Alin believes in people, in the right to happiness, in the fact that people can do a lot of good if they are helped to discover their potential.
He is 41 years old, passionate about basketball and wellness - something he knew nothing about until a few years ago. He has set himself the goal of having a decent life, with lots of enjoyment, and every day he organizes his activities and priorities accordingly.
At the age of 21, he was a high-performance athlete. Dissatisfied with what he was offered as an athlete in Romania - mostly promises, nothing concrete - he packed his bags and landed in the UK with 2 pounds in his pocket. He ended up in a fruit field and after seeing what it was like to work in the field, he switched to working in the freezer warehouse.
After a few months, with some money saved during the 3 months of Student Camp, he moved to London where he applied for a specific construction visa. This is how he started a new life in England and he is very grateful for everything he learned there.
At age 29 he was living in London, still working in construction and practicing basketball semi-professionally, with many good results. Then he took a trip to Tibet. Why Tibet? Because he found the temple trip interesting, saw it as an opportunity to discover a new country and do something cool.
Little did he know that this initiatory journey would change the course of his life. It just so happened that a delegation of over 100 people from Romania was in Tibet at that very moment. The Dalai Lama was so surprised that he invited them for a private meeting. He had the privilege of meeting him personally, shaking his hand and taking a picture with him.
At the Dalai Lama's teachings he met Svetlana, his future wife.
They got married 3 years after their trip to Tibet. Their relationship started 2 years after Tibet and within 6 months Alin had already moved from London to Romania.
Svetlana's dream was to build a place where outer and inner beauty harmonize, where people can discover themselves and their inner beauty can shine as much as possible. Alin supported his dream, even though he knew nothing about this field, but he began to learn step by step.
Thus was born Shakti Center, the place that brought Alin and Svetlana together.
Today, 9 years into their relationship, she considers that "the best decision of my life was to marry Svetlana, a man who was always by my side and supported me unconditionally".
After they opened Shakti CenterAlin saw that there is a great need for health and healing.
She has learned to work with people, to empower them and to build with them a healthy and pleasant environment, where specialists feel good and offer a lot to clients.
"Business is not just your piece of the pie, it's a field where everyone contributes and everyone is affected when someone is unwell".
I met Alin and Svetlana very soon after they opened the Shakti Center. I was impressed from the very first conversation that Alin was concerned that the therapists should have breaks, not to exceed 5 therapies / day, so as not to exhaust them.
Subsequently, he extended his care for employees beyond the confines of the location and became involved in their physical and mental well-being:
"I represent the idea of doing good to people and for everything to be harmonious I need well-organized therapists, very skilled and who can understand the needs of clients.
We organize 50-80 days of courses annually for therapists to access new information, grow and learn new techniques and approaches to the human body.
It's a difficult field where you test with every customer every time and at the end of the month you can account for efficiency.
We have adopted differentiated payment systems according to efficiency because salaries are paid according to what we realize, we do not have contracts with the state 🙂
We work with the highest quality eco organic products, Lakshmi. The environment is a beautiful one, personal and professional growth is one of our goals and payment is according to value. These are the main differentiators we offer at Shakti Center".
A few years ago, one evening after 7 pm, a reader called me. His wife was sick with cancer, in great pain. He'd read about cranio-sacral therapy and thought it might help. He wanted to take her somewhere that very evening.
I called Alin. The cranio-sacral therapist was on his last client, but Alin understood and took them in. Not only did he keep the Shakti Center open especially for that client, but he wouldn't even let them pay for therapy. He told me that the lady looked so bad and was obviously in so much pain that he couldn't ask bitter people for money. He was glad that the therapy had worked and the lady was much better than she had been an hour and a half before.
Three years after the opening of the Shakti Center in 2014, their son Matthew was born. Then Alin stayed to take care of the center, and Svetlana more of the little one.
"When the baby was 2 years old I realized that the three of us hadn't gone on any vacations. I cried and I made the decision to streamline everything I had to do until 3:00 p.m. and then I would devote myself to my family."
So, after 8 years of very hard work, 08:00-22:00 most of the time, he realized that he had to stop this rush. Work less and have time for her loved ones at home.
To be able to do that, he automated the business:"we were the first in Romania that started to work through the application programming system, around 2015.
Even if the business hadn't worked out, I'd drawn a firm line that I never crossed. Parents can be proof of what they say, children don't react to words.
So, for 2 years, Matthew has been playing 7-8 sports frequently. Skiing only in winter, but the rest he does weekly. He's a kid with fantastic energy, very motoric and has an excellent mastery of basketball, swimming, tennis, martial arts, karting, etc.
I consider that part of my mission on Earth is to bring good to people and the first two are my wife and my child.
I am busy every day, I run from one sport to another, I drive 2-3 hours a day in Bucharest, but it all makes sense when I know that he is developing harmoniously and healthy.
