About ME Esthetics & Wellness Spa

Our Story

This is ME

Mallory Erler founded ME esthetics in 2010 when she started renting a room inside a hair salon. From there plans were made to expand and start building her dream of having a wellness spa.

In the summer of 2016, ME Esthetics opened in a new location and had two operating esthetics rooms. Two years later Mallory met Steacy Wolfe, owner of Esthetics by Steacy, and began to plan the addition of a third esthetics room. Steacy was so passionate about what she did and about treating clients well, making her a perfect addition to the group. In February of 2019 she joined her business with ME esthetics.

It was only a month later that Mallory was contacted by her registered massage therapist, Courtney Earl owner of Just Breathe, who was planning to move her business along with Sherry Peters, a stress management coach, who worked side by side with Courtney. Mallory had been going to both Courtney and Sherry for many years and was excited to add their passion to the team, so she planned an expansion to accommodate the two ladies. In May of 2019 Mallory took over an additional unit beside her own and added two additional treatment rooms as well as a relaxation zone/workshop area for clients to enjoy. Courtney and Sherry joined Mallory’s team in July of 2019. Elena Hurley, a registered massage therapist who had worked with Courtney in the past, also joined part time while Courtney Earl went on maternity leave.

From there Mallory was contacted by Denise Neumann who was starting up in the wellness field, offering Reiki and transformational coaching. Mallory was immediately interested in Denise’s  approach and brought her on as a part time renter in October 2019.

While everything else was falling into place Mallory sat down with a long-term client of hers, Rebecca Rafuse, who had been studying to become a psychotherapist. She wanted to start counselling clients and was looking for a place to start building her practice. Mallory had always liked her approach to counselling and mental health and was happy to offer her a part-time rental space to get her practice started.

With each step forward there was always a huge amount of planning and hard work involving construction projects in both units. In Mallory’s words,

“Honestly I couldn’t have done any of this without my husband Bruce Erler (journeyman carpenter) and my parents Gordon and Shirley McDonald. My dream team, Bruce and my dad, were amazing putting up with my big plans and doing so much of the build so I could grow and expand to accommodate everyone. They were always willing to listen to what I had in mind and even willing to push for a timeline that may have seemed ridiculous. My husband was always an incredible supporter of what I was trying to build and although it cost him a lot of his own free time, he always pushed to make the renovations exactly as I had pictured them and never complained about doing the work. There were a lot of weekends, the only free time we had, being dedicated to getting dirty and putting up walls, laying flooring, painting, etc. I did as much as I could with the experience I had, but Bruce and my dad were the real hands that built my dream. I am forever grateful to both for the time, hard work and support they have given me. My mom was always amazing at helping with our son, taking him for the day so we could work. Even my son, Nathan, helped with small jobs during the building period. My parents as well as my brother and his wife, Dan and Jessica McDonald, were also always amazing to offer sound advice when it came to business. It definitely helped, having so many people whose opinions I valued, who were also in business for themselves, in my corner.”

In the fall of 2019, Mallory changed the business name to ME Esthetics and Wellness Spa to reflect all of the new faces and aspects of wellness operated together.

Mallory said, “It was always my dream to build a spa that offered as many avenues of wellness that I could find. After doing esthetics for 15 years and hearing client’s stories, stresses, highs and lows I realized there was a need for destressing and learning how to juggle the demands of work, home and self. It seems like there is a huge unbalance to our overall workload and our self care. I wanted a place that gave lots of avenues of wellness so, depending on the person and their needs, anyone could find something that could help them through the hard stuff. It is also amazing learning about each of these ladies, what they offer and how they can benefit clients. It has made it easy to refer clients to these different avenues of wellness depending on what they are dealing with.”

 

“I also needed a team of people who were passionate about their field. It has been my experience that the people who do the best work, in whatever field they are in, are the ones who LOVE what they do. That passion drives them to be exceptional. Each person I have brought on as part of our overall team is incredibly passionate about what they do and about treating people well, both of which are of the utmost importance to me. I need to know that no matter who a client is greeted by, they are welcomed and treated with courtesy and respect. I have always said if I ever lose my love for coming into work then I don’t want to be doing this job anymore. This is a client’s time for themselves. It is a chance for them to be taken care of. For a lot of people, that one appointment could be the only time that week that they have taken a minute to relax and let someone else take care of them. It is so important to me that our clients always feel like they are in a place they can let go of their stresses and that they are in good hands.”

“I know it’s a bit of an unusual business model to have so many independent businesses under one roof, but I find people enjoy their work best when they work independently and aren’t always answering to other people. I also don’t have nearly enough knowledge regarding all the other aspects of wellness to be able to properly employ the right people, but I can always spot passion and people who pour their heart and soul into what they do. I am so thrilled to be working with these amazing ladies. They bring so much heart to the spa and to all our clients.”

Although this journey is far from being complete Mallory is beyond grateful for what has been, what is and all the wonderful adventures to come.

“It’s a crazy thing, thinking something up in your head and then turning it into a reality. I have had so much help getting where I am and I could never express enough gratitude to the hands that have helped me along the way. I truly believe that with a solid vision, a driving passion to make it a reality, patience and hard work, you can accomplish any dream you have.”

 

 

– Mallory E