Today we’d like to introduce you to C-A Washington
Hi C-A, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
To make a long story short, I am in the fourth iteration of who knows how many career adventures. While growing up, my mother opened a full-service real estate brokerage, and I officially began my “career” as both an office manager and a property manager. From there, I joined an international real estate brokerage after graduating college. I had the opportunity to use what I had learned on a much larger scale by serving as a commercial property management team member for a Class A commercial building.
After doing that for a few years, I wondered what would come next. During my undergraduate studies, I earned a degree in Business, but I also had a ton of hands-on experience working with my dad, who was an elected official in our area while I was growing up. Somewhere along the way, I came across a book by Andrew Young called An Easy Burden. After finishing the book and thinking about how to use my public service skills combined with Business, I decided to apply to Georgia State to pursue a master’s degree in public finance and management.
After finishing that degree, I did what I said I would never do and applied to work in the government. In retrospect, I realize this sounds utterly ridiculous given the degree I pursued, but growing up, I had seen enough of governing firsthand to feel like I didn’t have the stomach for it. However, while I was in grad school, I had the opportunity to serve as a Governor’s intern in the policy areas outside of education and public health and absolutely loved the variety of subject areas explored, as well as being at the table with those who were implementing the policies that impacted everyday life. One of those areas in particular was transportation, and given the broad reach of how much this area affects every single person, I definitely felt like I found my niche.
From there, I took on a role with the Georgia Department of Transportation, serving in legislative affairs and strategic planning areas, and finally wound up in transit. From there, I moved to Washington, DC, and spent the next ten years in various departments and roles across the US Department of Transportation. During the last couple of years, I also found myself in a long-distance relationship, eventually living in Boston and commuting between Washington, DC, and Atlanta. It was exhausting!
Fast-forward to 2020, I got the guy, and we were married and settled in Atlanta when the whole world shut down. After working eight years remotely, I switched roles and managed my husband’s dental practice with him, going into the office each day in what was then deemed one of the most dangerous fields at the time. We worked together to maintain and grow the practice during extremely turbulent times, and after a couple of years, I once again began to wonder what was next.
Another long story short, we decided that we wanted to pursue something else in the wellness space, and I was reminded of a spiritual epiphany I had a few years earlier when I walked into a Woodhouse Spa for the first time. It was around late 2021 when I decided to take a leap and reach out to learn more about ownership. At the time, it was something on my radar for “later,” but we decided to move forward after meeting the development team and falling in love with the brand in a new way. From there, the rest is history, and in December of 2023, my husband and I became some of the newest, proud owners of our very own Woodhouse Spa location, currently in The Avenue in Peachtree City, Georgia.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I will admit, when we first started the process of opening the business, things were sailing along swimmingly well! There was so much excitement about what we could build and bring to the community; I just operated off of my vision of sunshine and rainbows for quite some time.
As the process progressed, we underwent a complete construction renovation to build out the space and certainly hit many bumps in the road, as any new business owner does. Even though we had already owned and managed other businesses, this was the first time we had to do a full building renovation, as well as the first time we had to partner with a traditional franchisor while doing so.
This certainly meant a lot of juggling between stakeholders and uncertainty at each step along the way, so it is no exaggeration to say that it has purely been a God thing that we were able to actually open our doors because I am the first to admit that hard work, blood, sweat, and tears were not nearly enough to get the job done.
Much of it had to do with the rising cost of construction, paralleled with the timing of our build-out, whereby our franchise officially implemented elements for a brand new required look and feel. Even though we certainly loved the outcome, there were a lot of changes and delays, and therefore unforseen costs, due to the new specificity in place to meet the standards being coordinated from the top down.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Woodhouse Spa?
Woodhouse Spa is a luxury full-service day spa offering upscale amenities and services within local neighborhoods with accessible pricing. Woodhouse Spa in Peachtree City has the pleasure of bringing these services to our local market in Fayette County and the surrounding areas, providing a sanctuary for people to gather with loved ones or relax with some well-needed self-care.
We offer a full array of massage and facial services and specialized facials, such as Hydrafacial. Additionally, we have a plethora of service enhancements, in addition to specialty services, such as our Meditative Mood Soak (available in our tub room) and the Shirodhara scalp massage for all of us who overthink and need to relieve scalp tension.
We also have a private salt/sauna chamber and full-service changing lounges so guests can shower and change as needed before or after services. We are also fitted with three relaxation lounges for individuals and groups of many sizes to participate in our offerings on a more collective scale.
Woodhouse Spa – Peachtree City also works with individuals, local businesses, and amazing organizations to curate special events and create unique, upscale gifting. Whether it’s for a celebration or just something wonderful the host is looking to create, we’ve got it covered. We also have multiple offerings for couples and can easily service groups such as full wedding parties, entire teams or full corporate buy-outs. We also offer food and beverage options (in addition to our complimentary healthy spa snacks) with brand customization, attendee gifts, and many other special touches desired to elevate the visit.
What we are most proud of is the fact that we provide a convenient getaway right in the neighborhood, saving the time and hassle of traveling into the Atlanta traffic for all the residents who live on the south end of the metro area. South Atlanta is growing and we are supremely proud to be a part of that growth, bringing an upscale, full service offering for our neighbors, and soon to be new friends!
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
What has worked well for me is to do as much due diligence ahead of time so that I would know exactly what type of mentor I needed in each season, as well as what I was seeking to learn from each mentorship relationship. Over the years, many mentors have laughed at how “overly prepared” they said I was for our meetings.
Especially when working in the federal government, I knew that 1:1 time with Senior Executives was precious, so I was always sure to prepare questions ahead of time and not ask anything that could be readily found elsewhere. They appreciated the clarity on what I was looking to accomplish because, a lot of times, they would prepare items ahead of our meeting to make our time as efficient as possible.
Mentorship and relationship-building have remained just as important in my life as a franchisee. I probably bugged one person too many because mid-way through my process, I found myself as a pilot mentee for a new program being rolled out to pair new owners with seasoned experts within the brand.
I received a fantastic mentor who had experience on our franchise’s advisory board and design committee and also had experience as a multi-location owner. She’s a wise and kind fireball, yet one more person I am exceedingly grateful to have crossed paths with in my career. I have met so many super intelligent and capable women and men over the years, and I can only hope to pay it forward for other people the way these mentors have invested in me.
I’m also a believer in ghost mentors. That sounds a bit wild, but you don’t always have to meet a person and know them personally to learn from them. There are tons of people who have led organizations and written books, and shared their stories in other ways. I’m a firm believer in using those tools as well to navigate life, as you don’t always have direct access to people in certain seasons because the circles you grew up in may not always get you immediate access to the circles you aim to get into.
I have learned over the years that the more you show up, keep pushing, and excelling, the more you are invited into new circles and have the opportunity to keep learning and growing, so never give up!
Image Credits
@eley_photo
Picture of C-A Washington
Picture of C-A and Melvin Washington (husband)
