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: We're we're living in this age of a lot of technology, um, both good and and bad.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_01: And by bad, I mean maybe harming some people, but but communication is the number one tool that employers are looking for.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: And if employers are looking for it, it should be the number one tool that you as a business owner should own.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um not a great communicator, that's definitely something that everyone should work on.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: And communication in all ways, verbal, written, um, all of the different facets of communication, um, even your body language.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: So I would encourage any listener listening to this right now, if you feel weak in communication, you have to make that a strength as a leader.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and Tori, I was on a uh conference yesterday and they were talking about the number two skill that employers are looking for right now is AI literacy.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_02: You're in a service-based business where human connection is of paramount importance.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_02: Is AI affecting your industry?
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_02: And if so, how?
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yes and no.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yes and no.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: So the spa industry is always going to be full of high touch points.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, when you walk into a spa, a robot's not gonna greet you and take you back.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: At least not as PaLux.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_04: No.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: That technology may come out, right?
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: But Spa Lux is definitely human-touch, human-centered.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: One of our one of our core values is making sure that you are able to disconnect when you come in to the spa.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: So you may come in and you're in the middle of finishing up emails on your phone, and that's totally fine and dandy.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: However, we have an environment that really encourages that stillness.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: But what I've noticed, and this is just me personally, is people don't like to be in the stillness anymore.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: If you lay in bed and it's just you with your thoughts, sometimes that's really scary.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: An escape is me, I don't I don't want to think about these things.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: I want to get my phone and scroll TikTok.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: So when you see people who are leaning into that technology for mental health benefits that probably are not in their best interest, we kind of have to question how far do we go with the technology that we use?
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: Though we use technology for helping us gather data and analyzing that data, we don't encourage any of our team to sit in front of an AI portal.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: That's not going to create the connection that we want.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: The best way for us to to keep um to keep building is those one-on-one interactions.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_01: In the service industry, the data tells you a lot, but what you do with that data is the most important.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: And the data is telling us to keep making the connections that's working in our favor.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_03: That's so true.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_03: That's so true.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_03: In an AI future, I I think people are going to be desiring human connection more than ever.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_03: I think they do now.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: So there is a um there is a new innovation out.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: There is an AI-driven massage.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: I I think lack of better terms, we'll call it a massage robot, but it is a company called Escape.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: And we've had a few conversations with Escape.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's a very interesting concept and innovation.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: There's a there's a large spa uh chain in New York called Equinox, and they've recently brought in Escape.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: And you'll have to look it up because it's very difficult for me to explain.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: But it's basically a massage table, and there are like robot arms that massage your body from your neck to your feet.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: It cannot massage your hands and it cannot massage your feet, um, and it cannot massage your head.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: But it's AI driven.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: So when you're when you're laying down face down on this table, there's a screen right in front of you, and you can touch the screen to tell it, you know, apply more pressure, or you can um tell it to massage a certain area.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_01: So when this first came out, I heard massage therapists say, Well, that's gonna take over our jobs.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's going to put some of us out of a job, and that's absolutely not the truth.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: This technology works with the human massage therapist.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: So this is meant for someone who is, you know what, I need a 30-minute massage on my lunch break.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna run down, do this, run out.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: And they want something really quick.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: They uh they are someone who is constantly on the run, or they just finish working out, they're gonna jump on the massage table and leave.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: So certain gyms are also bringing this technology in as an added amenity.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's a it's a piece of equipment that you must perform a lot of services on it for it to pay for itself.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: But on the flip side, where you have hands on massage treatments, the massage therapist can cater very specifically to the exact need that you have.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: They can perform massage on those areas of the body that have a lot of bones, for example, the hand.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: And your massage therapist doesn't have all of, or I'm sorry, the massage.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: table doesn't have all of the skill and education and intuition that human has.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: And intuition really is the key massage.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: Any great massage therapist, their number one skill is their is their intuition that they build up over time.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_03: And there's an element too of you know I can imagine not imagine, but I I'm aware of is the human touch.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's very powerful.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_03: You'll never replace the human touch.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, you can't.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: You cannot replace the human touch.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: And that that's a powerful point.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: And so when massage therapists were, oh my gosh, this robot's going to take over my job.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: No, it's really not because these little things, these hands that you have, no one can ever replace that.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_02: Well in the human touch literally and metaphorically, right?
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_02: So moving back to we're talking about how you have helped to turn around this med spa that you took over big reason was you came in with a human touch and you started by teaching about the human connection and your culture.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_02: What was the experience that your new customers had?
