Connect
To Top

Meet Betsy Abrams of Five Wellbeing Studio + Spa in Littleton

Avatar photo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Betsy Abrams.

Betsy, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
About 5 1/2 years ago, my husband passed away. Before he became sick and when we were thinking we had a long time together, he would ask me what my dreams were and what did I want. At the time, I just wanted a good nights sleep as I became a mother at the age of 43, and I was definitely tired. My husband died in October of 2013, and I was left a sole parent of a 7-year-old. My husband’s words of wanting to know my dreams had faded but they were not gone. at the beginning of 2014, I found myself dreaming of a place that I had created in my mind’s eye, never really thought I would ever do it. But then on a dreary afternoon, I drove by this Victorian home that was a coffee shop and remembered that in my daydreaming over the years, I had said “if this place ever came up for sale I would want to buy it” and as I drove by, I realized it was for sale. I looked at the building the next day and came to the conclusion that although I didn’t really know what I was going to do in the building I didn’t feel like it was the right place for me. The realtor ended up finding another place two weeks later that fit the vision that was starting for form. I bought the building, without a business plan or really any plan. But the vision I had and the memory of my husband’s words gave me the courage to keep going. I knew I want to create a place where people could heal and find a respite from this crazy world. I also, knew I wanted to serve the community and be a “soft place to land” for those that needed it. I have been a self-proclaimed spa junkie for years and although I had no experience with owning a business or a spa, I knew if I had the right people and if I created the right atmosphere I could make it work. One by one the people showed up to help me with my vision, one of them being one of the top Spa consultants in the world, Nancy Nemer with Red Cashew. I reached out to her and she found my story and my ideas compelling and we teamed up to begin the concept. I had never started a business, but I kept finding people to help me navigate the City, permitting, planning, architecture it was all foreign to me, but little by little I forged ahead all while grieving the loss of my husband and raising my 7-year-old daughter. It took me 3 1/2 years to finally get open and I am proud to say that after two years, I can’t even get into my own spa to get treatment.

We designed Five Wellbeing Yoga Studio + Spa to be a destination style spa with unique, affordable and approachable classes, workshops and treatments. We have one of the most unique menus offered in the day spa environment. We offer self-guided treatments that start at $29, a variety of affordable 30-minute treatments and some of the most therapeutic and luxurious 60 and 90-minute treatments you will ever find. Our yoga studio has a sound vibrational floor, that acts as a conduit to the music played for the yoga classes, the floor vibrates the music through the participants relaxing them at a very deep level.

Our welcoming style and top-notch services have earned us the title of ” a five-star spa with a hug.”

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it hasn’t. I am not sure I had one thing that went perfect, but in the imperfection was the learning and the growth and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I think I said almost every day that “I could always sell the building and not do this,” but then, I would say to myself “then what would I do.” So, I persevered through the city planning office, contractors, missed deadlines and that was all before I opened. We had a true photo finish the day of the grand opening, the backyard was a pile of dirt 12 hours before we were to open, but in the nick of time it was complete and we opened on time.

When we opened, I thought I would have a line out the door for treatments and we would be busy, but the first few months were tough, I had to beg my friends to come in for treatments and I spent more money on advertising than I ever thought I would. But then, all that hard work paid off and as of February of this year, we have been booked almost every day.

Please tell us about Five Wellbeing Studio + Spa.
We are a destination style yoga studio and day spa. We offer unique treatments and experiences that often leave our guests floating out the door. We have two treatment tables that no one else has in the state of Colorado. One is a dry float bed where we do incredible facials (one is called the head to toe Facial) and body treatments. Once you lay on this table for your treatment within 10 minutes we push a button and you sink into the table floating over warm water all while not getting wet. The other table is a quartz sand table that has warm tumbled quartz sand, think of a sandbox for your whole body, you lay over the warm sand, the therapist surrounds your body with the warm sand. Once you are nestled in the warm sand the treatment you scheduled begins, we offer a poultice massage, a Thai massage, a chakra balancing treatment with Tibetan singing bowls. We also have a Vichy shower, and two unique self-guided treatment rooms. The self-guided rooms are a salt inhalation room, we affectionately call our “Inhale” room and our sound vibrational chair experience (where 30 minutes is like 4 hours of sleep), we call “Exhale.”

What I am most proud of is my employees, many of them have been with me from the beginning and I have watched them grow and become ambassadors of my business.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My Favorite memory from childhood was when I was about four, my family of eight traveled from Chicago to Colorado for a vacation. We drove across many states and every time I saw a cow that was laying down I would blurt out “it’s a dead moo cow” and the whole car would laugh (of course, I kept doing it, because I got so much attention). That trip probably was the reason I moved to Colorado many years later.

Pricing:

  • We offer treatments that range in price from $29- $179. All of our treatments are all inclusive and we do not have add-ons
  • Yoga classes are $17/ class, we offer 5 and 10 pack options as well.
  • Workshops vary in price depending on the offering.

Contact Info:


Image Credit:
Chayce Lanpher, Bruce Boyer

Getting in touch: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

Related Items

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in