Between the Sheets

I missed the Performance!

For the last month or so my To do List just gets longer and longer, and it does not matter how many things I accomplish every day it feels like I am adding more items than I am crossing out. I used to get immense enjoyment out of writing my lists and goals and deadlines and then crossing things out, but as a Spa Director it just does not work that way. To try and make things run smoother and avoid misunderstandings on what needs to be done by when, I developed a system in which my management team and I share our calendars/appointments, etc. I even send it to the GM's Executive Assistant just to make sure that if I am not on site or have something big going on at the Spa my darling boss is not also expecting me to "sit" in a three hour meeting. Yeap! It happens that is the main reason I came up with the calendar sharing.

Why am I upset? Well, because I feel I have no control over my days no matter how much I plan or how hard I try. I had this entry on everyone's calendar and notes; "Please team, Mr. R, everyone, do not forget that I am OFF on 3/16 - J's school performance, can not miss this one! Or be late!"  At 9am yesterday (3/16!) I get a call from my boss's assistant to tell me that I was needed for an urgent meeting at 11am with Mr. R, that it was mandatory and it would be short since he was aware I have to be someplace else by 2pm. I felt like I should not have answered the call but since they pay for my cell phone with the intent and purpose of being able to call me anytime, I always feel like I should not answer, even on my days off. I have to get smarter about this.

So to the meeting I went; Mr. R was furious, he called in every department head, we made the paper with a very bad customer review and it was on the Internet too. Our owner called Mr. R yelling at him, the PR office called Mr. R asking for details so they could spin it and the lawyers called Mr. R to explain how much this situation might end up costing the company. Mr. R called us to yell at us and explain the situation to us, especially to me since the Spa was apparently the worst offender in the eyes of the customer!!!! So I was in deep and I had no idea yet what the complain was about, when did it happen, nothing. He was not happy, I was not happy, nobody was happy. He wanted print outs, receipts, security phone logs. He had us all run back to our offices with the name of the client, the dates of their stay to get anything and everything we had on them. He wanted my notes on the initial complaint, he did not like the apology letter I had sent the client. He did not like how anyone handled this guest. I could not remember the specific details he wanted because I was thinking of J and how upset he would be that I was yet one more time putting work ahead of him and my motherly obligations, and also because the incident was from two months ago and in my view it had been handled to the customer's satisfaction. I could not get more details unless I went back to my office to go through my notes, agendas, appointment book but I was not about to volunteer to do that. Yes, I understood how upsetting and bad for the company this situation was, but I also felt that we would not help anything by being in a meeting being yelled at and blaming everyone. To make this better we needed to come up with an action plan of how to handle similar situations in the future and who and how to call this client now to fix it.

At 1pm I stepped out of the meeting to call the school to get a message to J explaining that I would be a little late to please leave my ticket at the box office. I left him a voice message in his cell just in case he would be able to check before he went on stage. I was super stressed, trying to come up with a way to get out, trying to think of how to gently remind my boss that I was supposed to be someplace else and that it was my first day off in 20, but every time any of us tried to speak he would get madder and madder and yell more and more and we figured it would be best to let him get it out of his system. It was not working; he was like the Energizer bunny that would not stop. At 3pm he dismissed us, with a list of things to get back to him by 9am the next morning.

I ran to my car, broke all the speeding and traffic laws and made it just as the curtain was coming down at the end of the performance. J took his sweet time coming out of the dressing room, all his friends went back in to tell him his Mom was waiting. When he came out he looked so disappointed it broke my heart. I tried to explain while he listened very patiently, but kept saying "Mom you promised you would not miss it this time." As I was driving us to dinner I kept thinking and trying to come up with more reasons to justify why I had allowed this to happen, why had I not stood my ground and just told my boss I could not be at the meeting? Why did I not walk out when I had to? In his immense wisdom J says to me "Mom, what was the worst that could happen if you reminded your boss you had to leave no later than 1pm to make it to my performance?"