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_02: So did they know that there was new ownership?
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_02: Like how did you handle all of that?
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: So the the name that was on the spa prior so what we did was we sent out communication to all of the customers of that spa and we said this is what's going on.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: These are the changes that we're making effective November 1st the spa is under new ownership it's a new brand.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: And that was really difficult for that particular segment of guests to really soak in because some of these guests again have been coming here for 20, 30 years.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: So that was difficult because there was this emotional connection to that brand name.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_01: So coming in and being the new kid on the block and having very specific protocols and and ways that we create trust in our own brand was very different.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_01: So that's why that first month was so rough was it it was well you're not this other spa or they did it this way you don't do it this way.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes the reasoning cannot be reasoned.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: There are difficult conversations where you figure out that the story that you're being told there's no way that you can you can get over that hump.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: And that hump is I want it my old way and that's the only way I'll accept it.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_01: And so me as the new kid, I have to say, well, I'm so sorry but we're doing our best to bring our brand alignment in and I promise you that if you give this some time you will see the love that we put into our brand and into every single protocol and touch point because there's such intentional reason behind it.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_01: And we've had guests who are like yeah yeah yeah well they've visited us three times in the past two months and they're coming around it's been okay.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: But some some guests it's the emotional aspect that is the hardest hurdle to get over that emotional tie to a brand but the positive is what they're coming to find out is that it's not the brand that they were emotionally tied to, it was the person performing the service.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: So now they're they're realizing I have this great aesthetician that I've seen for the past 20 years, but she's still here she's still performing a great service and giving you now an an elevated experience.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: So so that even though that those have been difficult conversations our people are our secret sauce so if we still have the same amazing people who are performing maybe a different service protocol they're still giving you the great service that you expect.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_02: Tori I heard you say the word intention being intentional what other aspects of the the turnaround process did you give intention the what other things did you manage?
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: I would say the the biggest piece with intention is you know the the hospitality side.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: So we're very hands-on with our hospitality team we immediately found our hospitality champion and elevated her into a hospitality management role and she was key to making sure the intention of our brand which is that high touch point is is flowing throughout our team and she does a great job.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: She handles any guest concern swiftly and in a positive way I haven't seen her take a negative and not turn it into a positive and that's really saying something.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: So that hospitality side has really been where we've placed our our most intentional pieces of the puzzle because I mean Laura's had this experience and Trent you will soon I'm I I hope when you come into Spa Lux you're greeted we know your name we remember you um we're gonna talk to you about your dog if you've shared that I mean these conversations are like talking to a friend or family member.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_01: So we want you to feel so comfortable and relaxed.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_01: Going to the spa for the first time for some people is very intimidating.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_01: I remember going to the spa for the first time and I was intimidated.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of options I don't know what to expect.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: So we really try to settle that person.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_01: So teaching the new team the hospitality of we want to know Trent's name when he walks in we want to ask him how he's doing how's his wife doing we want to ask him you know certain key aspects of his life so we keep really detailed notes.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: We're going to walk you to the locker room provide you your robe and sandals prepare your beverage while while you change all of these aspects all of these intentional little touches are there to gain your trust and our brand is is built on biblical principles of service.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: So every time you need something we should be able to read that need before you have to ask and the intention is to provide the service before you ask sometimes you know we can't pick up on certain things but for the most part we're going to do our best to pick up on what you need before you ask.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_03: Makes me want to book my flight down there.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: Come on down.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah gosh love it um there's there's something that's really neat about our brand that Laura I I don't know if I've shared this with you before but you know we we talk about biblical principles and at the end of a massage service or sorry at the beginning of a massage service we have an opening breathing ritual.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: So we have a a a signature aromatherapy blend we have you inhale and exhale two to three times and then we perform a foot cleansing ritual.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_01: So we take warm hot towels and we cleanse your feet and for us is very that that's a very Jesus presence for us.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah symbolic that is why we open our massage in that never knew that Tori but I've enjoyed quite a lot of foot wraps.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yes I never knew that I love that that makes me love your brand even more yes there's a biblical tie there and that's that foot cleansing ritual that's at the beginning of each massage is a physical showing that we are there to serve you in that moment.