The Pampered Spirit of New Jersey - Spa Services Catered For All!

written by Raqui
Original article posted here: http://www.largeincharge.com

I was preparing for my Daughter's Sweet sixteen and I wanted to have the ultimate spa weekend. Pampering and relaxation was well deserved. My sister was joining in so it was just us girls getting away.

Manhattan spas were to pricey and public. I wanted a nice quite calm environment where we could get away. I searched Upstate New York and Connecticut. Either the spa prices were great, but the rooms were ridiculous, or the rooms were fantastic, and spa services to much for my pocket book. Then I remembered many places in jersey had affordable suites and decided to search there. Find a nice Day Spa and stay near it, this sounded like a good plan.

My main concern was finding a location that would service my daughter who was just turning sixteen and one that would be able to cater to a person of my size.

In my search there were many spa's but I cant say they were equipped to service me. I then found The Pampered Spirit of New Jersey. What I liked the most was The Mobile Services they provide. Anything they do at their location they can do in your home or at a hotel of your choice. I was so excited no getting naked in changing rooms. The focus would be 100% on us and not other clients. But would servicing me be a problem?

The last thing you want is someone rubbing on you who is Fat-phobic. It was really important to me that we all felt comfortable and if any of the staff who came to service us disliked fat people. It would bother my daughter and my sister. Maybe I would tolerate it but why pay for an experience when your not comfortable?

Upon calling the Pampered Spirit I was connected with Bridget. I explained to her my idea for a Spa Party Sweet Sixteen style and she was ready and willing to help me plan it every step of the way. Even calling hotels in the area for pricing.

The most important aspect for me personally was my size. I wasn't sure how the body massage would be done. Do they have tables that can hold a 600 lb woman who is 6'4 inches tall? Bridget told me that the table they use holds up to 800 lbs so weight wasn't an issue. She wasn't sure about the width of their tables, but assured me that if I wouldn't be comfortable on the table she could easily make the bed my massage table. Bridget explained how she has serviced many people who cannot be removed from bed and that she would be able to give me a proper body massage.

Needless to say I was happy to hear that Bridget could accommodate me. I wanted to be sure that all of the spa technicians for our party were'nt Fat-phobic. Bridget told me she isn't judgmental toward anyone and doesn't believe her staff are either. She told me she would definitely address these issues when picking who would come to our Spa Party.

I felt very comfortable during all aspects of planning with Bridget. She listened to me and addressed all of my questions. She was respectful and very friendly. Me and my sister couldn't wait for our Spa Party Weekend. My daughter was going to be so surprised.

We traveled about a hour and a half from Yonkers to Tinton Falls by the Jersey Shore. After swimming and Jacuzzi bubbles relaxing our bodies, we prepared to be pampered like never before.

We had four technicians catering to us. They were all very friendly and fun. They came in and turned our suite into a spa. The Full body massage was so comforting, Bridget worked her magic on me and I didn't feel like I was a weird strange fat person. From the beginning I was treated as a person no different from any other. That is when I knew I had to recommend The Pampered Spirit of New Jersey to all of my readers.

I cannot rave enough about the services we received. The ladies who worked with us were wonderful at their job. They poured wine for us (sparkling cider for my daughter) and made it an amazing five hour extravaganza that we never will forget. I am not joking when I say I have found a new way to blow my money. Me and my sister both agreed we would rather head back to Tinton Falls, and The Pampered Spirit ladies than buy new clothes. I am already starting to plan a new date with my sister and see who wants to join us.

If your looking for some relaxation but have always worried that your size will stop you from having a fulfilling spa experience. I suggest taking the trip out to New Jersey, spend some time at The Pampered Spirit Day Spa or get a suite and have them come to you. You deserve to have your body pampered by people who will treat you like a person. You will not regret it, and when you call say Raqui of LargeInCharge recommended them.

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Scheduling Problem Turned Into Separate Business

BY BRIDGET TURNBACH • APRIL 4, 2010
Asbury Park Press APP.com

To create the life I dreamed of, I started my own mobile spa company, The Pampered Spirit, in 2005. If I couldn't own the building to open up a spa, then I decided to take it on the road, so there would be less overhead. But that led to its own complications.

The Pampered Spirit grew quickly and more massage providers were hired. Scheduling multiple providers in multiple locations became increasing challenging. Requests for services came from 60 to 90 miles away from my home-based business location.

The complexity of figuring out who was available when and how far they were from the appointments was becoming a daily headache. Same-day appointments were turned away after a fair amount of time was spent trying to accommodate the client and therapist. Scheduling felt like the "Who's on first, What's on second" skit.

I am a firm believer in providing excellent customer service, but there had to be a more streamlined, less stressful approach. My head turned toward to technology for the answers.

I started seeking out spa and salon software that could incorporate an online calendar and GPS capability. I searched for months with no luck. I hit a brick wall, so I dug a hole underneath it and started looking for computer programmers with a background in tracking software.

The problem was I did not have the money available to pay for such a big project upfront. I pitched my idea to a few programmers to see if they would take the project on for a fraction of what I knew it would cost. After several "No's" and a few laughs, I found my match with Echo Messaging.

