Why learning is essential for successful spa businesses and wellbeing practices

The idea that ongoing learning is essential for businesses that want to stay relevant is not new. However, what we learn, how and why, has changed. In particular, over the last year, businesses of all sizes - whether you’re an individual therapist running your own salon or you are a multi-destination spa hotel collection - we have all had to really look at where we can improve, update or adapt our offerings in order to meet the changing wellbeing needs of our clients. 


Ongoing education keeps your business market relevant 

Research shows that it is a business’s approach to learning that has a fundamental impact on its agility, and its capacity to adapt to the needs of the customer. Organisations that foster a culture of learning are shown to be more aware of market fluctuations and have a greater ability to meet them. 

Ongoing learning also creates happier team members who are more likely to continue in their roles and deliver services well. That is something that businesses will need as demand for services in the wellbeing and hospitality sector returns this year. As a result, business owners and employers are placing a greater value than ever on employee learning across industries, for the purposes of inclusion as well as business development.

Education for a post-Covid-19 world of wellbeing


Through our own experience, we know the value of education in the wellbeing industry at this time. In the last 12 months, many therapists having taken the on and off lockdown periods as an opportunity to up-skill. They have been seeking to both broadening their knowledge in specific therapies but also taking pains to reassure clients when touch therapies resume. For example, more than 5,600 have taken the Control of Cross Infection in a Post Covid-19 World, course. 


This has not just been about reassuring clients. It has also been about empowering therapists and business owners to deliver treatments safely and with confidence at a time where it is vital to get back to work, but it can be an extremely daunting prospect.


“[the courses] have given me the tools to reopen my practice with confidence post lockdown, with all the cross-infection controls in place.” - Self-employed spa therapist, Anna

Adaptability and the spa and wellbeing industry

Adaptability and agility seem to have been business buzzwords that have gained new strength over the last 12 months. As much as they sound like jargon, they are popular terms for a reason. For us, adaptability has been the very essence of everything that we teach at Jennifer Young. It is about giving therapists the academic as well as practical knowledge to be able to adapt treatments to the needs of clients at different stages of the cancer journey, and with different types of cancer. That has been the foundation of what we do in order to open up the spa industry and ensure no one is turned away from wellbeing when they most need it. 

We do this through a combination of knowledge in law, science, theory and practical learning. For example, courses like our Postgraduate Diploma in Oncology Massage, include learning about the biology of cancer, the science of its treatments, the biological drivers of resulting side-effects and the protocols that practitioners can use to deliver safe therapies.


“It was the focus on what you can do rather than what you can’t do that was a revelation. Doing the training with Jennifer, hearing her background and understanding her knowledge of both law and science, were incredibly helpful. To be able to explain the science behind using products and treatment protocols safely is wonderful, and to offer more than just a basic treatment with the incorporation of the crystals makes it very special.” - Business owner, Jodi

Preparing therapists and businesses to meet the needs of the market

No one could have foreseen the arrival and impact of Covid-19, and in full lockdowns touch therapies have been either impossible to deliver. However, that time will pass, and we will move back into a space where we can give clients, including those who are vulnerable because of illness and cancer treatment, the wellbeing support that they deserve. 


It’s at this point that therapists and wellness organisations will need to be ready for the increased adaptability requirement in spa and therapy services. For example, being able to do a proper risk assessment to keep clients and therapists safe, or being able to adapt treatments more frequently as the number of later-stage cancer cases continues to rise due to delayed diagnosis and treatment during the pandemic. 


At Jennifer Young, we have also had to adapt the way we deliver our courses in order to give practitioners access during periods of lockdown and social distancing so that they are better prepared to return to work when the time comes. Having been making more and more of our course material available online prior to the pandemic, 2020 saw us push forward faster to make meaningful e-learning available. We have also supported the courses themselves with free educational tools such as regular webinars and zoom sessions covering topics that range from employee rights to skincare during cancer treatment.


Self-employed spa therapist, Emma, captured the essence of why we do what we do, and how it can help businesses over the coming months: 

“The fact that Jennifer made a conscious decision to share the Control of Cross Infection in the Post COVID-19 World course without charge meant that I was able to share it across my network to enlighten, reassure and build confidence. All of my contacts who have taken the course on my recommendation have conveyed how impressed they were with its content and structure. They also remarked on how Jennifer has managed to deliver a rather daunting subject in a wholly a supportive and empowering manner.”