Serenity and Fire with Krista

I Spent 30 Years Chasing One Dream: A Conversation with Keri Croft

• Krista Guagenti

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For 30 years, I carried one dream quietly with me.

It didn’t arrive all at once. It wasn’t linear. And there were many moments I was told no, redirected, or convinced it might never happen.

In this special episode of Serenity and Fire, I’m sharing a deeply personal conversation originally recorded with my friend Keri Croft, about what it really takes to stay committed to a dream over decades, not seasons.

We talk about the long road to building Panacea Luxury Spa, the setbacks that almost stopped me, the detours that shaped me, and the belief required to keep going when the outcome wasn’t guaranteed. This isn’t a how-to or a highlight reel. It’s an honest reflection on resilience, timing, and trusting yourself when the path unfolds slowly.

If you’ve ever felt behind…

If you’ve wondered whether the dream you keep returning to still matters…

If you’re learning to honor the quiet persistence it takes to build something meaningful…

This conversation is for you.

🎧 Listen in for a grounded, real look at entrepreneurship, purpose, and what can happen when you stop forcing the timeline and start trusting the long road.

Krista:

Welcome to Serenity and Fire, the podcast where wellness meets grit. I'm your host, Krista Guadenti, founder of Panacea Luxury Spa Boutique. Join me as we dive into the intriguing world of biohacking, clean living, cutting-edge thought trends, and the hustle, grind, and grit of entrepreneurship. From my personal battles with weight management, infertility, and the 30-year journey to create and launch my dream business, to building a sanctuary for those who have been touched by cancer, I'm here to share real talk, inspire big dreams, and spark a passion for holistic living inside each and every one of you. So let's dive in. Welcome back to Serenity and Fire and Happy Holidays. In celebration of the holidays, I wanted to give a little gift to you and take a little bit of a break and share a really fun episode that I recorded a few months back with my friend Carrie Croft on the Carrie Croft Show. This episode talks a lot about entrepreneurship, big dreams, going after your big dreams, all of the challenges and obstacles along the way. I know we all like to set our affirmations and build our vision boards and do all of the positive, fun things to plan for our future. And so I'm hoping that this podcast episode with Carrie is motivational and inspiring for you. And also I want to mention that on the 18th of January, we're doing our Bubbles and Bliss event at the spa. And at that event, we'll be doing an affirmations and vision board workshop. You'll also get brunch, some mimosas, and some time in our lovely amenities. So it's going to be a really fun day. So definitely look out for the invites on that and get registered because the tickets will go super fast. But we'd love to see some of you there. So without further ado, I hope you love this episode and that you have a lot of fun with it.

Keri Croft:

Krista Guigente. Welcome to the Keri Croft Show. Keri, so good to be here. Hi, my friend. Hi. I'm really excited about having you on the show. Not only because I just love you and I love your husband, Jason. For those of you out there that don't know this, I graduated with Jason. I went to prom with your husband my junior year. So I've known him and his family and extended family from Lima forever. You and I, however, have just sort of gotten to know each other the last couple years. And so I'm excited for that reason, but I'm very excited because I think you are low-key one of the it entrepreneurs in the city, in the region. You're very under the radar, but like you know, things are starting to creep up a little bit. But I want people, more people to know who you are, what you're doing, and the details of what you're doing around Panacea. So you are the owner, founder, brainchild of the best spa in the city.

Krista:

I mean, I'm a little biased, but yes, I would agree.

Keri Croft:

I mean, it's fantastic. Let's let's take a second though, not just for your spa, but just for quarry trails in general.

Krista:

Holy shit. Yeah, I know it's wild. It's exploded. It's such a beautiful development.

Keri Croft:

Oh, it's like, I mean, I think a lot of people probably have at least been over there by now, but if you haven't made it to Quarry Trails, which is literally right on the corner of Riverside and Trayview, tucked back, you feel like you're transported into like a different city.

Krista:

Totally.

Keri Croft:

It's so beautiful.

Krista:

Mm-hmm. It is, it's gorgeous. And they, their whole vision was to have this beautiful health and wellness development park where eventually we have people doing yoga on the lake, people paddle boarding. There's beautiful swans and wildlife out there. There's a gorgeous 20-foot waterfall that was has actually been there for like 80 plus years, I guess. And they were able to bring that, tie that into the development as well. So there's beautiful hiking trails that go back to that waterfall. They built um, I think three professional mountain bike courses out in the nature in the wilderness. They have a beautiful rock climbing wall that I don't know too much about rock climbing, but it's like a three-tier rock climbing wall that apparently you have to go like three states away to find anything comparable to it. And it's built right into the quarry rock. Um, so and still lots of development going on out there, but it is gorgeous, and we're very grateful and thankful to be in that space.

Keri Croft:

Yeah. So shout out to Thrive. For sure. Right? Yeah. I personally know them, they're amazing people. I love their philosophy, I love their their mission. I love everything about what they're doing in the city. So well, well done, Thrive. Keep it moving. Yay, Thrive. We love you. Um, okay, so you know that I'm starting this thing called the B Lab. You know enough about me to know that an entrepreneur is like that's just near and dear to my heart. And I know entrepreneurs go through so many different phases and journeys, and it truly is like a whole thing. And knowing what you've gone through, I just I can't wait to bring your story of resilience, um, belief, and persistence in your dream to my listeners because people need to hear this story. It's fantastic. You say it's boring, you know, because you're you're humble, and that's a really great part of sort of your whole package. Like you're very sweet, unassuming, you're humble, but damn, if you're not a sharp-edged entrepreneur. Like you're you really are.

Krista:

I need to hang out with you more.

Keri Croft:

But it's true, it's true. Then this is my true take on you. It's like that's what makes you great, and I think that's what's going to continue to propel you into the stratosphere because you have the heart in the right place, and you're like, okay, you know, like I got, I know what's up.

Krista:

Yeah.

Keri Croft:

That's how how I feel about you.