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_02: Moving to a new town can feel overwhelming you don't know where to go you don't know what to do you don't know who to trust that's where BLocal comes in like a best friend BLocal personally welcomes newcomers and connects them to the best local businesses restaurants community events so they can feel at home faster and for local business owners be local is like a matchmaker introducing them to new families who are ready to form long lasting and local relationships.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_03: To grow your business by reaching newcomers visit reachnewcomers.com and we'll be realistic too the second part of that is some people have stinky feet so there's the second part I'm joking of course but but but actually biblically you're right because it it actually did cover both elements people had dirty stinky feet because they wore sandals and they were all sandy and and the symbology of the person serving you or the or even like the owner or the the guide being the one to wash your feet versus the servant washing your feet.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly you know the servant washing the feet of the server instead it reverses the server washing the feet of the servant wait did I get that right you know what I mean.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yes uh it's something that's really rooted in in our brand is that is that service mind that definitely has a a biblical pool for us.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_02: Let's let's lean into the brand because you obviously had to rebrand people knew the spa under one name now they know it under spa lux talk us through the process of rebranding a business.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_01: So rebranding usually if you come into a distressed business rebranding is usually not difficult and it's it's something that's needed and wanted for us coming into the brand though it was needed because that name is such such a legacy it may not have been wanted by everyone so we came in immediately changed the name I mean when I say immediate our sign company was there morning of taking the old names off the window.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_01: So we were very we were very quick because we knew that we had to start immediately.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_01: City of Austin takes a while to get hard signs on your building so we came in November 1st we're still waiting has nothing to do with the sign company but you go through permitting I mean it's a process.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: I know that all too well so by the end of the month we should have have our formal signs on the building but the the vinyl decals on the door we did day one immediately immediately took down any signage internally with within the space and put new signage up or just kept signage down in general.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_01: But that's the easy part the difficult part is teaching the existing spas guests the new name.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: So there was a lot of marketing behind the scenes where we were sending out you know text or emails or in our day-to-day phone calls, you know, educating and constantly saying the name over and over we know that that takes a lot of repetition before someone is going to excuse me recognize our name.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a lot of intention behind constantly saying our name in the spa, around the spa on the phone through marketing but that's really um you know we have everything from from the old spa brand routed to us but the great thing is we were able to keep the continuity of a lot of a lot of pieces to the puzzle like we have the same phone number the the old website for that brand links to our site there is uh there's a lot of continuity that you really don't have to think about as a customer but if you're going to a website and it's rerouting you to a different brand now we have to tell the story of why is this rerouting?
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_01: So we've done that very intentionally through a lot of marketing campaigns.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_02: What about the social media?
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_02: Did you just flip the switch one day and they were going to that same Instagram account and then it looks different how'd you handle social media?
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah so the social media so social media that takes time if you want to migrate over their um like their followers so what we did was we took everything off like we archived all of their all of their posts and there's just one post that says there's a post from the um from the family that owned the spa prior that says you know thank you so much for your business and it goes into some detail about the the acquisition and then there's a post that says hey connect with us now at you know Spa Lux TX so so there's two posts that you'll see everything else has been archived.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_01: What we're currently doing is working with those social platforms to migrate the followers over and then we can close those accounts but that that is a process because you have to provide a lot of documentation to them to prove that you actually acquired the brand and the rights to do that.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_02: I probably gave a lot more detail the look I know no I I didn't even know you could do that.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_02: I thought like once you created an Instagram account it was what it is forever and ever so it's good to know there is something behind the scenes where you can work with the mothership to try to integrate something.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah it's it's a process and I uh I can't say that I'm doing that at all.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_01: Her we have someone on our team that's that's in charge of that but I um when she stated we could do that I like you I had no idea you could do that.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't either but there is a process that you have to go through to make sure all your I's are dotted and T's are crossed.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_01: So if it was easy I would really be skeptical.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah it's a bit of an arduous process but we we hope to get there sooner rather than later.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_02: Well and those companies they do a good job making sure you can't talk to a human.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_02: So if you do have something you know random like that that you need a human's help with like it's interesting to know that somewhere behind all of that automation is a human that can actually help you.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_01: So that's nice to hear it is difficult I mean most of this process is there's no human touch in there.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_02: Mm-hmm has to process it at some point but yeah that's Tori what what about the visual side of the brand the in spa experience did you change colors of the walls and did you change furniture?
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_02: Like did you put up your Fabicon like what it what did you do to change the inside of the space to the new brand?
