If you are looking for an intimate environment where you can shop local and at the same time improve your health and well-being, look no further than The Spa on Wilson in Ancaster, Ontario.
Since opening her business in 2018, owner Amanda Plantinga has quickly caught Hamiltonians’ eye by creating a personalized experience that offers body treatment services targeted to ensure an overall better and healthier life.
Having grown up working in sales and retail jobs, even managing a clothing store while still in high school, Amanda was no stranger to providing exceptional customer service and connecting with her community.
So, when the opportunity to return to her roots and take on the role of business owner presented itself, her choice was an easy one to make.
“I grew up in this industry,” Amanda said. “My mom is an aesthetician and used to own and operate two successful spas and salons in the GTA.”
“One day, after being fed up with spending almost four and a half hours of my day stuck in traffic while commuting to my job, I said to her ‘do you want to open a spa up together?’, right away she said yes,” she said. “In September 2018 we signed our lease and began the process of opening The Spa on Wilson.”
By listening and adapting to her clients’ needs, and always serving them with compassion and care, Amanda has established The Spa in Wilson as a go-to spot for prolonging good health and well-being in Ancaster.
With added emphasis on tailoring her clientele’s experience to individual needs and preferences, she has propelled her business into a very successful local enterprise and continues to attract more Hamiltonians to shop local.
“When people shop local, it means the world to us,” Amanda said. “It makes you realize that people think about you and are willing to support you by spending their hard-earned money into your business.”
“Especially throughout the last year and a half, so many businesses unfortunately couldn’t survive and had to shut down,” she said. “People were afraid to invest into small businesses because of the unknown, but the majority of our clientele never showed us that fear. They did everything they could to help us along the way and we couldn’t be more grateful.”
Upholding a business and keeping it running during the COVID pandemic has been a monumental task for many small business owners over the last year and a half, and for Amanda, the situation was no different.
Having just gotten a foothold in the business, Amanda and her team faced more struggles and uncertainty than ever before, not knowing what the future holds for The Spa on Wilson.
“The last year and a half has shown me the strength that we have as individuals and as a business, to overcome all of the obstacles that were thrown at us,” Amanda said. “It definitely hasn’t been easy though, and there have been days where I could feel that strength disappear and felt a little bit of hopelessness.”
“We had barely made a name for ourselves when the first shutdown happened,” she said. “But each time we opened back up, we could feel the overwhelming love and support from our clients and the Hamilton community. They have shown us their loyalty throughout everything and without them and our staff who have worked so hard through this all, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”
In the midst of all the uncertainty the COVID pandemic brought, it was certainly the importance and the power of shopping local that ultimately saved Amanda’s business and ensured it has a future.
“Our future is growth,” Amanda said. “We want to become bigger and better. We have a vision and a dream to continue growing our business into something amazing and we couldn’t be more excited to do so.”
Check them out @thespaonwilson on Instagram and Facebook, thespaonwilson.com on the web, and in person at 430 Wilson St E in Ancaster.
Are you looking for more info on what Hamilton has to offer the business community? Check out Hamilton Economic Development’s website: https://investinhamilton.ca/
Are you an entrepreneur looking for more opportunities and resources to help start or grow your business? Check out the Hamilton Business Centre’s site for tons of great information: https://investinhamilton.ca/hamilton-business-centre/
Dear Amanda and Marika , just wanted to say I couldn’t be more proud of you both and wish you much success,
Amanda you are an amazing young lady always thinking of others which reflects on how you run your beautiful Spa and I must say you learned from an amazing person and esthetician like your mom .
Cheers to continued success my Neice and Sister, looking forward to enjoying your Spa the next time I am in town .