SMME EP432 Replay: How to Build Rich Relationships with Selena Soo

8:47AM May 1, 2025

Speakers:

Keywords:

Spa Marketing

Rich Relationships

Selena Soo

Personal Growth

Publicity

Personal Brand

Business Partnerships

Influencer Marketing

Community Building

Value Addition

Media Strategy

Storytelling

Business Impact

Entrepreneurial Journey

Relationship Nurturing.

Welcome to Spa Marketing Made Easy, a podcast for spa owners who want to step up their leadership and business skills and step into the role as spa CEO. I'm your host. Daniela Woerner, CEO of Addo Aesthetics and Founder of the Growth Factor Framework Program, where we teach, coach and guide spa owners in scaling their spas to the next level of growth and unlocking freedom in their life and their business. I'm so glad you're here now. Let's dive into the show.

Hey, welcome back to another episode of the Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast. I am so excited to share something very special with you today. So a few years ago, I had an opportunity to sit down with my friend Selena Soo and have an amazing conversation about relationships, personal growth and building deeper connections, both personally and professionally. This was the second time that she was on our podcast. But this episode really stuck with me after we hit the stop recording button, number one, because relationships are first and foremost for me, but also because I really had started being intentional maybe a year or two before this was recorded around really putting the same level of energy and effort into nurturing the relationships, both personally and professionally around me, as I did, into growing my business. And I think for those of you that are entrepreneurs, that you have your own spas, you know that, like so much of our time and energy and just mental space goes into our business, and I asked myself the question like, What would change in our lives if we dedicated just like 10%

of the time and money and energy into nurturing the relationships, both personally and professionally, with those around us? So of course, I was super excited, incredibly thrilled that Selena's brand new book rich relationships is coming out. It is packed with the same heart wisdom and actionable insights that made our original conversation so wonderful. So in celebration of her upcoming launch, I'm going to replay that original interview today, and to make it even better, Selena so generously offered the first four chapters of rich relationships absolutely free. You'll find the link to grab those chapters in the show notes. And even if you listen to this episode when it first aired, I encourage you to listen again with fresh ears. I am somebody who I will read a book more than once, I will listen to an episode more than once, because when you listen with fresh ears, when you listen at a different place in your entrepreneurial journey, you're going to get different things out of it. You're going to pick up more gems the second time around. So without further ado, let's go ahead and dive into that conversation with my wonderful friend, Selena. All right, Selena, welcome to the Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast. I'm so excited to have you for a second time on the show. You were on the show like years ago, back in the beginning, when we were first getting this thing going. So thank you for that. I'm so happy to have you on again. Yes, I'm thrilled to be back when I think of you, I think of someone who is just a master connector. You are so good at building rich relationships. What I also love is that you are an introvert, yes, and so to be able to have this superpower of connecting people and building really authentic, deep relationships with so many individuals, being able to have that capacity yet also still nurture yourself absolutely. Yes, it's a talent. It is. Yeah, it is a bit of a juggling act. Yeah, I was thinking about you last night. We were at both at a party where there were over 100 people, which was overwhelming for me, yeah, but you, I think, had friendships with pretty much everybody in that room. It was so much fun. But I will say that after, you know, big parties, because that was like a four hour event. And then there was also the after party, I did have to like rest a little bit this morning, but, yeah, that was so fun. So having this skill set of building rich relationships has helped you build your own incredible company. Helped you build, helped you with. Help others build their companies. Tell me a little bit about what you do, and has this always been a through line for you, or was this something that you

absolutely yeah, I would love to tell you how I got started. So I'm a publicity and marketing expert, and I got into this world because when I was in my mid 20s, I. A quarter life crisis. I found myself clinically depressed, having trouble getting out of bed in the mornings, trouble eating. And things got so bad that my mom flew from Vancouver, Canada to New York to be by my side, and she would, you know, accompany me on the subway, like taking me to work, like I was this school girl. And it was just such a low point, and I remember, you know, talking to friends and saying, like, I just have to find a way to get better. Do you know anyone who can help me? And that's when I learned about this female life coach, and, you know, joined her community, her group program, and got exposed to all these experts and authors and thought leaders. And I realized that, you know, when people are struggling and suffering as we all do, whether it is, you know, we're struggling with our life purpose, or it could be a relationship issue, a money issue, a health issue that we don't just need more information, what we're really looking for is inspiration. And I think that there is nothing that is more powerful than a role model, so someone who embodies that message of hope and possibility, someone who has gone through hard times and come out the other side and has like a roadmap for people, right? And so I just became really passionate about promoting these or telling people, you know, my friends, have you heard about this person and that person? And they had no idea who I was talking about. So it just really dawned on me that sometimes the person with the most important message that someone really needs to hear can be that best kept secret. So I, you know, started doing this work in publicity because I wanted these people to get their messages out into the world. And so I think in terms of me being a connector, it's not because I am super extroverted, but rather I'm really driven by a mission. I really want you know these amazing people who are helping people's lives, whether it's like looking better and feeling better, or, you know, healing their body to get their message out, to connect with the right people to make their biggest impact. So definitely driven, you know, by helping people get connected to the people who can really change their lives,

