Pulse January / February 2018 | Page 58

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 56 PULSE ■ January/February 2018