GARY: Next on Start Up, we head to Columbus, Ohio to meet up with Chanelle, Deja, and Monique, the owners of Replenish, a wellness hub that offers spa services, movement practices, and community- centered programs.

All of this and more is next on Start Up.

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♪ GARY: My name is Gary Bredow.

I'm a documentary filmmaker and an entrepreneur.

As the country faces significant challenges, small business owners are navigating their way through a changing global marketplace while continuing to push the economy forward.

We've set out for our 14th consecutive season, talking to small business owners about how they started, how things are going, and what matters most to entrepreneurs in modern day America.

This is Start Up.

♪ Massage and facial therapies date back millennia, rooted in ancient Indian and Chinese healing systems and later adopted by Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans to restore balance and promote vitality.

Beauty rituals like sugaring for hair removal and lash enhancement also have deep historical roots and have evolved into the modern spa services that we know today.

Today I'm heading to downtown Columbus to meet up with Chanelle, Deja, and Monique, who, with their mother Wavette, founded Replenish, a relaxing spa co-op and wellness hub that blends timeless traditions with modern community wellness.

I'm excited to meet the founders and learn more about this business.

♪ What is Replenish?

CHANELLE: Replenish is a grassroots evolution here to awaken and restore our community to live a more connected and beautiful everyday life.

And so that's a lot to say.

I mean... GARY: I was gonna say, that's big.

CHANELLE: We do that through spa services.

We do that through our yoga and movement-based programming classes.

And we also offer accessible restorative programming for the community.

GARY: What is it about your life, your past, your history that led you to this?

CHANELLE: We began 17 years ago.

Me, my mother, and my sister we're the co-founders.

We always knew we would work together in some capacity.

My mother actually later in life, she was in her 40s when she decided to do massage therapy.

GARY: Okay.

CHANELLE: And so she was in school while we were graduating high school.

And my sister, when she graduated, went to aesthetic school.

And so it was like we were sort of filling in puzzle pieces to collectively create a spa.

At the time I was, I went to The Ohio State University.

I had a vision of becoming a doctor.

And so I was like on this wellness journey, but that didn't, it didn't quite go that way.

GARY: Yeah.

CHANELLE: But I've always been very inspired by caring for people and wellness.

And so I did some nonprofit work.

I started to get into some alternative therapies and learning the programming side of things.

And so I come to the business with more operational programmatic work.

And so that's sort of how our puzzles fit together.

And that's how we began.

DEJA: I come from a lineage of Black women and Replenish is ancient remedies, from our lineage.

It is a felt sense.

GARY: What do you love most about it?

DEJA: I love people feel like they belong in our space.

I love the art of reciprocity between the humans that work with us, we call them our kinship, and the humans that are brave enough to care for themselves in the world that is inundated with so much, you know, technology and AI and virtual reality, they come in for themselves.

GARY: Yeah.

GARY: Talk about the actual, like the early formation of the company.

Did you guys sit down and, and lay it out like, this is, this is exactly what we want to do and here's our goal, what we wanna achieve?

CHANELLE: Yeah.

I mean, we are first generation entrepreneurs, so we didn't really have like a, a plan.

We, we had a business plan of, of ideas of how we wanted to start.

We knew we were gonna have massage, skincare and yoga.

I also got my yoga certification along the way.

And so that's sort of- we knew we wanted to start that way, but we had a bigger vision of, you know, healing people.

We wanted people to have a safe place to come.

You know, we didn't really have a lot of funding at the beginning at all.

So we worked with what we had.

We began actually just a block away down the street from this location.

And for 3 years, we built- we shared the space with others during that time.

And so we had the lower level and we made that lower level really work for us.

I mean, we've had clients coming down, and we had a curtain that separated the space so that we could do dual things at the same time.

And so, and then we eventually outgrew that space, the three of us- my mom, my sister, and I- and we hired our first employee at that time.

And then the owners of that building wanted to move back into the space, and so, because it's a residential.

GARY: Oh wow.

CHANELLE: So we had to- we got dislocated.

And so, I mean, they were kind about it, but, and they gave us time.

But during that time we had to find another space.

And this one that we're sitting in became available.

GARY: Is this a long-term lease or did you guys buy it?

CHANELLE: Yeah, well, no, we had to renew like every 6 years.