but to create those connections, that's beautiful, by the way, but to create those connections there, it's like, how do you know who to connect with? How do you know, like, how do you form those relationships in the first place? Because as you get older, it's hard to make friends, right? It

is, yeah. So there's a couple of things to keep in mind when you're thinking about, Well, who do I connect with? So the first is, is you've got to get clear on what your goals and dreams are, because influencers, and those are people that I, you know, I call influencers, people who can help you reach your goals and dreams faster. They're going to be connected to what's most important to you. So is, you know, your dream to build, you know, a six figure or seven figure business? Is it to write a best selling book? Is it to make an impactness or a number of people's lives? But getting really clear on what your top goals and dreams are is number one, and then number two is also getting really clear on what your values are in relationships, because there may be people who are successful and could potentially support you, but you might just not energetically resonate with them, just a different set of values. And so that doesn't really work for a relationship. And then the third thing is understanding who are the types of people that can help you. Because I think people from all walks of life, and you know, all stages of business, can be helpful, from people who are mentors, who have kind of figured out, you know the journey that you're on, and can help you get there faster. So people who are natural super connectors and have so much joy introducing people to one another, or people with reach that you could build partnerships with, and who could put you in front of more of your ideal clients, super fans, who could be your clients who can't stop talking about you to your friends, family, colleagues who really believe in you. And so you want to get clear on who are all those different types of people who can contribute to getting to your goals faster, making sure that there's shared values, and then starting to build those relationships.

Now, for spa owners, they're, you know, brick and mortar, yes. How are they going out in their community? Like, I love the idea of the super fans. Like, Well, every spa is going to have some super fan. But what are you like knocking on doors and be like, Hey, we serve the same type of person, or let's be friends. Let's build a rich relationship. We were, you know, we were talking a little bit before about the difference between like, hey, let's build a business partnership, which is great and valid, yes, but how much better that business partnership actually works and functions when you have a real rich relationship, yeah, with that individual

Yeah. No, I have so many thoughts coming up, because when it comes to building relationships, like, we don't want to scare people by coming on too strong, like, can we build a partnership? Is not a level one conversation, right? There's usually like steps in between to getting to know someone, but one way that you can really accelerate relationship building is actually by building your personal brand. So you know. Before was, what do you know? Now you know, and then it's been like, Well, who do you know? And I would say that today, it's who knows you right? So you want people to know who you are and be attracted and curious about your work, and so building your personal brand, and there's so many ways to do it, you know, with your website, on social media. But really like expressing yourself in different ways, where even if someone hasn't had like, a in depth conversation, they can get a sense of who you are, what you stand for, what's unique about you. And that's also why I really love publicity, because I think that publicity is the fastest way to elevate your brand. You know, you can share your your story, ideas, why you started your business, why you're so passionate about this, what makes you unique, and so it's like you're raising your credibility and profile, but you're also getting your message into all these places, and you can repurpose it on social media and newsletters and websites, but that would be, you know, a big part of attracting rich relationships is having a personal brand and putting yourself out there. I love

that, and I actually, I have never heard anybody say that before, and it's so brilliant. It makes so much sense of the power of the personal brand. I mean, we're even seeing employees, like on LinkedIn, different places, really cultivating their own personal brand to, you know, get job offers and things like that. So to really tie it in as the spa owner, as someone who wants to be a pillar of their community and wants to connect with others by you showing up and putting yourself out there and saying, This is what I stand for. This is what I'm about. You're saying that's going to attract other people to you to want to start those relationships. And