Krista:

Well, and honestly, and thank you. That means so much, especially coming from someone like you. I mean, I was just telling my husband the other day, I'm like, Carrie is wild. Like, she is doing 80 million things. I met your husband for the first time this past weekend. He's so calm and sweet, and here you are buzzing around, going a million miles a minute, much like me. But um, I do think that humble intentions are so important. It does propel everything else that you do, and you have to have meaning and purpose in everything that you do and be genuine about it. So I appreciate that. And um, I'm glad that you know, you see that. I hope other people see that because I really do um do everything with purpose and want everything to benefit other people, and you know, as an entrepreneur it's so important to me that we not only deliver an exceptional client experience and that people feel that love and passion and and compassion when they come into my business, but that my teams feel that too. And, you know, I talk about this in every team meeting that we have. Um, every time I get a chance with my team is to let them know that it's so important for me that they love what they do. They love coming into their jobs. They don't feel like their jobs are jobs because they love them so much. And I mean that. And I do everything I can to make sure that the clients and my teams are having those experiences.

Keri Croft:

So let's before we, before we unpack sort of your journey, which I can't wait to get to, let's talk a little bit about Panacea and what makes it different. So on the surface, you know, as somebody who walked into it for the first time, I'm like, okay, like this is next level in terms of um, you have the hyperbaric chambers, you have like it's just very elevated, first class. There's a like this beautiful event space with like an outdoor patio and like next level amenities. You've got all of this, all of the makings of like a big city spa, which is really great. But then when you peel it back a little bit more, you also have this whole soft spot in your heart for oncology. And so talk a little bit about just if if somebody like is listening right now for the first time, they don't know much about the spa, give them like the reader's digest version.

Krista:

So Panacea stands for Cure All. It's named after the Greek goddess of healing. It's believed to cure all problems, diseases, ailments, and illnesses. So, in the traditional sense, we are a lot like most spas in that we offer massages, facials, nail services, body wraps. Um, but where we're really different is that we have a huge focus on holistic health and wellness. So, as you mentioned, we do have hyperbaric oxygen chambers, we have LED red light whole body bed therapy. We offer some unique services like Ayurvedic Shirodara. We have some really cool and really neat couples experiences that incorporate a mud ritual in with them. But we also have resort level amenities. So for anyone who comes in and has booked an experience that's at least $100 or more, they get up to two hours of access in our full amenity space, which includes um men's and women's locker rooms, robes, cozy robes, warm slippers, uh, Himalayan salt saunas, eucalyptus steam room, our cold plunge pool or hot hydrotherapy pool. And then we have a beautiful relaxation lounge that has these really cool, tranquilizing hanging loungers in them that overlooks the parks and trails of the Cory Trails. And then, like you said, we have the beautiful rooftop patio that they can enjoy. We have a full liquor license. So when you come in, you can have mocktails or cocktails of your choice. Everything's fresh squeezed and hand-pressed, and keeping everything clean and all natural has always been really super important to me. So all of the products and all of the services and the equipment that we use is natural and clean and organic wherever possible. And part of that reason is because we also do have a deeper mission and focus on oncology therapeutics. And it was always my dream to really create this beautiful, amazing, tranquil, relaxing space for people who have had a cancer diagnosis and for their support systems to have a place where they can come and go and be together and experience all of the amazing healing benefits of the holistic services that we provide, but also be taken care of by providers that have the knowledge and know how to take care of things like thinning skin, residual surgical sight pain issues, dehydration, and know how to modify services so that we're not putting them at increased risk for things like lymphedema and other conditions that go along with having a cancer diagnosis and going through treatment. And one thing about cancer, well, two things really is we know that the statistics show that one in every two people will have a cancer diagnosis at some point in their life. And so that means pretty much everybody you know is touched by cancer in some way, shape, or form. We know that stress and anxiety exacerbate the proliferation of cancer cell development. So while hospitals and physician offices are trying to bring spa into their facilities, it will never be anything like what we've created at Panacea. And if we can just remove that stress and anxiety element out of their lives, then we can help them one, fully disconnect and maybe forget about their cancer diagnosis for that hour or two or three or four that they're with us at the spa, but also improve their treatment outcomes overall as well. And then pie in the sky, we really hope that some of these alternative therapies, like hyperbaric oxygen therapy, can do things for them that even their modern medical treatments cannot offer. But the one really important thing about how we rolled panacea out to the community. And when we launched it, it was so critical that the community understood and knew that this spa was for everyone. Because if you are someone who's going through a cancer diagnosis and you need that time to decompress and get away from that, you don't want to feel like you're coming to a cancer spa. And also, if you're someone who's not going through something like this at the moment, you also don't want to feel like you're coming to a cancer spa. So we worked very intentionally and very hard to make sure that every single detail was right, that everyone in the community knew that this was for them and that, oh, by the way, you're also helping do something even bigger and better without even knowing it. So everything from the colors that we chose to every piece of decor that I put into the spa was intentionally thought out with that in mind. And so when you come, I work, you'll see that I worked really hard to create that mind, body, spirit, earth connection. We have natural quarry walk rock on the walls, we have beautiful moss walls and plant walls all throughout. All of the rooms are themed after healing flowers, so they have huge three-dimensional organic floral murals in them. We have a tree or a hallway full of birch trees, and we even have grass in the relaxation lounge underneath the hanging loungers. So all of that was really important because I wanted people to feel nature and feel connected and feel that ability to just completely disconnect from the outside world. And if they happen to be going through something like cancer, um, or it could be anything, diabetes, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, you know, all of the million significant health conditions that are plaguing us, they have a chance to get away from that and just really focus on themselves and the people that they're with and maybe form some new relationships and just really focus on their healing.

Keri Croft:

So I mean the space is beautiful.

Krista:

Thank you.

Keri Croft:

It's beautiful.

Krista:

And you had didn't touch on the shop. Oh, yeah, my gosh.

Keri Croft:

The shop is beautiful, which I'm obsessed with.

