Story Tools

Email this story | Print this story

Indexes

Today's Stories

Last 7 Days

Top Blogs

• What's in store for Delta board?

• 'A clean place for them to come and eat'

• Lodi animal commission responds to allegations

• Galt man arrested on suspicion of threatening, robbing grandmother

• Galt congressman seeks role of minority leader

• Regional Roundup

November 21st, 2009

• Logbook

• Holiday drive spreads cheer to U.S. troops

• Galt High students want board to approve open-campus policy

• Poisoning victims remain hospitalized

• Expert: Half a mushroom cap can be deadly

• Tokay grad files claim over Lodi's Grape Bowl

• Lodi Middle School holds annual Turkey Trot

• Regional Roundup

• No motive or suspect in shooting

• Sacramento cop arrested for alleged kidnapping

November 20th, 2009

• Acampo woman killed

• Salvation Army Kettle Kickoff

• Advocacy groups sue East Bay Municipal Utility District over Pardee expansion

• Regional Roundup

• Galt plans to help residents with energy-efficient projects

• Stable southeast of Lodi approved

• One year after a heart attack, Lodi's Judy Mims thanks rescuers

• National Guard troops return home in time for the holidays

• Real estate market gets on more solid ground

November 19th, 2009

• Operation: Christmas

• Logbook

• Suspect arrested after hiding in fridge

• Chase ends in crash

• Galt Joint Union High School Distric hires new superintendent

• Sales tax hike yields dividends: 5 new officers join Galt Police

• Lodi Unified School District board votes to cancel summer school for 2010

• Water surges in Mokelumne River yield more salmon

• Lodi City Council will consider redevelopment next June

• Lodi City Council plans to cap number of taco trucks at 22

• Corrections

November 18th, 2009

• Regional Roundup

• Paranormal group conducts second investigation of building

• Congress allocates money for local water projects

• Sarah Palin's book hits the shelves: Locals react

• Lodi man finds wife's ashes during police display of stolen property

• Galt City Council rejects study on rent stabilization

November 17th, 2009

• Paying tribute to a Lodian

• Lodi Budget and Finance Committee to look into ways to save money on employee benefits

• Regional Roundup

• Decision on summer school expected at tonight's Lodi Unified School District meeting

• Clements gets free water rescue boat

• Redevelopment to be discussed by Lodi City Council again

• Court reinstates death penalty for killer of Lodi grad

• Clarification

November 16th, 2009

• Correction

• Public Meetings

• City Council 'triple-dog dared' to ditch cars, use Lodi buses

• Sierra Adventure store to close after four years in Downtown Lodi

• Lodi's First Sip event showcases area wineries' latest vintages

• Three members of Lodi-area family fall ill after eating poisonous mushrooms they reportedly found at Lodi Lake

• Regional Roundup

November 14th, 2009

• Galt school district narrows superintendent search to one

• Regional Roundup

• Despite budget cuts, some Lodi Unified School District salaries continue to rise

• Watchful neighbor in Lodi helped bust suspected burglars

• New Galt city manager juggles job, family

• Despite an increase in homeless students, school districts look to bolster enrollment, raise revenue

• A first look at 2009 vintages at Lodi's First Sip wine-tasting event

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• The country's mess is our fault (165)
• Obama is not a moderate (130)
• Sarah Palin's book hits the shelves: Locals react (70)
• Lodi City Council plans to cap number of taco trucks at 22 (48)
• The haves should help the have-nots (30)
• Public health care is a Christian option (29)
• Tokay in, traveling to unbeaten No. 3 Grant for football playoffs (25)
• Government-run health care is a bad idea (17)
• Young woman fatally shot at Acampo home (17)
• Sierra Adventure store to close after four years in Downtown Lodi (16)

ADVERTISEMENT

Owners of Perfect Balance Day Spa celebrate 20 years of helping clients unwind

For 20 years, Jacqueline Davis and Jennifer Walth have been finding a balance between their home lives and their work lives. No wonder then, that they named their ever-evolving business Perfect Balance Day Spa.

