When finances are tight and raises aren’t an option, how do you continue to keep your team motivated, engaged, and loyal?

In this episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy, I’m sharing 10 meaningful and effective ways to make your team feel truly valued—no bonus required. From gratitude rituals to flexible scheduling, and even profit sharing strategies that don’t increase fixed costs, these tips will help you strengthen your team culture, retain top talent, and create an environment your team wants to stay in.

What you’ll learn during this episode:

• Low-cost, high-impact ways to show appreciation
• How personal touches make a lasting difference
• Creating professional growth opportunities that drive loyalty
• Why time off and scheduling flexibility are game-changers
• Strategies to foster gratitude, feedback, and team connection

Resources Mentioned in Episode #426: 10 Ways to Make Your Team Feel Valued

• Book: The 5 Love Languages of the Workplace by Gary Chapman

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To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers,

join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community

IG / @addoaesthetics

WEB / addoaesthetics.com

YOUTUBE / @addoaesthetics

LINKEDIN / @addoaesthetics

WANT MORE FROM ADDO AESTHETICS?

Take just 5 minutes and find out YOUR biggest area of opportunity by taking my FREE Spa Business Assessment here → scorecard.addoaesthetics.com/

Join the Addo Professional Alliance (APA), an association dedicated to empowering women and strengthening their community by helping aesthetic professionals build meaningful connections with one another and fostering support and guidance to create businesses that align with the lives they love → www.addoaesthetics.com/addo-professional-association/

ABOUT THE SPA MARKETING MADE EASY HOST 

About Your Host, Daniela Woerner

Daniela Woerner is the founder of Addo Professional Alliance, a leading spa association for aesthetic professionals, and the creator of the Growth Factor Framework—a proven system that has helped 582 six- and seven-figure spa owners scale their businesses with strategy and systems.

With nearly two decades in the aesthetics industry, Daniela has trained alongside top physician-dispensed brands, consulted with leading dermatologists, and helped thousands of spa professionals streamline their operations and maximize profitability.

Her mission? To transform overworked aestheticians into Spa CEOs—building a business and life they love with the strategic systems needed for long-term financial growth.

As the host of the Spa Marketing Made Easy podcast, Daniela brings expert insights, real-world strategies, and in-depth conversations to help spa owners elevate their marketing, optimize their operations, and create sustainable success. With over 400 published episodes, 1 million+ downloads, and a ranking in the top 1% of all podcasts worldwide, Spa Marketing Made Easy is the go-to resource for spa and aesthetic professionals looking to level up.

Tune in each week for actionable strategies, expert interviews, and inspiration to help you build a thriving, systemized, and scalable spa business!

Hiring a unicorn, or building a whole team of them, isn’t about narrowing in on uber-unique people who possess the “just right” combination of skills to help you succeed in your spa business. 

Actually, building a Unicorn Team is about getting ultra clear on your brand and the values that drive it. 

From there, you’re able to navigate, motivate, and communicate as the Unicorn Leader you are, and thus, rally and lead other Unicorns who want to build your brand with you, too. 

Here to walk us through the foundation of that innovative process is Jen Kem, the author of the new book, “Unicorn Team: How to Rally the Right People Around the Next Big Winning Idea that Changes the World.” 

Named Forbes’ top brand strategist, Jen’s company, Master Brand Media, represents influencers, celebrities, CEOs, experts, specialists, authors and speakers to get seen, heard and paid more through brand management, team optimization and corporate brand collaborations. 

With a focus on the four essential areas for brand success called Brand T.I.M.E. – Team, Identity, Messaging and Experiences – Jen and her team of Strategizers and Mobilizers have advised over 400,000 leaders to grow their brand, expand their businesses and lead teams who “get” their mission and follow-through on their vision. 

In her upcoming book, “Unicorn Team,” she outlines the frameworks for everyone to leverage the concept of Brand T.I.M.E. so that they can make the next level impact they know possible.

In this episode, we discuss: 

• Why your team is a critical piece of the entire brand experience you’re building (yes, solo aestheticians, this applies to you, too!)
• Overcoming your team-building objections and embracing your own unicorn role in boosting your confidence as a leader
• Donkey vs. unicorn behavior and getting clear on what you’re looking for in your unicorn team members 
• Crafting a team and process that are linked to your values and brand, and support your path to sustainable scaling

To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers,

join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community

References Mentioned in Episode #418: Assembling Your Unicorn Team with Jen Kem

• Order your copy of Jen’s new book, “”Unicorn Team: The Nine Leadership Types You Need to Launch Your Big Ideas with Speed and Success”
• Enter our “Unicorn Team” book giveaway by taking a screenshot of you listening to this episode and share to your Instagram Stories – be sure to tag us at @addoaesthetics and @jennifer.kem!
• Explore Jen’s work as a strategic brand advisor for innovative leaders and companies 
• Connect with Jen on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn 

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PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

As a brick-and-mortar spa owner, you have the great advantage and opportunity of using nearly every avenue of marketing to benefit your business. 

Digital marketing and advertising, grassroots and in-person events marketing, and both online and offline strategies are available to you, but the backbone of all marketing is going to be your bread and butter, especially in today’s economy. 

That backbone is relationship marketing, more specifically, strategic partnerships. 

In this episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy, we’ll explore what makes for a strong strategic partnership and my top tips for finding and building them. 

In this episode, we discuss: 

• Why you’ll want to focus your marketing efforts beyond the screen and dive deep into relationship marketing 
• What makes for a solid strategic partnership and how to begin identifying who your ideal strategic partners would be 
• The tool I use and questions I ask to ensure that partnerships are mutually beneficial 
• My top tips for getting started in building your business relationships and bridging the gap from a contact being a connection into a strategic partner

References Mentioned in Episode #397: Strategic Partnerships for Spa – Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basket

• Read the book, “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” by Dr. Robert B. Cialdini

To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

Suppose you’re burning the candle at both ends and acting as the owner, team manager, lead marketer, head housekeeper, and front desk supervisor at your spa, among other things. 

In that case, you’re not only trending toward burnout but also leaving money on the table in your spa. 

Typically, I don’t like leading  with such a downer of a statement, but when working to grow and scale a small business so that it becomes sustainable and profitable, it’s critical that we focus on what’s truly needed to succeed. 

As a Spa CEO with a team, you need someone with the leadership and management skills to properly handle your spa’s daily operations so you can be free to do the visionary and strategic work required of a Spa CEO.

In this episode, you’ll learn: 

• The two routes you have to choose from in bringing in and training a spa manager for your team 
• The danger of promoting your top aesthetician into your spa manager role and how to navigate hiring within or from outside the company 
• What a spa manager should be doing in their day-to-day and the six key areas of ownership they should have in your spa 
• How you or your spa manager can develop the management and leadership skills needed to effectively build an operationally efficient business with a strong team culture

To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community.