Krista:

I it's like a deep passion of mine. We have about a 1,200 square foot boutique that has literally everything from your normal traditional spa things like robes and slippers and eye masks and skincare products. But then also we have baby gift items, home good items. Um, we have a whole men's line of items. We have a wine bar, we have an essential oil bar that eventually at some point will become a full-blown make your own essential oil product. And so there'll be more to share about that, hopefully early next year. Um, but I really wanted people to see the boutique as a place that, regardless of what occasion they were celebrating, if it's a graduation, a retirement party, a housewarming, um, a new baby, whatever it might be that they would think of panacea and come in and put together whatever that gift basket or gift item is that they need. So we really try to carry a lot of everything. And there's a beautiful bar in the boutique as well. So you can have a cocktail or a mock tail, shop a little bit, go out and sit on the rooftop patio, hang out. The patio is honestly, I feel very stunning. It it rivals some of the best in the city, in my opinion.

Keri Croft:

So it's really great. Some people who be listening and seeing you, and you hear, oh, oh my gosh, she owns this spa. And like, what did she do? There must be something special about her. Like everybody feels like when they look at someone, you know, 20 years down the road from the work, you know, it's like, oh, how did she do that? And the grind that you were on and are still on to build your dream is so fascinating because there's really nothing like glamorous or there's no magic pill except for hard work and persistence and belief in yourself. So I want to go back and start with, you know, when you went to try to get your financing to open this spa, and let's just go through memory lane for that listener who's out there like thinking, you know, it'll never be me. I'm not, how am I gonna be able to do this? I think this story is so important for people to hear that, you know, you can do it, but guess what? It's not gonna, it's gonna be hard. It's gonna be real hard, you know, but it can happen.

Krista:

I I don't even really know where to start, honestly. But I can say that, you know, I personally came from a family that they were blue-collar workers, no one ever owned a business, no one even ever went to college in my family. I was the first person ever to even consider college and graduate from college. And so I I I had no knowledge or support system relative to like, how do I go out and start a business? And you know, how do I make this happen? But I did have so much support from my family in the way of you know, no them saying and and championing me and saying, like, you know, whatever you want to do, you can do it. You just have to put your mind to it. And I think that all of this really kind of starts there. So I've always just had this super strong determination to succeed in whatever I do. And unfortunately, I'm one of those people who things don't just happen naturally. Like everything I've ever done in my life, I've had to work really, really hard at it. I studied all the time, all through school, all through college. I mean, I was that person who took 32 credit hours in college and studied 40 hours a week and worked, you know, 25, 30 hours a week, and that while my friends are like barely studying. So, and that translated all the way through my business development career journey, whatever you want to call it. And so I think for people listening, I think the biggest thing is is that if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything. You'd be surprised what you're gonna accomplish. But I think a lot of people go into business thinking that I have this great idea and it's just gonna out of thin air turn into something amazing and they're gonna just make a couple of TikTok videos and prop their feet up on the desk, and all of a sudden the money is gonna start flowing in. And I mean, there's probably some people that that does happen for, but that's not the normal situation, and that definitely was not the case for me. Um, I knew that I wanted to have this beautiful, amazing spa. I really had no idea even where to start or how to go about doing it. And in my mind, you know, back in high school and early college years, I was like, this idea is wild and crazy, and it's gonna take tons of donors and millions and millions of dollars. And how am I ever gonna do this? And and so it kind of got tucked back in the back burner. And I always had such a huge passion for healthcare and um, you know, the medical industry. And so I went to college at University of Cincinnati, got my bachelor's in chemistry with the intention of going to med school. Again, obviously no one in my family had ever done that. We didn't know how to leverage relationships, we had no connections. I mean, I had all the grades and all of the honors, and I worked and I volunteered and I did all of the things, but I could not get into med school. And um, you know, now looking back, I have the hindsight, the value of hindsight and can say, you know, everything happens for a reason, but it surely didn't feel like that at the time. And so I was forced to kind of rethink what was going to be next for me. And I had been working in customer service since I was 12. My mom worked three jobs while we were growing up. She worked in the restaurant industry, and um, you know, we didn't have a lot and she struggled. And I mean, there were times when we were on food stamps and all the things. And, you know, so I watched her bust her tail my whole entire life. And I started working with her in the restaurants, busting tables when I was 12 and continued to work in restaurants all through high school and all through college and then bartended. And after I didn't get into med school, I'm like, what am I gonna do? Like I was pretty devastated. And I'm like, well, I've been in customer service, I love the medical field, so I'll go into the device side of things and do sales. And so I went after that. And of course, you know, I started applying to all the big pharma companies. And I remember vividly I had an interview with Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, and I walked into that interview, and I think I made it to like the final interview, and the manager was like, You have no sales experience. Why would we hire you? So I rattle off all of these things, and he's like, Yeah, no. He's like, Maybe go out, get some sales experience, come back to us, and you know, when we have another opening and We'll see. So I'm like, okay, well, this isn't gonna happen. So now what? So I literally was visiting my parents and my mom in Cincinnati, and I was out at a bar uh hanging out with my sister and my stepdad. And this guy comes in and I'm shooting pool with him on the pool table. And he starts getting all sassy with me and making bets with me on the pool table. And I find out that he's a business owner. And so he owned a business right there in Cincinnati. And it was um the wild, the craziest of businesses. It was a professional employer organization. And what they do is they merge all of these small companies together and create economies of scale so that they can provide benefits for these smaller companies. He also owned a box manufacturing company. And so I said to him, if I beat you in this game of pool, then you have to give me a sales job. And he says, deal. And I beat him. And so he had to give me a job in sales. So the next thing I know, I'm packing my stuff up, moving from Columbus to Cincinnati, and I'm working as a salesperson in this PEO business that I knew nothing about. And so here I am sitting back in this dark room with a bunch of cubicles with these box salespeople because they shared buildings. And me, as the only salesperson for this PEO organization. So I make friends with one of the guys who's in the box sales department. And he was, I don't know, 15 years older than me and so sweet. And we're still friends to this day. And he's like, come out and ride around with me and go on some sales calls. And so I go out and ride around with him and I learn how to cold call. And I spent as much time with him as I could. And I started buying all of these Zig Ziggler sales books and reading all the things about, you know, how to cold call and how to win sales and, you know, just how to be successful in this business that nobody wanted to hear anything about. And I joke, um, I think I had mentioned this in my podcast when I was talking about my story that, you know, I was doing crazy sales tactics like putting together little bags of caramel corn. There was a brand back then called Poppycock. I'll never forget it for Poppy. And so I would put little bags of caramel corn together and create a cute little tag on it that says, I just popped by today to talk to you about PEO services. And I would go around all of these businesses and leave them and introduce myself. And I mean, it was cold calling at its finest, but that's where I got my start and learned how to do sales and learned the grit and the grind of pushing through all of that to be successful. And then eventually a surgical sales position with a very, very small device company here in Columbus came available. And through some networking and some relationships that I had, I was able to get a sales position with them. Took that. I was so thrilled because I'm like, finally, I have my foot in the door. This is going to take me to bigger and better things. And um, I was driving from Ohio to Florida and calling on every hospital in between, sitting in on surgeries and just in my opinion, in my opinion, really living the life that I had hoped I could eventually live and not making any money. I think my first, I think my salary was like $23,000. And um, you know, here I am at this time. I also had achieved my master's in business. I got that while I was doing the PEO sales job, thinking like the more I can get, the more attractive I'll be, and the more these bigger pharma companies will want me on board. And so I had my MBA and now I'm working in this medical device sales job, driving all over tarnation. And um, I had some sales experience and a position with Pfizer opened up. And I had been with this small medical device company for I think about I don't know, 18 months or so. And they were quickly going under. The owner could not afford to pay salaries, and even at my menial $23,000 a year salary, they couldn't pay it. And um, so I started looking, and then this position with Pfizer came open. And so I interview again, and I walk into my final interview, and the same manager from the first time I interviewed with them is sitting there at the table. And I don't think he recognized me because I was like, you probably don't remember me, but I interviewed with you however many years ago. And he was like, Okay, well, why should we hire you now? And I was like, Well, back then you told me that you wouldn't hire me because I had no sales experience. But now I have X number of years of sales experience. I've worked in medical devices, I now have my master's in business. I did everything you told me to do, so why wouldn't you hire me? The other managers, because it was a group of managers, they were just like all like, oh my God, like you could just see it was one of those moments where you're just like, I freaking crushed that. Yeah. Needless to say, I got the job and I started working at Pfizer, and I'm so grateful for that job, even though that wasn't where I ended up in the long term. The training was just out of this world. And I learned so much in that position. And eventually I ended up leaving there and going to GE Medical and selling high-end radiology equipment and capital equipment for them, and eventually moved into a senior client director position where I managed a $40 million portfolio for Ohio State, Nationwide Children's, and Ohio Health, selling everything from bed monitors to MRI systems. And then one day, it was in August, I was on family vacation with my sister and her family and my now husband and our family. And I we got there on Saturday. And by Wednesday, I was still working. I mean, this job, I literally worked 90 plus hours a week, vacations, weekends, holidays, you name it. And I was just over it. And by Wednesday, I'm like, why am I the only one in the company who can take care of whatever it was I was taking care of? Like it's Wednesday. My family's at the beach, they're putt-putting, they're doing all these fun things, and I'm missing out on everything. And my sister and I had spa services that night. And I remember us driving to this small spa in um the outer banks. And I'm I'm literally crying in the car and telling her, you know, I'm so frustrated. I've missed this whole vacation. I don't know why I don't just open my own business. And she's like, Yeah, why don't you? And I just kind of sat there and I was like, Yeah, why don't I? I mean, I've been working so hard all these years and I have money saved up and, you know, I can totally do this. And so we went into that spa appointment and I had a massage, and I remember thinking through the whole massage, okay, here's what I love, here's what I don't like, here's what I would do different. And I just immediately started journaling everything from that moment on, and that was in 2010. And so we came home from that trip and I told my husband, I'm gonna go for this. I'm I'm gonna do this spa. But I had no idea how. I, you know, again, no one had ever owned a business in my family. I didn't know if I could do this or if I should do this from the ground up all on my own, or if I should start a franchise. So I start researching franchises, and there weren't really any spas franchising at the time. There were, you know, massage envy and elements, which are massage type concepts. And I came across a franchise consultant. And I'm like, oh, this sounds kind of interesting. I'll I'll fill out the form. And the lady contacts me and she was amazing, and we're still friends to this day. I love her to death. I 100% would recommend that anybody who is thinking about owning a business and doesn't feel like they have the right support system, that they should look at owning a franchise because at least for your first business, because it teaches you so much and it also takes the pressure off of you of having to do all the things from the ground up, building your website, understanding and knowing how to build out search engine optimization, um, just all of the marketing, the building a brand from nothing.

Keri Croft:

Yeah, it's like business in a box.

Krista:

It's a lot. Yeah.

Keri Croft:

Is she still a franchise consultant? She is. Okay. So they should probably go to her too, huh?

Krista:

100%. I would totally recommend her. And anybody who wants her information can Yeah, we can put it in the in the show notes.