I realized then than the fear of not being seen as a competent or a serious professional, of not being seeing as devoted to my career and the Spa, were the reasons for me to have allowed the day to end how it did. Fear is a powerful thing and when we are afraid we create the obstacles to achieve balance, the road blocks and half the stress we endure. I promised myself that I had to figure out a way to fulfill my professional obligations without allowing them to consume me and create days like today. ONLY I could effect true change in how I handle this part of my life. No career or job is more important to me than my precious children; I could not keep putting work first. I feel there was a lesson here from the universe and if it had not happened maybe I would not have started to analyze things differently.

I am still sad and J is still disappointed but I get one more chance tomorrow, when they do the last night of the show, and no matter what Mr. R comes up or the Spa is going through, I am getting in the car and leaving exactly at 1pm! As J said "What is the worst that can happen?" My pile of emails and voice messages might be double, but the Spa will still be there and my duties will be waiting for me, that does not sound so impossible or so important for me compared to missing out on seeing my son on stage.

Important Note: "Between the Sheets-A Spa Director's Diary" is Copyright 2005-2007 by Zahira J Coll. All rights reserved. No part of these stories shall be reproduced in any form or by any means, without written permission by the author. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of information contained herein. The stories are autobiographical; however names, characters, places and incidents have been changed to protect identities.

The Vichy, the Scrub and the Exposure

After months of my boss asking me to figure out what to do with my two undersold, huge and luxurious Wet Rooms, I was very proud and happy to finally present to him a new treatment with all the support and training for the process and selling techniques. As prepared as I was, I had not planned on every possible situation.

Two weeks ago I rolled out our 25 minute "Vichy Delight Scrub". All the technicians had been trained, the computer system programmed to make sure we would do this right, the Spa Front Desk and Reservations Agents had received the treatment, had learned the talking points and how to book it in the system. The buzz was all over the Spa about this great, new, 25 minute, super heavenly scrub with the rain effect of the Vichy. I had done so much show and tell being the body for the practices that my skin was starting to look like a prune. But it was all worth it until today. During these two weeks we had some minor water temperature issues and some water strength fluctuations, but Engineering kept telling us that it was because we were not handling the Vichy controls well and it took some learning and adjusting. So we took the time to really learn how to operate this contraption and we decided we were ready to perform the treatment on guests.

Yesterday we had our first day of back to back appointments in these rooms, one new customer every 30 minutes. Technically speaking the Vichy is only turned off at the end of each treatment, and only for a couple of minutes while we get the customer out of the room. So the water should stay pretty much at the programmed temperature, right? Well I am obviously no engineer because no matter what we did all day the water went from freezing cold to scalding hot with the customers on the table. Yikes! By noon I had to re-scheduled the rest of the day's appointments because we had two alleged burns from the water, and two other very upset customers from how cold it got during their treatment. I was not going to risk having to deal with more possible burns and any complaints related to the water temperature. I spent all afternoon trying to get Engineering to fix it. In the end they were saying we don't know how to use it, and we were saying they have a water heater problem or something mechanical they needed to fix. Nobody was getting anywhere, so I decided to do the most logical thing, which in retrospect I wonder what I was thinking...

Today at 9am I got ready to receive the Vichy Delight. My lead therapist was performing the treatment and the Chief Engineer was in the room to evaluate what was going on with the equipment, the water, the human component, any variable that could be causing this mess. First I forgot the Chief Engineer had never gotten a spa treatment in his life, second I forgot I would be pretty much naked and wet with only a towel over my body. He was standing in the room at a good distance so he would not get too wet, but he was uncomfortable and wanted to cover his eyes. My lead therapist was explaining step by step everything we did with the equipment and with the customer so that he had a good idea of what the treatment was like, even with his eyes closed. As she was applying the scrub on my back, my back was to him but I was in a sitting position, so I was trying to not think about the fact that he could probably see part of my butt if he decided to open his eyes at this precise moment. I was feeling pretty exposed, but kept telling myself, "We are all professionals trying to fix a problem." Everything was going well, the temperature was perfect and we were half way through the treatment when the water went from normal to freezing cold. I jumped off the massage table faster than Speedy Gonzalez, the towel went flying and there I stood completely naked in front of my very embarrassed, about to faint Chief Engineer, who swears he only opened his eyes for a second because I screamed. And all I could think was, "Why on earth did I not wear a swimsuit?"

