Bringing Luxury Spa Services to Her Backyard: Why Kayla Potts Bought a Woodhouse Spa

Kayla Potts’ journey into owning a Woodhouse Spa began 14 years ago when she and her husband decided to move back to their hometown and start something new. Both were working in hospital administration but noticed a gap in their community: there was no local luxury spa. Inspired by their mothers' love for spa experiences, they decided to bring such a business closer to home.

With no prior experience in the spa industry, Potts and her husband explored different franchise options and were drawn to Woodhouse. The brand's Texas roots and luxury concept resonated with them, and after meeting with the original owners, they knew it was the right fit. 

“The [spa] that stood out to us the most was Woodhouse, mainly because we were in Texas,” she told 1851 Franchise Founder and Publisher Nick Powills on his “Meet the Zee” podcast. “Woodhouse, at that time, was located in Texas and franchised out of Texas, and so we met with the original owners and the team there, and just kind of fell in love with the concept — this luxury concept that can be right in your backyard.”

Initially, Potts’ husband focused on the franchise while she kept her job. However, a year later, he received an offer to help start a new hospital, prompting Potts to take over the business full-time. Despite the initial hurdles and doubts, their perseverance paid off. Over the years, the pair built an incredibly successful Woodhouse Spa franchise. 

A summarized transcript of Potts’ interview with Powills is included below. It has been edited for clarity, brevity and style.

Nick Powills: Take me back to, not necessarily the day before you become a franchisee, but the process of saying, “Okay, franchising makes sense for me.” Give me that back story on how you even get to the starting line of becoming a franchisee.

Kayla Potts: It was about 14 years ago. My husband and I had just gotten engaged. We decided we were going to move back to our hometown, and we wanted — we were both in the hospital administration field and we wanted to do something a little different than what we were doing. We kept asking that question, “What's missing? What do we not have?” Both our mothers loved the spa world, and we kept going, “We don't have a spa.” They're driving hours to the bigger cities to have this luxury experience, or they only get to do it on vacation, or fancy trips, or on the cruise, and we wanted to bring that home to us.

When we start discussing more, we don't know what we're doing. Outside of visiting this spa, I have no clue what this looks like, so we went down that franchise model route and we looked at a couple different options. The one that stood out to us the most was Woodhouse, mainly because we were in Texas. Woodhouse, at that time, was located in Texas and franchised out of Texas, and so we met with the original owners and the team there, and just kind of fell in love with the concept — this luxury concept that can be right in your backyard, essentially. And that's kind of where our journey started. From there, it was just mastering those hurdles each step of the way.

Powills: When you decided to move back to your hometown, was taking employment at another company an option, or did you quickly decide you didn't want to work for anyone else? What was that decision process like?

Potts: Initially, my husband took the first step in going head-on with the franchise and with Woodhouse, and I stayed employed. That took a flip about a year in, where he got a business offer that was kind of one of those we couldn't refuse to help start up a new hospital in our region. He said, “Hey, you've got to walk away from your job and come run the business, and I'm going to go work full-time.” And so it turned out to be a huge blessing. I've been running a spa since then, which is 13 years now, and I've loved it ever since.

Powills: I can't imagine why not. Most people reach out to a few brands, decide on a category, and attend one or two discovery days. Along the way, there are moments of doubt where they question if they should proceed. Did you have any hesitation or fears that you had to overcome?

Potts: Oh my gosh, absolutely. I think I thought we had lost our mind for most of the process. My husband is focused and driven — he's the starter and I'm the one that carries it after it starts, we've learned. So thank God for him because I'm not sure we would have pulled it off or even gotten to the finish line if he hadn't been there. It was tough. It was really tough. I mean, getting started was not an easy thing, especially when we were younger. We didn't have a lot of assets.

We weren't your typical franchisee coming in, so there were a lot of notes along the way that we heard, and I felt very defeated. Luckily, he was determined. The more people said no, the more he was like, “Let's go.” 

It's not easy, and I think a lot of people think it's just going to be this easy flow of, “I'm going to step right into it.  I'm going to feel confident the whole way,” but that's not reality, and so you've got to learn to push through it. It's worth it.

Powills: After signing the franchise agreement, the next stage of fear is the period between signing and opening—finding real estate, building the space, and getting over those hurdles. What was it like navigating the emotional turbulence during that process?

Potts: We signed our franchise agreement —  we did pretty fast, in June. We had a location that just happened to be being built out at the time, it was absolutely perfect. We had that locked in by August, we started gift card sales in December and we opened our store front in January. So that was a very fast, get-going kind of model, which is probably not as typical, especially depending on your build-out, what you're looking at. Some people can knock it out in six months, three years, some people are looking at two years — it just depends. Ours was very fast and furious. I don't think there was a lot of time to hesitate and doubt ourselves at that point.

Powills: How are you managing the voices in your head? Because you guys opened, but you've kept your job at this point. How are you navigating that?

