Clean Beauty: Dawn Spann Of Release Well-Being Center On 5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Clean Beauty Brand

Transparency between the ingredients and the consumer is key. Maintaining a transparent approach to how these products are created and how they actually yield results is something that should be celebrated!

The clean beauty movement is transforming the beauty industry by emphasizing the importance of safe, non-toxic ingredients. Consumers are increasingly concerned about what they put on their skin, leading to a demand for transparency and high standards in beauty products. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Dawn Spann.

Passionate about wellness and optimal human potential, Dawn Spann has over twenty years of experience in the spa and wellness industry. Since Dawn launched her career in wellness with Destination Hotels & Resorts, a US-based hotel and resort management company with a 42-property portfolio, she notably led the re-envisioning of the historic Charleston Place Spa before rejoining the team at Release Well-Being Center as Executive Vice President to launch their Boston location. With extensive experience consulting on projects to develop design concepts, curating spa and wellness programs, and leading pre-opening initiatives for hospitality brands and wellness destinations, she has worked with renowned names such as the Cliff House Resort & Spa, Two Roads Hospitality, Mii Amo, CoralTree Hospitality, The Spa at Sweetgrass, Wild Dunes Resort, Four Seasons, Astir Palace Hotel (Athens, Greece), St. Regis (Marbella, Spain), Belmond Cap (Juluca, Anguilla), and many others.

www.releasewellbeingcenter.com / @releasewellbeingcenter

Thank you so much for joining us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’?

Ientered the spa and wellness industry over two decades ago, initially as a massage therapist. My career path shifted when I took an opportunity to become a spa manager for a new resort opening within a destination hotel company. Not only did this shift push me to create extraordinary spaces and experiences for individuals to prioritize self-care, but it was incredibly impactful to see how I was actively contributing to their wellness journey and positively impacting others’ lives.

Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?

One of the most impactful lessons I learned early in my spa journey is the importance of investing in people. This insight may not be the most dramatic story, but it has profoundly shaped my approach to leadership and my career. By creating a supportive, creative, and empowering culture, we enable our team to grow and learn from their mistakes. This not only strengthens the guest experience but also attracts top talent who are eager to be part of this environment. This elevates the experience we are creating because it’s done with such love.

I am constantly challenging myself to create authentic experiences that speak to the natural environment in which a person lives, works, and plays. We work in such an amazing spa industry, allowing us to bring well-being to our guests and to our team, which will continue to raise the vibration of the world. I truly believe that prioritizing our people has been the cornerstone of our success. It continues to drive us forward, making a lasting impact on our guests and our team members alike.

You are a successful individual. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

1. Empathy:

• Empathy allows me to understand and connect with the needs of our guests on a deeper level. Active listening, acknowledging that guests feel heard, and suggesting personalized wellness offerings that can support them. This builds trust and fosters a supportive environment.

2. Adaptability:

• The wellness industry is ever-evolving with new trends and scientific discoveries. The ability to adapt quickly and integrate new thoughtful wellness practices into our offerings is extremely important. The key is self-education and collaboration with industry leaders, this will ensure services and offerings remain cutting-edge and relevant.

3. Leadership:

• Strong leadership is essential to inspire and motivate a team. Truly leading by example to maintain a healthy lifestyle and a positive attitude encourages your team to understand the why and be an integral part of long-term success. This supports a culture of well-being that resonates with guests. Strong leadership skills also enable you to effectively manage operations, make strategic decisions, and drive the growth of your wellness centers.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that might help people?

At Release Well-Being Center, we understand that wellness is not a one-size-fits-all journey. Our diverse menu of services, curated by our talented team, reflects this understanding by offering a wide array of wellness practices. Whether guests are stopping by for a quick contrast therapy session before heading back to work, or spending a leisurely day exploring our offerings, we strive to meet their unique needs and schedules.

To further enhance our guest experience, we’ve introduced a range of customizable add-ons that can be seamlessly integrated into their visits. These additions include luxurious hair and body masks for the steam room, as well as meditative moments in our infrared saunas. These options allow guests to explore different wellness modalities that pique their interest without the need for a full-service commitment. Allowing our guests to see what speaks to them and maybe learn more about how this makes them feel.

Our goal is to provide the flexibility and variety that enables each guest to tailor their wellness journey to their personal preferences and time constraints. Whether you’re looking to unwind with a quick treatment, or delve deeper into a comprehensive wellness experience, we want to meet our guests where they are and work with them to get to where they want to be.

Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of our interview. What inspired your brand to focus on clean beauty, and how do you define ‘clean’ in the context of your products?