We've been in this space for 14, almost 15 years.

GARY: Oh, wow.

CHANELLE: Yeah.

So it has been home for us.

This has been ground level.

And we recently received the news that we do have to relocate here.

Our lease is not being- GARY: What?

CHANELLE: Yeah, our lease is not- GARY: The space we're sitting in now is not going to be yours anymore.

CHANELLE: It is not.

GARY: Oh, no.

CHANELLE: Yeah.

So, you know, the corporation that owns it needs to do other things with the land.

And so we have to again rebirth.

And so that's the space that we're in.

GARY: Wow.

Talk about that and the challenges around leasing space and kind of being at the mercy of a landlord when you're building a long-term business here, right?

CHANELLE: Right.

That's what we're thinking.

GARY: How does that feel right now?

CHANELLE: Yeah, well, it feels, you know, hearing the news was a bit, yeah, ungrounding.

We, yes, because we're planning, we have a plan for the next 3 years, 5 years.

And so when you get that news, it sort of shakes up everything- GARY: Yeah.

CHANELLE: And makes you like, do we carry on?

Do we stop?

Do we, you know, continue on?

And we've always been a space that, you know, we digest the information and then we look, lift our heads up and say, "What's next?"

GARY: Sure, you got to accept it first.

CHANELLE: You got to accept it first.

And so there were lots of tears shed.

GARY: Sure.

CHANELLE: Don't want to discount that part.

Lots of tears shed.

And we've had some time to digest the information.

But then we just hit the ground running.

We, you know, we definitely, you know, have to figure out what's next.

GARY: Have you found a new space yet?

CHANELLE: We actually have.

GARY: You have?

CHANELLE: Yes.

GARY: Congrats.

CHANELLE: So the place where we began is actually where we're returning.

So yes, it's just all working out in a really beautiful way.

It's not everybody's story, but you know, the owners of the building realized they are moving out.

They're getting a bit older and there's staircases and stuff and they wanted to find another location to live.

And so it's free again.

And they love the way we took care of the space.

We were great stewards of the building.

And so they offered it to us.

And so, yeah, it's serendipity again- GARY: Yeah.

CHANELLE: That we return.

So we'll be leaving at the end of June.

♪ GARY: Let's talk about the beginning.

Um, how are you able to kind of get that message out to the community that this is that place that they need to come to, to heal, to take a step back?

CHANELLE: Yeah, we have- and we call ourselves a grassroots evolution for this reason, because we never really paid for marketing.

Like, we really- it was person by person by person.

And that was important because it meant that every person that crossed crossed through that door, that threshold, we cared for like it was the most important person in the world.

GARY: Amazing.

CHANELLE: And so, and people would feel that, and then they would leave and tell the next person.

And so it became this, just this ripple effect, this ripple of, you know, care that it was beautiful to watch because people would realize, "Oh, I have a place to come."

Some people would want to keep it to themselves because they're like, "I don't want it to get too busy."

You know, we've heard that before too.

GARY: Yeah.

Gotcha.

CHANELLE: But people, It was grassroots.

It was literally that way our entire existence, honestly.

♪ ♪ GARY: What was it like, the first visit?

IVORY: Oh, I just remember walking in and kind of feeling like my breath was taken away from the moment that I walked in.

Like there was this immediate sense of calm.

I felt like my shoulders relaxed a little more and I didn't even know that my shoulders were uptight.

And it really just felt like a space that I didn't even know that I needed.

GARY: Sometimes an environment like that can feel intimidating.

Like maybe that's a space for other people.

I don't really belong there.

What can you say to folks that may be a little apprehensive about going to visit a place like this?

IVORY: If you feel like an interest or some curiosity is sparked, I say take that as a sign to explore, to try it out, to see how it is.

I think they do such an amazing job of really meeting people where they are, meeting people where they are on their journey, whatever it is that they need.

And however you show up, is welcome.

♪ GARY: Talking about the services that you offer, I want to go through the whole list of services from A to Z. CHANELLE: We sort of categorize everything by body parts.

So we have body, which is our massage.

We have face, which is our skincare.

We have hands and feet, which is our manicures and pedicures.

We also offer energy, which is our version of Reiki and sleep.

We also offer sleep, which people like to add in at the end of their services.