Potts: Lots of prayer. I think we were honest with ourselves, and I think we had a mentality that we weren't going to fail. It wasn't an option. We would do whatever it took to figure it out, and that's exactly what we did. I think if you come in with a realistic expectation, but also understand it's going to take sacrifice and it's going to take long hours — as long as you're willing to do it, I've no doubt in my mind that anybody can be successful in this franchise or any other. It's just a mindset, and I think that's what gets a lot of new franchisees or anyone that comes into the entrepreneurial world — they weren't prepared with the right mindset of what it's going to take.

Powills: The term “semi-absentee” is often used too loosely. Even if you own a semi-absentee business, which Woodhouse is not, it still requires full-time mental investment. Another thing I'm curious about is, when did you finally feel like it was okay to breathe for a moment? Can you reflect back on a moment, whether that's one year or five years or now, that you finally felt like things were going in the right direction?

Potts: I honestly think it was that five-year marker. I mean, especially in the Woodhouse franchise world, we're talking about a very high-cost product to create, high-cost services and trying to find the right market to bring in to buy those services, so it takes time. It's not a break-even today or tomorrow — it's really a five-year concept to get to that point. 

And so about that five-year marker, they kept telling us, “Hang in there, hang in there, hang in there.” Every year got a little bit better. Once we got to that five-year marker, I really felt like, “Okay, we can do this. Like, we're finally seeing the returns we need to see. We're seeing the margins we need to see. Now it's time for us to start tweaking every little thing and, you know, what works, what doesn't.” So yeah, that was kind of that push there. 

I think at seven years, it got even better. And now we're coming up on 14 years and I don't want to say it's smooth sailing by any means because you're going to have your challenges no matter what, but we are doing great. We have a successful business that continues to thrive and grow. 

Powills: Where does the dream go now for you and your husband?

Potts: We've talked a lot about opening a second location through the years. I still think that's potentially on the horizon for us. I'm really in a great spot right now, though, when it comes to a work-life balance. I'm very blessed. I've managed to put many hours in. I managed to build an amazing team that's been with me — some of them have been with me almost the whole time, some of them seven years, eight years, nine years. And so they really are my hands-on crew. They're on the ground. I get to play mom and I get to be here for my kids and all their activities and still work. I'm not sure I'm ready to take on that next spa, but I do think that's something I want in the future as my kids get older.

Powills: Yeah, that's awesome. I mean, even if it's in the back of the head, I think that's a great thing to aspire to. Have you ever thought about other brands in that process?

Potts: We actually owned another franchise we sold a couple of years ago — we owned it for about five years — and we loved that journey as well. It was a very different concept. It couldn't be any farther from Woodhouse and the spa world. But it was a great experience. We absolutely loved it. 

I know at Woodhouse that we are Woodhouse. We love this concept. We love this brand. And if we're going to put our time and energy into that, that's probably where we want to continue it. We've done some commercial development concepts and built out some new commercial development, and we've done various things through the years but Woodhouse is our stand-strong all the way.

Powills: Is there anything that comes up when another franchise prospect is talking to you that surprises you that they're asking this question?

Potts: Hmm. You know, I've been asked lots of different questions. I think what surprises me is I don't think they think of the little details. They're thinking too big a picture and not thinking the daily nitty gritty. And that's what catches them up — all the little pieces that make the business come together that you really have to focus and hound in on — they're just not prepared for that. I also talk to them a lot. I'm like, “You need to make sure that you have some pretty good cash on hand because those first couple of years are going to be lean. And you can expect what's coming in is going to sustain you and pay you and pay your employees and get you on to the next year.” And I think they're a little surprised about that idea of how much cash they need to have on hand up front to keep them going through the future.

Powills: That's an interesting statement. We're conditioned to buy a house with 20% down, an asset that can take 30 years to pay off. Franchises can pay off much faster—in three, five, or ten years. The payout is tremendous, but people struggle to understand how to make the investment work. The world doesn't educate us on franchising, and it's a big, scary career and life decision.

Potts: Couldn't have said it better.

Powills: Okay, so let's conclude with advice for those that are looking for a franchise, whether that's Woodhouse or something else. What would you advise them if they're considering franchising for their family?

Potts: I think people think, “How can you give your money to someone else? Like, why would you do that when you could keep it for yourself?” And I always explain to them, “You're not just giving your money to someone else. Think about all the people you would hire, whether it's HR, whether it's marketing — whatever it is that you would have to hire along the way to make your business successful. Instead, you already have someone that's tried and true, who's already figured it out, who already has a plan in place, who can do it for you. It's really, you're just swapping one for the other.”

So when they talk about that franchise, they're like, “I just don't get it. I don't know why you wouldn't do it yourself.” And by all means, I'm not knocking anybody that wants to. I just think this is a tried-and-true way, and it's safe. I know I can trust what's coming forward with them. I've seen it time and time again. 

Yeah, it's a great journey, and I'm recommending it to anyone.

Watch the entire interview above or on YouTube.