Keri Croft:

Yeah. So just before we continue to move forward, there are a couple things that for the people who are really their ears are perked up because they feel like, oh my God, I feel like this resonates with me. Going back to what you just said about your journey, there's a couple things that struck me. It's number one, you have to be able to differentiate yourself wherever you're at. And so, like, you, you know, you bring up the popcorn and it's this like cute little quirky thing. But those types of things show that you are different. No, how many people dropped off popcorn? Right. Except for you. I I the number rhymes with hero. Right? So, you know, that's number one. And like figuring out whoever you are out there and whatever it is you're trying to do, either go into your mental little journal or take out a piece of paper and truly write down what makes me unique. What are the creative ways in which in a world where there's so much noise, how can I stand out? Because I don't know who coined like the the um phrase differentiate or die. It's in some business book that was written in the like the last 10 years, but it I it sticks with me. If you're not differentiating, you're gonna die eventually. Yeah. Like you were going to you have to be able to do that. So you did that brilliantly, I feel like probably all the time. Thank you. And that's how I was when I was cold calling, honey. I mean, I was an absolute animal cold calling. And you know, I used to piss people off because when I got hired, I also had no experience. And I got an interview with the director, and it was a woman. And I'm like, if you can get me 10 minutes with Jean Cesario, I'm gonna get this job. Because you had to get like a job due, like either selling like printers, you know, like that next step up before they let you sell phone lines. It was like a big deal back then. Yeah. And so I got in front of her, told her all the ways that she should hire me and skip that step, and she I'll never forget it. She looked at me and she was like, better step up to the plate, kid. And I left there and I was fucking shit. Terrified. I was excited. I was it was like that first feeling of like terrified and excited. And I'll tell you what, I constantly figured out ways to differentiate when I was cold calling.

Krista:

Yeah.

Keri Croft:

Because they don't want to hear from you.

Krista:

Well, and I think the other thing too is that with that and just with anything, is that you have to be okay with looking stupid and falling flat on your face. Like you, if you can't get comfortable with that, you will not be successful.

Keri Croft:

No, you won't.

Krista:

No, because you'll be too afraid to try. Right. If you don't. Yeah.

Keri Croft:

So differentiate yourself. Be okay with standing out, being embarrassed. I remember I would look at the CEO Columbus Magazine, and like, I remember there was a guy on the front, and it was 55 Restaurant Group CEO at the time. I'm like, oh man, I guarantee he has everything was about phone lines. And so I'm like, oh, this would be a cr I would if I got this. I I called, I got an appointment, met with the CEO. They converted all of their phone. I mean, it was a huge deal to get, right? There were times where I had, um, I remember having a because like let's say it was Friday, you're feeling a little giddy. I remember there were, I would leave some voicemails that were wild. Like, listen, I will wash your car. I will, I mean, like, literally, there was a business owner that called me back, left me a voicemail, and he was like, Listen, I I don't want, I don't want your phone lines, but I want you to come work for me because I can't even believe like what's the love of view. Yeah. So so you like you do have to get a little bit wild with it. So that's that's one thing, differentiate or die. And then secondly, when you were with your sister and you guys were sitting there and she's like, Well, why don't you? And you're like, Well, why don't I?

Krista:

Yeah.

Keri Croft:

A lot of people don't even have the mental capacity to realize that the other people doing this shit aren't special. Yep. Like you too have a ticket to whatever the fuck you want to do in life. Yeah. You just got to cash it in. But for some reason, again, we're all in cages with the door wide open. So many people don't even realize that they too can have whatever they want. They just have to work for it. It's like that aha moment, like, wait, why don't I start a business?

Krista:

Yeah, and I think we forget that everybody who has done it started from nothing as well. Yes. I mean most people. Some people get it do get it handed to them.

Keri Croft:

But if you're listening to this, you absolutely can do it. And yeah, it's okay. You don't know what the hell you're doing. No one does. You just have to start with two left feet and just keep moving forward. Yep. Okay, so you meet this amazing franchise woman. What's her name? Melissa. Melissa, which we're gonna put her in the notes and hopefully she'll get a hundred calls. Okay.

Krista:

Yep, she's amazing. So, you know, I call her and I tell her this wild dream of mine and about wanting to do this spa. And and she's like, okay, well, let's just, you know, see what's out there. And they, when she meets with you, she has she does all these interviews with you, all these questionnaires. If you're in a relationship, she interviews the person you're in a relationship with, she evaluates all your finances, all the things. I mean, it's very involved. And then she comes back to you within a summary and says, Okay, these are the types of businesses that I think would be a good fit for you. And like I said, there weren't really spas franchising at that time. But elements was one of the um concepts that she had introduced to me because she wanted to help me, you know, have that exposure and be in that dream area. And then I think there was um an at-home healthcare business. I forget what the fourth business was, but then she also had introduced me to a business called Budget Blinds, which is a window covering franchise. We ruled out the other two immediately. Um, the window covering franchise, she says, I know you never saw yourself selling window coverings, but they they have a really strong business model. I think you'll love the founders and just trust me, just at least look into it. And I said, Okay, I'll look into it. Very seriously into elements. I flew out to Colorado, met with the founders, and very seriously considered that concept, but ultimately ended up walking away from it because it felt too confining to me. And I was knew enough about the spa world to be dangerous at that time and felt like I would go into that franchise wanting to change everything about it. And and one thing I will say about franchises is you have to follow the model. It's successful for a reason, and you can't go into a franchise wanting to change everything about it because you'll never be successful. If it's not broke, don't try to fix it kind of thing. And so we ruled that franchise out and I'm like, okay, I'm gonna, we're gonna check out this budget blinds thing and dug into all the financials and I was like, this uh, this business looks good. I'm like, okay, give me a list of owners. And so I called about 15 or 20 owners and was very impressed with everyone that I talked to. And I said, All right, I want to go spend a day with somebody in the field. Who can I go spend a day with? And there was somebody up in the Akron area, so I drove up to Akron, spent a whole day with this guy working in his van and selling window coverings and sitting in on sales calls. And I'm like, I can do this. And so my husband and I flew out to California, met the founders, looked at all their vendors and products, and really fell in love with all of that. And it was a business where I didn't know anything about it and knew that I wouldn't want to go in changing everything and felt like it was something that I could learn pretty easily. And so I had told my husband at the time, I'm like, if I can't get the funding to do the spa on my own, then I'm gonna do this budget blinds business. And in a few years, I'm gonna hire someone to run it. We'll keep it going. I'll have a revenue stream coming in to support us while we're building the spa, and then we'll open the spa.

Keri Croft:

Because you got rejected for financial.