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_01: There are a few things that we removed from the space um and the few elements that we brought in at our flagship location which is our Georgetown location our flagship location there is a lot of greenery there's a lot of what I would call like earthy tones.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_01: And not necessarily like earthy tones in terms of paint colors but all of the little touches of the decor that we have or you know rugs I mean every little thing is extremely intentional.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_01: So when it's a very comfortable feeling environment in Austin it's such a beautiful space but it's very very modern and when you go to Georgetown it's a very modern space but it's very comfortable.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_01: So in Austin everything is white you have white walls white white white and it can feel very clinical at times.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_01: So we are slowly integrating soft touches so while we don't plan to repaint the entire space we definitely plan to bring in certain elements slowly we want this again to be a week by week little changes because in that first month we learn our guest does not want fast changes.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_01: So that's fine we can go and go a little slower.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_01: Eventually what you'll see is that both spaces have a lot of cohesive similar elements we want there to be a big tie-in between the two so whether you go to Austin or you go to Georgetown you'll see the touches of the SpoLux brand in both they don't have to be identical we want the Austin location to have its have its own vibe it definitely has a different demographic there are different types of people at each location even though the locations are only about 20 minutes apart.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah that's crazy in it they definitely have their their own feel and we will not take that away but we will make sure that there is a tie in to both that continuity of the brand stays there.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_01: So over the next year we've got some construction plans and you know taking some walls up and moving things around we're going to create a little bit more revenue generating space within the spa and we need uh we need some more guest amenities that that we want to bring in we need a larger waiting area and we've got some cool elements that that the Austin spa will have that fits into the the the vibe of the Austin landscape that we're really excited to launch.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome I would love Tori for you to touch on what you're doing to bring new customers into that location and like what's happened since you took it over what kind of sales growth have you seen what are things you've done to drive revenue for that new location that's a great question.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_01: So the three things so number one our our focus has been on maintaining the the retention of the current guests.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_01: Cost wise it's a lot more cost effective to keep the guests that you have so we have put a lot more resources into making sure that happens.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_01: The second thing is we've got really great retail partnerships.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_01: We have one large wholesale big box store that carries our gift cards and that has been um a very strategic partnership for us.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_01: And they early on told us yes if you acquire this Austin location we will allow you to sell gift cards in our stores so in the Austin area.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_01: Wonderful so that's an element that's an outlet for us and then of course you have your marketing package of your website social media um Google AdWords Yelp we do a little bit of print media Laura's my favorite print media with BeLocal.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_01: And so from there moving forward we're going to see because it's only been again it's only been two and a half months we have to see where the return is for a first full quarter and fine tune and we're fine tuning monthly but Google has been a great driver for us um in our in our big box partnership has been a great driver specifically for us.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_02: I'd also love you to talk about something I've heard you just speak about at the chamber the topic of resilience.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_02: Talk to us about that word.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_02: What does it mean to you how have you used your own resilience in this turnaround?
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I don't think I can talk about resilience without talking about um having courageous conversations and really that's at the key to being resilient.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_01: So it ties back to you know what what what Trent touched on with communication.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_01: If you can't communicate through the hard times you're probably a poor communicator in the good times too.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_01: So for me that's those courageous conversations have been the key element to get us through this tough time.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_01: When I inherited Clark Travel that was a charter bus brand that was going into bankruptcy and I had the most courageous conversations.
• 42:23
  SPEAKER_01: There's nothing like talking to someone on the phone and saying hey I owe you millions of dollars please give me time and that was when I was 24 years old.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_01: So I really had no idea what I was doing but I communicated well enough to to earn some trust there.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_01: And what I would say to any entrepreneur who maybe is in the trenches and they're struggling right now, whether that's mentally emotionally financially those courageous conversations are going to get you through it.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_01: Whether it's a courageous conversation to just say Trent I'm really struggling can you just pray for me sometimes that's a courageous conversation or it's Laura I know I owe you$500 for this can you please give me an extra month these conversations people feel like oh I failed if I have to ask someone to pray for me I should be praying for other people or if I should ask you know Laura for more time to pay something I'm failing because I'm not paying my bills we all need grace and we all need we all need that moment in our life it does not matter what you look like in this world everybody needs grace.
• 43:38
  SPEAKER_01: Amen to that amen doesn't matter your wealth what you look like what you've done because I'll tell you right now the wealthiest person in the world will need some grace oh yeah on that day we can all guarantee we can all guarantee that everyone will need grace At some point.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_01: And with wealth comes a lot of opportunity, but it also comes a lot of challenges.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_01: So the wealthiest person still has challenges.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_01: There's that saying more money, more problems, right?