This was not the logical solution I had in mind and we are no where near figuring out what the problem is. Luckily, the Chief Engineer is now motivated by the embarrassment of the experience to help us find a way to continue providing this treatment without complaints from the customers. Yes, this kind of thing only happens in a Spa.

Stay tuned....for more stories from "Between the Sheets - A Spa Director's Diary"

Yes, the stories are real, they are based on my journal entries as I started, grew and ended my career as a Spa Director. The names, locations and some characters have been changed to protect identities.

My first full moon....no kidding!

I got a speeding ticket on my way to work; which made me late for the operations meeting this morning, which made my boss mad. But that was actually the BEST part of my day, within 30 minutes of arriving at my office I felt I had entered an old episode of the Twilight Zone combined with an episode of The X-Files. First I check my voice mail messages and I hear the following: "This is Sandy, just calling to let you know that my energy chart says I can not give energy out today cause my chakras are too open, so I am not coming in to work. Sorry I did not call when I was supposed to but I just finished getting my chart done, sorry." Next message: "Hey, this is Mark, I am not coming in today, can not leave the house. I had a visit from beyond with a warning." Next one of my attendants comes running in and tells me to please come to the break room because two of the Estis and one Nail Tech are in a big argument. As I ran to the break room, I was thinking, "Today can not get any worse, I bet they are arguing about the books not being balanced or the tips or the schedule..." I stopped dead in my tracks at the door; there was an actual fist fight; hair pulling, slapping, yelling, hitting, four bodies tangled together and all the other employees just watching. No one was trying to break this up. I called Security from my cell phone, there was no way I was getting in the middle of it and getting hit (I've done that before and ended up with a black eye, I learned my lesson.)

So two hours later, the fight is over, everyone (I think) is at their stations and the atmosphere is almost back to serene, but I am at my desk trying to figure out what to do next. My assistant is not scheduled to be in for another hour so I have no help yet and I desperately need someone to share this with. I contemplated calling my old friends but hesitate; they are just not going to believe all this happened. I would not have believed it except I just lived it. So I take two pain killers for my pounding head. In summary I've sent four employees home on suspension pending investigation, but I know I have to fire them since being in a fight is grounds for immediate termination, there is no way around it, HR won't allow it. Sandy and Mark need to be written up for not following the call-in procedure, but that is the least of my worries since they are both booked solid. I have a total of 38 appointments I need to cancel or find a way to move them to another tech, which is an impossible task because today is Friday. We are so busy each tech has at least 6-7 appointments and I am out 6 technicians. To make matters worse I have to cancel or move all the scheduled services for the four that are suspended, at least for the next seven days, until I get word from HR that it's okay to permanently assign their appointments to other techs or hire more staff to cover.

And it is all because of the full moon. Yes it is! As I am dealing with the report for HR, the moving of customers, the being yelled at by some royally pissed guests because I've ruined their Spa weekend, my darling assistant comes breezing into the office all cheery and happy. She is carrying a tea beverage for me and a bunch of other stuff in a bag and proceeds to apologize, "I am so sorry I forgot to warn you yesterday that during full moon things get really crazy around here, and that you should do some energy work at home to guard you from the evil spirits." She hands me a pendant, a candle and a prayer to do immediately. When she sees the look on my face she adds, "Too late, I guess you learned by experience.Well you know, this is the Spa world, I better start helping you with cancellations......"

Believe me I am doing the tea, the candle, the aromatherapy, the prayer and anything else she tells me. Not just today but every full moon from now on, because I don't think I can handle another day like today!