Krista:

Well, so at that point I was meeting with the banks and talking to them because I still was like, do I want to franchise? Do I want to do my own thing? Like, what do I want to do? So to make a long story short, yes. The bank that I had been banking with since 1991 turned me down. And they basically were like, you know, you've never owned a business. This is 2010. You know, there's no way we're giving you this kind of money after just coming off of a recession. Part of it probably was also that I was a woman and, you know, who knows what else. And so they said, you know, go out, take the money you have, open another business, or scale down your plans for the spot and we can give you a less amount and then come back to us in a few years and we'll see what we can do. Well, I wasn't gonna scale down my plans because what I wanted to do with this concept, I would have had to cut out all of my major differentiators, which to me made no sense. And so I said, okay, I'm gonna do this budget blinds business. I had enough cash to pay for the business. I borrowed a little bit of money from my mom and my sister. Um, I was able to pay that back within six months, and we were generating positive cash flow within six months. I continued to grow that business year over year, and in three years, I went back to that same bank and I said, Okay, I did what you said. I'm ready to go. I have positive revenues. We've grown every year, I have no debt. And they said, But you have no spa experience. And I said, Awesome. I was so devastated because I'm like, well, if I had known they were gonna say that, or had they told me that three years before, I probably would have opened the elements franchise just to get my foot into that industry. And so I left really upset and kind of feeling like my dreams were crushed. And I told my husband, I'm like, it's just obviously not meant to be, like the stars are not aligning, and I'm doing really good with this budget blinds business. And quite honestly, like I started that from the basement of our house, and I was doing everything all of the marketing, all of the sales calls, all of the installations. And when I say installations, I mean like hardcore drilling, using hammer drills, drilling into concrete, cast iron, and old warehouse buildings in downtown Columbus, climbing tall ladders, like everything. I was doing it. And finally, after about I don't know how many months we were open, I ended up hiring an assistant who has stayed with me all these years in all of my businesses. She actually just retired. So I miss her dearly already. She left a few weeks ago, but that business was so successful because we had no brick and mortar, so no overhead in that respect. It was just her and I for the longest time. And then eventually I ended up hiring an installer and eventually ended up hiring another salesperson. And we did end up having to build a showroom. And I just continued to grow that and I really leaned in on I have a bit of a design background and I've done some flips and love that whole piece of the business. So I started doing more high end draperies and I even did a few little like remodel projects for some clients and loved that. And even at one point, told my husband when the you know funding fell through for us to move forward with a spy, I said, Well, maybe we should do like A chip in Joanna Gaines type thing and just totally flip houses from top to bottom. And, you know, we really seriously looked into that business. And we even thought about starting a tile business where you would go in and do in-home consultations and bring all the tiles and help people pick out their tile for backsplashes and bathrooms and flooring and all of the things. And but it was just so hard to find good manual laborers, people who would actually do the installations and the contractors. And and I bought a house in Old Town East that was an old Victorian historic home. And it was a shithole. I mean, it was, it had hoarders living in it, the floors were busted out. I mean, there was trash everywhere, it was disgusting and so bad. My husband was like, I want no part of this. Like you're on your own with this. And um we got a part, I got a partner who was a friend at the time, and that did not go in a good positive direction. Um, but to make a long story short, that house, we thought we were gonna have about $100,000 into renovations and they would be done within six months. And we ended up putting $300,000 in renovations into it, and it took about two and a half years to completely renovate and sell. I had to call my uncle and a friend of his in to rescue me on the renovations. I ended up making about $7,000 total, but it was a great learning lesson for me. The house turned out beautiful and we sold it during COVID, and which was a miracle in itself. And to be able to do that and still make a little teeny bit of money was shocking. But I learned so much because one, that definitely put the iron in the coffin or the nail in the coffin around whether or not we were going to go into a contracting business that, you know, relied heavily on contractors. And also my husband will no longer let me flip any more houses. So that went out the door too. And so it kind of took me down this whole path of, you know, what's next. And, you know, as much as I love my budget blinds business and as well as it was doing, and I'm very grateful for that business. We were extremely profitable and I made so many wonderful contacts in the industry and thousands and thousands of clients that we then later used as a jumping board for Panacea because we had that whole entire network of clients that we could then market to. I just could not get away from this idea of wanting to do the spa. And it just really felt like every corner I turned, something was slapping me in the face saying, You need to do this, and this community needs this. And then my husband's brother, um, Brian, got sick with neuroendocrine carcinoma. And within six weeks he passed away, and it was horrible on the family. And my husband's one of seven kids, and um, he his brother was his best friend. And you know, when that happened, it just really for me solidified why we needed something like this. It wasn't just for Brian and for what he was going through, but for everyone around him, the whole entire support system and the toil that cancer takes on families and how precious time is and how we need those moments to be able to disconnect and be together and just cherish and celebrate every moment that we have. And so that really propelled things for me and pushed me forward towards doing the spa dream. And that was 2018. And I told my husband, I was like, We're I'm doing the spa. It's happening this year. I don't know how it's happening, but it's happening.

Keri Croft:

Another really like important point for people, you know, everything's messy and nothing is linear. So when you look back, I mean, listen to all of the stuff that you went through to get where you still haven't gone yet. You're still now, you're like, wait, this dream is still here, but you feel more confident, more bullish. You've got the chops now. And so I think too, there's a misconception when people see someone like you as you are today. There's this misconception that it's easy for some people, or that, you know, there's gotta be some kind of workaround. That's what I love about digging in, getting under the hood of this stuff, because my God, I mean, you're you're looking at like franchising a spa, you're looking, you're flipping houses, you're, you know, all these things that feel so zigzagged. But yet what you just said, without those connections, without that proof of everything you were capable of doing, all those things may not feel at the time like the stars are kind of aligning to your dream. Yeah, but they are. It's like you're anytime you're in the hard work and you're doing it, it's always something's always gonna come out of it that's positive. You know, so if you're in the middle of the mess right now and things don't make sense, but you're working your dick off, you know, like just keep doing it.

