Good Neighbor Podcast: Tri-Cities
Bringing together local businesses and neighbor of the Tri-Cities region. Good Neighbor Podcast hosted by Skip Mauney helps residents discover and connect with your local business owners in and around The Tri-Cities.
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Good Neighbor Podcast: Tri-Cities
EP# 227: Massage Reinvented: Inside Recline and Unwind Social Spa
What makes Heidi Plant and Kelly Detample with Recline and Unwind Social Spa a good neighbor?
Ever wondered what would happen if two veteran massage therapists with decades of luxury spa experience decided to completely reimagine the massage experience? Heidi Plant and Kelly DeTample did exactly that when they created Recline and Unwind Social Spa in Asheville, North Carolina – proudly declaring it "the world's first social spa."
What makes this concept revolutionary is how it strips away everything intimidating about traditional spa experiences while keeping the quality and adding social connection. Picture this: you walk into a welcoming space where you remain fully clothed, settle into a zero-gravity recliner (the same position NASA uses during liftoff to reduce spinal pressure), and receive targeted massage therapy focusing on head/neck/shoulders, feet/legs, hands/forearms, or a soothing gemstone face massage. All this happens in an open concept room where you can chat with friends or family who are experiencing their own services. Add both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage options, and you've got something entirely new in the wellness world.
The founders' journey is equally compelling – from working in high-end resort spas where even they couldn't afford the services they provided, to launching their accessible concept, to pivoting during Hurricane Helene's aftermath to provide hundreds of free massages to first responders. Their resilience led them to begin franchising their model in 2024, with plans to bring the social spa experience to communities nationwide. They've even created a children's care menu for ages 5-11, introducing self-care concepts early. Whether you're seeking affordable massage therapy, a unique social experience, or both, this innovative approach challenges everything we thought we knew about relaxation and wellness. Visit their website at rusocialspa.com to experience this game-changing concept for yourself or learn about bringing it to your community.
To learn more about Recline and Unwind Social Spa go to:
Recline and Unwind Social Spa
(828) 348-7650
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Skip Monty.
Speaker 2:Hello everyone and welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. So I am very excited this morning to have two very special guests in our studio and I am super excited to learn all about them and their business, because today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbors, miss Heidi Plant and Kelly DeTemple, who are the co-owners of Recline and Unwind Social Spa. Ladies, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3:Thanks, Skip. We're excited to be here.
Speaker 2:Well, we're thrilled to have you. Like I said, your name is very interesting and catches my attention because my back hurts really bad right now Recline and Unwind Social Spa. So, like I said, we're super excited to learn all about what you guys do. So, if you don't mind, why don't you kick us off by telling us about your business?
Speaker 4:We are a new concept spa that combines social wellness with self-care. Imagine a coffee shop five. You can walk in order exactly what you want. Everybody remains fully clothed. We put you in a zero gravity recliner and one open concept room. We play non-traditional spa music and we focus on head, neck and shoulders, foot and lower leg, hand and forearm.
Speaker 1:We have a gemstone face massage.
Speaker 4:That's really relaxing. And then we also offer some foot soaks and both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. So it's a great place to come with friends and family and get a little bit of massage and spa time and just spend time with each other.
Speaker 2:And chill out. It sounds like.
Speaker 4:Yes.
Speaker 2:Wow, so zero gravity chair. What is that exactly?
Speaker 4:It kicks you back further than a typical recliner. It's the position that NASA uses for liftoff, because it takes all the pressure off the low spine so you almost feel fully supported to a floating position If you're really relaxed. Um, it's great for circulation, it lowers your blood pressure. It's just a really comfortable position to get a massage in.
Speaker 2:Wow, Wow. It sounds wonderful actually. Well, how did you ladies get into this business?
Speaker 3:I think our business journey began long before we officially opened our doors. Between the two of us, heidi and I, have been working in the spa industry for over 35 years. About 12 years ago, we met at a high-end, luxury resort spa where we were working as massage therapists. It was a beautiful setting, one where the services, though, were out of reach, price-wise, for most people, including us, and that contrast, I think, really stuck in our minds, and it kind of planted that seed of dreaming of a spa that was both high quality but also generally accessible, affordable, friendly and really, most importantly, free of the intimidation that I think comes with getting a spa service or massage. So we just want to create a better experience for guests and also for, you know, the people that would be employed by us, you know, being paid a living wage and being comfortable and happy to come to work.