In our movement side, we offer yoga classes, we offer sound bath meditation.

GARY: Wow.

CHANELLE: So people, what we've, what has become our niche is that groups of people can come together like bridal parties, teams, they come together and maybe they start in a group class and then they come over to the spa side for massage and restoration.

So we've kind of created a niche market for ourself where people can restore in different ways together.

We're losing connection, you know, in the world with all of the technology that we are on.

And so this is also a way to teach people how to connect.

GARY: You said something really interesting about sleep.

You offer- CHANELLE: Yes.

We offer sleep.

GARY: How do you sell sleep?

CHANELLE: Yeah, well, so it began because people used to come down saying, you know, "I wish I could have just laid on that bed a little longer," you know, because after a massage... GARY: Yeah, that's awesome.

CHANELLE: Yeah, that's the- best sleep that they've had.

GARY: It is.

CHANELLE: And so we added it because that was a way of like, okay, we gotta go in and wake them up, you know, but you can actually pay for that time.

GARY: I love that.

CHANELLE: So we added that in.

GARY: I've never heard of that before.

CHANELLE: A lot of what we do is hard to talk about because it's really about the feeling you feel when you walk across the doorway, you know, being seen, being called by your name, feeling like you belong in a community.

You know, we wrap your hands with a warm towel.

A changing in temperature helps to bring you more connected your body.

And by the time that you leave, you know, we hope that you remember something about it, a feeling that you can sort of check back in on, and maybe it makes you want to book again with us to carve out that time for yourself.

♪ GARY: Do you think that there's, right now in particular, is a time that these types of services are really needed and necessary?

ERIN: Absolutely.

GARY: And why?

ERIN: Right now we are in the age of technology and innovation, so having the human- to-human interaction and having the work on the bodies, I think, is very, very crucial right now.

GARY: Tell me about the leadership team here.

What kind of people are they?

ERIN: Oh my gosh, they are very devoted, very fierce, um, they're honest individuals, and they're very educational.

So everything that I do here, I've learned from one of those people.

GARY: Amazing.

Is the work fulfilling to you?

ERIN: Absolutely.

Absolutely.

I couldn't imagine doing anything else.

♪ GARY: How were you able to finance getting this place up and running?

CHANELLE: Yeah, so the first 3 years it was just bootstrapping.

We used our own.

GARY: All on your own?

CHANELLE: Yes, all on our own.

GARY: Okay.

CHANELLE: Client by client.

And then we were able to secure a $75,000 loan.

GARY: What brought you to that decision to say, "I need to take a loan for us to grow"?

CHANELLE: We felt the sort of pulsing of our business where it was sort of like we had a lot of client friends that needed to schedule and it was just my mom and my sister, you know, in the rooms at that point.

GARY: Capacity.

CHANELLE: And we were at capacity.

GARY: Yeah.

CHANELLE: We were sort of, we used to say we were busting out of that lower level in the old building and we literally were.

I mean, we were, our schedules were filled.

So I think when you reach a certain threshold in your scheduling, if you're a service industry or you can just sort of feel like you can't get the people in.

GARY: Sure.

CHANELLE: We had to grow to that next level and we needed support in doing that.

GARY: Did the money actually allow you to grow and scale, and were you able to see that in real time?

CHANELLE: We were, yes.

GARY: Oh, awesome.

CHANELLE: So, we reached a steady growth every year and were able to add in the therapist to help sustain that business.

Over the years, we added in another soul sister, Monique McCrystal, and she's also a co-founder.

She blended right in when we needed her and came in and just sort of, it felt like a puzzle piece that was missing.

And so, yeah, we collectively have moved together.

GARY: Talk about your actual, your role, day-to-day role in Replenish.

MONIQUE: I always have had a gift for connection.

One of the things that I'm really proud of, of us as founders, is that we carve out these spaces that are natural innate abilities for our leadership styles.

And so my role is restorative connection.

GARY: Okay.

MONIQUE: So I hold space for how our team is interconnected with one another.

Our kinship, and then also out into the world.

How are people experiencing us?

How are we deepening the connections with organizations and institutions that are aligned?

And ultimately, like raising the value of what it is that we offer because it's so incredible.

How do we continue to share that out into the world in ways that make the work even more sustainable?