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_01: Grace is a long way in that.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but but grace, that's how you'll get through it.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_01: Having grace for yourself, grace for your team, your customers, your your brand, your vendor partners, and vice versa.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_01: Because when you give it, you will get it back.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_01: So that's definitely my number one, my number one piece of advice if you're in the trenches.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_01: But grace I love that.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_01: Grace for your team.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_02: Before we wrap, Tori, I would love for you to tell the domino story.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_02: Oh goodness.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 44:53
  SPEAKER_02: It's such a it's such a good one, and you're kind of famous for it now with all the awards you've won.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you've you've spoken from the stage and told this story many times.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_02: And it's profound.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_02: It I actually, after I heard you tell the domino story, I went and printed some cards over at Roberts Printing that said, Thank you for being a domino.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I sent it to my Be Local sponsors because I believe that every issue of Be Local sparks a positive chain reaction.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_02: So will you tell us the domino story?
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I love that it inspired you.
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I just did the very first time I told this story on a stage, I had people call me, text me, email me, and let me know hey, because of you, I now walk around with a domino in my pocket, or because of you, I felt this connection, and I'm going to do XYZ.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_01: So um it makes me feel fantastic when I hear that it's made some type of effect uh on someone.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_01: So Trent, I'm gonna tell you like I've never heard of a Yes.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_04: Please.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_01: I had so many people in my life pour into me.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm gonna give you the short version, but there is uh the domino effect of people, and I'm gonna tell you the short version of what that looked like for me.
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_01: So I remember when I was, I think um, it started when I was about 10 years old.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_01: My dad was having, he was a single parent, it was just he and I, he was having some financial difficulties, and I remember going to the bank, and I was young, so I I didn't quite know why we were there.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_01: But in hindsight, it was my dad asking for more time to pay our mortgage.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_01: And this was in the mid-90s.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_01: So we went in month after month after month.
• 46:41
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember my dad would go into the vice president's office and they would chat about the situation, I assume.
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I would sit out front with their receptionists or the vice president secretary at the time, and a nice lady, and she'd always give me a lollipop.
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_01: And um I our house ended up going into foreclosure.
• 47:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember the day it was foreclosed on, my dad waited till the very last minute.
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_01: We moved out on foreclosure day.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_01: And foreclosure day in the 90s, um, this is before, you know, your online bidding process, they were auctioning off the house in the front yard.
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_01: And as a kid, the turning point for me in my life was walking out of the house with a box of my belongings, looking over at my dad who was loading a television with his friend onto a trailer and seeing my dad's face and seeing the look of I feel defeated, I let my child down, I let myself down, how could I have done this?
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_01: That look, I knew in that moment I will never, I I will never have this look because I don't want to be in this situation.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_01: So the rest of my life I have spent trying to ensure I never ended up in that situation.
• 48:07
  SPEAKER_01: And my dad was phenomenal.
• 48:09
  SPEAKER_01: What he doesn't know is in that moment, it taught me the biggest life lesson.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_01: So it makes me emotional talking about it.
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_01: But years later, years later, I inherited my grandparents' charter bus company was going into bankruptcy.
• 48:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I knew that I needed to find somebody to help me keep the books and and make you know positive financial decisions because I was 24.
• 48:33
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't really know a lot.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_01: So uh I was interviewing for a CFO position, and I put out an ad and I had a lot of response and I kind of narrowed it down to two or three people.
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_01: One of them I interviewed um at a little cafe in Maynard, Texas called Highway 290 Cafe.
• 48:54
  SPEAKER_01: And um, we were sitting in the booth, and she had a really extensive background in finance and banking.
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_01: So I asked her to expand on that and tell me a little bit more.
• 49:04
  SPEAKER_01: She said, Well, I spent the majority of my banking career with one particular institution.
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_01: I said, I remember, I know the name of that bank.
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_01: I remember them.
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_01: She said, Oh, how do you know them?
• 49:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, uh, it's a long story, but short story is our mortgage when I was a kid was held with that bank and it was foreclosed on.
• 49:22
  SPEAKER_01: She said, Oh man, I'm I'm really sorry to hear that.
• 49:25
  SPEAKER_01: She said, I spent a long time with that bank.
• 49:27
  SPEAKER_01: I said, Yeah, it's okay.
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_01: I remember as a kid going to the bank, and now I know it was my dad pleading for more time.
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I sat outside with the receptionist and she'd give me a sucker.
• 49:38
  SPEAKER_01: And then all of a sudden I look at this lady and she's crying.