Speaker 3:We were planning pre-COVID, I would say, and COVID hit, and instead of, you know, getting scared by opening a social spa at that time, we just leaned into the process and we started to redefine our idea of those targeted services, the zero gravity, the social setting. We created a kids care menu so we could introduce self-care to kids taking care of themselves at a young age, and that's available for five to 11-year-olds. And then, once COVID passed, we came out in the world, found a space that worked for us and brought that vision to life.
Speaker 2:Wow, I am so impressed. So are there other spas like this? It sounds incredibly unique.
Speaker 3:Massage-wise I'd say the open concept, zero gravity, social setting is all brand new. When we came up with that social concept there wasn't anything else out there like that, so we do self-proclaim ourselves as the world's first social spa. There are obviously express massage services I'm sure you've seen at the airport, in the mall and there's chair massage options that are a little bit different. Where you're face in, you're kneeling face down into a chair. Ours is bringing that spa element and that spa feel, but to a more affordable I mean price point really.
Speaker 2:Wow. Well, this may relate actually provide an answer for the next question I was going to ask, which is what are some myths or misconceptions in the social massage business?
Speaker 4:I'm sure there are some spa, you're getting a higher quality of massage therapist and throughout the years we found that you can get a great massage in a variety of places, whether it be a private practice or an express massage service, a walk-in place, a luxury spa. Massage therapists work where they feel comfortable and some people like that corporate feel and some people like something a little more free form with some more flexibility. So we're all hiring from the same pool of massage therapists. They all go to the same schools, come out, get different training and there's different levels of talent and it's a very personal experience. My favorite massage might not be your favorite massage and my favorite massage therapist might not be your favorite massage therapist. So getting to try different massage therapists and 15 minute segments to find the one that suits you is a great opportunity for people.
Speaker 2:Wow, well, I would imagine too I mean, y'all mentioned a couple of times luxury spas and how expensive they are. I'm sure that's a misconception as well that in order to get a really nice massage, you got to pay a lot of money to do that, when apparently you guys are offering an option that that's not the case, right?
Speaker 4:Yeah, we just wanted to offer something else that wasn't out there, so more people could try it.
Speaker 2:That is wonderful. My wife is a big fan of massages and I've never had one because I just you know, yeah, never.
Speaker 3:We've got to change that. Skip, Come see us.
Speaker 2:Yes, we do. Yes, we do this, especially the zero chair thing. That just sounds amazing. And cocktails, oh my goodness, that's super nice. Well, outside of work, ladies, what do you do for fun?
Speaker 4:Well, I love working. It's my passion. But when I'm not working I'm usually trying to plan a little getaway with my family. So long weekend trips to different cities and exploring the country a little bit more recharges me. And strangely, now in the last few years, when I travel, I'm always thinking to myself would a recline and unwind work here? I think it would. Or, you know, maybe it's a little too small right now, um, but I don't know. That's for me. Getting away with my family on the weekends really refuels me very good I should say weekdays maybe not weekends.
Speaker 4:I work a lot of weekends in the spa industry I'm sure.
Speaker 2:I'm sure, kelly, but what about?
Speaker 3:I mean, I think travel is probably a shared passion for the two of us, and working together and having a business partner makes that very possible. So to be a business owner and then be able to walk away and shut off completely because you have complete trust in the other person makes us both available to have that shared passion of both massage and spa, but also our personal lives and travel.
Speaker 2:That is super nice. Actually, a lot of small business owners actually don't have that luxury. That is definitely a luxury. Well, let's switch gears for just a second. Can you describe a hardship either one of you a hardship or a life challenge, either professionally or personally, that you've overcome and how it made you stronger in the end? Anybody want to take a stab.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. I think, looking back at this past year, one of the biggest challenges that we faced, both personally and professionally, was the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. I think until you live through a natural disaster of that scale, it's really hard to grasp how difficult and long that road to recovery can be. We closed our spa one day for the storm and assumed that we'd be open for business as normal the next day, but we woke up to just devastation and it was shocking. And while our spa and our location did not receive physical damage, you know many of our team members, our guests, our families, neighbors, so many people that we know weren't as fortunate. That emotional toll was immense on us. We also had to manage our own personal issues, situations during that time, but also keep in mind that we had a business to run.
Speaker 3:So we pivoted pretty quickly. I was truly inspired by Heidi, who was dealing with a lot personally at that time. She came up with this idea for us to offer free massages to the first responders and volunteers that were flooding our area at that time, and we ran with it. We reached out to all of our friends, former guests, family, anyone that we could think of and we asked them to make gift card donations to us so that we could provide 100% free massages to the community, and we did that for a couple of months. We provided over a couple hundred massages for free.
