Andreea identifies herself in the "Spa Girl" nomenclature. She is ambitious and perfectionist, with a lot of passion for what she does. She is in a constant internal battle between reason and emotion, she is both sensitive and strong, "an overthinker", a person characterized by Pitta dosha - which brings her excess emotions and inner fire.
"I deeply love and try to empathize with everyone. My guiding motto is 'if you can choose to be anything, choose to be good'. I am of the opinion that the easiest thing in the world is to do bad, really hard is to do good and for that I fight with myself every day, it doesn't come completely natural to me, I am human, but I try every time I am surprised by the emotions of disapproval, to take a deep breath saying to myself "Andreea stop! You don't know the emotional baggage of this person and you are not in a position to judge her, may the sinless one throw the first stone.""
For a long time she didn't know what she wanted to do with her life, she didn't fit into any particular clique. But because she is a communicative nature, she thought that the best option is to attend journalism school: "for the simple fact that I "knew how to talk"."
Since the second year of college I realized that being a journalist is not the job I really aspired to, I didn't feel that calling, professional fulfillment, nor soul. But he tried to get a job anyway - in the spring at Radio Sky, a local radio station.
"I was not selected for that position although the feedback from the editors was positive, which disappointed me, I didn't understand why not - even though they all said I was the right person for the job.
Because I was already 21 years old and I really wanted to be financially independent, on my father's advice, in May of the same year, I attended the job fair at Ovidius Constanta University. Being a city by the sea, at the fair there were many hotels that were looking for employees for various activities, from waiters, cooks, hotel reception to entertainers, housekeeping and so on.
Of all of them only one caught my attention: Fitness Instructor -Imperia Spa, Marina Regia and so, in June 2012 I took the first step in what turned out to be the most beautiful journey of my life. Looking back, I like to think that I didn't choose the Spa but the Spa chose me."
It was an easy job, he only had to supervise the fitness room and occasionally hold personal training sessions. The Imperia Spa is very large, with a diverse menu, and they were constantly doing specialized training even back then. "At the beginning I didn't attend these trainings, there were too many therapists and the focus was for them to be the main participants and to introduce these therapies. The "call" came when, one day, Daniela Dumitru – Trainer International Budha Bar - to whom I will be eternally grateful, invited me to be an auditor and observer of the loving arms massage, also called "Forgiveness Therapy" - Lomi Lomi.
I was so impressed by the theory and the technique of this massage that I had the desire to become a spa therapist myself. I followed a massage technician course for 11 months and then I applied to all the Spas in Romania, to no avail, we have no experience. Seeing that I couldn't manage to join a spa team in my homeland, I started to look for jobs abroad."
For the Romanian applicants there were only receptionist and waiter positions. She went to the interview determined to tell them that she would accept the receptionist position if it was the only one they could offer her, but she had taken a massage course and wanted a therapist job badly. "I guess I convinced them, 3 weeks after the interview I was announced that I was going to work at the Spa, thus becoming for the first time "Spa Girl". I learned many types of massages, always trying to challenge myself, in the 3rd month I received the title of Employee of the Month. Unfortunately it was only a seasonal job."
Shortly after her return to the country she started working as a part-time therapist at Iaki Spa, then in May 2016 she joined Cocor Spa.
"After rigorous specialized training in England, both in service and sales, I graduated and received a contract with Royal Caribbean-Adventure of The Seas.
It was my dream job, I had here the best manager ever, Emmett Homan, from whom I learned many things, a manager who knew how to motivate us without inspiring fear, he taught us "tips and triks" how we can upsealing our services, how to create a rapport with our guests and recommend them retail products, a manager who appreciated the qualities of each of us and brought out the best in us and under his guidance we became "the go to therapist" and employee of the month (again in the 3rd month of the contract).
He is my role model when I think about the true definition of a leader. "
After his contract ended, he returned to the country, "Initially with the thought of returning to cruise ships, but in the fall of 2017 I met Mihail, my former colleague at Cocor Spa and my current husband, and I decided not to embark. I felt he was the reason why it was worth staying.
Although many people find it difficult to have a partner with the same job, for me it is exceptional to be able to share this passion with my better half, especially when he or she supports you in every way. For my goal to reach as high as possible in the spa world he left everything, we moved together more than 10 times in 5 years, which also helped him, working side by side in most of the spas and becoming one of the best therapists I know."
She continued her work as a spa therapist in several locations and also became an in-house therapy trainer. "In the years that followed I had the opportunity to be head therapist and trainer at Alpin Hotel in Poiana Brasov and Cocor Spa (5 summers I worked with Cocor, the last year only on training, reception and sales), Shiseido Spa for a shorter period because of the pandemic and last but not least, at Shakti Center. At the Shakti Center I climbed a few more steps in my progress, not only as a therapist.
I met her again after 10 years on Daniela DumitruShe saw something in me that maybe I didn't have the courage to see yet, she encouraged me to become a fully-fledged trainer and even a manager. Thanks to her I added more types of rituals to my portfolio, Alin Simion, the manager of the center, supports healing, quality and invests a lot in therapist training, supporting the most trainings of all the spas where I have worked."
Because he already had some professional health problems, he decided to end his career as a therapist and continue only as a trainer. "I was also thinking for some time about the possibility of becoming a spa manager, I didn't want to retrain in any way because for me the spa was not just a job, it was basically my life, what I knew how to do and first of all, what I loved to do.
At the time of this article, Andreea is Spa Manager at Alma Health & SPA Retreat, Lacu Sarat.
I've learned since I've been working in this field that every person has an emotional baggage and that people are essentially not bad but tried, tried by life, by other people, by situations and that I have to love them for who they are beyond the traumas they have on their shoulders.
