Jessica Turner The beauty, health and wellness all-rounder you’ve never met, until now, Ashleigh Sharman chats with Regional Director of Spa and Fitness at Langham Hotels and Resorts, Charlie Price.
Once described as the ‘dark horse’ of the beauty industry, exuding all the qualities we love most about this industry, Charlie boasts an impressive CV and list of awards including, most recently, BABOR Hotel Day Spa of the Year for The Langham Sydney.
“For me it’s always about the experience. I’ve always wanted to do it better than anyone else,” says Charlie whose career has spanned managing spas, working within hotels and resorts, running his own business and the role of personal massage therapist for elite athletes — all with a focus on setting service and standards high, learned from a young age.
“I grew up on a big farm in a rural area and remember going on a family holiday to Port Douglas. It was such an amazing experience that it planted a seed in terms of hotels and resorts, the travel and holiday industry, and from there my passion was to travel the world.”
Perhaps it was under the influence of his Aunts, both of whom are massage therapists, or the caring nature Charlie developed looking after small farm animals, but this eagerness to travel soon married with a Diploma of Remedial Massage and off he went.
“I’ve got a big, close family. I’m a caring person and have always wanted to help people and quickly found the industry really suited me. I enjoy working with my hands, meeting new people, having a chat and building rapport whilst seeing the results I could deliver to clients. Travelling the globe to work in spas was the obvious next step.”
One of the only men in his course at that time, Charlie admits that the majority of therapists he studied with are no longer in the industry — citing burnout for the levels of high turnover.
“I’ve been lucky to avoid this thanks to a mix of modalities and jobs in my career,” he says.
“My skills have been adaptable through working in sport, for myself and then spa and travel, and it energises me to see such satisfaction in clients.”
However Charlies stresses it’s important to remember to schedule time-out for yourself.
“I schedule treatments for myself and also exercise, stretching and meditation. You have to practise what you preach and I feel that those who have dropped out of the industry are the ones that never did that, and so they burn out.
“You need to step back from it all and take that time for yourself,” he says.
Working within a luxury hotel environment then brings it all together for Charlie such as within The Langham’s Chuan Spa; its holistic philosophy and high standards holding true to Charlie’s own ideologies but success, he says is about shared passion, knowledge and experience.
“You’re only as good as your team and that’s from reception up. We all need to understand that people come here for an experience and for some time-out and in Sydney, every second person that visits the spa comes with a gift voucher so expectations are high.
Armed with a proven track record of taking teams to optimal performance, Charlie encourages staff to swap treatment modalities and participate in regular meetings and training.
“It’s all about the guest and outside of that we need to help each other as we work to be a great business,” he says.
“Training and development is ongoing, it never ends and I’m lucky to have had a foundation in sport, working with some of the best coaches, captains and athletes in the world in learning how to bond as a team while working on my confidence.
Charlie is clearly passionate about his work and the inspiration he delivers to his team; in fact it oozes right out of him as he projects the perfect balance of leader, listener and supporter.
“I believe strongly in giving everyone an opportunity to provide feedback because at the end of the day, I’m not the person on the phone, at the front desk or in the room.
“You need to have an open door policy to help improve your business and so all I need to do then is guide the team and offer advice. I’m always happy to try new things as failure still provides experience and in that there are lessons to be learned.”
For Charlie, the future of beauty and health is focused strongly on personalisation, a heightened wellness experience, deeper engagement through digital technologies, and establishing connections with industry professionals and experts.
He believes in the best of the East and the West, of philosophy and science, but also in the power of the mind. His is the experience, passion and intention our industry can be most proud of.
