FROM THE CHAIRMAN
ISPA BOARD
OF DIRECTORS
WE OFTEN TALK ABOUT HOW ISPA ISN’T JUST AN ASSOCIATION:
it’s a family. That’s what I love most about being an ISPA member. We are all a part of one
spa family, and each one of us truly cares for one another.
That mutual care and support has never been more important or more evident than
now, as spas across the country and world are working together, sharing ideas and reopening
their doors. As members of the same community, we owe it to each other to come
together and share what we’ve learned. What’s working? What’s not? How are your team
members responding? How are your guests responding? I encourage you to reach out to
other ISPA members and spa leaders in your area to share information.
Between the recent ISPA Town Halls, social media posts and Zoom calls I’ve been on—
not to mention simple one-on-one phone calls and e-mails—everyone has been willing to
share their experiences and help set up their spa friends and colleagues to the best of their
ability. Despite the economic challenge of 2020, this has not been a time of one-upping each
other, or hoarding our USPs. Instead, it’s been nothing but collaboration, advice and insightsharing.
My heart is so happy and full to see how we have all responded to help one
another during this crisis. Now, as ISPA members begin to reopen, we all get to see the
reward of so much planning and collaboration: fully-booked spas and ecstatic spa-goers.
So, continue the great work, ISPA members! Use the resources provided to you by your
ISPA membership, such as the Spa Reopening Toolkit and this special issue of Pulse. Don’t
forget that we’re in this together, though. Share. Support. Help one another. Our industry is
growing stronger because of the important work you all are doing on a daily basis. In the
end, we all have the same goal: to reopen our spas and begin serving our clients again.
Working together as a spa family to accomplish that goal is what ISPA is all about!
—GARRETT MERSBERGER, CHAIRMAN
2 PULSE ■ JULY 2020