NEXT GENERATION SPA LEADERS
(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 64)
Nastassia
Traskevich
Higher School of Tourism
Belarus State Economic
University
Minsk, Belarus
What or who inspired you to begin a
career in the spa industry? My father used
to be a director of a sanatorium in my
home country, Belarus. The government
later started the reform of the national
sanatorium system which led to its
closure, and the entire tourism infrastructure [around it] was left abandoned. This
was a personal tragedy so I decided to
work towards its revival. I am lucky to
have met Prof. Dmitry Reshetnikov who
Radha Jennifer
Crawley
Bachelor of Arts with
competence in Holistic
Health and breadth of
Transpersonal Psychology
Prescott College
Tucson, Arizona
What or who inspired you to begin a career
in the spa industry? I was inspired to study
holistic health when I was pregnant with
my first daughter and was planning a
home birth. I saw how important health
was to a smooth labor and delivery, so I
began researching all the natural modalities that could support my new life path
as a pregnant woman and mother.
After my daughter’s birth, I started an
herbal body care business with herbs
grown in my own garden so I could be at
home with my new baby. When clients
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has inspired me to become a university
professor and the first spa industry
researcher in our country.
In your own way, how are you contributing to the spa industry? My Ph.D. research
with Prof. Nicolay Kabushkin is devoted
to the competitiveness and management
of the spa industry in Belarus. My work
has been published in 33 publications,
offering analysis on modern trends, competitiveness and management in the
Belarusian spa industry.
I have also helped to successful launch
the project “Sustainable Spa Tourism
Product Diversification in Belarus” on a
grant by the Belarus State Economic
University.
started asking me questions I could not
answer about health and wellness, I
decided to go to a massage therapy
school and study Ayurveda [to further my
knowledge]. This has led me to my private
spa practice, working at boutique spas
and at a 5-star destination spa.
What’s your definition of a spa leader? A
spa leader is someone who is aligned with
his or her heart’s purpose and uses this to
assist in the expansion of authentic health
and healing modalities that the environment of a spa can provide. He/she is
someone who can combine fair business
[practices] with true healing experience for
the client’s highest health goal. A spa
leader is also committed to a healing and
health-centered practice in their own lives.
How do you think young people can make
an impact in the spa industry? Fresh ideas,
almost always, come from young people.
The Belarusian spa industry currently lacks
the [fusion of] unconventional approaches
and deep national traditions. The new
generation of spa leaders can bring these
new concepts into the industry [in order
to make it globally competitive].
How do you envision the spa of tomorrow? I believe in its basic role in creating
not just a new global industry but also a
new global culture which would [integrate] the best of national
health—[celebrating different healing] traditions from countries all over the world.
How do you think young people can make
an impact on the spa industry? I believe
young people can make an impact on the
spa industry by incorporating the new
business models of sustainability, social
justice, fair trade and consciousness-based
business, alongside with ancient healing
modalities of the spa.
How do you envision the spa of tomorrow? The spa of the future will be as
holistically supportive of the individual
seeking the healing, as it is the culture
within and surrounding the spa. All
aspects of the spa will be aligned with the
ultimate goal of holistic wellness within
the body, mind, spirit and earth. This will
be a place accessible to all, well-supported
by the community and embraced by
healers from every tradition. ■