The 2AM call -2nd Part

Later that week.......

It has been 4 days since Bob's 2am call. He did not show up for our appointment that day and he has not come to work since then. I've had Mary, my assistant, call his numbers and leave messages. I talked to Security to see if he has called the hotel. I went to Human Resources, they only have a PO Box on file and no emergency contact info filled out on him. He was completely booked for this week, so I've had to re-schedule all his appointments. I am worried about him and mad at the same time!

We received a letter, from Bob's lawyer, stating that he had injured himself when the massage table collapsed on the floor and listing at least ten other therapists of conspiring against him, hostile work environment,etc., the list is endless. I took the letter to the Human Resources office and they asked me to bring in my notes from the 2am call and the security report. It was actually good that I spoke to security; the HR people say it shows concern and that I acted quickly when he informed me of his incident. Security had a full report from my call and statement and the company lawyer says that this is good. It shows I did not waste time and that independently of what my personal opinion might have been or is I was objective. They also believe Bob might be suffering from some other issues but that is for the doctors and lawyers to figure out, I had done my part. It was a relief to hear that, to know that by really caring I instinctively took the right steps.

We can not talk about it at work, I can not tell the staff anything, but security is going to be investigating quietly to see if something else had happened with Bob and any of these employees. I am glad I work for a big Spa with all these resources like HR and Security. I feel relieved that I don't have to handle this directly. I would love to know what started this situation with Bob and if I could have done anything to avoid it. Everyone told me when I started here that he was "trouble" and not to trust him, but his employee file was clean, he is a good technician so I really don't know what triggered this whole thing. I cannot help but feel that maybe there was something I missed and I could have avoided this from happening.

Being a Spa Director is like being a cop, a psychologist, a mother and a professional all wrapped in one. We need our heads examined for choosing this career. But the funny thing is that no matter how many Bobs I deal with, or how many 2am calls I get, I love what I do and I know we make a difference in the lives of our staff and our customers. So I will keep plowing and learning as I go along, and maybe next time I won't miss the "clues" that tell me I have a Bob in my hands.

Until next time...."Z"

The 2AM Call

At 2am this morning my phone was ringing off the hook, at first I thought it was a dream, and then I thought it was a family emergency. As I was reaching for it I started to have palpitations and thinking, "I hope nothing bad is happening to any of my kids. Who would be calling at 2am?"...It was Bob, from the Spa, one of my therapists. He could not sleep because he felt the other employees had a conspiracy going on against him, he was feeling threatened and he said he could not find me all day to talk to me about it. I was there all day; no calls from him, no one paged  me, not a word until 2am. He was talking super fast and said his massage table collapsed while performing a treatment, he was using a portable massage table in the couple's room. None of this made sense to me, I was trying not to scream at him for calling me at this ungodly hour while trying to focus on what he was saying. I reached for a pen and paper to try to take notes. I left the bed so I would not wake my significant other. I remember thinking that Bob sounded manic, depressed and I did not want to be the cause of someone committing suicide because I was not willing to pay attention to their possible cry for help. I felt I was listening in on somebody else's conversation and I was not registering that this was real and I had an employee talking to me about conspiracies. I think I finally calmed him down with the promise that we would meet later. Unfortunately I could not sleep. I wanted to wake someone up, how come I did not find out that a massage table had collapsed during a treatment, where was I when it happened, did Bob tell anyone, did the guest mention it? I had more questions than answers, plus I realized I had a "weird" situation in my hands, was this employee sane? If not what was I supposed to do with him?

