Good Neighbor Podcast: TN-WNC-SWVA

EP#370: How A Local Spa Blends Hybrid Tanning And Red Light Therapy For Skin Health And Pain Relief

• Skip Mauney & Laura Haenlein • Episode 270

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A neighborhood spa that treats beauty like wellness and wellness like community—Laura Haenlein from Utopia Tan and Spa joins us to share how hybrid UV beds and clinical-grade red light therapy are changing what a “tan” can do for your body. From safer bronzing strategies to relief for back pain, eczema, and inflammation, we explore the real science and simple habits that help you feel better fast without the overwhelm.

We dig into the evolution of tanning tech, where bronzing lamps work alongside 660 nm red light to support a more even color and calmer skin. Laura breaks down what near-infrared around 815 nm can reach, why consistency matters for results, and how the Fitzpatrick scale guides exposure so different skin types can avoid burns. If you’ve written off tanning or worry about vitamin D in winter, you’ll hear a measured approach that favors short, steady sessions and honest coaching over quick fixes. And if UV isn’t for you, spray tanning gets a myth-busting moment—organic-forward solutions and skilled technique keep color natural, never orange.

Beyond treatments, the heart of Utopia is hospitality. The team built a Garden-of-Eden calm where guests are greeted, educated, and never rushed. Regulars come for relief from arthritis and autoimmune flares as much as for a healthy glow, and many pair red light with spray tans to balance skin health and convenience. Laura also shares a generous local perk—first visits are free for anyone within about 50 miles—which makes it easy to test the waters and feel the difference for yourself.

If you’re curious about red light therapy for recovery, UV hybrid beds for a safer tan, or an organic spray tan that actually looks like you, this conversation offers clear steps and zero hype. Come for the glow, stay for the wellness, and leave with a plan you can keep. Enjoy the episode, then subscribe, share with a friend who needs a winter pick-me-up, and leave a quick review to help more neighbors find the show.

SPEAKER_00:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Skip Marty.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, hello everyone, and welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast of East Tennessee and Eastern North Carolina Western North Carolina, sorry. East Tennessee, Western North Carolina. So today I am super excited to have a very special guest in the studio with us for the first time. And I'm super excited to learn all about them and what they do, and I'm sure you will be as well. Because today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Miss Laura. Hey Line. I'm sorry, I wanted to make sure I got that Laura and it's tricky. And you are the who is the owner operator of Utopia Tan and Spa?

SPEAKER_02:

Yes. And we're in Sederville, Tennessee, Dolly Parton's home.

SPEAKER_01:

Very cool. Very cool. Welcome to the show. We're glad to have you.

SPEAKER_02:

Thank you. Glad to be here.

SPEAKER_01:

So uh why don't you kick us off by telling us all about Utopia Tan and Spa?

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, well, there that's a big, that's a loaded question. Um so my husband had sold years ago a business and asked me, okay, it's your turn. What do you want to do for business? And I said, I don't know, that's a pretty big question because you know I'm gonna say tanning, right? Tanning or light or wellness. And we prayed about it, and that's exactly what happened, is through a chain of events and studying, you know, different uh like tanning bed types, they have all of these different types now that are pretty, pretty amazing. And they're called UV hybrid beds. So tanning has gone to a different level to where you have bronzing lamps that are much safer for the body, along with real red light lamps in them that are 660 nanometers of red light therapy. So red light therapy is huge right now. And we thought, what better way than to make tanning a little more desirable and safer for those? And we don't let people just jump into bed for 10 minutes. We educate them, explain to them, hey, listen, you know, this is how many minutes you should do to build up uh your tan for a safer tan. Uh we also do red light therapy. So those things all came about when my uh actually red light therapy came to be something very big for us because it wasn't really here in the area. My husband has, you know, he's a desert storm vet. So he has a lot of back issues, eczema, things like that. And we researched and found a non-medical way to treat that through red light therapy. And so thus here we are. Um, we started May 1st of 2023, and we've been rolling ever since. And I'm gonna tell you like red light therapy mixed with the tanning together, the wellness part of it, it's been exciting and people love it, and we've had great success. We have clients that have been here with us since day one. So it's been pretty exciting to be a part of that and you know, see the growth.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, very cool. Well, tell me about the red light therapy. What exactly does that do?