GARY: What does this business mean to you?

MONIQUE: Oh my goodness.

So this business saved my life.

It is such a gift to have the opportunity to be a partner in such a profound mission that means so much for the world.

It is reflective of the world that I know is possible, a world that I have worked really hard to create in my own ecosphere and to have the opportunity to be invited in has been truly one of the biggest gifts of my life.

GARY: What were the circumstances in your life at the time that you joined up?

MONIQUE: I was a social worker.

GARY: Okay.

MONIQUE: And I reached a point where I was like, "It's time for me to transition."

GARY: Yeah.

MONIQUE: "I'm doing really big, really beautiful and brilliant work, but I am boxed in in a way where I am really unhealthy as I'm doing it.

And there's a ceiling that I've reached here, and I'm not caring for myself in the way that I believe should be reflective of the work that I'm leading."

Chanelle, Deja, and I sat down and we had this meeting together, and it was like a homecoming in a way where I knew this is what I'm supposed to be doing.

♪ GARY: With moving to the new space, uh, will the Replenish brand carry over?

DEJA: Replenish means to fill and to make new.

We filled tens of thousands of people's cups over the 17-year being in business.

And so we're putting the name to rest, which is a big deal, right?

Most people stay, hang on to that name.

And I think what we're doing is extracting what is essential for this new iteration.

And we are going, we have two different pathways that we've created, right?

And one pathway is Carewell and the other pathway is Homeostasis Refillery.

GARY: And let's break down each one of those individual missions.

DEJA: So Carewell is the, the mobile spa and body therapies on the go.

So our rest stops, when we pop up inside corporations, we offer chair massage, hand massage.

We hold space for aromatherapy and breathwork.

GARY: Brilliant.

DEJA: And we have the systems and process and protocols to be able to make sure that it's well organized.

And corporations such as White Castle Corporate, they're one of our main partners.

Victoria's Secret, they're one of our main partners as well.

And so this centering in care is moving to the forefront.

The global wellness economy is going to be a $6 trillion economy by 2027.

The other path, path is Homeostasis Refillery.

This space is going to have membership base where you can come in and receive spa experiences and also, um, collab with wellness partners and create, um, beautiful curations like, um, salon dinners and brunches.

And we do all the work for you.

You let us know what your purpose is.

GARY: Wow.

DEJA: And we do all the wrapping the care around you and making sure all is well.

So you just show up with your people and we make it happen.

GARY: And that will all be all services will be included in the umbrella of your membership?

DEJA: Absolutely.

GARY: That's amazing.

DEJA: For sure.

GARY: Never heard of that.

DEJA: And you can come and gather, connect, and work.

GARY: Yeah.

DEJA: Have like, you know, there's gonna be space where you can come bring your book and have silent reading together.

Like to hold space in community is a commodity now.

GARY: Yeah.

DEJA: A genuine connected community that is wrapped in care.

CHANELLE: We realized that, you know, the way our business is right now, there was still something that we wanted to restructure.

Like we're still figuring out what the need actually is in our community.

We are really trying to figure out how to care for folks and have a profitable business at the same time.

GARY: Yep.

CHANELLE: And so in this next phase, you know, we're shifting sort of to more of a membership base.

And so that will help sustain our bottom line a bit better so that we're not waiting for one person at a time.

It supports them, but it also supports us.

GARY: Yeah.

♪ Talk about the beautiful space that we're in.

What is your partnership with this museum?

DEJA: Yes, the Columbus Museum of Art.

This partnership has been about 10 years, and we started with a yoga practice weekly with them, and it has increased to having deeper programs with them, one being the Art of Rest, which is a 2-hour session that we hold here in the museum.

And people come, bring their pillows, blankets, journals.

It's a whole vibe.

GARY: Yeah.

DEJA: A whole vibe.

And I think what I, what I know is so beautiful about adding wellness to museums is that, you know, to be present with the art pieces, it's transformative.

GARY: Yeah.

DEJA: Right.

To be able to look at the art and you be a part of that art experience at the same time.

GARY: Yep.

DEJA: There's something about that that's been very magical on this journey.

GARY: The first thought that comes into my mind when I think about a museum is not, is not wellness.

How did you foster that connection with that?

