Greg Kasparian, spa industry vet, began his foray into the industry 28 years ago with Aveda. You could call him a pro at private equity buyouts—he has survived four. The first in 1994, when he worked in finance, followed by Aveda in 1997, Cosmedix in 2008, and HydraFacial in 2016. Not long after the last one, he decided he was done with the corporate world, so he and his wife Amanda packed their bags, moved to Serenbe, and created The Creek Retreat.
Tell us a little bit about your background in spa and wellness. What got you into the game?
I was in finance when an Aveda distributor for the New York metro area asked me to be the General Manager of his company. As GM, I ran sales/marketing, warehouse/distribution, and operations and was involved in thought leadership with a great group of people in the Aveda network—including the industry icon Noel de Caprio [mother of the modern day spa movement].
Greg Kasparian, Founder, Creek Retreat at Serenbe
In 1997, Estée Lauder bought Aveda and I witnessed how a buyout happens. It was my corporate transition, an incident that I later wrote about. I then went to Dermalogica where our team was responsible for great clients like Nemacolin and Oasis day spa. We focused on the day spa market. Later, I ran Comfort Zone North America and was able to experience a well-curated brand with a different culture.
About the same time, in 1997, I began what today is called “Men’s Work.” Completely separate but totally related, this work is about healing and finding our way home. Back then, it was confronting Ruthless/compassion. Ruthlessness is required for men to drop the mask they may not be aware of and discernment that once that man’s mask is off, to drop into immediate compassion because I am now holding his heart in my hands. It is sacred, honored, and a responsibility to do this work. And with all the energy going into women’s gatherings, men are quietly going about deep inner work, around fires, in an anciently familiar tradition that has been around for thousands of years.
So, spa/wellness and Men’s Work began about the same time and are so intertwined. I worked with mostly women in the spa, and I saw the divine feminine at its best. Doing Men’s Work is rare and takes courage, vulnerability, and perseverance and most men can’t do, won’t do, or don’t know how to do.
What are the three biggest changes you’ve seen in spa and wellness since you started?
The first big change: Buyouts, mergers, and acquisitions—or when private equity comes to town. I got to work with Horst Rechelbacher at Aveda, Jane and Ray Wurwand at Dermalogica, and Roger Ignon and Bill Cohen at HydraFacial. The lift at these companies was quick and it was fun being in a rapidly growing industry.
Moving into the biohacking space is the second biggest change, and touchless treatments, thanks to 2020, is the third biggest change I’ve seen.
If you could do one thing over, career-wise, what would that be?
Dermalogica. I would have stayed there longer. I was concerned when they reached $100,000,000 in revenue, and I expressed that to Raymond. It was a marker for me. Why? It is where Aveda was in revenue when Horst sold to Estée Lauder. I didn’t want to go through another buyout.
I know you walk your wellness talk—you and your wife have set down serious roots at Serenbe, the wellness enclave founded by Steve Nygren. How did that come to be?
My wife Amanda and I became aware of Serenbe in 2015, watching CBS News Sunday Morning. We were in awe, but never spoke about it again. Fast forward to March 27, 2017, and Steve Nygren is the first speaker at Green Spa Network at Callaway Gardens. I immediately called Amanda and excitedly said something like, “Do you remember the guy with the farm-to-table, CSA farm, sacred geometry hamlet in Georgia that we watched on TV? Well, we are doing a visit to Serenbe in two days.”
So, Amanda flew down to Atlanta, and the next day, we visited Serenbe with the Green Spa Network and 25 of our spa family friends. It was on Amanda’s birthday in March 2017. We ended up moving to Serenbe because of the place. We were drawn to it—it was all heart, no head—and we have not looked back.
“My definition of retreat is ongoing and ever-evolving. I don’t want to label it too much or put it in a box that limits what is possible.”
Let’s talk about why you went silent—and what made you resurface.
Amanda and Greg at Creek Retreat
In 2017, one month before my wife Amanda and I first visited Serenbe, one of the founders of HydraFacial called me to share that he was moving on. I listened to what he must have contractually had to say, and I listened to what he was not saying. He didn’t have to call me, but he graciously did. After we hung up, I began journaling, writing an essay, maybe a book. It would be titled, “From Cowboy to Soldier: How to Survive when Private Equity Comes to Town.”
I wrote from February of 2017 into the spring of 2018. I didn’t realize it at the time, but writing actually kept me alive, thinking about how to survive the buyout. I was writing it for others who would be going through it, but I didn’t realize it at the time, how it would serve me. I think this thought exercise was what kept me on the longest of all the “Legacy” team, or as I used to say the “Leprosy” team.
Five months after arriving in Serenbe, in July of 2017, I was terminated at HydraFacial—the last of the Legacy team. I was shell shocked. So, I just stopped. I went for a walkabout. I walked with Amanda, I walked with neighbors. Eventually, I stood in the place where we were going to launch Creek Retreat. It hit me that this is what I was going to do. I was not going back to the corporate world.
Let’s talk more about going silent.
The walkabout and going silent were two different things that overlapped. Going silent was ongoing, I was not engaging in any social media, I was immersing myself in my community and communing with nature.
Serenbe, is as if the best of college life and the spa industry had a baby. All your good friends and colleagues who you love, hug, laugh, and cry with are there—but you don’t have to go home after a semester or an event because you are home.
When I went silent, I was already drifting from social media. It was just too much work, and I’ve always felt self-conscious posting about myself. I am getting better at it for business, but it’s still challenging.
