Pulse March 2019 | Page 48

CONVERSATIONS WITH Thirty-five years ago, GAYLE BRADY launched Air Vita: a bold concept for a fitness center, spa and business center located right in the airport. Since then, Brady has led spas at Marriott, Golden Door, Canyon Ranch and Skin Authority, while also serving as an ISPA Board Member and Chairman. While Air Vita may have been too far ahead of its time, the widespread growth of airport spas shows that Brady wasn’t far off the mark. This month, Pulse sat down with Brady to discuss her experience launching Air Vita and what she thinks of recent growth in the market. 46 PULSE n march 2019 GAYLE BRADY Pulse: Air Vita was unlike anything else at the time. Where did the idea come from? gayle Brady: in the early 1980s, we were living in aspen at the time, and whenever we would fly through Denver we had enormous delays every time. So, we said, “gosh, there’s got to be something better to do in an airport than drink!” We thought “why not put in a workout facility with massages?” from that, we started to think about what it would look like. The Airport spas have grown into a popular segment of the industry since Brady opened Air Vita in the early 1980s.