LAUREN: Yeah, we were thinking about art as not just something to look at, but something to experience.

And talking with Replenish, they really helped us to enliven our thoughts about what more a museum experience can be and an embodied experience, bringing in a slower pace and really priming visitors to more deeply connect with art with their whole body, with feeling it, not just seeing it and talking about it.

GARY: What has the response been from the community with this partnership, this level of engagement that you've created?

LAUREN: We've seen a lot of repeat and return visitors.

GARY: Awesome.

LAUREN: We see people walking around the museums with their yoga mats or coming out of Art of Rest, gathering in the cafe, continuing conversations, and coming back for more visits at a museum that they're seeing as a place for restoration.

GARY: Is there any future plans on expanding your partnership in the future?

LAUREN: There's always the opportunity.

They've been really great thought partners with us.

So as we've thought about other ways that wellness can look like at CMA, they're the first people that we always turn to.

GARY: What is the key to successfully working with family?

CHANELLE: Yeah, I think having something outside of- so it's you together, but it's also the mission that you all are signing up for.

GARY: Yeah.

CHANELLE: And so collectively creating that mission so that you each have a reason to uplift it and hold it up, and then you keep coming back to that is the purpose.

GARY: For another small business owner or aspiring entrepreneur out there that has a dream of doing something similar somewhere else in the country, what would be your best advice for them just starting off?

CHANELLE: Start with something that you really truly love because over the years, you know, burnout happens, tired happens.

You have to be really aligned with the mission that you're choosing.

Otherwise, there's nothing to come back to.

It's easy to just, you know, give up or sell it or do whatever.

But if it's not truly a passion project, if it's something that you really truly care about, you can continue waking up and taking the next step and the next step.

As a family business, you know, this was fast-paced therapy for us.

You know, we brought our things into the business, our emotional stuff into the business, and we had to work through that.

And it could have broken our family apart.

GARY: Sure.

CHANELLE: Potentially.

But we kept coming back to the mission together, individually, and that's what kept making us, you know, move this along.

GARY: We are experiencing an epidemic of loneliness and disconnection in America.

Recent studies have shown that over half of adults have reported feeling lonely or isolated, with the vast majority reporting at least one physical symptom, including headaches, fatigue, and muscular tension.

With increasing economic and social pressures, combined with addictive social media that profits from amplifying our so-called differences, it's no wonder that so many of us feel alone.

And it's hard to imagine what society will become if we do not find our way back to each other, which is one of the reasons why I love this story so much.

The founders recognized this issue years ago and dedicated their lives to creating a safe space for the Columbus community to take a breath, reset, and reconnect.

So, while they may identify as a spa and wellness hub, this business is so much more than that.

They remind people that they are not alone and that self-care should always be their first priority.

And no matter how disconnected you may feel, there's always a path back to your community.

And as the founders prepare for their next chapter with Carewell and Homeostasis Refillery, all back at their original location?

I cannot wait to see what the future holds for these incredible business owners.

For more information, visit our website and search episodes for Replenish.

Next time on Start Up, we head to Pickerington, Ohio to meet up with Logan Cuvo, the founder of Best Dam Tape, a company that specializes in performance hockey tape for players and teams.

Be sure to join us next time on Start Up.

Do you want to learn more about the show?

Or maybe nominate a business?

Visit us at StartUp-usa.com and connect with us on social media.

♪ ♪ We've got a long road ahead of us ♪ ♪ A long road ahead of us ♪ Got a long road ahead of us ♪ ♪ Before we pay our dues ♪ We got a long road ahead of us ♪ ♪ A long road ahead of us ANNOUNCER: As a business owner, your time is valuable.

Bluehost provides AI-powered tools for site building, marketing, sales, and operations, with hosting and human support.

Learn more at bluehost.ai.

Bluehost is a proud supporter of Start Up.

ANNOUNCER: From concept to planning to execution, businesses like Spikeball are built by people.

And Bamboo HR brings people data together in one place.

Learn more at BambooHR.com.

Bamboo HR is a proud supporter of Start Up.

ANNOUNCER: From startups to established brands, pens.com offers promotional products for your business journey, like custom pens, bags, drinkware, and more.

For 60 years, we've partnered with millions of businesses, and now we're proud partners of Start Up.

Learn more at pens.com.