Susie Ellis

President, Spa Finder, Inc.
www.spafinder.com

Talk about your dream job. Imagine if your workday to-do list included the following itinerary:

Check into perfectly landscaped hotel. Put on plush robe. Stroll down a softly -lit hallway following the scent of lavender and the sound of a tinkling fountain to your spa experience. Repeat.

Welcome to many days in the life of Susie Ellis, president of Spa Finder, Inc. and a leading spa expert, who has spent 30 years in the spa industry – during which time she estimates she has personally experienced more than 300 spas. Spa Finder, the world’s largest spa marketing, media and gift certificate company, reaches millions of consumers through the popular web site Spafinder.com, Luxury SpaFinder magazine and The Spa Enthusiast newsletter.

Nice Work If You Can Get It. How Do You Get It?

“In 1975, when I was helping to implement the spa program at the Golden Door (in Escondido, California), there were just a handful of spas. Today there are over 12,000 spas in the United States alone. It’s been an industry that has had a very healthy growth curve over the last 15-20 years.”

“My mother was a physical education teacher and I was very athletic. In college and high school, I gravitated toward fitness and ended up getting my undergrad degree in recreation administration from the University of Illinois.”

“I worked with the Golden Door off and on for many years. I also helped to open a chain of health clubs, did consulting, then ended up going to graduate school and got my MBA from UCLA. I pursued an MBA because I was going to change careers into consulting or recruiting. But in 1990 when I graduated, all of a sudden there was a lot of opportunity in the spa industry. I was asked to do one more consulting project and then ended up getting involved with the International Spa Association, which was just forming at that time, and ultimately served as the assistant to two presidents during my tenure there.”

Working with Donald Trump

“When Donald Trump was looking for help in creating his first spa at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach Florida, the group he hired recommended me for a consulting and spa director position. So I went to Florida and worked for him for two years as we built and staffed the Greenhouse Spa at Mar-a-Lago. It was a lot of fun. As my sister says often, I did not hear the words ‘You’re fired,’ but he did hear the words ‘I quit,’ because I was married and felt like I needed to be back to California with my husband.”

Marrying a Partner in Life and Business

“I met my husband at a spa, the Golden Door, in 1983, and we were married in 1985. He was a guest and I was working there in management. An automotive retail veteran, he founded Autobytel (the first online car buying company) in 1995, and then took it public in ‘99. After that, we retired for a few years and invested in different companies. One company was Spa Finder, because I knew the owner, and liked the company, and because we felt it had a lot of potential to grow – especially online.”

The Makeover

“We got more and more involved and ended up purchasing the company and moving to New York about four years ago. Together we have done some exciting things. Spafinder.com, for example, has become an extremely successful and popular Web site – a consistent “Forbes Favorite,” and among the top three percent of all Web sites in terms of visitation.”

“In general, we have spent a lot of time, effort and money so that people would know to trust Spa Finder to research and find their ideal spa experience based on their specific lifestyle, budget, and goals. We have helped consumers understand the different options for spas – day spas, resort spas and destination spas. We launched the first medical spa section of the Web site last year with a lot of collaboration from medical doctors and input from consumers.”

“We’ve also greatly expanded the reach of the magazine, Luxury SpaFinder Magazine – more than doubling its circulation. We also launched our far-reaching gift certificate program, which offers gift certificates that are now redeemable at over 2500 spas, making it the largest program of its kind. It’s a convenient way for consumers and corporations to gift friends, family members, employees or customers. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love getting a gift of spa, which can be health-oriented, exercise-oriented or beauty-oriented.”

Mixing Business and Pleasure

“I was just in Asia for three weeks and visited 28 spas. On these kinds of business trips we’re obviously meeting with people and there’s work involved, but we always incorporate the spa experience into our spa visits. I didn’t have much jet lag after this last trip; I felt better physically. When you travel and treat yourself to exercise, massage and healthier food, you feel better.”

Now You, Too, Can ‘Live at the Spa’

“The initiative that I’m working on now, which is pushing the envelope a little bit ahead of the curve, is creating information and marketing platforms for a new breed of spa residential communities. We’re now seeing places where people can purchase homes or condos where they can live at the spa, literally. They can partake of great spa experiences as part of their primary homes.”

Making Spa Finder Easy to Find

“We employ people who do nothing but help us to become more and more visible on the Web. That’s a real targeted effort for us. The other way we reach consumers is PR. We let the media know when we’re doing things that are new, and we’re doing new things quite often these days.”

Greatest Success

“The fact that my husband and I work so well together. It surprised us. We have been married 20 years, and up until four years ago we never thought we would work together – or could work together. But we discovered that our different talents are very complimentary and so we have good synergy. It has been such a joy to grow the business together, we really enjoy it professionally as well as personally.”

Greatest Challenge

“Patience. When my husband started Autobytel, it was at the height of the dot-com boom. Spa Finder has been more one step after another, a slower build. It has taken a lot of investment on our part, and we’ve been willing to take some risks. Now we’re really seeing momentum, but it hasn’t always been that way during the last four years. The whole travel industry was affected by 9/11, for example, and by the war in Iraq, which made things all the more challenging.”

Words of Advice

“If you have an ego, then that’s going to be a stumbling block for your business. If you can work with people who are better than you are at various things, it’s going to lift the whole boat. I have never worried about hiring someone who can really shine. If you have talented employees and your business has a problem, then you’re not the only resource to solve it.”

Tips for the Ultimate Spa Experience

1) Try a destination spa

“I highly recommend destination spas for people who really want to have the total spa experience. Resort spas are great, day spas and medical spas are useful too, but at destination spas, you have a chance to have a total immersion spa experience. There are probably about 30 to 40 of these kinds of spas. When I go to a destination spa, I end up feeling really great at the end of the five or six days. You have the healthy food, exercise, fresh air, relaxing spa treatments, beauty services – the whole ambience and camaraderie – and if you do it for a long enough time, it really makes a difference.”

2) Stay a While

“Go to a spa for a little longer than you might desire initially. Most people try to squeeze a spa experience into a short time period, like a weekend or a few days. Try five days, six days, or an entire week; it’s amazing how well you can feel and how good you can look.”

3) Relax Your Spending

“One thing that is a popular part of Spafinder.com is the spa guide, which contains over 30 categories of spas. One category is ‘affordable spas.’ There are so many spas offering discounts, little extras or sometimes, big extras. The spa industry is now competitive enough that you can find some good bargains.”