Donn Warde does not settle. She likes to keep moving and growing and exploring the opportunities that come her way.
The owner of Touch of Eden Day Spa loves her business, and her intention is to have it become a household name, one known for good treatments and a high level of customer service and satisfaction.
“I want to expand. We’re growing and we may have to move because we outgrow spaces,” she said of her future plans.
The businesswoman said at the age of 17 she wanted to start her own day care and with her mother and uncle’s help she purchased equipment from a nursery which was closing. However, she buckled to negative comments from people and did not pursue it but she resolved then it would be the last time she did.
When the chance arose for her to move from being a receptionist at a hotel to working in the spa there she took it.
Warde said she was always into aesthetics and recalled after she could not find anyone to do her nails she did them herself. When her family and friends saw them, they asked her to do theirs. That was in 2006 and she was operating from home part-time while teaching pre-school.
It was only last year that she moved the spa to the Haggatt Hall location because of an increasing clientele.
“The beginning was better in terms of the space but it was difficult as there was rent, bills and it started to feel overwhelming, but what I realised was that I couldn’t do it all by myself. I had to bring somebody in that could help me with marketing and getting the word out there, not just through friends and family but social media.
“With me doing treatments and taking care of the spa, I didn’t really have enough time and I wasn’t putting enough in this area so I got somebody to help and it has tremendously grown since then”.
Praising her team – Christina Gooding, Ebony Kellman, Carla Blenman-Trotman, Stacia Sztaniszla – and her mum Cheryl Warde, she said they will take the spa even further.
She told BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY that one of the ways she countered the recession was by offering specials via the business’ Facebook page.
“With our prices, I call it affordable luxury. When I first started [at Haggatt Hall] it was a spa so our prices were a little higher. For my 29th birthday I had a special. Every treatment was $29 and we were fully booked. When people came they were booked for one treatment and then they said, ‘I want to do that one’, so they did a variety of services at the $29. Everyone was saying they wanted to do this but because the economy is so hard [they couldn’t].
I sat with the team and told them I prefer to get people to come at the lower prices than to have the higher prices and nobody come at all.
“Our prices are very affordable and our service is no less because customer service is number one with me. I make sure all my customers are satisfied, ” Warde said.
Mindful of the slow down in business during the first quarter of the year, the team has already been planning.
“Right now we have a lot of spa parties planned for birthdays. We go to health fairs at the University of the West Indies, we did Ellerslie School and Queen’s College with the Rotaract Club. We have a lot of outings and we have promotions every month. We have been thinking about the first quarter and strategising to get through this period.”
Warde believes in helping others and “supports 100 per cent Bajan” so she started a programme involving about 20 other businesses. Not only does she use Bajan wines, hair, skin products and make-up at the spa but her customers and the businesses’ customers can get discounts. To get the card, however, you have to book a treatment at the spa first.
“In 2013, I thought I would still be at the hotel because I was actually the supervisor there so I was settling into that and going from year to year there but I’m not a settler. I like to move. I also sing, I babysit, I do so many different things – I’m that kind of person. . . . I got the opportunity and I took it and everyone said there’s a risk in this economy . . . but I’m doing something that I love,” she said with enthusiasm.