it also creates trust when someone is consistently showing up, you know, online, you're being seen in multiple places, versus, okay, this is someone brand new who I don't know. So, yeah, kind of like creating your brand, expressing yourself, right? Putting yourself out there. That's one of the first steps. And then another step is really getting clear on how you can add value to others. Because the truth is, every single person is incredibly busy with a full life, with, you know, family duties and things happening in their career and for themselves, that if they're going to make space for more people in their life, they have to be someone that you know adds value in some way. And there's so many different ways to add value, like even being a person who is a good listener, who asks good questions, who's present, like that's the way to add value. Another really powerful way is giving someone a compliment and showing them that you really see them and their brilliance or appreciate something about them. And there's countless ways to add value. You know, people will say, Well, how do I know what someone wants? You know, I'm not a mind reader. And you know, at the end of the day, like as humans, there's only you know, a few things that we all tend to want. And if you're connecting with other entrepreneurs, it's even you know, a smaller number. But you know, everybody wants to grow their wealth, right? They want to have abundance in their life. So that means, you know, new clients and referrals and growing their business, right, creating new offers services. So that's one thing that everyone wants. Another thing that people want is to make an impact, to be sharing their message and their ideas with more people, even if they're not like their clients at their spa, but maybe they're reading their beauty tips, and it's transforming their lives. And as someone who's making an impact, maybe you know you're being recognized as the top of you know your industry and what you do. So there's, like, also status. There another thing that people really want is peace.

Yes, right? Peace? Because, as

I feel like, yeah, align that with time. Also that connects,

yeah, so there's time, right? So everybody wants to save time, and so when you're building relationships, you also don't want to, you know, come up with ways to, like, you're thinking you're building the relationship, but you're like, you know, I don't wanna say wasting, but it's like, three or four hours of someone's time that might not be like, the first kind of way that you connect, right? It's like you should be connecting in a way where you're actually helping them save time, whether it's helping them find people that can support them with their business or get results faster, and then the peace thing. Because, you know, a lot of people are stressed, whether they're stressed in their business or there's a family stressor or health or relationships, and so you know, by being a sounding board, by connecting people to the right resources, by sharing our expertise, we can create more peace in other people's lives. So

would you? Would you all those kind of step by step that you just shared? Would you identify those as pieces of a rich relationship, like, as you're going out and building, like, how do you define? Yeah,

yeah. I mean, you don't have to do all those things, but you want to be a rich. Relationship is a relationship that contributes to your life, right? It enhances your life. It fulfills you. It's something that brings abundance to you, versus a relationship that is just like purely transactional short term. Thinking or just doesn't feel good. It's like a relationship that's like meant to last and really bring joy and fulfillment.

I love that, so I want to pivot just a little bit and talk about a little more on the business side of building partnerships. So yes, we know that relationships are deeply important, and building those rich relationships, it can take time, yes, and you know, it does take time and energy and effort to be able to make sure that that person feels seen, heard, valued, that you're both providing value to the relationship, that it's not one sided, etc. But as you're building a business, creating partnerships with other businesses, creating relationships with other businesses can be a very, very valuable tool to help you grow especially for brick and mortar, we're seeing that so much with spas right now that are, you know, like going to the pure bar, the orange series, or wherever that are these franchises where they're building relationships with those owners, they serve The same audience, but you are a master in that. That was one of the strategies that you use to grow your company to be so wildly successful. Talk to me about and you had like, 400

partners, yeah, over the years, over the years, yeah. So tell

me about that strategy and kind of suggestions that you would give to a brick and mortar

spa. Yeah. So the great thing about partnerships is you're not just promoting to your existing audience. You're leveraging other people's audiences, people that have customers that know, like and trust them. So that's really powerful, because instead of just marketing to one audience, you could be marketing to 10 audiences, 100 audiences simultaneously. But when you're getting started, you know you want to keep it simple. You only need, like a few key partnerships to make a big impact. And so with partnerships, you always want them to be win, win, and you want to be putting yourself into the other person's shoes. Because, you know, every business owner, they are busy, they are overwhelmed, and so they want to say yes to something that feels easy and that is going to give them a meaningful return on their time and investment. And so really putting yourself in someone else's shoes, I think that when you're building a partnership, you have to really prioritize, like, what's going to be important to the other person. And so with our impacting millions launch, which is our publicity program. You know, we make it because, basically, it's an additional revenue stream for people, but they have their own products and services to promote, right? Every business does. And so thinking about, you know, how can you make it so easy for them to say, yes, how can you offer like the best possible commissions or incentives, you know, marketing materials. So it's just very, very easy for them to win in

