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BEAUTY
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SAM
McKNIGHT
OJAS
RAJANI
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YOU'V
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MENHAV
TAKEN
THE
M
intoadion
THEWELLNESS
VISIONARY
Rekhq
Choudhori is
o forceto reckon
within theworldof
spoond wellness,
Epitomising
theIndionspo
industry's
success,
Rekho
boosts
of
coreer
on illustrious
sponning
over
twodecodes
ond
numerous
owords
D)tuti
ond potents.
Mishrc finds
outmoreobout
hercontributions
ondviews
Jell yq obout your
InsPrnng lourney.
;i*$"s"
72 tult- tuuzotqI rEmrNA
sALoN AND spA
I comefrom the smalltownof
Nandurbarin Maharashtra,
whereI havespentmost of
my childhood.At 14,I started
experimenting
with beauty
treatmentsand services.
I usedto come up with my own
inventions
and recipes,mixing
naturalingredients
and trying
them out. I starteda salonin
my hometown.Initially,
I used
to run it on appointments-onl
basis,and I had stricttimings
and very limitedclientele,
so
that I couldbalancebothwork
and my family.Although
I triedto maintainexclusivity,
my clientsreallylikedthe
treatmentsI offered.ln
a s m a l l t o w nt,h o u g h i,t
wasvery restrictingand
opportunities
werelimited.
Whenmy daughtersgrew
up, my husbandand I moved
t o M u m b a iH
. e r e l, w a s
exposedto a wholenewscale
ofthe industry.I started
workingwith a salonchainto
"Unliketherosmelirbusiness,
f_he
spoindustrydoesn'lsinply
relyontheeffertgof the producls.
Whotmohesqll thedifference
is the woy in whifi these
lreolmenlsore impdrled."
rlt
intobeing.Therewas
tremendouspotentialto
k^ +^^^^!
i^ ^-!
uYrdppvurtdilu
understandthe technical
aspectsof the business.
At a beautyexposition,
I met representatives
from
RemyLaure,thfeFrench
cosmeticsbrand.I thought
they had reallyinteresting
productsand wascurious
to f ind out more.From
thereon, I haven'tlooked
back.The ideawas
to provideinteresting
productsand specifically
developed
servicesto the
lndianmarket,whichwas
in a nascentstage.Since
then,my businesspartner
JC Kapoorand I havebeen
lookingat the spa niche
specifically,
and havebeen
developing
techniques
and innovations
to cater
to this market.
Why did
you decide fo
breok into fhe
spo industry?
WhenI started,the
industryhadjust come
"l experinenled
with ond developedmy
own productsond serui(er,
qndmorketedthemol someof
the top rpqsin the Gounlry.',
I wantedto be a part
of it. I experimented
and developedmy own
productsand services,
and marketedthem at
someof the top spasin
India.Backthen,as these
innovations
werevery
difficultto come by,many
luxuryhotelsand spas
showeda lot of interest.
Forexample,I designed
a treatmentcalledGeo
ThermoTherapy-a hot
stonemassagedonewith
specificmovements,which
increasecirculation
and
leavethe skinrejuvenated.
Thesestoneswere
specifically
hand-picked
to
ensureoptimalpressure.
WhenI approachedspas
with this concept,I realised
that whatthey reallylacked
wasskilledprofessionals
offeringthesetreatments.
Unlikethe cosmetic
industry,the spa business
.' doesn'tsimplyrelyon the
effectsofthe products.
W h a tm a k e sa l l t h e
differenceisthe way in
whichthesetreatments
are imparted.As someone
who is self-taught
and stiil
learning,I havealways
believedI shouldbe able
to contributein more ways
thanjust offeringservices
and products.Thisis
when I decidedto conduct
workshopsand seminars
alongside.
To me,the spa
and wellnessindustryhas
alwaysbeensomething
I wantedto work in-it
wasa dream.
How hos the
industry grown
srnceyou
first siorted?