Release Well-Being Center’s mission is to offer urban wellness solutions tailored for modern living. When selecting these brands, it was crucial to align with our ethos and provide clientele with the best in sustainable, results-driven skincare and beauty products. After decades in the industry, seeing trends ebb and flow, I’m confident that sustainable and clean beauty is going to be the standard that wellness providers and consumers will look to for generations to come. At Release, we define ‘clean’ as a commitment to using safe, non-toxic ingredients, maintaining transparency, adopting sustainable and ethical practices, avoiding animal testing, and ensuring the effectiveness and safety of our products.

How do you ensure the ingredients in your products meet clean beauty standards, and what criteria do you use to select them?

When curating the product selection at Release Well-Being Center, we had several pillars in mind and worked extensively with organizations that help to inspect skincare lines and ingredients:

• Artisanal brands with a true connection to sustainability and that are not mass-produced.
• Clean, organic, and ethically sourced ingredients.
• Brands where we can work directly with the creators/founders of the product.
• Female-owned businesses.
• EWG’s Skin Deep®.
• MADE SAFE®.
• Ecocert.

What steps do you take to educate consumers about the importance of clean ingredients and how they can make informed choices when purchasing beauty products?

Our goal has always been to provide “easy beauty that’s good for our bodies.” Release is an urban wellness center whose clientele includes busy women and men with rigorous careers. They are often looking to find products that simplify their routines, are results-driven, and are tailored to their needs. Education is our best resource, which is why we go the extra mile to make sure our guests feel confident and comfortable when purchasing and trying new products. We always encourage our guests to ask questions about ingredients and invite our talented esthetician team to engage guests inside and outside of the treatment room.

What innovative or unconventional ingredients are you most excited about in the clean beauty space, and why?

There are SO many! Bakuchiol is a plant-based alternative to retinol which provides the same results without skin irritation and flaking that traditionally comes with Vitamin A use. Probiotics and Prebiotics have also seen a massive uptick in skincare, all for great reasons. They help to balance the skin’s microbiome and strengthen the skin barrier (with a damaged skin barrier, none of your products will penetrate into your skin properly, essentially leading to product waste).

At Release Well-Being Center, we have received incredible feedback from the power of CBD to reduce inflammation and soothe the skin. We often recommend adding our Acrely Farms CBD enhancements to our Deep Tissue Massage, especially as a recovery treatment for athletes and runners.

Lastly, Kakadu Plum extract carries the highest natural amount of vitamin C recorded. The combination of antioxidants found in Kakadu Plum can provide a more comprehensive defense against oxidative stress compared to traditional Vitamin C products, further brightening the skin tone and improving elasticity.

Can you share a story where switching to clean beauty ingredients led to a significant and unexpected benefit for your customers?

What always makes me so happy is seeing how surprised and excited our guests are with the results they achieve using clean beauty products. Recently, one of our guests, who was particularly concerned about her tired dull-looking skin and wanted to support an eco-friendly lifestyle, tried our KOS Paris Precious Oil Elixirs. After just a few weeks, she described her skin as ultra-nourished and radiant. It’s incredible to witness such transformations and to know that clean beauty can make such a positive impact.

Based on your research or experience, can you please share your “5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Clean Beauty Brand”?

1. Highest Quality And Effective Products

• Transparency between the ingredients and the consumer is key. Maintaining a transparent approach to how these products are created and how they actually yield results is something that should be celebrated!

2. Brand Identity

• Packaging that is clear to understand and has a cohesive look and feel is so very important. The product should also reflect the brand’s ethos, further telling the “story” behind the brand, why it is unique, and how it is results-driven.

3. Effective Marketing In Our Social World

• Creating loyal followers is how we can build community in today’s social world. I love getting to know the creators behind a brand. This not only makes the consumer feel more connected, but it creates trust in the brand from an operational standpoint and allows us to feel confident introducing a new line into our guest’s routines.

4. How The Brand Connects And Supports Its Community

• At Release, we are so passionate about giving back to our communities. Finding this type of alignment with the brands that we carry and work with is truly a match made in heaven — going back to our ethos of building community and meeting the needs of our customers wherever they are in their self-care journey.

5. How Does The Brand Make You Feel?

• When you get the results you are looking for while also sporting a clean beauty brand, a proud loyal consumer is created!

How do you foresee the clean beauty movement evolving in the next decade, and what role do you see your brand playing in that future?

Consumers are becoming more informed and concerned about the ingredients in their skincare products. With platforms like EWG’s Skin Deep®, we have more access to real data regarding the safety of ingredients. This is driving more people towards clean beauty lifestyles.

Advancements in biotech and green chemistry to support more development in sustainability practices are shining a brighter light on the importance of using clean ingredients and striving for sustainability across all business practices.

I believe these regulations will continue to get more strict with transparency for the consumer. Sustainability regulations are continuing to increase, not only in ingredients but also in packaging and shipping materials.

What is the best way for our readers to continue to follow your work online?

www.releasewellbeingcenter.com / @releasewellbeingcenter

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.