I called hotel security and asked if there was an incident report from the Spa about a table collapsing and, of course, they had no idea of what I was talking about. I told them about Bob's call and ended up having to dictate a report to them, just in case something happened later. By 5am I was at work, I got there before the Fitness Attendant, the Spa was closed, and with all the coffee I had drunk I was ready to work out for one hour to try and release some tension. This incident made me realize is that there is no way I can know what goes on behind every treatment room door, every minute, there is no way I can predict what my staff will be doing the next minute, there is no way I can control it at all. I am stressing because I need to control the outcome. In what other legitimate business do we trust a naked client with an employee in a closed room? For someone like me, a control freak, this could be the wrong career choice. I am freaking out, I don't even know how to approach this whole conspiracy issue, and do I ignore it? My gut tells me this is serious, I have to do something about it, but what? 

To be continued.......

My Boss and our membership program, oh boy!

My boss came to me today with a fabulous idea, or so he thinks. He wants me to eliminate some of the amenities in our locker rooms. He thinks that since the members complain so much about the quality of the razors, the shaving cream and styling products, we should eliminate them ALL. This is how the conversation went:

• Mr R: Let them bring their own and just provide a better quality shampoo, conditioner and shower gel.
• Me:  Is this an idea for me to explore, analyze and decide or is this a directive?
• Mr R: Why are you asking? What do you mean is it an idea or a directive? I am telling you what I think you should do.
• Me: You see Sir, the members talk to me every day, they wait for me to arrive in the morning to share with me what they like and what they don't like. Remember the day you told me to get rid of the apples during the weekdays and just have them available on weekends? Well they noticed that the apples were missing and they were very upset. Remember when you asked me to eliminate the tea service in the Fitness Room during the weekdays? Well, the first day we had no tea, they waited for me in the morning and told me how we were treating them like second class citizens, we take their money but we don't really care about them, we don't make them feel special anymore.
• Mr R: You are exaggerating, how come I have not heard any complaints, no letters, no comments. I can not believe they are paying attention to all these details.
• Me: Maybe I handled them so well that they figured they did not need to go higher up to complain. Remember the meeting we had when I explained that I was going back to having apples everyday and tea service in the Fitness Room. I sent you the numbers showing that it really did not make and impact on our bottom line to take it away. Mr. R, we have celebrity members too. When the Soprano's cast is here working out, they want their apples, they want their water, they want their tea.
• Mr R: Well, I don't care what happened with the Apples or the Tea, I want you to effective immediately eliminate the Razors, the Shaving Cream and all the other crap you have in the Locker Rooms. Is that clear?  Tell your celebrity members to bring their own stuff!
• Me: Sure, Mr. R, I will get to it right away. How do you want me to handle the complaints? What reason do I give them for the changes or lack of amenities? I just want to make sure we are on the same page with this.
• Mr R: Tell them I said so and if they don't like it to come to me. I am sure no one will notice. Just do it!

I was fuming after this little conversation. There is no reasoning with him when he gets an idea in his head. I almost asked him to give me that last statement in writing. I know the moment they start complaining if I really tell them to go to Mr R, that there is nothing I can do, they will call him and his telephone will be ringing off the hook. He has no idea how much work I do keeping these members happy, he has no idea how many calls a day I take to listen to them and fix whatever it is. Does he not realize that they represent a good 15% of my monthly revenue? I want them to be happy. The amenities are there anyway for Hotel Guests that are only paying for one treatment on average, what is the big deal of having the members get the good stuff? Sometimes I just don't get where he is coming from. Every time he gets up on the wrong side of the bed, the Spa is the target.

You know I should just go ahead and tell the members to talk to him, that it was his idea. Maybe that will make him realize that I am not exaggerating and that they do notice and care about these things. Maybe he would be so upset with me after getting all those calls that I end up getting in trouble. At this point I either keep protecting him from his awful ideas or let him experience some of the reality on his own skin. What to do? I guess I will have to decide soon since he will probably come by the lockers tomorrow morning to check if I did what he said or not. Let's see who do I fear most; my members or my boss? Tough call, but I will do what is right and handle the consequences myself.

Stay tuned.......

Dealing with a celebrity

There is absolutely nothing anyone could have told me that would have prepared me for the world of celebrities' demands and rules! I had no idea what the proper protocol is when you suddenly get a call from a famous someone's manager, asking you for all kinds of things some weirder than the next.