When the duo first discussed providing a service that offered facial treatments and massages, they were met with doubting husbands, skeptical bankers and many other challenges.

And though Davis and Walth don't have to prove themselves like they once did, they still work hard to keep their services fresh and to keep clients coming back.

As Davis and Walth prepare for their 20th anniversary celebration on Dec. 6, they took a break from their planning to talk with Business Editor Marc Lutz about creating a business with longevity.

Q: What have you done to keep your business going for 20 years?

Walth: We change it up with the trends. We educate ourselves. Getting a good staff, then educating them as well.

Davis: I got some great advice from my mom who had a restaurant here for 25 years called Laverne's. She said treat customers as if they were your family, and look at them as people, not dollar signs.

The Angel Room at Perfect Balance Day Spa in Lodi is one of several massage rooms. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

Walth: Most of our clients have become my closest friends.

Q: What are the biggest challenges of being not only a business owner, but being a woman business owner?

Walth: Balancing work and family life. A lot of times we shortchange our families, our kids. I feel bad about that at times, but we have to earn a living so we can provide for them.

Davis: What about when we went to get our first loan? That was horrible. We were going to get a loan for $5,000 when we were going to move from (Downtown Lodi) to (401 W. Pine). It didn't matter that we'd been in business for five years or that we had a good profit margin. They wanted our husbands for co-signers. That was just kind of a blow.

Q: How is running your spa different nowadays compared to when you first opened?

Walth: I think there's a lot of copycat businesses that want to do what we do. We find that people come to us and spy on us, and they copy what we're doing. It's flattering, yes, but on the other hand, we want to stay different. That's how we've survived.

Q: What are the most valuable lessons you've learned during the past two decades?

Walth: What it means to be a true partner and compromising. Being able to give and take and find out what each other's strengths and weaknesses are, and where we can overlap and fill in the gaps.

Q: What have been your greatest successes?

Walth: Probably our pamper packages and bringing women together. The other thing is our seminars. We do a lot of makeup and skin care seminars.

Davis: We do baby showers and bridal showers and we've had large numbers of that, so that's different.

Walth: I think our longevity is our biggest success.

Q: What have been the biggest disappointments?

Davis: Probably not owning our own building.

Walth: Yeah.

Davis: You can't do want you want to do.

Q: Any advice for young women seeking to go into business for themselves?

Davis: Don't do it. No, just kidding! (They both laugh)

Walth: It's a tough time right now. I think you need to do research and be educated. Take some business courses. Jackie and I did not, so we had to learn from the "school of hard" knocks.

Davis: See what other businesses are doing to be successful, and ask questions. And you have to have a deep desire to do it. And it takes great faith. Jennifer and I have relied on that.

Q: Do you have any clients that have been coming to you since you opened?

Walth: Yes! Quite a few.

Davis: Even before. She started over at European Facials, and I had my own place. We have our original appointment book from 1988. It's interesting going through there and seeing the names.

Q: Tell me something nobody knows about Perfect Balance.

Walth: That we really enjoy being together. It feels like a family here. We actually go out and have movie dates.

Davis: And pool parties.

Q: How do you envision day spas in the next 20 years?

Walth: No hands-on, and I think that's sad. It's probably going to be more mechanical.

Davis: I think there will be less touch. I don't think you'll have skin-on-skin contact anymore. That's the trend now, everything is gloved.

Walth: I think there's still always going to be a need for makeup and skin care.

Q: Who can benefit from the services at Perfect Balance?

Both: Everyone (laughs).

Davis: We have about 15 percent gentleman, and then probably 85 percent women. We treat children starting as early as nine. We have princess parties where they can come in, the age limit starting at six. We have physicians, business owners, we've had 49er football players, bull riders ranked fifth in the nation ...

Walth: Not just for women anymore!

Contact Business Editor Marc Lutz at marcl@lodinews.com.