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, so red light therapy, NASA basically did some research way back, um, and it started with astronauts trying to grow. They were trying to recreate cellular growth in space. And one of those astronauts, as he was, you know, messing around with the plants and had the red light, realized that his wound had healed like that, just started to heal very quickly. So, fast forward now it's in chiropractic offices, dermatologists' offices, you know, wellness spas, a lot of aestheticians use that. And now we've brought it into our salon to create a the wellness side of our spa. And what red light does is if you picture your mitochondria, it stirs that up as that red light goes through your body into that, you know, mitochondria stirs it up, opens those cells up, and creates lymphatic drainage. Thus, you are having some anti-aging, anti-inflammatory. It's great for bad, achy backs, arthritis, autoimmune disorders. We have people with Hashimoto's and lupus and severe arthritis, or people avoiding, you know, having surgeries or trying to do this method first. And red light itself, if you look at the spectrums of light, you have 630 to 815 neurinfrared. And you want the 815 near infrared because it's the deepest subcontaneous tissues that you want to get down into to create that cellular growth, collagen growth, um, you name it. And it's anti-inflammatory, it's huge right now, too, because people are trying to get rid of, you know, this and that and the other thing. Losing inches, we've had people losing inches as well, but it has to be regular because red light's short-lived, and so it has to be zapped regularly. And so we usually have people come in three times a week, depending on what they're trying to work on or heal. So, I mean, if you ever come over, you'll have to lay on our red light bed. You'll be truly amazed at what it does and how you feel when you come out.

SPEAKER_01:

I would love to check that out, actually. I would sound wonderful. Well, if um can you think of any myths or misconceptions in the tanning and spa business?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, you know, that's the thing, is sure, I'm not gonna sit here and say, oh, you know, you know, UV is not, you know, it's not great for you. UV is actually very good for you 10 minutes a day because our bodies were created to have vitamin D. And right now we're in winter, correct? So people are not out in the out in the sun like they used to be, you know, and when you're not, your body is lacking. If you do not take a vitamin D3 supplement, you are not getting that vitamin D. So the misconception, honestly, is yeah, it's okay to tan, but do it within means, like anything in excess is bad, correct? So we educate people on listen, if you're gonna tan, you are not, you know, killing yourself in there like every single day, like 15 minutes a day. So it's better just to do it a few times a week. That way your your skin is actually receiving the UV and it's it's healthier that way. So that's my take on it. You know, now if we have a client that, and we've had a few that they're prone to melanoma, I'm like, why are you tanning? You know, you should go to the red light side, like go to the red light wellness side. So we're not going to be like, oh yeah, you should tan every day. I don't believe in that. I think tanning's great, but within means and within, you know, based on your skin type, you have a Fitzpatrick scale. You know, are you a skin type one? That would be a redhead from Ireland, you know, that the Irish type. Be careful, you know, you should probably consider red light therapy and maybe tanning once a week, you know, as a verse to someone that can handle like me, I can tan every single day if I want to. But even myself, I'm like three times a week. So that's my advice.

SPEAKER_01:

Gotcha, gotcha. Now, um you also do as an alternative, spray tan.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, I'm a spray tan artist.

SPEAKER_01:

There you go. There you go.

SPEAKER_02:

So the spray tanning is actually a very safe way for anybody to get instant color. Um, I spray tan myself, you know, off and on, um, usually most of the time, just because I'm busy and don't always have time to lay in our beds, believe it or not. So the spray tanning, it has a solution that we use that is very organic. I'm very much into the organic solutions. You do not turn orange, that's another misperception, but it also depends on the artist and what she's using.

SPEAKER_01:

Very good.

SPEAKER_02:

And I don't use anything that turns you orange.

SPEAKER_01:

And very safe.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, extremely safe for the body.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely awesome. So uh sounds like you you work a lot, you're you're busy. Um getting up with you today.

SPEAKER_02:

Um, we had a little, you know, the morning was crazy, but it's all good.

SPEAKER_01:

It's all good. That's right. It's all good. So if there is downtime, what do you like to do for fun?

SPEAKER_02:

What do I do? Oh, my husband and I are empty nesters, and we take every opportunity to go find new restaurants, you know, go hiking when the weather's good. Um we're we're big family people, so we we do have family in a couple different spots there in North Carolina, which we kind of came over from here uh to here. So we spent a lot of family time, but I mean, we're athletic. We used to be really athletic. Yeah, we got kind of lazy and we just we become big foodies, you know. So we just explore new restaurants in different areas and travel.

