The Sperrings bring rest and relaxation to Irving

High school sweethearts, Laurey and Jeff Sperring have been by each other’s sides since the ninth grade, and will now be experiencing another major life event together: owning their own business. The couple have opened one of Hand & Stone’s largest spas in the system. Laurey graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a degree in management information systems. After 10 years of programming and systems work, she became a full-time mom until 2012. Prior to signing with Hand & Stone, Laurey worked as an instructional assistant for students with disabilities and also partook in some substitute teaching. Jeff graduated from Lehigh University with a degree in industrial engineering, and has had two careers. For the first 13 years after graduating, he worked in various positions revolving around information systems and process improvement. He kick-started his second career in 1996 by becoming the executive vice president of operations for a market research company and has since taken various managerial roles in the market research industry. He is currently the Vice President of Business Operations of Revelation, and will manage the backend operations of Hand & Stone. How did you learn about the brand? Jeff: I found myself out of work for a period of time last year and we decided it was time to take control of our destiny by running our own business. We spent four months looking at concepts and came upon Hand & Stone through a presentation I had attended with a working group that I belong to (Greater Philadelphia Senior Executive Group). Why did you choose an opportunity with the brand? As we looked into Hand & Stone, the things that stood out for us were the industry and the fact that in the past it has been more recession-proof than other businesses. As we met more and more people from the brand, we were impressed with how they went about operating the franchise and how they support it and help it grow. Another factor was that they weren’t that well-known and big yet in Texas. What are your development plans? At this point we just want to focus on this store but there is potential for store number two. Our site is bigger than most; it’s a 13-room spa, which is almost like having 1.5 spas. Charities and community outreach? We are looking at various groups in the Irving area to see how we want to get involved, such as sponsoring teams or helping out with sports and recreation programs.