Krista:

Yeah. Keep doing it. I think also, too, people don't realize that, you know, again, I'll say it a million times over, everything happens for a reason. And sometimes whatever happens takes you down a completely different path. For me, it brought me back to the path that I was originally trying to pursue. And, you know, that's the beauty of the power of hindsight is I can look back now and see all of those things that have happened come full circle and how all of those things, even owning a blinds business, how that contributed to the success of Panacea today. I mean, I designed the majority of the spa. I mean, I couldn't have probably done that if I didn't have the experience that I had from a design perspective with flipping the houses and owning the budget blinds business, you know, and because of all of those contacts that I built over those years of owning my budget blinds franchise, that propelled my next business and then also Panacea. So everything came full circle. And you're so right. Like you, you just can't give up. And sometimes you find yourself in a better and different place than what you expected. And sometimes you find that all of that just culminates into what it is that you're really trying to and hoping to achieve. I think one thing that gets frustrating too is you look at some of these super successful people who are like bazillionaires and they're enjoying their fancy mansions and houses and boats and airplanes and doing all the things and they seem like they're not working very hard. And you sit here and you think, like, oh my God, like I'm grinding every day, 60, 70, 80, sometimes 90 plus hours a week. And those things sometimes like you do sit there and you think, like, when is that gonna happen for me? And I just really believe that it will. And and maybe, maybe not to that extent, but am I happy where I am? Absolutely. This is my husband tells me all the time, like, he just loves the fact that every day I love my job and I love what I do and I'm excited about it. And, you know, for the first time in my entire life, I can say that I never get tired of owning and running Panacea. It's so exciting every single day. I love it so, so much. And everything that I went through over all of these years was so worth it. And, you know, just what we do for our clients and what we do for our team and what we put out to the community. And when people, you know, I bump into people and they tell me they're so grateful that we brought Panacea to Columbus, like that just like fills my heart so much. And it, if I never have the mansions or the boats or the planes, or the multiple houses, that is enough. It's just awesome.

Keri Croft:

Yeah. So back to Brian too. Um, I think not only did all of this hard work, energy, and success that you started to build and get, you know, put under your belt, life sometimes just really shows you how short and how it can just be snuffed out. And so I think that probably gave you more bravery, more courage to say, wait a minute, like Brian was here, now he's gone.

Krista:

Yeah.

Keri Croft:

And like that probably brought your dream even more, like, we're doing this thing.

Krista:

Yeah. I mean, I told Jason, like, I'm gonna be 45 soon, uh, at that time. And like it, it's kind of now or never. And I feel like if I go through life and my life ends, and I have not at least tried to make this dream happen, I will feel like I did not accomplish all the things I was meant to accomplish. So it does. Things happen, and you know, some some cat catalysts do push you into doing the things that you were really meant to do. And there were definitely, you know, lots of those moments for us.

Keri Croft:

Yeah. And so now you have another one opening in Bridge Park.

Krista:

I do.

Keri Croft:

I mean, that this is a big deal. It's very exciting. Cameron Mitchell Hotel. Like, what tell us all about this situation in Bridge Park?

Krista:

So Cameron Mitchell and Crawford Hoyne a few years ago started developing this hotel concept for Bridge Park. And about a year, year and a half ago, Crawford Hoyne approached me and said, you know, hey, we're building this hotel with Cameron Mitchell and Bridge Park. You've probably heard of it. And, you know, we'd like to talk to you about leasing space in this new hotel. And I was like, you know, I really appreciate you calling. It's an honor. Um, I would, you know, love to, you know, be involved in this project, but I'm just at that stage in my professional career where I don't want to be leasing spaces. I want to own all of my spaces and I do own my current space. And I am looking at opening a second location. We're currently looking for a space for that right now. So it is inevitable that we will open another location. And, you know, I appreciate you calling, but I'm just not really interested in leasing space. And their broker had said, well, just come and meet with us and, you know, let us, you know, pick your brain on a couple things. And I was like, okay, what can it, what can it hurt?

Keri Croft:

Right.

Krista:

So I go to this meeting and I I very much believe that every relationship is a good relationship. The you you never know what those conversations will turn into. Um, I'm a huge proponent of networking. It's how I built all of my businesses and continue to build my businesses. So I go to this meeting and much of the executive team for Crawford Hoyne is in this meeting. I think there were probably eight or 10 people there. And they said, so, you know, we're building this hotel and we're very excited about it with Cameron. And, you know, we wanted to have the best hospitality, the best restaurants, the best hotel. We wanted to have the best spa too. And we've been hearing all these incredible things about Panacea. Everybody's talking about it. It's impossible to get an appointment there. So, what's so great about Panacea? And I'm like, well, first you need to come in for services if you don't already know. Right. And they're like, Yeah, we know, we know. And so I tell them all about Panacea and how it came to fruition and what our mission is all about and what we do. And they just really, really connected to the brand and um basically said, you know, we understand you don't want to lease space. And quite honestly, you know, we don't think that that model really works great with this concept either. So would you be interested in going into a partnership with us? And I was like, yes, now we're talking. And so, you know, conversations continued to evolve from there. And, you know, I basically had told them, you know, if we're gonna do this and you guys are serious about this, I will build you a world-class spa. And but before we go any further, I need to meet with all of your ownership. I need to meet with Cameron and his team. I need to make sure that you guys all connect with my brand and that our long-term goals and visions align. And they, of course, agreed with that. And so we continue to have these meetings. I meet with all of the executive team on at Crawford Hoin. We connected so well. That team is just phenomenal. I mean, I I truly cannot say enough amazing things about them. They're just so, so wonderful to work with, kind, humble, driven, goal-oriented. We definitely speak the same language. Is Jamie Moore a part of that? Yes. He is. And actually, it was his son, I believe, who originally contacted Reese. Uh-huh. So, um, and Reese is great.

Keri Croft:

They're just I love Jamie Moore. Yeah. And Mary Noelle, his wife. I all of them. I mean, I they're great people.

