aSK tHe exPert
live
bliSSful
barbara badolati
by Kelly Heitz
With “wellness” being a huge buzzword in the new year, it’s important that
spas present themselves as the epicenter of an individual’s well-being needs.
What spas bring to the table is unique to the broad-ranging wellness
industry, and capitalizing on that fact, will be a huge factor in 2018. but how
do you decipher between what is a fleeting fad and the trends that are here
to stay?
barbara badolati, bS, E-RyT500, and 2017 ISPA conference & Expo
Professional Development Speaker, has been a key player in the evolution of
worksite wellness since 1986 through her company, Alive & Well, working
with both the public and private sectors throughout north America. Her 30-
year history in the wellness arena has also included developing and teaching
mind-body programs, opening two yoga studios and coaching thousands in
personal development, business and marketing. badolati also offers
business and life coaching, women’s wellness and mindfulness programs to
spas throughout the world.
With those credentials, badolali has become an expert on deciphering
between fads, trends and what can take your spa and wellness business to
the next level. In this month’s Ask the Expert, we dug into badolati’s wellness
past, her take on the present trends, and what the future of spa looks like.
population for a short period, whereas a trend has the potential
Pulse: Where did you begin your wellness journey?
to get stronger over time and stay around, driven by a
Badolati: In 1980, wellness found its way into my lousy
population’s needs. In other words, trends solve problems.
lifestyle—I stepped into the aerobic dance scene along with
Jane Fonda and leg warmers. Corporate wellness was a
P: Why do you think wellness has become
new concept as healthcare costs began to
such a huge trend?
increase, many Americans were making fast
what’s driving
B: What’s driving the wellness trend today is
food their meal of choice, and cigarette
the wellness trend
an unprecedented state of stress from being
smoking was acceptable in hospitals by
today is an unprecedented
connected 24/7, being nature-deprived, a
patients, visitors and staff. Yet, somehow,
state of stress from
lack of boundaries between work and life,
in those early years, I knew wellness
being connected 24/7,
and exorbitant daily life pressures to
would “make it” as would I. Fortunately,
being nature-deprived,
manage. A study conducted by the
I’ve had a fulfilling relationship with
a lack of boundaries
American Psychological Association found
wellness: personally, interpersonally and
between work
an increase among adults reporting “extreme
professionally for decades.
and life.
stress,” with 24 percent saying they were highly
stressed in 2015 compared to 18 percent a year earlier.
P: You say wellness is a trend that will last.
Wellness addresses stress in all ways, and spas are in prime
What’s the difference between a fad and a trend?
position to be at the center of the anti-stress movement.
B: A fad is any form of behavior that is intensely followed by a
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PULSE
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January/February 2018