By Ainsley Walters, Staff reporter
Gaudia Chevannes (left) receives a small business job creation award from Cable & Wireless senior vice president Hugh Cross at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston. She was recognised for her entrepreneurial undertakings yesterday at the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica's monthly Job Creation Awards. - Michael Sloley /Freelance Photographer
JAMAICA'S STAGNANT economy is no deterrent to Spa Aesthetique's managing director Gaudia Chevannes. She will be official opening a second branch of her company at 39 Lady Musgrave Road in St. Andrew this Sunday.
Her logic is simple. Tougher times leave people more stressed, and combating stress while offering total beauty care has been her business since she along with two employees started Spa Aesthetique 15 years ago.
"Of course, the state of the economy is always a major concern but there will never be an ideal time," she said.
"Even in the 1980s there were factors deterring us, but because we offer a service which becomes more in demand the tougher things become, there's always need for stress management."
This helped the company take initiative to expand from its Liguanea, Northside Plaza base.
Offering what Chevannes described as total beauty care, Spa Aesthetique specialises in massages, facials, hair removal, make-up as well as nail and hair care.
"All spa treatments are geared towards stress," she explained. "Massages are good for reducing physical and mental stress. Ambience is a special part of what we do, the right music, soft colours and gentle aromatics, all appealing to the five senses."
With more people wanting to maintain healthier lifestyles, Chevannes said there was a clear basis on which her business could expand.
"There has been a switch in recent years," she pointed out. "People are eating better. Health and fitness have become almost a craze. Most people are turning to alternative methods of effective stress management."
With 25 employees spread between the company's two branches, Chevannes said she has been approached to expand outside of Jamaica, in another Caribbean island.
"That's more like work for a second generation," she said. "I see myself instead opening another branch in Jamaica, honing it to make it exportable, more like franchising."
Chevannes said one special market niche had been expanding as men now account for a major part of her clientele.
"As men become more aware of their image, they have certainly come around," she said. "In addition, more medical doctors have started to recognise massage therapy as a tool for stress management."
