IAM169- Entrepreneur Runs an Award Winning Spa in Westchester, NY

Oasis Day Spa owner Bruce Schoenberg is living proof that you can make a major career change work successfully. Bruce for over twenty years was involved in the event marketing and trade show industry, producing major events both locally and nationally. 

In 1997 seeing the emergence of the wellness and spa industry going mainstream he saw the potential to bring his vision to New York City. After writing several business plans, conducting numerous focus groups and visiting dozens of spas Bruce was convinced the industry was growing and could support another spa in the crowded Manhattan spa business. One of Bruce’s golden rules is: “numbers don’t lie, only people do”. If you do the math fairly and honestly, you can fairly predict what it will take to create a successful business.

Oasis opened its first location in 1998, a seven-room spa in Union Square. Bruce concentrated on the marketing, advertising and business operations end. Knowing his strength lay in marketing, people management and operations, he is most proud of the people he has hired with the expertise in the service end. Bruce also acts as the “Why Guy” regarding any service changes or purchase decisions for professional and retail products.

Oasis Day Spa was an overnight success, quickly earning ‘Best of New York’ designations from several local and national publications. Oasis second location at One Park Avenue, four times the size of their original spa, opened December 2001, and instantly garnered tremendous reviews and a huge loyal following. 

Business partnerships were formed with the Affinia Dumont Hotel where Oasis opened its third location in May 2004. This location also included a fitness center and incorporated more wellness services including Yoga. 

Oasis opened their fourth location at the jetBlue Terminal 5 at JFK Airport in December 2004. This partnership with jetBlue Airways culminated after the airline vetted four other spas and selected Oasis. This was Oasis’ opportunity to help stressed out travelers find a little peace and wellness during the harried times of traveling. In addition, the jetBlue experience would help Oasis extend their brand recognition.

In April 2006 the original Oasis location in Union Square was destroyed by fire, and the landlord opted out of the lease which was way below market value. After careful analysis of the Manhattan real estate market at that time it was decided to just maintain the two current locations. 

In the fall of 2007 Oasis opted not to go into the new Terminal 6 at JFK with jetBlue since the terminal location assigned was determined to be incapable of making a profit.

In early 2008 Oasis opened their location in Westchester, NY that opened in November 2008. This location is the largest spa in the county and features an outdoor rooftop garden and event space. Oasis Day Spa has been named ‘Best Day Spa of Westchester’ by Westchester Magazine for 10 years in a row.

• CEO Hack: (1)Solstice advice from others. (2) A program called Secret Shopper (3) Keep the old looking gold through proper maintenance
• CEO Nugget: Listen to your customers and solstice feedback because things keep changing.
• CEO Defined: Leader of a tribe, person with integrity.

Website: https://www.oasisdayspanyc.com/

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/OasisNY/?_rdc=1&_rdr Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oasisdayspa/

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Transcription:

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Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:27

Hello, hello, hello, this is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Bruce Schoenberg of Oasis Day Spa. Bruce, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Bruce Schoenberg 0:37

Thanks very much for having me on, Gresh.

Gresham Harkless 0:38

No problem super excited to have you on and what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Bruce, so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing. And Oasis Day Spa owner Bruce, is living proof that you can make a major career change work successfully. Bruce, for over 20 years was involved in the event marketing and trade show associate industry producing major events both locally and nationally.

In 1997, seeing the emergence of the wellness and spa industry going mainstream, he saw the potential to bring his vision to New York City. After writing several business plans conducting numerous focus groups and visiting dozens of spas Bruce was convinced the industry was growing and could support another spa in the crowded Manhattan spa business.

One of Bruce's golden rules is numbers don't lie only people do. If you do the math fairly and honestly, you can fairly predict what it will take to create a successful business. Oasis opened its first location in 1998, a seven-room spa in Union Square. And Oasis has two locations now their Manhattan location named Best of New York by New York Magazine is located on an exclusive Park Avenue in the heart of New York City. And their Westchester, New York location has been named the best spa of Westchester by Westchester Magazine for 10 years in a row.

The first question I had was to hear a little bit more about your CEO story. And what led you to start your business?