• 49:41
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, Hey, it's okay.
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's totally fine.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have to, like, please don't cry about it because you know, things really turned around in in my life for me.
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_01: And she said, No, she said, I remember you.
• 49:56
  SPEAKER_01: She said, I remember you.
• 49:58
  SPEAKER_01: You, she said you had big glasses and really blonde hair.
• 50:03
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, she said, your dad was a tall guy, really dark hair.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, she said he went by a nickname, and I said, Yeah, he did.
• 50:14
  SPEAKER_01: And she said, Your dad is James Michael Clark.
• 50:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, Yes.
• 50:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I knew right then she was telling me the truth.
• 50:23
  SPEAKER_01: She was the receptionist that gave me this.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my gosh.
• 50:27
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_01: So my domino story is every time you give an act of kindness, or you uh do something that I call human, just being just being a good human, or you push someone in a positive direction and you encourage them, or you lift them up in a really bad place, you're pushing this domino forward that's going to topple over just a mound of positivity.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_01: And you don't know what that looks like.
• 50:58
  SPEAKER_01: She doesn't know that giving me a sucker when I'm, you know, wherever, eight, ten years old is going to turn into her helping me turn around the business when I'm 24.
• 51:12
  SPEAKER_01: So the power of pushing someone forward in the smallest ways is exponential.
• 51:19
  SPEAKER_01: So I always encourage everyone to walk with a domino in their pocket or purse.
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_01: Somewhere where you touch and see the domino often, you will remember, you know what, what have I done today that I've helped somebody, or I've just checked in on someone, or I've sent them a positive message.
• 51:39
  SPEAKER_01: I know this person is going through something.
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_01: And doing it from a place of true love and service, not ever expecting anything back.
• 51:49
  SPEAKER_01: But what I can tell you is that what I have received back from that is priceless.
• 51:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I can't put a price on seeing the changes in people's lives.
• 52:01
  SPEAKER_01: So walk with the domino, Trent.
• 52:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna mail you one.
• 52:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 52:05
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 52:06
  SPEAKER_03: I've I've got goosebumps, my eyes were welling up, and I'm like, okay, compose yourself, Trent.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_03: You know.
• 52:16
  SPEAKER_01: I've shared this story so many times in in large groups and in small groups, and there's always, I always have this piece of emotion that is very hard for me to hold back because it's such such a real story to live.
• 52:33
  SPEAKER_01: And when I tell the story, I can see the people in the story, and it just brings me back to that moment that was such a turning point in my life.
• 52:45
  SPEAKER_01: And if we all sat here and and thought about it, you each know someone in your life that made a positive impact.
• 52:51
  SPEAKER_01: And that was a domino for you.
• 52:53
  SPEAKER_01: We all have many, many dominoes.
• 52:56
  SPEAKER_01: My soccer coach, coach panel, big domino for me.
• 52:59
  SPEAKER_01: And we can all look back on childhood and adulthood and think of those positive dominoes.
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_03: And sometimes they're just those small little moments.
• 53:08
  SPEAKER_03: Sometimes when we think ourselves when we're serving someone that, oh, I didn't do enough.
• 53:14
  SPEAKER_03: You know, if you're a servant-minded person, you're probably thinking that way.
• 53:18
  SPEAKER_03: Man, what else could I have done better?
• 53:20
  SPEAKER_03: But just caring for people.
• 53:23
  SPEAKER_03: And I think one thing that's carried through our whole entire conversation today is the human touch.
• 53:29
  SPEAKER_03: You know, that that human being human toward other humans, right?
• 53:35
  SPEAKER_03: Doing what God has planned from the beginning to give each other grace, even when we don't deserve it.
• 53:42
  SPEAKER_03: Because that's Jesus did that.
• 53:44
  SPEAKER_03: We didn't deserve it.
• 53:44
  SPEAKER_03: I'm glad I don't get what I deserve, right?
• 53:48
  SPEAKER_01: You know, in thinking about the the climate of our world today, you know, not just our nation, but our world, think about what a little grace would do in every aspect, in every aspect of policy, and every aspect of how we live our everyday life.
• 54:05
  SPEAKER_01: If everyone just doubled the amount of grace they gave, imagine how much different the world would be.
• 54:12
  SPEAKER_03: So much.
• 54:13
  SPEAKER_02: What a great way to end our conversation with you today, Tori.
• 54:17
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, before we wrap, how can people connect with you?