First I got pulled out of a meeting with my Boss, because there was this "Manager" on the phone asking to speak to the Spa Director ONLY, and he was furious that not one single person was jumping fast enough or high enough. Mind you I am working at a 5 Diamond service place, we know how to jump high and fast, as a matter of fact we thrive on it. So having someone say we are just not cutting it is a hard pill to swallow.....So I ran to my office to get the call, he was yelling, he was cursing, the only thing I could jot down in my notes was that he wanted an in-room massage for So-and-So, "Don't you know who So-and-So is? How important he is? How he can put your Spa on the map?" Nope, I had no idea who he was talking about but I had a feeling telling him that was not 5 Diamond service. I kept my mouth shut.

They, meaning the big star So-and-So and the whole entourage were arriving at 4pm today. So-and-So needed a full body 90 minute massage in his Suite at exactly 5pm and it had to be performed by two Male Therapists, and "by the way, we don't pay for this because the publicity you will get will put your Spa on the map, blah, blah, blah." OK, even me, who had no experience dealing with these people and not enough experience yet dealing with client's requests, felt this sounded a little off kilt.  Not once had I heard of anyone requesting two male therapists to work together on one client on one massage. I was just starting to convince my staff to consider doing a Deuce service, but we had not written the protocol yet and/or done any training. I could not put my finger on it, but the whole request was just delivered in a very demanding and strange way, so my instinct was to refuse, but I did not dare. I was trying to figure out if this person was that famous and if in fact this was typical of the requests I would have to deal with in the future, given the type of clientele the property attracted and our geographical location; but I was having a hard time being able to handle this Manager the way the company expected me to. What I really felt like doing was to yell back and say to him, "Who the heck do you think you are? At my Spa, you want a service, you pay for the service! I do not have two male therapists available at 5pm and we do not offer what you are asking for. Forget about it Pal! Go get someone else to cater to your So-and-So big star; it is not going to be me."

No, that is not what I said instead I said "It will be my pleasure to accommodate Mr. So-and-So; we will have our therapists at the Suite at 4:45pm for set up. Is there anything else we could do for you during your stay?" So against my better judgment I went in search of two of my male therapists to see who could do this. After tons of calls and negotiating I had Anthony and Vince arrive at the Spa at 4:30pm to get ready. They picked up the appointment sheet and started joking about the client, they were actually excited to be meeting this person and felt pretty special about having been chosen. I momentarily felt better because at least it was a famous enough person for them to know who the heck it was and be impressed. I sent them off on their way at exactly 4:42pm and started pacing in my office because I did not feel right about it, but I could not figure out why.

At 5:20pm I got a call from Vince, he sounded very upset and he was saying there was no way he was performing this treatment, that there was a full orgy going on in the suite, everyone was naked and the famous Mr. So-and-So had demanded for Anthony and Vince to get naked to do the massage. Thought "WHAT?!!" But I kept my calm and said, "Vince, get Anthony, get your stuff and politely tell the client this is not a service we provide and leave!" Ten minutes later my telephone rings and I have Mr. Manager of So-and-So yelling and saying he is getting my butt fired and he is making sure no other famous person visits my Spa, blah, blah." As I am listening, Anthony and Vince walk into my office all shaken up and give me a big hug and thank me for protecting them and not making them do this.....I pushed the disconnect button on my phone and decided that if these are the kind of fabulously famous people I would get I would rather not get any at all and not get written about and instead make sure my staff is safe. I don't care that So-and-So is faster than a speeding bullet or stronger than a locomotive, he is JUST a TV star after all.

The Dog died and .........

