Today we’d like to introduce you to Sandy Nelles.
Hi Sandy , thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always been someone who is drawn to beauty, healing, and creating experiences that make people feel taken care of. I started in the skincare world with a deep love for transformation, not just what happens on the surface, but the confidence and emotional shift that happens when someone finally feels good in their skin.
Over the years, that passion turned into a career and then into entrepreneurship. I’ve built and grown multiple businesses in the spa and skincare industry, from independent studios to high demand spa concepts, and I’ve also developed skincare lines along the way. What I’ve learned through every phase is that success isn’t just about offering services, it’s about building trust, consistency, and a standard of care that clients can feel the moment they walk through the door.
My journey hasn’t been linear or easy. Like most founders, I’ve experienced setbacks, reinventions, hard lessons, and the kind of growth that comes from being willing to start over and refine again and again. But I’ve always stayed anchored in the same mission: helping people feel more radiant, more grounded, and more like themselves.
Today, I’m proud of where I’ve landed, not just because of the businesses I’ve created, but because of the experience I’ve built, the clients I’ve impacted, and the level of intention I bring to everything I do. For me, skincare is both results and ritual, science and soul, and I’m grateful I’ve been able to create a career that blends all of it.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Not at all. It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road.
Entrepreneurship looks glamorous from the outside, but behind the scenes it’s a constant mix of risk, pressure, learning, and reinvention. I’ve faced the normal challenges that come with building something from nothing: long hours, financial uncertainty at times, staffing issues, growth pains, and the emotional weight of being the one responsible for everything working, from the client experience to the business operations.
One of the biggest struggles for me has been learning how to scale without losing quality. In this industry, it’s easy to grow quickly, but much harder to maintain consistency, standards, and culture. I’ve also learned that people management can be one of the most challenging parts of owning a business. You can have the best vision in the world, but you still need the right team and the right structure to bring it to life.
I’ve also had to work through personal challenges along the way. I didn’t start with a perfect background or a perfect roadmap. A lot of what I’ve built has come from determination, resilience, and a deep belief that I could create a life and career I was proud of.
The struggles were real, but they shaped me. They made me a stronger leader, a better business owner, and honestly a more compassionate human. And now I can look back and see that every hard season taught me something that I still use today.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I work in the spa and skincare industry as an esthetician, founder, and educator, and I specialize in creating real results while still delivering an elevated guest experience. Early in my career, I worked in both a medical spa and a luxury resort spa, and I honestly fell in love with both sides of the industry. The medspa world taught me the power of corrective skincare and transformation, and the resort spa world taught me the art of ritual, healing, and experience. That blend has shaped everything I’ve built since.
In 2017, I opened my first spa concept, Mod Facial, and created my first skincare line. What started as a passion quickly became a serious business. I built the brand from the ground up, developed protocols, trained teams, and performed thousands of facials along the way. Eventually, I sold Mod Facial and the skincare line to investors, and it later expanded into multiple locations under new ownership.
After that, I opened a second spa in Boston on Newbury Street and launched another skincare line. That chapter challenged me in an entirely new way, but it proved to me that I could build and scale a concept again in a different market, with a new vision and a new standard. I later sold that business as well.
Today, I’m building what feels like the most aligned version of my work yet. I now have my third skincare line, a spa, and a facial school where I focus on advanced training and continuing education for professionals. I also sell my current skincare line to spas and estheticians who want high performing products backed by real protocols and real industry experience.
What I’m most proud of is that I’ve lived every part of this industry, from the treatment room to creating systems, building teams, and launching brands that people trust. I’ve always cared deeply about quality, training, and experience, and I think that’s what sets me apart. I don’t come at skincare from just one angle. I combine results driven corrective treatment knowledge with luxury wellness standards, and I’ve built my career around delivering both.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I believe luck plays a role, but I don’t think it’s the whole story. I’ve definitely had moments of good timing, the right opportunity showing up, or meeting the right person at the right moment. And I’m grateful for those moments because they helped open doors faster than I could have opened them alone.
But I’ve also had my share of bad luck, hard seasons, and unexpected challenges, especially as a business owner. Staffing issues, tough transitions, learning curves, and situations that didn’t go the way I planned definitely tested me. Looking back, some of the things that felt like “bad luck” at the time ended up pushing me to make decisions that ultimately improved my life and my business.
At the end of the day, I think luck might create the opportunity, but consistency, preparation, and resilience are what allow you to keep it. I’ve worked hard for everything I’ve built, but I also try to stay humble and aware that timing and opportunities do matter too. I’ve learned to take the wins with gratitude, learn from the setbacks, and keep moving forward either way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://orskarituals.com
- Instagram: @orskaspa @orska_rituals
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/orskaspa and http://facebook.com/orskarituals
- Other:
