Before joining ESPA I had worked alongside the brand for 7 years in five star spas. I have always had a passion for the client experience and providing a quality service and therefore found a strong affinity with the ESPA philosophy.
Every person you meet at ESPA has a true passion and dedication to their role. Working within a team of professionals that share the same values motivates you to achieve your best every day.
Spa Receptionist & Membership Executive, St Davids Hotel & Spa, Cardiff
As part of my placement during university I worked as a Spa Receptionist at this five star hotel and had my first experience of ESPA. The role developed into Membership Executive where I was responsible for looking after the exclusive membership base.
Operations Manager, The Spa at Mandarin Oriental London
After completing my degree, I joined Mandarin Oriental within the Spa team as Head Receptionist, later on progressing to Operations Manager. This was my first exposure to recruitment as it was a key area of my role to recruit all operational team members in the Spa.
Learning & Development Manager, Mandarin Oriental London
After 4 years working in The Spa, I joined the Human Resources team at Mandarin Oriental as Learning & Development Manager. I mainly focused on training skills within the hotel, including inducting all new employees into the company.
I joined the recruitment team at ESPA in December 2007.
As a Recruitment Associate, I focus on recruiting spa professionals for ESPA’s new projects as well as supporting our existing portfolio of spas with their recruitment requirements. On a day to day basis this involves screening of CVs, conducting interviews and practical skills assessments, along with maintaining our existing database of candidates.
For our international projects I travel to the destination to hold interviews for the various positions within the Spa and can be away for up to a week at a time.
My favourite part of the role is building long term relationships with candidates who become part of the ESPA family. It gives me great satisfaction to help successfully appoint an individual into a role of their dreams!
Often when travelling for new project recruitment, the interviews and therapist trade tests will take place in a meeting room with a portable massage couch (not very glamorous at all when you need to get undressed 10 times a day!).
During one experience, the meeting room had a mirrored wall near to the massage couch. Little did we know that this was actually two-way glass which held a room full of translators for conferences! Unfortunately we only realised this at the end of the interviews so it was too late to save my modesty or the embarrassment of the poor hotel employees next door!
Develop an excellent understanding of standards within a five star ESPA environment and gain experience of working with a multi-cultural team - this has all helped me to add value when recruiting internationally. Experience of the interviewing and selection process as a Manager is also crucial.
Finally, passion for the ESPA philosophy is key as I regularly talk about this with candidates and need to recognise a similar passion in them.
During my experience in spas I have always been lucky to have inspirational managers that have developed my skills and encouraged me to challenge myself. I have always admired managers that focus on developing those around them as I believe this will naturally bring success.
I enjoy spending time with my friends and family and make regular visits home to South Wales. My husband and I love going out for dinner and take this opportunity whenever we can! We then walk off the calories with a stroll in the countryside.
I am loving learning about different cultures and am looking forward to travelling more as part of my role with ESPA. I would also like to travel more in my personal life to see some more of the world.