From restaurants to health + wellness...Why I joined Hand and Stone Massage and Facial Spa

In early August, I joined Hand and Stone Massage and Facial Spa, the 475+ unit health and wellness franchise, as its President and Chief Development Officer.  After 20+ years in the restaurant industry, after serving as an operator and developer, an institutional and individual investor, a consultant, a technology enabler, and more recently, as an industry advocate, for the first time in my professional career, restaurants are not the central focus of my daily work. 

In a time of dynamic disruption, when the rules of the restaurant industry are being re-written, why did I make this change? The simple answer lies within the brand itself, and the powerful position it has staked in a critical consumer category.

First of all, I have been a spa member of Hand and Stone for over nine years. I am not a casual user of massage.  It is a part of a wellness routine that has allowed me to manage a 46 y/o cranky back, enabling me to maintain a schedule of business travel that would be impossible without getting regular body work.  My relationship with the brand as a consumer is meaningful and personal.

As a brand builder and developer, I have watched the growth of Hand and Stone with incredible admiration. John Marco, Hand and Stone’s founder, and Todd Leff, Hand and Stone’s CEO have built a company with a rock-solid foundation. They have been deliberate about how the brand is positioned and incredibly intentional about how its location footprint has been developed. Todd leads a team of franchise and wellness veterans with deep industry expertise and a passion for building an enduring organization. The technical expertise is unmatched in any organization I have been a part of in my career. More importantly, Hand and Stone’s commitment to individual development has created leaders throughout the organization.

As someone that cares deeply about unit-level economics, there is much to like about a business model that is naturally diversified.  The company’s three primary services-massage, skincare, and hair removal-are aligned across multiple revenue channels, including a monthly wellness subscription, multiple access points for introductory, member, and non-member services, and a robust gift card program. Hand and Stone has become the leading destination for skincare services within the category and these diversified revenue channels have allowed Hand and Stone franchise owners to weather the COVID storm.

Hand and Stone’s franchise owners are passionate and committed individuals.  Most have achieved significant success in previous business or entrepreneurial endeavors, both within the health and wellness category and in other outside pursuits. Their continued investment in the brand is the driving force behind its steady and disciplined growth.

The other reason I joined Hand and Stone is the strength of the health and wellness vertical. COVID aside, the positive health and wellness industry trends are providing tailwinds for the company as it continues to expand its reach.

Consumers are more conscious of their health and well-being than ever before and are looking for proactive and affordable ways to make their lives better. The worldwide $4.5T wellness economy continues to outpace overall GDP growth and the pandemic has created significant shifts in the overall competitive landscape. Hand & Stone is well positioned to benefit from these trends as consumers integrate new wellness routines into their daily and weekly schedules.

The waves of technology disruption that have impacted other consumer verticals are only in the earliest stages in the health and wellness industry.  Online booking and check-in systems are providing companies with detailed data on all of their customers.  This data is being combined with AI engines to deliver actionable insights, allowing companies to deepen relationships with their existing customers.  Real-time schedule management and gig-like labor optimization and training platforms are on the horizon and will allow companies to optimize both consumer demand and a talented but finite pool of practitioners, across all service modalities.

The near-term challenge at Hand and Stone is to build upon the incredibly strong foundation in place, to leverage the rising tide of the wellness industry, and to harness the power of emergent technologies in the category.

In times of significant business disruption, well-built, forward thinking, and bold organizations have an opportunity to re-write the rules of an industry, gaining market share and building value for all stakeholders. Hand and Stone is that organization, and I am beyond excited to be joining the team.