New spa offers well being
Staff reporter
For Lisa Wildin, her massage therapy and spa business is more than customers and making a profit. She wants her clients to leave her business feeling healthier and happier.
"I find it's just as relaxing for me to give massages to clients as it for the clients to receive them," she said.
Wildin moved her business a couple of months ago from her mother's residence to 410 E. Main, Marion.
Since she opened her business, Good Happens, in December, nothing but good has been happening.
"I have had more clients on Main Street than I did at my mother's," she said.
In addition to providing massage therapy, Wildin also offers cosmetology services such as manicures and pedicures, a tanning bed, and retail products.
Her move to Main Street was prompted by Marion Economic Development Director Jami Williams.
"Jami asked me what I was going to do when my mother retired from her job because I would no longer be able to use her house," Wildin said. Williams told Wildin about a downtown building, the former The Hair Company, that was available which led to the purchase and the business opening.
Mother Joy Wildin introduced her daughter to massage therapy. When Joy decided to change careers and become an over-the-road truck driver, Joy trained Lisa to provide massage therapy services to her clients.
Lisa Wildin then took classes through Butler Community College and obtained her certification. She continues to take classes and attend seminars to improve her techniques.
"My mother would be gone for five weeks at a time. While she was gone, I was able to use her house," Wildin said, but when her mother retires, that arrangement will not work.
When Joy retires, she may work part-time for her daughter at the downtown shop.
Wanting to be on the cutting edge of services, Good Happens provides clients with a relaxing back massage and foot spa called a Pedathrone.
Rollers and heat provide a soothing back massage while clients' feet are soaking in a whirlpool.
Another service, unique to this community, is the Infra-Therapist.
"Basically, it's a sauna in a box," Wildin said.
A client is placed in the bed and a sauna-type box covers the body except the head. Infrared heat makes the blood circulate through joints.
Like a sauna, the heat causes the client to perspire, which also releases toxins and burns calories.
"You can burn 600 calories in 20 minutes," Wildin said, but advises there are limitations to the amount of time clients are allowed to use the sauna.
"It's particularly good for those with fibromyalgia," Wildin said. She also is aware the therapy can be used with chemotherapy patients.
"The body heals better with good circulation," she said.
Wildin received spa training while an employee at a spa in McPherson.
Among Wildin's accomplishments are her talents as a jewelry-maker. She takes quartz crystals and stones and makes necklaces and earrings.
How did she start this craft? As they say, necessity is the mother of invention and such was the case for Wildin.
"I was looking for a quartz necklace and couldn't find one. So I decided I could make them," she said. She purchased some stones and kept practicing until she achieved the perfection she sought.
This is more than a job to Wildin. She specifically enjoys the benefits of seeing the efforts of her work.
"I love my work," Wildin said with a smile. "It's very rewarding."
Recently a client came to her with a stiff shoulder. When she left, the stiffness had subsided and the client was more comfortable.
Maintaining an upbeat attitude, Wildin is a glass half-full kind of person, able to see the good in nearly any situation.
"No matter what happens in life, it's all good," she said.