Spa. I mean, we have such an advantage in Spa, because who doesn't want to spa treatment? I know you can offer that as like, either earning like for influencers that are posting about having a treatment at the spa or coming in. And, you know, there's so many different ways that we can do that. We usually call that a brand ambassador program, but it's very similar. And building relationships to get people to post and share and refer. I love

that because, I mean, that's one of the keys to building a partnership. No one's going to promote you unless they feel like they can really vouch for your work, right? And so in order to vouch for, you know, your work, they need to have an experience of it. So, you know, giving away something for free, you know, in exchange for them to consider sharing it in some way, if it's like an exceptional service. So yeah, I mean, you definitely want to be leading with generosity in the beginning, and people being just like so delighted by the experience. It just feels like natural and organic for them to want to tell others about

it. Yeah. So what is your strategy, or any tips on finding potential partners in a local area?

Yeah, absolutely so with your existing customers asking them, you know, who are the other service providers that they work it with when it comes to, you know, beauty and health and lifestyle. So that could be part of a questionnaire. It could be a conversation that you have with people you know, I've sent an email, you know, out to my list before asking things like, you know, when it comes to growing your business and your visibility online, who are some of your some of the top experts that you follow, what are the podcasts that you listen to? And so people are supplying you with all these names, and all these people are potential partners.

Oh, that's so. Have you ever heard of sparktoro? Have

you heard of No, I heard of it recently, but I'm not familiar with it.

It's such a cool website, we'll link it up below. They have a free trial, and then there's a paid version as well, okay, but you can essentially put in estheticians, okay, put in and it will go through and do all of this research. Of these are the podcasts. These are the mag. Magazines. These are, I mean, oh, my goodness. We paid for a 30 day, okay, block, and we were able to get hundreds of magazines, websites, podcasts, so you get to see where people who have that job title, and there's all different. You can put in working moms, you can put in, like, whatever you want. And I just found that to be so insanely valuable, because it's cutting down the time of like, well, if I am doing publicity, yes, then maybe these are the the publications that I actually want to target and try and get into.

I love that. Yeah, who doesn't want a shortcut? I know. I

know. So talk to me about your thoughts on what publicity can do for a spa

Absolutely. So you know, when it comes to your business, it's one thing if you're telling everyone I'm the best at what I do, but it's a whole other thing if someone else is saying that, and especially a media outlet that is endorsing you, that is saying like, this is one of the top five spas, or the spa has the best, you know, XYZ treatment. So it's really that, you know, stamp of approval and credibility. And a lot of people, you know, they need like this expert source to filter like, what is the best of the best like? That's how people make their decisions. And the cool thing with media is you get like that media hit, and you can use that, you know, media logo, that name for the entire lifetime of your business, that you've been featured in this place. So I would say, you know, ideally, as business owners, you want to have at least, you know, three strong media wins that we can use as a part of our branding to attract our ideal clients.

Very good. All right, anything else that I am not asking that would be valuable around publicity or relationships for spa owners,

yeah. So I think what also would be really helpful for people is just, you know, story ideas, thinking about, you know, how do I talk about my business? But not just have it seem like I'm wanting someone to, like, you know, produce an advertisement, yeah? Like, right? And so, you know, you want to come up with story ideas are going to appeal to the media, and the story ideas that they're most interested in are ones that are service driven, that add value to their audiences, so even if maybe someone can't go to the spa. But what are some, you know, top beauty tips, right from top estheticians and things like that. You know how to mistakes to avoid. Those are really popular. And they're also really interested in story ideas that have, like, emotional resonance, right, like big transformations or breakthroughs, or, you know, big things to avoid. And then they are also really interested in timely story ideas, and so, you know, during different times of the year, whether it's, you know, Valentine's Day or Mother's Day or different seasons, you know, winter, summer. You know, you can put different angles on your stories to make them feel really relevant for right now. So I actually have this amazing resource, and it's a 1212, month publicity calendar. So it's just 40 pages full of store ideas, dates and hooks to really get the media's attention. And we have it, you know, just different ideas for all kinds of industries, including, you know, health and wellness and beauty.

Oh, that's amazing. Okay, so we'll be sure to link that up. Yeah,

impacting

wonderful. All right, we'll link that up. Well, Selena, thank you so much. There's you just like, packed so much information you do. Yeah, it was like, boom, you know your stuff. Thank you so much. I appreciate your time. I appreciate your friendship. I'm so happy to share you with our audience. And for those of you that want to keep this conversation going, make sure that you head on over to the Spa Marketing Made Easy Facebook Group, and make sure that you get that resource that is super, super valuable, and we'll catch you on the next episode.

You.