• 54:20
  SPEAKER_02: What website, what social media?
• 54:22
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 54:22
  SPEAKER_01: You can find me on LinkedIn, Victoria Tori Clark.
• 54:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you can connect with our brand.
• 54:29
  SPEAKER_01: Instagram is at Spa Lux TX.
• 54:31
  SPEAKER_01: You can email me, Victoria at Spa Lux.
• 54:34
  SPEAKER_01: And remember, Lux has an E on the end at spalux.com.
• 54:38
  SPEAKER_01: Those are three great ways.
• 54:40
  SPEAKER_02: We thank everybody for joining us today.
• 54:42
  SPEAKER_02: Tori, you've blessed so many people by sharing your your story and leading us through this conversation about how you've turned around this business.
• 54:49
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for being with us today.
• 54:50
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks, Trent.
• 54:51
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks, Laura, for having me again today.
• 54:53
  SPEAKER_04: Come bless you.
• 54:54
  SPEAKER_02: Now it's time for the break-free blueprint.
• 54:57
  SPEAKER_02: Three key takeaways you can carry into your week to help you live a life unbridled.
• 55:03
  SPEAKER_02: This episode is sponsored by BeLocal, the nation's leader in welcoming newcomers and connecting them to the best places to go, the best things to do, and the best businesses to use in our community.
• 55:15
  SPEAKER_02: If you want to reach new families moving into your backyard, visit reachnewcomers.com.
• 55:22
  SPEAKER_02: There's a lot of good takeaways there.
• 55:24
  SPEAKER_02: Let's focus on three.
• 55:26
  SPEAKER_02: My first one was culture doesn't change through force or speed.
• 55:31
  SPEAKER_02: It changes through trust, consistency, and courageous conversations over time.
• 55:37
  SPEAKER_02: And this is why that's important.
• 55:39
  SPEAKER_02: You know, if you're leading, if you're in business right now and you're leading through pressure or uncertainty, it reminds all of us that obedience and patience matters more than a quick fix.
• 55:51
  SPEAKER_03: Isn't that so true?
• 55:52
  SPEAKER_03: I I know one of my favorite scriptures in the Bible is be still and know that I'm God.
• 55:57
  SPEAKER_03: And what that means, breaking it down, is when we are to be still.
• 56:02
  SPEAKER_03: It's for us to sometimes it means to pause.
• 56:05
  SPEAKER_03: It also means to still our mind and to focus on what God's doing, right?
• 56:10
  SPEAKER_03: That's what the main emphasis of that scripture is.
• 56:13
  SPEAKER_03: Know that God's at work.
• 56:14
  SPEAKER_03: Be still, be calm, don't be anxious for anything, and know that he's at work.
• 56:19
  SPEAKER_03: And when Tori spoke of courageous conversations, that's the key to that really is communicating not only with people, but with God and knowing what his plan is, right?
• 56:33
  SPEAKER_03: And to be courageous through the process, stepping through what you're unfamiliar with and just doing what's right, you know, doing what people need, giving people grace, like she said.
• 56:45
  SPEAKER_03: If we just gave each other a little bit of grace, everything would be different.
• 56:49
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that was actually my second takeaway.
• 56:52
  SPEAKER_02: Small acts of grace.
• 56:53
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't even know that's good.
• 56:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, small acts of grace, small acts of kindness can create a ripple effect that, you know, we might never see, but lives can be shaped and futures can be changed.
• 57:06
  SPEAKER_02: And when we feel unseen or wonder if our efforts are really mattering, Tori's story about the domino really reminds us to trust that God multiplies faithfulness beyond what we can measure.
• 57:20
  SPEAKER_03: And I think we we may have gone over that.
• 57:22
  SPEAKER_03: I I think we went, she told a little bit of that story on the first episode as well, which is so inspirational to know that, you know, when I was just saying about God's at work at all times.
• 57:33
  SPEAKER_03: Why do we question what his plan is?
• 57:35
  SPEAKER_03: We only question his plan when it doesn't turn out our way, right?
• 57:39
  SPEAKER_03: You know, so it's a very difficult thing to know exactly what's going to happen next, you know.
• 57:45
  SPEAKER_03: And in our human nature, we want to know what's next.
• 57:49
  SPEAKER_03: But what's what's our job in that?
• 57:51
  SPEAKER_03: What's our responsibility in that?
• 57:53
  SPEAKER_03: It's to give grace to people.
