Today we’d like to introduce you to Shauna Allmon.
Hi Shauna, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
It all began with a dream. Brandon local Shauna Allmon, a wellness professional in my own right, saw a gap in the way holistic wellness was approached. Working as a Licensed Massage Therapist and a mother of 2 sons in Sioux Falls, I envisioned a sanctuary closer to my family and home where care goes beyond the physical, blending holistic practices with genuine compassion. Brandon, my hometown, did not currently have a wellness facility offering massage therapy, Considering this, I took leap of faith and pioneered a local place offering the community access to holistic therapy. Thus, Serenity Massage was created, a place where every treatment is a step towards comprehensive well-being, tailored to the individual.
I started as a sole proprietor, setting aside time for each client that entrusted me with their care a priority. At first it was very slow, clients reserving the very minimum appointments I needed to make ends meet. I kept faith and kept strong in my focus of fostering quality therapy and treating each individual with respect while keeping the core value of the my mission statement of caring for people first, business second. I repeatedly told myself, if you honor your belief in this, it will succeed. Eventually over time I started to grow, pre-booking out over a whole year and than into 2 years of full reserved books. Not only was the business growing beyond my expectations, I was humbly growing as a person. Focusing on keeping the integrity and purpose and finding myself being filled with gratitude of clients in allowing me to be apart of their wellness journeys.
Much like many entrepreneur stories we hear of success, I started to feel a different unexpected challenge. I found myself disappointed when my books were full because I was forced to turn away appointments.. When a client would reach out in need, and I knew massage therapy would assist in their healing, I no longer could accommodate these appointments, I felt conflicted and frustrated. While this was happening and I was searching for a solution without having to personally work 24/7, I was offered a place in town that was more square footage, a larger brick and mortar space. I knew the buildout would be costly and I was a sole operator, taking once again, a big leap of faith coupled with the support from my husband and 2 son’s, Serenity Massage became Serenity Massage Spa LLC. This September I will be humbly and gratefully celebrating 10 years in business!
Within Serenity Massage Spa, I was now able to hire other licenced professionals that mirrored my elite mindset in their wellness practice of therapy and client care. This gave another dimensional layer of passion to be able to offer a place of professional security with employment that paid well and supported the staff providing education and top of the industry products, training and personal support in growth. Serenity’s like minded professional staff has elevated the healing approach to expanding hours of availability to provide more options for clients to schedule and have the opportunity for more tailored treatments. Over the years we have hyper focused on high standards of individual and team education, natural therapies, and organic products that will enhance life without risking negative side effects of chemicals of unstudied questionable ingredients. We became a proud partner spa in 2018, with Eminence Organic Skincare, which has allowed us to not only offer effective and trustworthy products, but be apart of Forests for the Future (https://eminenceorganics.com/us/forests-future), planting a tree for every product we sell or use within our facility. Our partnership brings a additional opportunity of supporting The Eminence Kids Foundation (https://eminencekidsfoundation.org) which is dedicated to providing seriously ill children receiving care in hospitals and long term care facilities worldwide with a supplement of organic foods or juices to naturally aid in their recovery. Through these channels as a small business we are proud to be able to have the opportunity to do more, supporting our belief in “together is better”.
This past December we were honored to accept “The Spirit of Giving” Award from our local food pantry. We are honored to be the caretakers and facilitate the opportunity of raising funds each year raising money for our local food pantry, consecutively now for 5 years. Our clients and Serenity have gratefully raised over $6000.00 to this date to assist in feeding local families in need. Our team believes no one deserves to go hungry, we admirably support the hard work and dedication our local food pantry does for our community.
Serenity Massage Spa, is the foundation that facilitates the possibilities for myself and my professional team to provide more opportunity in our individual client care and initiatives in providing a confidence that your self care dollar is not only supporting your wellness professional but supporting our community and doing more for our planet. Together is better. I do not personally take one day for granted, or feel the warmth of gratitude each time a client opens our front door to entrust our services to enhance their wellbeing. It is more about purpose what we can do to make lives better then it is about the profit. Success will come if you put ethics and care in the same basket as your dream of entrepreneurship, it is not easy, but I can personally promise it is worth it.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Yes, there are and have been a few struggles that stand out. Some of these would be the following.
Challenges have been a shortage of licensed working professionals in the area, coupled with hiring like minded professionals that put client care first vs looking at their career as “just a job”. My goal is to hire professionals that foster the same integrity and long term career goals.
Covid put us through test of time, no one could have predicted or prepared for. We did shut down for precaution for one month. Taking this time to educate ourselves on the contagion including proper client care and minimizing virus exposure. Preventive policies were cultivated, coupled with bringing in extra room sanitation like UV room light sanitizations equipment and staff training on maintaining a clean and safe environment.
The biggest challenge has been growing from a sole proprietor to a wellness center while economic pricing has been a universal concern, providing expanding hours of availability and more treatment options that are affordable for the community. Maintaining fiscally and economic stability while expanding and hiring staff professionals that have a passion for empowering individuals to focus on their natural abilities to heal, gently guiding clients towards optimal well-being and assisting concerns and providing exceptional customer care while working within a smaller community has proven to be a welcome challenge.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am dedicated to being a spa clinic with an ambiance that empowers a safe space to receive therapy, leading with expertise in natural therapies within our scope of practice.
My personal professional specialities is becoming trauma informed, relaxation techniques, certified therapies such as oncology massage, Bowen Therapy, special population care, therapeutic therapy, cupping therapy, prenatal and postnatal care, deep tissue therapy and more. Working with each individual is the most important to achieve each clients and staff professionals personal goals of successes. Leadership and business education in HR, tax prep, record keeping, payroll, development, marketing and support technology. When a provider and operator of a small business you tend to take on multiple responsibilities, my staff and the clients are always my top priority.
I pride myself on continuing to learn and embrace this career and entrepreneurship as continuous work in progress, Upholding staff support and education to providing clientele care. Knowing not one size fits all, professionally or personally.
You ask what i am known for, I am told that I have a calm demeure. I have seamless intentional therapies and my presence in the treatment room is focused on client comfort and care. I accept each individual as they are, reinforcing that life changes and we together are working towards their optimal wellness journey. Giving the client total control of their session to communicate their expectations of the session and allow them to find a safety within the therapy they recieve enhances and balances with their somatic nervous system. I have been told my sessions are more than massage therapy, but a experience. We together, work together, professionally tailoring a treatment plan that is safe guided and comfortable.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Supporting myself and the professional staff would be priority one, putting self care first and reserving regular appointments. Rome wasn’t built in one day and neither was your health. We offer loyalty discounts for rebooking a session, and offer packages of services giving a discount aka loyalty incentive for more consistent care.
Word of mouth is extremely helpful to our business. Knowing you have found our wellness facility beneficial encourages others that trust you to take the opportunity and try a service for themselves.
We appreciate the support of google reviews, this elevates our business to pop up in google searches bringing in more new clients that can benefit from our care.
I always appreciate likes and shares on our social page, this helps us build a brand to what we have to offer and extend a reach to people that may not know we are in the heart of Brandon, ready to serve you and your wellness.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.serenitymassage.solutions/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/serenity_massage_spa_llc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpaSerenityMassage/
- Twitter: https://x.com/SerenitySpa1308
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/serenity-massage-spa-brandon