Speaker 3:We are right next door to the police station downtown Asheville and the fire department and we were seeing first responders from honestly all over the country and we would bring them in for that 15 minute break so that they could go back out and help our community. So it was incredibly rewarding for us. It also helped us to be able to keep our team working and making some money so that they weren't feeling as much hardship at that time. But I think, looking back at it, we also had to think about that next unknown thing that could happen and affect us, and we had been thinking about franchising in the past and we just grasped that idea of taking our spa model and making it bigger. It would be a way to help support our team and our community here and not to feel like all of our eggs basically in one basket. So at the beginning of this year we started franchising our spa model and we're really just at this point excited to see where and how we Climb. The Wine is going to grow into different communities across the United States.
Speaker 2:Wow, that's very exciting actually. Thank you, and you know and, by the way, thank you for you know doing that for first responders. I'm sure especially local folks that you worked on during that time, which was a horrific time, will never forget that. You know that you guys gave them free massages. They'll never forget that at all. It's been amazing to me how the community in and around Asheville, western North Carolina, marshall, you know Hot Springs how all the neighbors have come together and helped each other. That's just been incredible, I think.
Speaker 3:So thank you guys for what you're part of that it was, it was 100, our pleasure, and it did make us feel like we were doing something to keep moving forward and to feel like we were helping our community in some way, and it's been a tough couple of months. I mean a couple of months. It's been eight months now but we've watched a lot of great businesses, um, that were not directly affected by the storm go under, and you know, that's part of why we are franchising is because we didn't want to be a statistic. So many businesses, local businesses, don't outlast a disaster of that magnitude. So Asheville, though, has, and all of Western North Carolina, has been inspiring just all of the communities coming together. I mean, I was in tears so many times that first two weeks downtown, there was no one here except for first responders and volunteers, and they were just really so inspirational to us.
Speaker 2:Wow, well, yeah, it's been very inspirational period. I mean, it's just been amazing what the things and people that are coming, you know, coming from other states to come help too, has just been amazing. It makes my heart swell. So, ladies, if you could think of one thing that you would like our listeners to remember about Recline Unwind Social Spa, what would that be?
Speaker 4:Unwind social spa. What would that be? One thing to remember. Yes, I can't think of anything.
Speaker 3:I think maybe one of our big things is we are reclining in Unwind social spa, not relaxing Unwind. So that recline is an important word and people confuse it a lot, but the reclining in that zero gravity is a big part of our experience and so many guests, as we first kick them back before we've even put our hands on them to provide that massage, say, oh my God, this is so amazing. So Recline and Unwind Social Spa is the name of the business.
Speaker 2:Now did I say no, you did not.
Speaker 3:But I would say we hear it almost daily.
Speaker 2:Oh, do you? Wow, well, but Recline is a key part of the name because you actually physically recline right, exactly. So there you go, all right. So remember recline, not recline and unwind.
Speaker 4:Some people think because they're so relaxed, but it's recline.
Speaker 2:It's recline, all right. Well, for those of us like me who are very interested in learning more and checking out your place, how can, how can we learn more?
Speaker 3:The best place is to start at our website, which is the letter R, the letter U social spa dot com. So R? U social spa dot com. There are, guests can book services, explore our concept, even learn about becoming a potential franchisee and bringing a social spa experience to their community. We're also actively on social media on Instagram and Facebook and that's where we share kind of behind the scenes and highlight our staff and engage with our fellow business neighbors in downtown. But most importantly, I think I'd encourage people to go online and check out our reviews, because the number one way for people to learn about us is to hear from our guests and what their experiences were, and we're really proud of the feedback that we get on a daily basis. So I would love people to just kind of explore that a little bit.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Check out the reviews on the website. We'll definitely do that a little bit awesome.
Speaker 4:Check out the reviews on the website.
Speaker 3:We'll definitely do that and come see us when you're in asheville, just come into the spa. Yeah, we take walk-ins um every day, so it's you can make an appointment or you can just pop in and see us awesome.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm usually in in asheville pretty frequently, so I will definitely do that for sure. Well, uh, ladies, I can't tell you how much I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with me and with our listeners and tell us all about Recline and Unwind Social Spa, and we wish you and your families, and your business and your clients all the best moving forward. Thank you so much.
Speaker 3:Skip.
Speaker 2:Thank you, and maybe we can have you back one day. Sounds good, all right, thanks so much, skip.
Speaker 3:Thank you and maybe we can have you back one day Sounds good.
Speaker 2:All right, thanks so much.
Speaker 1:Y'all have a great day Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnptry-citiescom. That's gnptry-citiescom, or call 423-719-5873.