• 57:55
  SPEAKER_03: It's to be proactive in our nature towards people and to touch people's hearts in a way that is we're serving them.
• 58:02
  SPEAKER_03: If that's our responsibility, those are the seeds that we plant versus wanting whatever growth that we want from the seeds.
• 58:12
  SPEAKER_03: It's the growth that God wants.
• 58:13
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that's the hard part of that we all live with is living in surrender versus striving.
• 58:21
  SPEAKER_02: We need to do an episode on planting seeds.
• 58:24
  SPEAKER_02: Like I we can go really deep into that.
• 58:26
  SPEAKER_02: I would love to do that.
• 58:27
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, my third takeaway was that technology and AI can support leadership, but it should never replace human intuition, human presence, and human connection.
• 58:39
  SPEAKER_02: Why?
• 58:40
  SPEAKER_02: Because in a noisy AI automated world, your calling as a leader is to stay human, stay grounded, stay relational instead of hiding behind tools.
• 58:52
  SPEAKER_03: I like that.
• 58:53
  SPEAKER_03: And you know what?
• 58:54
  SPEAKER_03: The reason I'm going, ooh, like I haven't heard that before.
• 58:57
  SPEAKER_03: I haven't, you know, we purposely sometimes we purposely, actually, most of the time, we purposely, I don't know what those three points are when you read them.
• 59:07
  SPEAKER_03: And so the nature of the show and the the the blueprint at the end, the reason why we do this is for it to be a surprise to me when you read that, and for you to read it, because you haven't read it yet either.
• 59:20
  SPEAKER_03: You know, so we take that that information, put it together in three points, and reflect on it.
• 59:24
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, when it comes to AI tools, I know right now, especially, and I I don't think it's going to change anytime soon, it's it's scary to not know what's happening next.
• 59:34
  SPEAKER_03: It's scary to know, you know, if you're in the process, I know we have been in the process of figuring out AI solutions for not only ourselves, but other companies and stuff.
• 59:45
  SPEAKER_03: And when you're exploring those things, each day changes, and you're like, wait, I thought I had a good thing.
• 59:51
  SPEAKER_03: Now I'm doubting that.
• 59:52
  SPEAKER_03: It's really difficult right now.
• 59:54
  SPEAKER_03: So focusing on the human touch or the human the humanness of things, what that means is it's focusing on what problem can you solve for someone.
• 1:00:04
  SPEAKER_03: And can the tool, whether it be AI or any other tool, help you solve that problem and assist you in that guidance, not to replace you, because no one can replace the unbridled creative.
• 1:00:18
  SPEAKER_03: God created that.
• 1:00:19
  SPEAKER_03: And AI was created by man or people, men and women, you know what I mean?
• 1:00:24
  SPEAKER_03: And so I I think the wisdom of knowing our place in technology, like when she was talking about the escape massage robot, whatever it's called, that doesn't replace human touch and it can't.
• 1:00:37
  SPEAKER_03: It never will.
• 1:00:38
  SPEAKER_03: But you certainly need people that repair it and keep improving it, make it better, but it will never replace a human being.
• 1:00:46
  SPEAKER_03: Human engine uh uh discernment and creativity can really never be replaced by AI.
• 1:00:52
  SPEAKER_03: I don't care how good it is.
• 1:00:54
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and we just heard Tori tell her story of how she's turned around this kind of struggling med spa, and that was through human connection and human conversations and courageous conversations.
• 1:01:07
  SPEAKER_02: And it was a slow intentional process, like a machine is not going to be able to handle something like that with nuance and human um, you know, that physically.
• 1:01:20
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that's a a huge takeaway from today's show is that the human connection is what matters.
• 1:01:26
  SPEAKER_02: It's what made made Tori successful.
• 1:01:29
  SPEAKER_02: It's what shaped her life, her her whole since she was little and went through that story she shared with us.
• 1:01:34
  SPEAKER_02: And I know today was uh a huge blessing for our audience.
• 1:01:38
  SPEAKER_02: And what do we say when we uh say goodbye?
• 1:01:42
  SPEAKER_02: We say don't forget to be bold, break free, and live unbridled.
• 1:01:48
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks everybody.
• 1:01:49
  SPEAKER_02: Bye.
• 1:01:49
  SPEAKER_03: Blessings.
• 1:01:50
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for joining us for Be Locally Loved.
• 1:01:53
  SPEAKER_02: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with someone who cares about building thriving communities as much as we do.
• 1:02:01
  SPEAKER_02: Until next time, love where you live.