December was a whirlwind month for Dunedin businesswoman Jess Luxton.
Not only was it traditionally the busiest month of the year at boutique day spa Erban Spa in Roslyn, but she and her husband, Matt, took over additional spa businesses in Wellington and Auckland.
It was a five-week turnaround from the two businesses being offered for sale to taking over at the start of December and the month was ''hugely stressful'', the mother of three young children, aged between 18 months and 6, acknowledged.
But she was also hugely excited about the prospect of taking the Erban Spa model, developed and incubated in Dunedin, to other cities. Erban Spa is also in Christchurch, through a franchise operation.
Running a day spa operation was a far cry from Mrs Luxton's earlier career choices, as she recalled how the spa industry in New Zealand did not really exist when she was growing up.
After leaving secondary school, she studied physical education at the University of Otago, which was a fun degree, while also completing some commerce papers.
She then joined the police and spent just under four years working in Christchurch, in a job that she loved.
That was followed by four years travelling around the world, where she ended up working on super-yachts, and that was where she met her future husband.
It was also where she was first exposed to the health and wellbeing industry, which proved to be an eye-opener.
It was in the early 2000s and those living on the super-yachts were ''a bit ahead of their time'', she believed.
They were conscious about what they were putting into their bodies and could afford to take care of themselves, she said.
Returning to New Zealand and keen to start a business, the couple started importing a range of organic herbal products called Erb, from Thailand, later entering into a business partnership with another couple.
Mrs Luxton also managed executive education at the University of Otago and Erban Spa started ''on a really small scale'', initially specialising in massage.
But then customers were keen for a ''one stop shop'' and the business developed, with Mr and Mrs Luxton later buying out their partners.
Mrs Luxton left her job at the university to concentrate on the business. Her husband is an account manager at Silver Fern Farms.
Erban Spa is housed in what used to be the apartments where the firemen lived in the former Roslyn fire station.
The distinctive brick building was ''super cool'' to work in and visitors often reminisced about the days when it was a functioning fire station, she said.
Asked how she managed to juggle business with a young family, Mrs Luxton said she was fortunate to live only a block from work and across the street from her children's school. She was grateful for the support of family and friends, along with the ''great staff'' at Erban Spa.
When the Christchurch business was franchised, the couple intended having Erban Spa franchises throughout the country, but then the global financial crisis hit and their plan changed.
They bought the spas in Wellington and Auckland themselves, with the Wellington business in a ''wicked spot'' on Oriental Parade, 200m from Te Papa.
The Auckland spa was housed in a ''gorgeous''historic building, which reminded her of the Roslyn building, in the heart of the university area.
A refit of the Auckland spa had been completed and Mrs Luxton said she had felt like she was on an episode of television series The Block, with four days to ''turn it around''. The Wellington spa was partway through a remodel.
Taking the model that had been implemented in Dunedin to the other cities ''should be a recipe for success'', but she was also conscious of the need to grow the business slowly.
Erban Spa recently switched to using a cloud-based appointment management system developed by Dunedin-based company Timely, which meant she was able to see live what was happening in all the spas, from appointments to invoices.
People often felt guilty about taking time out for themselves and she wanted to educate people about the benefits of doing that and taking care of themselves.
She wanted clients to feel ''completely chilled out'' and have an experience that was not clinical.
''We're not that clinic where you come in and they shine a bright light on your face and say you've got 24 things wrong with your skin, you need 24 products,'' she said.
People were increasingly becoming aware of ''what goes in is what you get out'' when it came to what they consumed and also used on their skin.
While beauty was quite a significant part of their business, they also did a lot of spa packages, facials and body treatments.
The make-up of the Auckland client base was very different from that of Dunedin's, with a lot more men aware of the benefits of looking after themselves.
Asked the most difficult part of running such a business, Mrs Luxton said staffing was ''really tricky''.
But she was fortunate to have an amazing team, including a manager in Dunedin who had been with her for eight years.
It was about finding the right staff and she took time to find them. The business had a low staff turnover, she said.
