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Greg Billy&rsquo;s path to <a href="https://handandstonefranchise.com/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=after-three-decades-in-the-navy-greg-billy-starts-a-new-chapter-with-hand-and-stone-2707192" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hand and Stone Massage and Facial Spa</a> was, in his words, &ldquo;a bit unusual.&rdquo; Even among the franchise&rsquo;s markedly diverse set of owners &mdash; Hand and Stone was designed to accommodate entrepreneurs from a variety of backgrounds &mdash; Billy&rsquo;s pre-Hand and Stone career stands out. The former naval office spent 30 years as a submarine officer, in that time traveling the world, running a naval base in Italy and commanding a nuclear submarine.

Given the intensity of that career, it&rsquo;s no surprise Billy would seek out a venture oriented explicitly around relaxation for his post-Navy life. And as he gears up to open his first two Hand and Stone spas this month, Billy says he found just what he was looking for.

&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always had a passion for health and wellness,&rdquo; Billy said. &ldquo;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/handandstone/four-reasons-why-hand-stone-massage-and-facial-spa-is-changing-the-facial-space-2706676" target="_blank">Hand and Stone&rsquo;s core concept of providing a luxury experience at a&nbsp;more affordable price point is exactly the type of opportunity I was looking for.&rdquo;</a>

Billy retired from the Navy in 2011 before working for a few years in the private sector, first for Westinghouse working on nuclear reactors and then running the risk management and campus services division at Carnegie Mellon University, where he&rsquo;d attended business school years earlier in the Navy.

Billy says he&rsquo;d long been interested in running his own business, but it wasn&rsquo;t until he returned to Carnegie Mellon that he started considering the idea in earnest.

&ldquo;I&rsquo;d always been fascinated with the idea of bringing a new concept to market, but I never wanted to take that kind of risk,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When I was working at Carnegie Mellon, I ran into one of my old professors from the business school, and he was teaching an entrepreneurship class that focused on franchising.&rdquo;

Billy told his old professor about his concerns with the risk involved in starting a new business, and the professor enlightened Billy on the advantages of the franchise industry, and he even introduced Billy to some potential franchise businesses that might work for him.

&ldquo;He explained how the proven business model removes most of the risk associated with opening a business and how you don&rsquo;t have to research to find out if the market exists in the first place; everything is already established,&rdquo; Billy said. &ldquo;When he showed me a few potential franchise opportunities, Hand and Stone was one of the first, and it immediately jumped out at me.&rdquo;

In addition to Billy&rsquo;s personal interest in health and wellness, he says he was drawn to the franchise&rsquo;s niche as a high-tier concept at a mid-tier price point.

&ldquo;The look and feel of a Hand and Stone salon is a cut above what you would expect for the price range, and that gives it a substantial edge in the market,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not just a place to go for a massage or facial, it&rsquo;s the whole spa experience, and that&rsquo;s a key differentiator.&rdquo;

As for any potential risk, Billy says Hand and Stone offered a safer bet than any other concept he researched.

&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve done well in every market they&rsquo;ve entered across the country, and they&rsquo;ve avoided failure in some tough markets,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The risk seemed far lower than the other opportunities I explored.&rdquo;

Billy signed on to open two Hand and Stone spas.

&ldquo;Given my management experience, two locations seemed well within my scope of ability to start,&rdquo; Billy said.

Though Billy comes to <a href="https://1851franchise.com/handandstone/5-characteristics-of-a-successful-hand-stone-massage-and-facial-spa-franchisee-2708837" target="_blank">Hand and Stone franchise with a wealth of management experience</a>, he admits he still has some things to learn about running a commercial business. Fortunately, he&rsquo;s already taking full advantage of the franchise&rsquo;s dedicated support team.

&ldquo;The support they have available for new owners is fantastic,&rdquo; Billy said. &ldquo;I did a week-long corporate training class that went over everything I needed to know to run the business. Since then, I&rsquo;ve continued to work with the field operations team to help with everything from ordering products to on-site training for me and my staff to making sure the spas are set up for the launch.&rdquo;

As Billy prepares to open his first Hand and Stone spa, he says he&rsquo;s excited not only to be running his first business but also to introduce the brand to the Pittsburgh market.

&ldquo;We&rsquo;re a new market for Hand and Stone, which is an amazing opportunity,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen firsthand just how special this business is, and I can&rsquo;t wait to share it with a whole new audience here.&rdquo;

Greg Billy Hand and Stone Massage and Facial Spa Frachisee

After Three Decades in the Navy, Greg Billy Starts a New Chapter with Hand and Stone

1851 Franchise

The former naval officer opens his first two spas franchises in Pittsburgh

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