US Chamber President Tom Donohue presenting Patricia Owen with the 2009 Blue Ribbon Small Business Award.
If you’ve ever vacationed on Hilton Head Island, chances are you know all about FACES, one of the largest and well known day spas on the southeast coast. The Village at Wexford is easy to locate, and it’s even easier to slip into the day spa lifestyle there. FACES offers traditional and innovative facials, massages, body treatments, makeovers, manis and pedis, and products. More than 150 different product lines - including FACES SignatureSkincare - are ready and waiting for you during your visit to the BeautyBoutique and SpaShoppe. So that you’re never without your beauty regime, FACES makes everything available for purchase online. (and they’re on facebook, so feel free to become a fan and learn more about spa specials, etc).
But what’s most intriguing about FACES, is the beauty and brains behind this award-winning day spa. Having made the island her home for the past 25 years, Founder Patricia Owen and her husband moved south because of an opportunity she saw in opening FACES, one of the first cosmetics boutiques (that’s where the name came from) that sold Estee Lauder. That was in 1983. Over the years, as Patricia has seen good times and weathered tough times, her vision of success always kept her one step ahead of the trends. She was first to add facials to the spa’s service offering, mainly to boost sales during the retail shakedown in the late 80s with the rise of mega discount centers. Ultimately, she made the decision nine years ago to take the plunge and renovate her space to include a full-service day spa serving two distinct markets namely, the 4,500 residents of Hilton Head, and about 2 million annual visitors to the island.
All entrepreneurs know that starting a business as a sole proprietor involves vision, skill and risk.
Patricia survived three recessions since starting the company and credits her ability to offer what her client is seeking - personal touch – with the efficiencies of big business ideas. As evidenced by her awards and accolades, Patricia is really good at coming up with the next new idea and her insight is being recognized. In May, FACES DaySpa of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, was selected as the Southeastern regional winner of America’s Small Business of the Year award. The award was presented by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce during America’s Small Business Summit in Washington, D.C.
Hatch Talk asked Patricia what it means to be named among the Top 7 businesses in the nation across all industries by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce . “We have an award-winning business, not just a spa,” says Patricia. “People always ask me what I do. I tell them that I own a day spa. It's not always the biggest business, or the one that makes the most money, but there is something about what we do that works!”
Patricia offers her advice to Hatch Talk readers, “Even if you win one time, it’s something. Winning an award helps you win your next award. It opens your eyes. That first time I was up for an award in 1996, I really didn’t think I had a chance. On deadline day, I just told myself, 'get it done.' On the morning of the awards luncheon I asked my husband whether I should even think about writing an acceptance. There’s no way we were going to win. And we did!
Every email Patricia sends includes her list of awards. Maybe this success thing really is contagious.
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