If the parent is not willing to put in the effort, is comfortable and lacks vision, the children will develop like a plant left to its own devices. That's why I'm committed to creating a healthy space for them to be away from the phone, TV or games.
On many days of the week we end up 7-8-9 in the evening frantic, but with the realization that we've done what we needed to do that day. I feel honored to be able to take care of the spa, a fantastically cool brand of eco-bio products, Lakshmi, and my family. The universe gives us and we should be ecstatic that we have the resources to do so much"
What I do, being with my family, talking to my wife, traveling, playing basketball, seeing my friends and laughing.
This fall I was near death because of COVID, hospitalized for two weeks and on oxygen for two months at home, it was a terrible time when only my mind was sharp, my body literally died and I could not move because it affected my lungs.
I managed to work from the hospital and support with what I could. It was the moment when the team took over most of the functions and I was able to get through the hardest trial, both personally and for the business
Marriage, childbirth and the chance to be alive. I felt I was allowed to continue my mission. There might not have been a Shakti Center if I had died, because it is my and my wife's project, and if one doesn't stay alive, or the couple falls apart, we give up the project.
I am a very energetic guy and I have the ability to always reinvent myself. I have mental and physical resilience and I was able to overcome many shocks, betrayals, difficult moments, Pandemie etc..
I've surrounded myself with many good people around. With them I grow and form the team. On the training side is Daniela Dumitru, on the human development side is Svetlana. Plus many others who have made my life easier.
I am open to innovation and can say that we have moved the Shakti Center to 3 locations in 10 years. We are currently in our last month in our current location and will be moving to a 700sqm location.
It was one of the most difficult moments, especially because it came at the most inopportune moment, right after Covid. For 6 months we have been working on the new Shakti Center, with new furniture, new design. I really don't know what I will do with so much furniture from the current location, possibly start donating it to various places where they need it.
Having meaning and joy in what I do. The new Shakti Center is our biggest endeavor yet. A new premises redecorated from scratch, almost everything new during the Pandemic, higher costs. We've taken on a huge amount of work and hope it resonates with our customers.
The fact that we have been on the market for 10 years, that we are always doing things to be better and we have found all possible resources to move to a newer and bigger location, for me is a major achievement.
In the last 3-4 years we got 4 national awards recognizing our work. It was a delight to see our work recognized, hundreds of days of courses, with Romanian and international trainers and a menu that has grown from 7-8 massages and rituals to 80. It is an impressive offer of massages, spa rituals and signature rituals.
We managed to implement the idea of signature rituals for each individual therapist. Let's bring out the best in him, his area where he shines and build together that therapist's signature.
I felt like a lion in a cage. There was nothing I could influence and people's decision to stay at home was totally justified. Thank you to the many supportive clients throughout this pandemic who didn't let themselves be frightened and continued to look after their wellbeing and were able to keep us going. Great job and I am deeply grateful.
As a British citizen, I can tell you a lot here. In short, I believe that we as a people deserve a good life: professional medical services, safe roads and highways and a standard of living that gives people the possibility to take care of things other than survival.
What bothers me about people? The lack of communication, lack of ownership and the belief that schedules are a blank check and that you can play with them however you want.
Fear of not being validated by customers. I think we do a great job, but if people don't come for various reasons, it's all in the back of our minds.
I believe that people should consume from quality businesses, even if they are out of their comfort zone. They should exclude from the start the alternative of bad services, unethical businesses that are not interested in the general good.
I was afraid of losing this business, I admit. If in the beginning I had a hard time firing a man for certain mistakes, I don't now.
The fear of death is one that stays with you, even though I've known it up close. I like life, I admit.
Fear of heights, even though I have traveled 500-1000 times by plane, I don't really like high altitude sports, I'm a lion, I need to feel the ground 🙂
A tour of Europe with the family, to be able to go away for 1-2 months to get to know as much as possible of this beautiful continent. Although I adore many countries in Asia, South America and Europe, for me Europe and the EU are a wonderful dream and I enjoy it.
Clients need professionalism, I believe that the best trend is the transformation of the therapist into that healing, gentle and understanding character who knows how to do good, knows how to set limits, but who does not do conscious or unconscious harm. The rest are details, related to therapies or machines. The very long-term trend is about the human capacity to do good.
When you can do no good, at least do no harm.
Give yourself and your body time, you will be much better at what you do.
The price does not always reflect the reality, look deeper, observe and see where you feel good and leave feeling relaxed and in a good mood.
Respect any business as you would want your business to be respected. When you pay for a service in a business, you are paying for the 50-100 people who contribute to your experience. You can do other people good by giving them gifts for their health.
Ioana Marian,
Founder despreSpa.ro
Founder despreSpa.ro