Krista:

Brent Crawford, Matt Starr, um, Christian Schmidt, Steve, Russ, like the whole team out there. They're just so phenomenal to work with. And I'm so grateful to be sitting at the table with them. And then, so they come and they all, you know, I'm like, you got to come and see the spa. So they come, they tour, and you know, we're trying to keep all this hush-hush, and we have all these people in suits like coming through the spa. And, you know, I'm not wanting, I'm just one of those people where like I don't want to talk about something until I it's on paper and we know it's real. So I didn't tell my team about it, and we're giving all these tours, and so everything goes well with Crawford Hoyne. We have the hotel developer come in, they meet with us, that it went fantastic. And then that left Cameron. So um finally we get a meeting coordinated with Cameron and his team, and I'm literally like a fangirl because I have admired him ever since I moved to Columbus in '96. I just think he is so dynamite. He's just so awesome. Um, we actually, his book, Yes is the answer, what is your question, is part of our core brand strategic principles of the business. That's it's on our canvases in our break room, and it's part of what we talk about in our team meetings. And I just very much believe in that customer service mindset that he has spread throughout all of his businesses. And so he comes in and we sit down at a table and they want to know the same things all about me, all about my vision, all about what we're doing. And so we talk about all of that, and they're like, okay, let's do, you know, do a tour. And we couldn't do it after hours because it didn't work with Cameron's schedule. So you can, if you know Cameron, he's a pretty big guy. And so it's him and like three other guys in suits, and we take them back through the spa, and there's clients and everywhere. And you know, clients don't know because we're touring people through anyways when they're coming in for their services. But those guys were like, you could tell they were just so uncomfortable being in the pool area, people were in swimsuits and robes and like walking around. But we get back to the event space, and um I'm like, Cameron's not like he's kind of you know, quiet and um not, you know, suit like he wasn't like having a lot of conversation. And I'm like, the end of the meeting happens, and I'm like, so what do you guys think? Like, you know, do you think this could work? And Cameron's like, well, you you definitely have the drive and the passion and the stick toativeness that we're looking for. So we're gonna talk and we'll be back in touch. And the meeting ends, and I'm like, oh my God, oh my God. He, oh, and before that, I must say, I said to Cameron, I said, I'm gonna sound like such a total fangirl right now, but I just have to let you know I have admired you for so long, and I'm so excited you're here. And I have to take you in my break room and show you what we have in there. And so I take him in and I show him my canvases where it talks about yes is the answer. What is your question? I'm sure he was just like, This girl is crazy. You probably loved it. And so, anyways, they leave and I tell Jason, I'm like, oh my God, they hated it. They hated it. I I don't think they liked it. He's like, babe, you did great. They loved it. And I was like, I don't know, I don't know. So I'm on pins and needles for like a week until I finally hear back from Crawford Hoyne and they're like, Let's do this. Like, we're all on the same page. We we want to do this project with you. And Cameron's team is on board, and so we moved forward. And so now we're in the heavy into the design and development phase and putting together all of our proformas, and um, we're hoping to break ground, I think, in the spring sometime. Um, and I don't know if I can say when we're gonna open, so I don't I don't know how much I can share, but it's well in the works and we're all very excited about it. It's gonna be an incredible project. It's gonna, there's gonna be nothing like it really anywhere in the city. And we're putting it right here in Dublin, so we're very excited.

Keri Croft:

So cool. Yeah. Well, well deserved. Thank you. I'm so proud of you. Thank you. I mean, it's so great.

Krista:

It's honestly, I feel so honored to be sitting at the table with these incredible brands, and we're gonna build something really spectacular. Yeah. I'm confident of it.

Keri Croft:

I love it.

Krista:

Yeah.

Keri Croft:

All right, Krista.

Krista:

Anything else you want to say about um Panacea or you want people to know before we I hope that when you come to Panacea, that you'll see the love and the intention and the compassion and the thought that's been put into every single detail. I hope you feel that every time you come in. And, you know, if you've been there, please share. Let us know what you think and tell your friends. Hopefully, you loved it. And if there's ever anything that we can do or anything we can make better or improve, please definitely let me know. But Panacea is a dream come true for me. And I hope that everyone who comes there feels that and finds it to be the sanctuary that I hoped it would be for everyone. And I just really um thank you for letting me be on your show today.

Keri Croft:

Oh my gosh, I'm so happy that you're here. I'm honored. Thank you. The honor is all mine. And real quick, so Krista just started a recent podcast called Serenity and Fire, where she gives all the behind-the-scenes, you know, hacks and all the knowledge and information that you have gathered over the years, not just being a human being, but being a human being that's an entrepreneur and now a spa owner. So uh if you're looking for a new pod to listen to, Serenity and Fire has got your back.

Krista:

Yeah, thank you. Yeah, definitely check us out wherever you get your podcasts. We talk about biohacking and exciting spa trends, entrepreneurship, my 30-year journey to open panacea and really just real talk about anything and everything. So if there's topics you want to hear about, let me know. I'm always open to new ideas and I want to create things that people love to listen to. Right now it's just a solo cast. So most of the episodes are 20 to 30 minutes with just me. And eventually we'll have some experts and some guests on the show. So come check us out. Okay, everyone. I just have to say I had so much fun doing that episode with Carrie. I hope you loved it as much as I did. And I hope you all have a fabulous and lovely new year. Also, I wanted to let you know that starting in 2026, we're gonna be releasing the Serenity and Fire episodes on Tuesdays. So stay tuned for our newest episode, which will launch on Tuesday, January 13th, until next time. Keep balancing serenity with fire. I'm Krista Guigeni and I'll talk with you in our next episode. At Panacea Luxury Spa Boutique, we don't just offer traditional spa treatments. We create rituals that relax your mind, restore your health, and rejuvenate your spirit. From biohacking technologies to advanced oncology trained care, everything we do is designed to help you heal on the deepest level with clean, holistic therapies, products, and amenities that are second to none. And right now you can experience two of my favorites our whole body LED light bed or hyperbaric oxygen therapies. And as a thank you for listening, you'll get 10% off your first session when you use the code Serenity10 at booking. What is your panacea? Let us help you find it because true wellness isn't a quick fix, it's a ritual.