I finally found my "mojo" as a Spa Director! I am learning so much every day, and I'm enjoying it. I'm still unsure about how to handle certain things and when, or when not to, ask for help, but at least I know I'm not going to drown on it. And then today at 10am we received a call at the Spa Front Desk. The caller stated that they had awful news and needed someone to track Mary down and be with her when she received this news; her dog had died during surgery. I knew this was not going to be good, Mary loved her dog and, even though the dog was like 100 in dog years, I felt she was not ready for anything bad to happen. I spent 30 minutes trying to figure out where Mary was, and when I finally tracked her down, I lied and told her I had an urgent meeting I needed her to be present for. I figured we could handle this at 1pm and she would still be ready to see her first client at 3pm. I was not counting on what would really happen when she received the news.

When Mary came in for our supposed meeting, she immediately launched into this whole thing about her dog being sick. She had spent all morning at church praying because she would die if anything happened to her dog. And there I was, about to dial the clinic's number so they could give her the news. I didn't think it was a good idea for her to know that I already knew her dog had died, so I dialed the clinic's number and told Mary this call was for her, and I left them do their job and give her the news.

One second into the call Mary dropped the phone to the floor and started screaming at the top of her lungs. She was crying, screaming and punching the walls in my office. Within seconds I had 10 employees outside my door trying to figure out what was going on. Mary was blocking the door and I had no way of getting around her without getting punched instead of the wall. Security called to see if someone was killing me, I told them to proceed wtih caution when opening the door. Mary had now started throwing things from my desk all over my office. I could not get a word in. I could not approach her to hug her, or slap her, her arms were flapping all over. She was tearing her hair out while screaming, "Oh my God! OH NO! I am going to die! I will kill them for killing my baby!" Security finally arrived and as they started opening the door to enter, Mary turned around, shoved them out of the way and started running towards the front of the Spa while still screaming. Security started running after her as I sat at my desk in shock, wiht clients and employees gathered at my door waiting for an explanation, and wondering what awful thing I had done to Mary for her to run out of my office like that.

Needless to say I spent the rest of the day correcting the effects of the incident. Explaining what had happened and calming everyone that was still upset about the commotion and Mary's dog. Comping treatments for the guests that felt the disturbance had ruined their relaxation experience, and rescheduling Mary's appointments.

I keep wondering if Mary's reaction was normal, if I am cold hearted because I feel she was a little nutty, bu I am not about to share these feelings with anyone else. I wonder how many more members of the Spa staff have emotions that run that deep. It makes some sense to me for the therapists to be very emotional because they care so much about others. They want to "heal" them, cure them, and help them. Mabye that is what everyone meant when they cautioned me about the personalities in the Spa industry. However I have decided that I'm not going to handle any more "emergency calls" or "urgent matters" in my office. Better take them to the Human Resources Office next time, that way if they pull a "Mary" I won't be upsetting the spa environment. I've been thinking about getting a puppy of my own, but after today I think my hands are full handling my employees, my own family and the clients.

"Remember what inspires you" from Vitaminds

My first Day as a Spa Director!

Today was my first day as a Spa Director. The place is beautiful, it is a historic building and it is kept in excellent condition. I felt very welcome, people are very nice and I feel like they are truly relieved to have me here. The day started with a nice breakfast and "New Employee Orientation". I originally thought I did not have to attend since I am not new to the company and I've created and delivered orientation hundreds of times, but I was asked to participate as an employee. It is a very different feeling being in the audience and not doing the teaching myself. I was able to enjoy the content this time as well as meeting the other employees and the food was good.

The General Manager, my boss, came by at lunch and asked me to meet with him to go over his goals for me and the Spa. He walked with me over to the Spa, introduced me to every staff member we encountered, gave me a tour and showed me pretty much where everything was, is and the plans for making some improvements. The treatment rooms are a dream, the Spa is very well laid out and the staff seems happy to meet me. During the course of the walk-thru and meeting he lets me know the following goals:

1. I am expected to increase revenue by 20% by the end of the first quarter. He thinks it's easy, that I only have to figure out how to sell more appointments.

2. I am expected to reduce all expenses by 20% by the end of the first quarter. I can not order any products or supplies without discussing it with him first and he wants me to sell only the treatments that require the least amount of products.

