Location: Solvang, CA

Established: 2010

Wellness spa and learning center

www.ablissfulplace.com

As a manager for salons and spas in high profile hotels, Maria felt that if she was doing it all, she might as well do it all herself with her own business. She opened her doors in 2005 with support from WEV’s Small Business Loan Fund and training from the Self-Employment Training program.

Maria has continued to innovate in her business, such as creating community supported spa parties using only local vendors for groups of friends or corporate events.

She sees her work as making a difference, not just in her own life and her family’s, but in the lives and self-esteem of her clientele.

What prompted you to start your own business?
Going into business for myself was a natural transition from working as a subcontractor for some larger places like The Biltmore and Fess Parker, and some of the larger places that I worked with in Santa Barbara. And I always seemed to graduate to management and I just felt like if I’m doing all this, why not just take the plunge. And so I just went for it, and luckily WEV was there to make sure that I was successful and not fall on my face.

What has been your biggest business challenge?
Definitely discerning character within the interview process. I think that my whole life I’ve always looked at the good in everyone. That works great in life, I think I’ve taken risks and definitely have had disappointments that have made me stronger. But I think that in business, you have to be very careful. So I bring in a lot of people during the interview process and try to really make sure that everybody gets along.

What has been your biggest business success?
My biggest business success would be the fact that we created these community supported spa parties. We kind of took what in the 80’s and 90’s was getting a few friends together and come to the spa, and you’d have spa services, and maybe a glass of wine or something. So we tried to take it to a whole new level and we involved the whole community. And it’s been a great success; I think we’ve had great networking opportunities. I used to get a little insecure about the fact that someone else is going to take the idea, and now I’m seeing some of the wineries doing it, so it’s kind of started a little bit of a trend that’s positive for whatever area you’re in. And it’s something that you can do in any city, and it just supports your entire community because you only use community vendors and business that are in your area.

And it’s fun. There are themes, there are gift bags, they are just large-scale private spa parties, and so we shut down the whole spa. It’s mainly for groups of friends, and we’ve even had corporate parties including men. It’s an easy way to have fun, to still get relaxed, and it’s quick, so it’s for people that are really busy, that maybe don’t have time to plan a whole party. We kind of just take that all over for you, it’s a quick phone call.

Who is your ideal customer?
With a multiplicity of services, we have an ideal type of customer in each type of division. For skin care and waxing and everything it’s really someone who is results oriented. So most of our clients are businesswomen or mothers of young children, or people who just don’t have a whole lot of time. And obviously they have a desire to have quality maybe over quantity. So they come in for maybe longer periods of time, and then we really create a program that‘s not just a ‘cookie cutter’ facial and then leave.

I think the youngest client I’ve ever worked on was eight and the oldest was one hundred two, so it’s a big range but again with the multiplicity of services you have different ideal clients for each area. But definitely we like fun, results oriented, nice people.

What is the biggest surprise about owning a business?
Since I was younger I had to work my way through college and through school and everything, so I had a lot of jobs that were part time and I think the best thing about having your own business is that you actually get to apply all those things you have learned. And I do get bored easily, but I’ve never gotten bored in owning my own business, because you’ve got your hands in accounting, you’re dealing with people, which I love, you’re dealing with marketing, public relations, dealing with the journalism part of it, just overall budgeting, it’s just never ever ever boring, so that’s just what I like.

How do you juggle all the pieces of your life?
In order to juggle everything you really have to have a grounded spiritual life, number one. I do pray a lot about things, that’s probably the number one thing that I do. You have to have an amazing husband, or partner or someone that’s involved in your life as far as supporting you. I’ve realized that over the years now more than ever. And I think that with volunteering, everything is about your discipline and flexibility. You have to be prepared every day that something new might pop up. I learned from WEV that there is a difference between working on your business and working in your business and I think that is one of the greatest things that has really helped me juggle everything.

What advice do you offer to women who might want to start their own company?
The basic things, if you want to start your own company, I would definitely recommend, number one: read. There are so many great books out there and you should always be staying up with the times, make sure that you have a Fortune magazine subscription or something that has to do with business. Take as many business classes as you possibly can, obviously enroll in WEV. But overall, if you really want to start your own business, I think you need to examine first that you truly know your purpose in life, what your gifts are, and what you struggle with. And if you don’t really have a good road map then you’ll never accomplish the goals that you set out to do. So, I think it’s a lot to examine, and just make sure that it’s your passion because otherwise you’ll definitely run out of steam.

How did WEV help you achieve your goal or dream?
WEV helped me accomplish my goals and dreams by loaning me money in the beginning. That’s a huge part of it when you’re starting out, you don’t realize that the devil is in the details. There so much involved and everything costs money. But also WEV really helped through the Self-Employment Training program to make me analyze was this business going to be profitable, was it going to be worth my while. There were definitely changes from when I originally got my loan and we ended up transitioning and making it into something different. WEV has just helped all around, being supportive; the staff and everyone have just been great.

I’ve done a lot of the networking through WEV mixers and things like that. I’ve definitely utilized the people that have gone through WEV, for weddings, photographers, a hypnosis person that a client requested for a spa party. So we just really tried to utilize the networking that WEV is so great at too.

Is there anything you learned from WEV that you use everyday?
What I’ve learned from WEV that I use everyday is the difference between working on your business and working in your business, because with every moment that you’re going through the day with things popping in and phone calls, and people wanting your attention I really have to stay focused. I’ll put things on my to-do list for Tuesday or Wednesday, because that’s my marketing day or accounting day or whatever, but still making those phone calls.  And then keeping your discipline, when you’re at work, you’re at work in the business. And when you’re on the business days, you don’t take appointments and you package those into a different day. It’s staying really disciplined and focusing on that.

What does success mean to you?
Just looking back at to-do lists that I’ve saved all these years and my goals for my one-year, my five-year, my ten-year plans and seeing that those have come to fruition and that they’re completely done. So, I think real success is what you determine in the everyday situation, like spending time with my family, my husband and this amazing little girl. It’s those types of things where I couldn’t do those when I was working for someone else fifteen, sixteen hours a day.  I couldn’t just adjust my schedule to go have lunch with someone or just to come say hi or make a phone call. It’s those little successes that make me feel like I have accomplished something big.

What is the biggest reward you get from your business?
I think the biggest thing I get from my business that makes it all worth while is when a client comes to you and sometimes even has tears in their eyes because you’ve cleared their acne or something that they’ve been going to a dermatologist or have been on accutane or retin-a, or something that is really harsh on the inside of their body. That is why I went into skincare - to make a difference in self-esteem. Sometimes I think that the industry is shallow, but when I see how what I do can affect people deep down, that is probably my favorite thing.

Photography courtesy of Meghan Nicole Photography: www.meghannicolephotography.com