Sarah Mourtos We spoke to Natalie Papadopoulos about opening her second spa, Self, which offers bespoke and personalised skin and body treatments. Spoiler alert, it’s dreamy.
It is no small feat to open a business during a global pandemic, but Natalie Papadopoulos did just that. Self is her new concept salon and spa located in Randwick, Sydney. Only a few doors down from her already well-establish salon The Parlour Room, each venture offers a separate range of unique treatment services. Self is entirely dedicated to the skin and body focusing on bespoke facials, invigorating body treatments and rejuvenating massages. It even has an infrared sauna for ultimate relaxation.
After 12 months of hard work, Self opens for business, and we spoke to Natalie about the ups and downs on the road to Self’s discovery.
Tell us about your exciting new venture – what is Self all about?
Self is all about looking after your skin, your mind, your body and your Self. We have a fantastic team of highly trained therapists. They are passionate about this as well and will work with the clients to completely personalise their experience and match the offerings to suit their individual needs.
How/when did you decide it was time to open another business?
We were doing facials at The Parlour Room but, this was on the same level as our events space so I was looking to explore ways we could improve the experience for our clients. There are a lot of beautiful treatments that we’ll be offering at Self. When I was looking into these originally for TPR, I realised we needed a new space so we could provide the full experience. A new space dedicated to complete relaxation where clients could come and focus on themself.
How did you find the recruitment process?
This was easy. I was lucky in that I already had some amazing therapists working for me at TPR, and they were so excited to move over to the new space. For me, the most important thing was that they were passionate about skin and the body and their expertise was focused in this area, which they all are.
What were the greatest challenges?
Gosh…. 2020! With any new business, there are always challenges. It’s easy upon reflection to forget the little things, but this year had its moments. Coronavirus had a significant impact around the world, and of course, has had a huge flow-on effect with the launch of Self. From the immediate lockdown earlier in the year where we had to shut down TPR, the delays and uncertainty around everyone else being shut down and trying to work to a timeline when no one really can, it’s been challenging. You get through, and it’s what owning a business is all about.
Who has been your biggest support, or provider of resources?
I don’t think I’d be where I am today without my wonderful fiancé FAF. He built all of our incredible custom furniture and has been through the ups and downs with me at home. My team are also amazing, we work so well together, and whenever there’s an issue, we always find a solution someway or another. Dani our beautiful designer who worked with me on the previous renovations for TPR. We’ve been through it together all before. My parents, they’ve both had experience running a small business so I can always lean on them when I need support or feel like I’m about to throw in the towel!
It’s been such an exciting time for The Parlour Room. With COVID-19, we were forced to re-think our strategy, and now we’ve evolved so much more than I would have ever dreamed. I’ve always wanted to build a space where people can come and feel relaxed and help them shine from within. Now we have two physical locations and an entire online component with our online store and expert journal to do this. The Parlour Room has become an overarching business, and I’m so excited for what is to come!
