Andrew Iro Okungbowa 
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the world as we know it and this, in turn, affected a lot of businesses – the wellness industry was not left out. As more people stayed at home and couldn’t book out-of-home spa sessions, they craved wellness services from the comfort of their homes.
This led to the birth of Unwind, a tech startup founded by Joycee Awosika, to keep up with the evolving demands of the wellness space. The outfit gives wellness therapists the opportunity to offer professional spa services to people in the comfort of their homes, offices, and elsewhere. These therapists are skilled and certified for massages, facials, waxing, manicure and pedicure appointments. The App allows them to connect with new clients, thereby making additional income. Therapists can also go offline whenever they’re not available to work.
Talking about the benefits of Unwind App, she says: ‘’As a therapist, it has helped me gain more independence and more money. It has also given me more opportunities to develop my skills at various levels. If you’re a spa therapist, the Unwind App gives you an avenue to constantly carry out services for as long as your energy can take you.
It allows you to meet premium clients and make new connections.’’ The App provides limitless opportunities for therapists to showcase their skills, earn money, build competence and knowledge to work internationally. It also provides useful educational resources and courses for professional development, thereby making it easy for spa therapists to stay on top of industry trends and perform procedures excellently. Here are profile notes on some of the spa therapists that have gone through this new initiative and their stories of successes. Ben Munachi-Relishing five years journey as certified therapist Ben Munachi is a certified therapist from Imo State. She heard about the Unwind App through a friend. She has been able to make a lot of money and find independence, as well as fulfillment. She likens it to the Uber app, where drivers have control over their time, and finds this aspect of the Unwind App beneficial to her career.
Her passion for therapy began when she was only a teenager and while she nursed that passion, she was fortunate to meet the founder of Oriki, who she calls her guardian angel. With gratitude to her parents, Munachi has been able to enroll into the Oriki Training Institute where she has honed her skills as a therapist. According to her, she started the journey five years ago, and she is relishing every part of her journey. She specialises in all areas of therapy, from consultation on facials to body treatment – exfoliating, waxing and massages. However, her favourite therapy service is facials because she enjoys helping her clients feel and look better with techniques that enhance their skin during and after every extraction. She finds it satisfying when clients are excited and are more confident after their treatments.
He has over time developed strategic ways to overcome the difficulties she experiences with clients such as lateness to appointments, and bad moods. She is so passionate about creating memorable experiences for her clients, she treats them with love, care and enjoys pampering them.
“I treat them like infants in order to create that memorable experience. I am not just rendering a service to them, I am also assisting them during their stay. That’s how I build my connections with them. Trust me, when you do this, you will definitely have returning clients,” she says. She also believes it’s important to keep work professional: “Ensure you do a proper consultation with clients before working on them. This is as she recommends the App to all qualified spa therapists. ‘‘I am really benefiting from the App and I will advise them to subscribe to it,’’ she adds Gift Osagie – Wellness improves one’s wellbeing daily Gift Osagie, is also a certified spa therapist, she hails from Edo State. Osagie says wellness means practicing healthy habits on a daily basis to generally improve one’s mental, physical, emotional and even spiritual health.
Like Munachi, she has always had passion for skin care and massage therapy, so she went ahead to acquire training and certification in order to practice professionally. It has been four years since she started and as an aesthetician, she specialises in all areas including skin care therapy, facials, massage therapy, body treatment and waxing. But she loves doing skin care therapy most because she helps people achieve a level of confidence that they want and this is very satisfying for her. Osagie wishes more clients would adhere to her after-care product recommendations instead of ignoring her, only to come back later complaining of breakouts caused by negligence. She explains; ‘’When I provide after care for instance, I am constantly advising and following up to check the progress of clients and make sure they are doing things right.’’
In this line of work, patience, kindness and perseverance are essential qualities, as Osagie describes her experiences as transformative. “I have learned to be kind at all times because a lot of people are stressed and book therapy sessions to get relief. So I must be able to intervene. This career path has taught me to be a positive person because you always have to help your clients to achieve a certain level of positivity.” She also advocates for professionalism at all times, saying: “Remember to keep it professional at all times. Treat all your clients as VIPs because they have the capability to bring in more business.”