W h e nl f i r s tv e n t u r e d
intothe spaand wellness
i n d u s t r yb a c ki n 2 O O 2 ,
it was in its infancy.
Today,it haswitnessed
a tremendousgrowth.
Backthen,peopleweren't
as awareand updated
as they are today.The
international
marketwas
wayaheadof us and we
weregrapplingwiththe
waythingsfunctioned.
Now,we'reat par with
international
standardsin
termsof technologyand
treatments.Theconcept
of spalons(spaand salons
underone roof) hascaught
o n e v e ni n t i e r l l a n d l l l
cities,and peopleare+
FEMTNA
sALoN AND spA I tutlr- tuuIotq73
M
inlerunion
bringingirtnewproducts
to the Indianmarket.
Oneof the most exciting
projectswe areworking
on presentlyis developing
our own productline,
whichwillcombinethe
goodnessof Ayurveda
and homeremedieswith
scientificallydeveloped
' ,l
iii
('\
$
nrnncdr rreq Annthor
aspectforus
important
Wewantto
iseducation.
provide
training
sothat
industry
has
thewellness
professionals
moreskilled
$,
\A/a hrria
takinghealthandwellness
Evenweat
seriously.
areintheprocess
JCKRC
of settingupspasand
like
inplaces
academies
We
ShirurandManipur.
havecomea verylong
wayindeed.
and innovation
Research
is of primeimportancebothfor JCKRCandfor
We put
me, personally,
in a lot of effort andtry
tn nracant
tho
hact
productor
possible
inthemarket.
service
is
Ournovelropemassage
"Spolourisn is o big seclorwe could
of
look ot developing,but becouse
the lqckof definedstondords
dnd supporlfrom lhe gouernmentf
our growthis of s slundslill."
sALoN AND sPA
74 tutr-tuu lotqI TEMINA
rn
academyin the northeast
and are lookingat opening
a few more in smalltowns
withinMaharashtra.
Whot dre some
of rhe chollenges
foced in the
rnsrkeN'f$doy?
Your R&D teqm
hos come up
wifh remorkoble
innovofions.
from skin-cqre
products to spo
designs. Tell us
more obout the
reseqrch or J€KRC"
nnanarl
the best exampleof this.
A s a k i d ,l r e m e m b e r
my dad askingme to
walkon his backto
relievethe pain.Now,
afterunderstanding
anatomyandfitness,
I understandthe science
b e h i n dt h i s .D u r i n g
thc
rnno
m2cq2ge
the masseusewalks
on the backwhile
changingthe pressure
by balancingherweight
o n t h e r o p e sS
. imilar
effortsand researchhas
goneintodeveloping
our
signaturetechniqueslike
geothermotherapy,hand
and foot spa,Lavashell
massage,etc.My doctrine
i st o b l e n ds c i e n c ea n d
innovations
technological
withtraditionalbody
the
to provide
treatments,
The industryhascome
a very longway srnce
I first joinedit. However,
hoct
tho hiooesi e h:llcnqe
nnccihlo
rpst tltc
Whot qre
Your ol(Ins for
expqnslon qnfi
ihe future?
Rightnowwe areonly
focussingon creating
a verystrongidentityand
makingour presencefelt
in the market.We offer
completespa solutionsfrom in'spaproductsto
treatments,designsand
to customised
innovations
services.Becauseour
focusis not just on one
aspectbut on creating
a wholepackage,we
wantto be ableto provide
the very best.We are
workingon developing
newertechniquesand
eventodayis finding
skilledprofessionals.
Whilethe competitionis
stiff andthereare newer
spasburgeonrng
every
day,qualityis stillmissing
from most places.We
needmore defined
standardsand welltrainedexpertsif we
wantthe industryto
matchits full potential.
Anotherchallenge
today
is the lackof government
involvement.
Spatourism
is a big sectorwe could
but
lookat developing,
becauseof the lack
of definedstandards
and supportfrom the
government,
our growth
hascometo a standstill.n