I have now reentered the social media atmosphere with intention, and it is still challenging to do it consistently. I will not look at anyone’s online persona, even after I meet them. I just get to know them. (Although some I should as it would have saved me some time and wasted energy.)
Tell us about Creek Retreat and its mission.
We had a soft concept launch in 2019, and officially opened in 2020. Talk about timing. Our Mission: “To support people to feel and look their best with cutting-edge, science-backed treatments and supplements that are designed to optimize health and wellbeing. With over 28 years of experience, we curate holistic-based treatments designed to support you to look and feel your absolute best, providing you with the tools to optimize your mind, body, and spirit. Retreat into wellness—unlock your full potential and take charge of your health and wellbeing.”
And for Amanda and I to have all the modalities, nootropics, and compounds to live to over 100. I am here to contribute to Serenbe being a Blue Zone, or as Todd Shaw said, “A New Zone.”
The name has multiple meanings. “Creek” is to honor the Creek Indians who walked this land before us. I feel their spirit when I go to the waterfall, a five-minute hike from our home and office. Also, the waterfall is fed by the creek that runs near the trails behind our home. “Retreat” was divine intervention. I wanted to imply a place where “you don’t have to go far away to get away.” Retreat implies a sanctuary, a getaway, and a place to drop in.
This year, it has become clear. We also had the idea of Wellness Getaways using our original location, the Terrace level apartment in our townhome, where we incubated the Creek Retreat concept. In April, we had our first official retreat guests.
What’s on offer, and what skincare and equipment products do you use?
Fun with cryotherapy at Creek Retreat
We opened with Circadia and Michael Pugliese’s support was terrific. He is one of the good guys, and I love him like a brother. In 2020, I developed Creek Retreat skincare products based on my experience working at Dermalogica and Mana; we have 28 SKUs. We offer services with, and offer rentals, and sell Celluma LED Light Therapy, HealthyLine, Therabody, BioCharger, and Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy. Treatments include HydraFacial, Body Contouring (fat freezing, skin tightening, and cellulite reduction), Cryotherapy, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, Red light therapy, near-infrared, and far-infrared light therapy, compression, and the Biocharger (2022). We are currently researching ozone therapy, pain devices, and curated Wellness Retreats.
How do you define the word “retreat,” and what sort is Creek Retreat?
My definition of retreat is ongoing and ever-evolving. I don’t want to label it too much or put it in a box that limits what is possible. Our retreats are curated experiences that are led by the guest and that we facilitate. What do I mean? We do a deep-dive intake and listen for what they tell us. From that we do our best to curate the experience they storyboarded with us. For us it can look different each time, because it is a personalized experience with the point person (CEO, owner, couple or spouse) that we co-curate. Sure, we have a set of offerings and practitioners, but when we curate an experience, we leave room for the “awe” experiences to happen for the guest.
Over the years we have hosted retreats with people, starting with friends, neighbors, and a group of four friends celebrating birthdays. One group of four immersed themselves into our retreat, but they curated completely different experiences. One woman wanted an ‘80s dance party, the other wanted to begin with setting an intention with a cacao ceremony and a relaxing day for her friends to connect.
Other retreats have been corporate events by neighbors who own companies bringing their teams to Serenbe. One is an international tax and legal firm, another is a high-end photographic and video equipment company, another was a high-end salon and spa in Atlanta bringing their leadership team of 60 and leading them through movement and a walking meditation, culminating with an immersion in the labyrinth.
It has organically unfolded. In March while attending the Biophilic Leadership Summit in Serenbe, we had another board member and colleague needing a place to stay. We offered our terrace apartment which has become Creek Retreat Stay. Their feedback set us up for our most recent retreat: A couple who came to us, again by divine intervention. A woman emailed about her husband who recently lost both of his parents. The couple were caregivers for two years, and they were both grieving. The wife told me what she wanted. I listened and knew we could curate an experience and protocols and pull in the right practitioners to support their journey of healing. It was magical.
Do you have any mentors or people who have been inspirational in your life?
Yes, there are too many to mention them all. When I stay curious, people who I may deem as flawed—and aren’t we all—have taught me life lessons.
Professionally, I would say Jane and Raymond Wurwand, Bill Cohen, Glenn Elliott, and Nelson Sun to name a few. However, the deepest mentorships are the dozens of brothers, over one thousand, who have gathered with me around fires in more than eight states over the last 27 years. They have ruthlessly removed my mask and compassionately held my heart so that I may go deep into the fear where the work is done.
Most notable is Warren Zenna, the Zman, who is one of my dearest friends today. He’s the first call I would make whenever I needed someone to be there other than my wife.
Mary Bemis
Mary Bemis is Founder & Editorial Director of InsidersGuidetoSpas.com. An advocate for all things spa, Mary forged a vocabulary for spa reportage that is widely used by those who cover the issues today. Recently honored as a Top 30 Influential Voice Transforming Wellness by Medika Life, Mary is an inaugural honoree of Folio’s Top Women in Media Award. Her spa media roots run deep—in 1997, she launched American Spa magazine, in 2007, she co-founded Organic Spa magazine, and in between serving on the ISPA and NYSPA Board of Directors, she was on the launch teams of Luxury SpaFinder and New Beauty magazines. Named a "Wonder Woman of Wellness" by American Spa magazine, Mary was honored by the International Spa Association with the distinguished ISPA Dedicated Contributor Award. She is a special advisor to the non-profit Global Wellness Day.
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