Over the past 12 months, I worked with Echo Messaging to develop unique and customized online scheduling software, all the while maintaining a family and mobile spa business. Meetings with the programmers sometimes go late into the night. I had to educate myself on programming lingo, code, databases and legal matters relating to Internet law, regulations and developing a new Web site to market the software.

The dream is now a reality in the form of a new business I started, Mobile Scheduling Co. It combines a Web-based calendar with tracking capabilities for the general public to schedule appointments anytime, anywhere, even from their iPhone or BlackBerry. It's useful not just for my mobile-spa business, but the entire small-business mobile work force.

Everybody who is successful must have dreamed of something. It's just no one tells you how many steps you need to take to reach that dream, and you will never know until you begin the journey.

Bridget Turnbach, Point Pleasant, owns the Pampered Spirit (www.thepamperedspiritnj.com). Getting Ahead runs Sundays.

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Rubbing People the Right Way

April 12, 2007
Section: BUSINESS
DENNIS P. CARMODY
Asbury Park Press
By DENNIS P. CARMODY

Mobile massage business run by Bridget Turnbach, who changed its name from The Pampered Soul after she and a partner split up last year.

She offers massages in the home or office, using a portable massage table that is about the same size as a twin bed.

She also promotes her services to local hotels, catering to tourists staying at bed-and-breakfast inns.

Bridget Turnbach graduated from college with a degree in education, but before jumping into the classroom, she wanted to spend a summer backpacking in Europe. And that's where she got another kind of education. Turnbach pulled a rib muscle from carrying her backpack while in Amsterdam. She asked around for a chiropractor, but locals recommended a masseuse instead.

The effectiveness of the massage was startling. "It cost me $35, which blew my "Europe on $50 a day plan,' but I was sold on it," Turnbach recalled. If that wasn't enough, four weeks later, she and a friend got massages in the German resort town of Baden-Baden. Much to her surprise, after the massage was done, the two were ushered into what was called "the dead room." The whole point was to keep the customers from rushing out the door after a massage, but instead force them to stay in a quiet place for an hour, where they could read, talk or in any other way relax.

It convinced her to pursue a career in massage herself, and now she runs The Pampered Spirit, a mobile massage business in which she travels to clients' homes and businesses to offer rubdowns.

"I believe in following your intuition," Turnbach said. "I know exactly what I want, and I'm heading for it."

It's been a circuitous route to this point, but Turnbach, a 34-year-old Point Pleasant resident, said the business is growing. "I can see the progression," she said.

After returning from Europe, she put her planned teaching career on hold to study massage at the Garden State Center for Holistic Health Care in Lakewood. She went on to work at the Hilton hotel in Long Branch, and later moved to Colorado and Florida, plying her trade in those states. She returned to the Shore in 1999 and opened a massage shop in Point Pleasant Beach, but the following year her landlord sold the building and she lost her lease. Around this time, Turnbach decided to go for a steady paycheck, getting a job as a history teacher at Kearny High School for two years, then going on to work two more years at Freehold Township High School after that. During this period, she did massage work part-time for the Atlantic Club in Wall.

Her time as a schoolteacher convinced her that was not how she wanted to spend the rest of her days. "Teaching in high school was not where I was meant to teach," Turnbach said. "My teaching career has branched into wellness."

So she left teaching and last year partnered with another masseuse, Colleen Jefferis, to start a massage business, which they named The Pampered Soul. From the start, the idea was to make it a mobile business, not one tied to a spa. "Unless I can own the building, I don't want a store," Turnbach said.

Making the business mobile also helps with clients, she said. The massage is done in familiar surroundings (Turnbach brings a collapsible table for clients to lie on), and once their massages are over, they don't have to wipe out the sensation of contentment by hopping in the car and fighting traffic.

Additionally, more male clients prefer massages at home. "Guys don't want to go to a spa and put on a robe and slippers," Turnbach said. Her clients are split about half and half between male and female, she said. The business grew, but Jefferis, who was working at the business part-time, decided she didn't want to quit her day job to help the massage business get bigger. So at the beginning of this year the two parted ways, and Turnbach changed the name of the business.

Turnbach charges $80 for a one-hour massage. Carol Hand, a Wall resident, has been getting monthly massages from Turnbach for years. "She's clean, she's efficient, she's just a pleasure," Hand said. "It worked for my sinuses, and it worked for my shoulder blades." Knocking on doors

When Turnbach isn't giving massages, a lot of her time is spent drumming up business, she said. She promotes her services for corporate outings and also attends bridal expos, promoting his-and-her massages and spa nights for bachelorette parties, where additional workers will come in to offer manicures and other treats. "I still knock on a lot of doors," she said. While she wouldn't reveal her annual revenue, she said the business is growing, and she is confident it will get big enough that she can franchise the concept within a couple of years. Her husband, Edward, works for the Ocean County Juvenile Detention Center, and his salary has helped support the family as Turnbach concentrates on building her business. "I have a 3-year-old son (Dane)," Turnbach said. "If I don't follow my dream, I won't be able to show him that you can do this."

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