Today we’d like to introduce you to Melanie Dubbin.
Melanie, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I graduated from Lake Superior College in 2008 as a massage therapist and started by working independently — traveling to clients’ homes, offering chair massage at local businesses, and building my clientele organically through community exposure, recurring guests, and work that created tangible results for people.
My first space was inside The Color Lounge Salon and Spa, where I eventually expanded from one treatment room into a four-room practice with a lobby and my first team of therapists. In 2016, I officially founded The Well Co.
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From there, we moved into Gordy’s Gift and Garden Center, where we expanded into an eight-room wellness space and continued growing our team and offerings.
Now, after purchasing our own building at The Well Co. in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, we are expanding into a much larger healing and wellness center with 14 treatment rooms, saunas, cold immersion, ritual and integration spaces, clinical rooms, and a collective gathering space. In collaboration with Mama Roots, we will also offer cold-pressed juice, smoothies, salads, mocktails, and nourishment designed to support the full experience.
The vision has always been to create a place to heal. Our new space is designed to support people in many different ways through massage, hair, foot, and facial treatments, sauna and cold plunge, ketamine therapy, hypnosis, mental health therapy, breathwork, yoga, strength training, drumming, dancing, and various spiritual and healing practices. We are building a space where people can experience healing, connection, movement, restoration, and community all under one roof.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it has not been a smooth road — personally or professionally. Life has been fully flavored. It’s been beautiful, bright, painful, defeating, expansive, and deeply alive all at once. But I genuinely believe all of it has shaped me into the person capable of building and holding a space like this.
There has been nothing easy about this journey. It has stretched me mentally, emotionally, spiritually, financially, and creatively. Every stage of growth has required me to move beyond thresholds I didn’t always know I was capable of crossing, but I felt called to keep going, so I did.
In many ways, building The Well Co.
has grown me alongside it. It has demanded bravery, faith, patience, adaptability, and an ongoing willingness to rise into greater levels of leadership, precision, and capacity. I’ve had to find my way again and again.
What keeps me moving forward is seeing the impact it has on people. At this point, it feels like something much larger than myself — something with its own momentum and life force that I’ve been entrusted to steward. Watching it positively affect so many people has given the journey meaning, even in the hardest seasons.
I think growth asks us to continually expand into greater versions of ourselves, and this path has absolutely required that of me.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
[The Well Co.](https://thewellnorth.com?utm_source=chatgpt.com) was created to be a place to heal. At its core, that has always been the vision — to create an environment where people can reconnect with themselves through many different pathways, all under one roof.
What began as a massage practice has evolved into a much larger wellness and healing collective rooted in depth, presence, and collaboration. Our new location at The Well Co. is designed to support healing in a more whole and integrated way. We offer massage therapy, sauna and cold immersion, hair, foot, and facial rituals, mental health therapy, ketamine therapy, hypnosis, breathwork, yoga, strength training, movement practices, drumming, dancing, and community experiences. In collaboration with Mama Roots, we also offer cold-pressed juice, smoothies, salads, mocktails, and nourishment designed to support the full experience.
What sets us apart is that we are not trying to fit people into one method or one philosophy. Healing is deeply individual, and we believe different people need different doors into themselves. Some people connect through bodywork. Some through movement. Some through stillness, cold immersion, music, conversation, nourishment, community, or therapeutic support. We are intentionally building a space where many modalities and practitioners can coexist and collaborate.
I think people also feel the intention behind what we are creating. This has never been about trends or aesthetics alone. Every part of the space has been built from lived experience, deep care, and years of hands-on work with people. There is a lot of humanity inside these walls. We want people to feel welcome exactly as they are — whether they come for a massage, a class, a sauna session, a mental health appointment, or simply a quiet place to breathe and reconnect.
What I’m most proud of is the depth of what this has become and the people who have gathered around it. The Well Co. has grown through community, trust, tangible healing experiences, and a shared desire for something more connected, grounded, and human. More than anything, I want people to know that this space was created with great intention and that there is room for them here.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
I’d also love readers to know that we are still fully operational in Gordy’s Gift and Garden Center while we complete construction on our new space. We are planning to transition into our new location in July, with an anticipated opening in August 2026.
Our new home at The Well Co. will allow us to greatly expand what we offer while still keeping the heart of what people already know and love about [The Well Co.](https://thewellnorth.com?utm_source=chatgpt.com).
We will be offering both memberships and single services, with different levels of immersion designed to accommodate different lifestyles, needs, schedules, and comfort levels. Some people may come for a single massage or sauna session, while others may choose a more integrated experience involving classes, therapies, rituals, movement, nourishment, and community throughout the month.
We are intentionally creating a space that feels accessible, welcoming, and flexible — somewhere people can enter in whatever way feels supportive to them. And yes, one thing we are very excited about: the new location has its own dedicated parking lot, which feels like a huge win in itself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thewellnorth.com