3. All the open Spa positions are on hold and I cannot do any hiring until I've finished my first quarter. Yes, he realizes that I have 10 technician positions open and that most of the current staff is part time. When I asked him how he proposes I sell and book more appointments without products and/or staff to perform them, he indicated that he trusted I could figure out how to work out that particular problem.

4. I have to keep the members happy, but take out half of the amenities that we currently provide. He handed me ten letters from members that have complained about the reduction of the amenities they've come to expect, like water, apples and body lotion. I am to contact these members and make sure they don't cancel the membership and he asks me if, "by the way, do you really think you need to provide razors in the locker area?"

He closes the meeting with a hug and a welcome to the team, "I am looking forward to your success and contributions!" (Is he kidding me?)

For the rest of the day I studied the Profit & Loss statement, worked out a meeting agenda to get to know every spa employee, and looked at the purchasing/inventory information they had for the last three months. I went home and was surprised to find myself worried and with mixed feelings. I kept reminding myself that the day was good, I feel confident, but then I also kept going back to the goals the GM gave me and the information I studied and started wondering if these expectations were realistic. Do I ask for help? Do I tell him I did not understand some of the info in the reports? Is my gut feeling that he is not really savvy about Spa operations and the needs of that department accurate? Then I remembered Tom's warning and I thought better not to ask for help, I need to figure this out. I don't feel very confident and I went to sleep thinking, "Did I bite more than I can chew? Is it even possible to accomplish any of it? Giving up is not an option. I will find a way to learn all this and make it happen."

Stay tuned..........

Zahira

The Beginning

When I told my assistant that I had applied for a transfer to one of the Executive Spa Director positions within the company he was shocked, upset and then he was sure I was joking. It took me three days to convince him that I was serious. He finally got it when I said that to me being able to go to the Spa Division would probably mean the same as if he was given the position of Golf Pro. It clicked because he is as passionate about Golf and our Golf programs as I am about the Spa division. I am keeping my fingers crossed and lighting up a couple of candles for this opportunity to become a reality.

My dream is finally becoming a reality…

Today I received an offer letter for a promotion to Executive Spa Director. I was super excited and could not wait for the celebration dinner they had invited me to. The VP of the Spa Division and the Corporate Spa Director invited me to have dinner with them in honor of my promotion and relocation to California. The dinner was fabulous, they were very nice. We talked about what they expected of me, what they wanted me to concentrate on first and we discussed dates and things like that. So everything was perfect, until dessert came. That’s when Tom, the VP, said to me, “You do know that your past contributions will be forgotten very soon?” What the heck was he talking about? He proceeded to explain that, because I’m being promoted, it does not matter how well I performed my previous job with the company or how great they think I am. They will soon forget that they promoted me knowing that I really don’t have experience in the day-to-day operations of a spa. They will forget that they promised to train me. And they will completely forget that I’ve never done a budget, payroll or P&L for a service department. He said, “I am retiring in a year and I figured you need to know that this is how this company operates. You will be expected to deliver as if you were an expert and if you don’t, you’re screwed.” Can you believe it?!

I came home from dinner thinking that maybe I should not do it. Maybe I should just stay put in my current position, which I know I’m great at and have been doing a super job at for over three years with this company. Who am I fooling? What if I cannot figure out this whole Spa Director thing? What if I’m not good at it? What if I get fired? I called Joe and his response was, “Honey, you will do great. I will help you figure it out, we have resources. That guy is an idiot for telling you that; don’t be afraid.” He made me feel a little better, but the truth is, I’m really scared I won’t be able to do this well! I start in two weeks, OUCH!!!

Important Note: "Between the Sheets-A Spa Director's Diary" is Copyright 2005-2007 by Zahira J Coll. All rights reserved. No part of these stories shall be reproduced in any form or by any means, without written permission by the author. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of information contained herein. The stories are autobiographical; however names, characters, places and incidents have been changed to protect identities.