SPEAKER_01:

Very cool. Now, where in North Carolina are you from?

SPEAKER_02:

Uh well, so we're from Tampa originally, and we moved to North Carolina to the Brevard, North Carolina area in 2010 and kind of hopped around and decided where we wanted to be, ended up in Waynesville, Maggie uh area, and you know, love it. I mean, I still love North Carolina. We have kids that are in Canton, you know, like Leicester, Canton. Um, the other ones are in Brevard, and then our other ones here in uh Tennessee with us.

SPEAKER_01:

So very cool. Well, I'm uh close by. I'm a North Carolina guy too. I'm from Shelby originally, which is too far.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, oh Hunger Games, Shelby.

SPEAKER_01:

That's right. That's right. That's exactly right. That's all right. They tore all that stuff down too because there were so many tourists coming through. I blew my mind that they did that.

SPEAKER_02:

But well, my husband, I got him in that movie. He's a peacekeeper.

SPEAKER_01:

Really? He's a peacekeeper.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, yeah, he's he got to meet Liam and he got to meet the whole whole crew, so it was pretty fun.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow. Interesting stories.

SPEAKER_02:

Little side note.

SPEAKER_01:

Little side note. Well, if um if you could think of one thing, Laura, that you would like our listeners and viewers to uh uh remember about uh utopia, tannispa, what would that be?

SPEAKER_02:

It's kind of hard to say one. Um we developed when we when we prayed over this salon, we wanted it to be a place, we named it Utopia based on not the utopian society, right? But more of the Garden of Eden, more of the blissful, the beauty of just restful rejuvenation. And that's what we've created. We've created a place where people can walk in the door, they're greeted, they're welcomed. We have the best ladies that work here. Our staff is amazing, they're sweet, they're kind. So people have become family. So we treat people like family, number one. Number two, we educate them on tanning, educate them on wellness, on the red light. Um, and we are gonna be adding a few new things. I'm not gonna give away what they are yet, but we're adding to those modalities. But our goal here is just to make sure everybody knows that when you walk in the door, you're important, you're welcome. We're gonna get you tan however you want to be tan, or we're gonna get you as much healing as we possibly can through our red light modalities. And that's what we do.

SPEAKER_01:

Awesome. Well, we'll have to have you back sometime to talk about the new stuff. Sure.

SPEAKER_02:

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01:

So uh for those of us like me who are interested, and uh uh the next time I'm in Surreal, I'm definitely gonna check you out and do some.

SPEAKER_02:

Just come in. Oh, let me tell you that real quick. Everybody that walks in the door, your first visit is free. Unless you're unless you're well, you can be free because we know each other now. But locals, all locals, we consider anybody within a 50 mile radius. Um, your first visit's always free.

SPEAKER_01:

Nice. Very good.

SPEAKER_02:

So you have to come by. We'll let you come in for free.

SPEAKER_01:

Awesome. I'll hold, I'll hold you up to that.

SPEAKER_02:

Great.

SPEAKER_01:

So uh how for those of us like that are interested and uh want to learn more, how can they do that?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, you can either call the salon, our phone number is 865-446-0022. You can go online at utopiatan and spa.com, spell it all out. Um, we are on Instagram, we are on Facebook, we're also on TikTok. So if you just spell the entire utopia tan and d spa, you will find us on those social media places.

SPEAKER_01:

So awesome, awesome, very good, very good. Uh so you're everywhere.

SPEAKER_02:

That's that's we're trying to be.

SPEAKER_01:

There you go. That's true. All right. Well, Laura, I can't tell you how much I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to hang out with us and tell us all about utopia. And uh appreciate you. And uh absolutely, and like I said, uh, we would uh wish you and your family and your business all the best moving forward. Let's have you sometimes.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I'll we'll be back. I'll bring my husband next time.

SPEAKER_01:

All right, and is your husband's name Paul?

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, it is.

SPEAKER_01:

I thought I saw that on your website. Okay, which hope always said hello. All right, I will uh happy new year.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, happy new year to you. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01:

All right, thank you. You have a blessed rest of the day.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNP Tri-Dash Cities dot com. That's GNP Tri-Dash Cities dot com. Or call four two two two two two two two two two two three seven one nine five eight seven three.