The new Halina European Day Spa owner shares his vision for the spa and announces its new West Lake location.
Sponsored Content by Halina European Day Spa
For those who know Rich Ryan, his recent purchase of Halina European Day Spa, one of Austin’s most prodigious day spas with two locations in Round Rock, Texas and Central Austin, probably looks a bit out of character. Ryan can fairly be described as a guy’s guy. He spent more than 15 years in the trucking industry with Rush Enterprises, most recently as the senior vice president, overseeing a team of 2,400 people spread out over nine states. But on the personal side, as passionate as he was about strategic planning, team building and innovating unique sales methodologies for Rush, he was equally focused on guiding his two daughters, Rachel and Kate, as they developed into successful, independent women.
Ryan retired from Rush Enterprises in June of 2019 to explore new opportunities and to spend more time with his girls as they navigate the world beyond school and enter the workforce. In addition to spending time with his daughters, his post-retirement quest was to find an ongoing business with a solid reputation and potential for growth —one that already employed a quality staff he could continue to develop with his passion for team building and providing outstanding client experiences.
When presented with the opportunity to purchase Halina European Day Spa, it didn’t seem like a natural fit for a man who had spent most of his career working around men in the trucking business. And yet, as a father having conversations with his two daughters (a recent college graduate and college sophomore) about work/life choices, it seemed like a perfect fit. While the girls may not have taken a lot of interest in their father’s work at a trucking company, they were both immediately fascinated with this new venture and eager to become a part of this new chapter in his life.
Becoming the proud owner of the legendary Halina European Day Spa offered Ryan two valuable opportunities. One was the chance to mentor and teach his daughters about running a business from nuts to bolts: marketing, purchas- ing, business planning, calculating profitability, managing teams, paying taxes, finding insurance and more.
The other opportunity was to continue a legacy. The history of Austin’s iconic Halina European Day Spa captivated him from the moment he learned of it. Founded 50 years ago by Halina Pradzynski, a Jewish concentration-camp survivor, Halina European Day Spa has been serving Texans for decades, including Lady Bird Johnson. When Pradzynski opened her Austin skincare clinic in 1970, it was such a new concept that the only other skin-care clinics in the country were in New York and California. When Ryan did his due diligence, he discovered a business built on a solid foundation with more than 30 dedicated, passionate service providers.
Ryan also is continuing to grow his brand and and recently acquired the assets of Woodhouse Day Spa in West Lake to become the third Halina European Day Spa location.
Ryan looks forward to not only carrying on the heritage of Halina’s progressive vision of providing quality, scientific-based services in a relaxing, elegant environment, but also expanding the Halina experience with his exceptional team.
With a strong vision and belief that when you take good care of your employees, they will take care of your clients, Ryan is highly optimistic about this new opportunity.
5359 Burnet Road | 603 S. Mays St., Round Rock, Texas | halinaspa.com