Also to stop being so hard on myself, to learn to accept myself, to stop looking for validation by the amount of work I put in, to give myself breaks, to stop looking for competition only with myself yesterday, to stop working until I burn out, to stop taking my happiness only from the satisfaction of others, to stop waiting for statues
A typical day for me is time spent with my husband, until recently we lived very far away from our families so we got used to spending time together, whether we go to the movies, go for a walk or play a board game.
Since we moved to Braila we started to spend time with friends, in the courtyard, as much as possible outdoors. I like to cook, more recently I started to try all kinds of homemade cakes.
Because of my job I have traveled quite a lot and now I'm looking for stability, I want to put down roots somewhere and call "home" not only the person next to me, but also a specific place, close to my family.
Family and husband are the number 1 motivators, especially because they trust me a lot, even when I don't. The feedback from both our guests and the antepreneurs is also very important. When they are thankful, grateful and tell me things like "wow it was the best massage", "it was a dream experience", "thank you for the recommendation, it exceeded my expectations" it gives me the satisfaction of a job well done.
One of the greatest fulfillments I have had on a professional level, besides the happy guests, is related to the therapists I have trained, therapists with great passion, who have traveled far, some of them to other countries. Not long ago I even received a message of thanks from a former colleague, she now works in a spa in Cannes, France.
The message said: "Thank you for everything you have taught me, thanks to you I got here".
Another satisfaction I have is related to my team at Alma Spa, they always tell me that I am a manager like they never had before, that I know how to encourage and motivate them, I congratulate them and appreciate their efforts, that I focus on the positive, I do not scold them and I do not instill fear, I listen to their complaints and we try to find solutions.
My 2 greatest professional accomplishments were getting to work on cruise ships, seeing the world, and becoming spa manager at Alma Health & Spa Retreat.
Getting to know my husband. I know it sounds cliché, but it's true, I never imagined that I would love so deeply and I don't think I felt true, selfless, unconditional love until I met him. They say that love, beyond the actual chemistry, is when you realize that the next 30,000 meals, breakfast, lunch, dinner, you will share with your partner and that both reason and emotion dictate "wow, I can't wait to share my life with you"
The lesson I'm trying to learn, I haven't fully succeeded yet, is that no matter how much I want to and no matter how hard I try, I can't please everyone and I can't make everyone happy. The important thing is that I try to be the best version of myself, without deliberately hurting or upsetting anyone. The rest is not up to me.
The pandemic period had both good and bad sides. It affected us financially, at the time we had a PFA with fixed taxes, basically regardless of whether we were collecting or not, I had to pay all the taxes to the state. We lived in Bucharest, we were locked in our apartment for two months.
I rested, I already had joint problems in the shoulder area, after the summer season I had a bursitis in my right shoulder and tendinitis in my left one, the doctor recommended physical rest and as my work was related to massages, I didn't allow myself this break, so for me, at least physically, it was partially a "blessing in disguise".
I try my best not to judge people, I can't say that I can't stand it but that I resent the selfishness and the need of some people to step on corpses to propel themselves in life or career. I consider ambition a quality, and I also believe that there are other ways in which you can get ahead without hurting others.
Happiness comes from many places. Family, husband, friends are most important. Work, play, music and dance also enrich me. I believe that happiness is a choice, if we focus only on the negative things then we attract negative thoughts, that's why I try to get my share of happiness even from the smallest things; the smell after the rain, the dusk - my favorite part of the day, my niece's smile, my parents hugs, my husband's encouragement, when my brother wins a basketball game (or even the tournament)...
I have many fears. I am afraid of the death of loved ones, car accidents, diseases, dogs, people.
I remember that in a seminar, Daniela Dumitru asked us to say the first thing that comes to our mind related to fears, they were surprised by my answer: mediocrity.
I would like to leave something behind me, not to live for nothing and here I am not talking about business or who knows what cryptocurrency project, but about compassion, empathy, emotional healing, I would like it to be understood that you can have all the money in the world, the most important pillar in building an empire is the human resource. Man sanctifies the place!
I want to win as many specialized awards as possible for Alma health & Spa Retreat and put this resort on the map of Romania and Europe.
I lived all my life in a block of flats, since I met Mihail I dream to have a house with a veranda and a little green space, to travel together, to start a family and to have 2 healthy children, a little girl and a little boy, to have my parents and brother closer.
In the distant future, I dream of having a small retreat, with a lot of land and nothing in the neighborhood, somewhere by the sea or in the heart of the mountains, with a few bungalows, a spa not too big, just a few massage rooms, a multipurpose room for workshops where I can teach, where we can invite different trainers and learn from each other, with a small restaurant, have a chef but cook for myself, a place where people not only want to come, feel like coming.
I see more and more spa centers with re-education sessions, coaching, nutrition, holistic centers for body-mind-soul, alternative therapies, prophylactic, where to treat the cause not just the effect, whether in an urban environment or in the middle of nature. Many of the physical problems are emotional. Each organ corresponds to an emotion and these long bottled up emotions can affect the corresponding organs.
Unfortunately most people end up in wellness, spa and recovery centers when "the knife gets to the bone", they perceive wellness or alternative therapies/rituals as a "luxury" but to treat only the physical, in my opinion, is like washing a stained glass only on the outside and it's time to move beyond just the physical part.
I have several messages:
"Kindness is the language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see"
I want people to see beyond appearances, not to put labels.
To learn to love themselves and those around them for all that they are, good and bad.
Let them learn to forgive and let go of pride, peace is more important than justice.
Let them learn to stop criticizing, to understand that just because something is not done the way they would do it, it doesn't mean it is wrong.
Stop being so defensive and take absolutely everything personally.
And I wish most of all, that all those mentioned, to learn them rigorously first of all me!
Ioana Marian, founder of despreSpa.ro
Founder despreSpa.ro
