Wake will be 3 yrs old on May 13, 2016. I have been employed with Wake as a licensed massage therapist since the day we opened. It has been a while since I wrote something about our most important asset. So this is the perfect time to reflect on and appreciate our guests.
The staff is always talking about how awesome our guests are. We sincerely love everyone who comes to see us. Just today we had a group of 5 ladies who traveled together for a ladies getaway and hiked the LeConte trail. It was fun to hear about their excitement and exhaustion, and how one member of their group wasn’t sure she could make it and lightened her load by dumping her platypus filled with wine. We all gasped! “Not the wine!”
I’ve seen a lot of feet come through our Sanctuary and four of my favorite belonged to two lumberjack-looking men. When I went to begin their foot and lower leg massage I was surprised at what I saw. “Oh don’t mind my blue painted toenails”, said lumberjack #1. “Our wives are off golfing so we decided to get pedicures and have a spa day as a bit of a role reversal!” In case you were wondering, lumberjack #2 had silver sparkle toes.
And then there was the time a woman booked a soak for her hard working husband. “Oh he’ll never come in for something like this so I need to get sneaky!”, so she also booked a soak for his best friend. On the day of the appointment the best friend arrived first and rolled up his pants, put on some slippers, and sat waiting for the guest of honor to arrive. The wife told her husband to meet her in the Grove Arcade, and then lured him into Wake. He was shocked to see his friend sitting there eagerly waiting for him with slippers on. The eager and cooperative best friend was the perfect soaking partner for this reluctant manly man. The wife brought a couple of beers and some snacks. The two guys were so cute back in the Sanctuary with their trays of snacks and beer on their laps. They just soaked, relaxed, and chatted away!
Then there was the time we had a reunion of 8 sorority sisters! All hands were on deck while we gave all eight massages. They drank wine and recounted hilarious stories of when they were in college. Like the time one of the women had had a little too much to drink and she was walking through the parking lot in her high heeled sandals and went to adjust the strap on one of them and the heel got caught in her purse strap and sent her flying into the pavement. Everyone in the room, including all staff, were crying tears of laughter as she told this story and how her wrist still hurts from that night!
Sometimes we have guests who actually cry tears of appreciation. Other times, we have guests who sleep, snore, and twitch. Some are quiet. Some want to talk. Whatever the case, we accommodate the mood of the moment and needs of each guest. I know that for myself, I feel full and rich each day I leave work because of all of the amazing interactions I have with our guests. It’s easy to provide stellar customer service if you treat each guest as the interesting, funny, sensitive, outrageous, lovely human being that they are.
I look forward to my next 3 years at Wake and all of the amazing people I have yet to meet! Happy Anniversary, Wake! And warm Thank You to all of our much appreciated guests!
Warmly,
Lisa
