Health Check: Is the Community and Culture of Your Business Thriving?

If you’re a business owner, have you taken time lately to reflect on your journey and where you’re headed next?

Being a business owner in these difficult times has caused me to reflect on where I’ve come from and where I’m going in the future. Looking back, there is a common thread running through all my experiences and that is this:

Running a business is not about me.

Now, I don’t mean that I’m an uninterested or detached business owner. Quite the opposite! But being a business owner is really about two other things. (And no, neither of them have to do with sales or revenue.) These two things are community and culture.

As the proud owner of MassageLuXe Spa in Palm Beach Gardens as well as the founder and owner of The Mattisyn School in West Palm Beach, community and culture have become priorities in my businesses.

I believe in the power of community. I’ve lived in different parts of America, travelled the world, studied at different schools, and held a number of careers in a variety of fields. Through these experiences, I have come to recognize the value of investing in the community of your businesses. And this priority is true for the businesses I own today.

For me, MassageLuXe isn’t just a spa; it’s a place of retreat, relaxation and community. It’s where our customers come together with our staff to create a place of rejuvenation for everyone. Businesses are about meeting the needs of the customers, whether that’s a relaxing massage or a soothing facial to relieve some tension during a difficult time. We’re better at meeting the needs of our customers and staff when we know them, which is why a sense of community is such an important feature of any business.

This was also my vision in founding The Mattisyn School in West Palm Beach. Providing a safe place for children of my community to learn and empowering my staff to facilitate the education of their students in an intentional and informed way is part of my lifelong commitment to advocating for children. This means creating a sense of community inside and outside the building, and this is achieved through the culture we nurture.

Cultivating a positive culture is at the heart of everything I do in my businesses. My businesses are about service, and my real focus as a business owner is on my employees and customers. It’s about serving people because you want to serve people and meet their needs. It’s about establishing and demonstrating a culture of respect and positivity.

I do my best to create a sense of family in my businesses, that the people who work there and the customers who visit would feel valued and invested in. This takes discipline and hard work. Healthy culture — like anything else that is of great value — takes time and effort to create and grow.

So, the next time you evaluate your business, instead of looking at sales first and everything else second, consider the culture and community of your business. Evaluate where you land in those areas. If you have a healthy community and culture, you’re off to a great start and the rest will flow from that.

— Paula