Meet A.S.H. Beauty. A full service spa located in San Fernando where you can be treated to a custom vivant facial, customisable flavoured manicures and pedicures, as well as body and wax treatments alike.
The spa is owned by Ashley Pollonais who was inspired to get into the industry and open the spa by her personal experiences. “As a young girl I didn’t have the blessing of puberty being kind to me, so sadly, I like many got a lovely moustache and unibrow combo. My mum, worried I was getting bullied took me to an aesthetician for a wax. I was terrified at first but so intrigued, I had discovered a whole new world of skin care, waxing and all these crazy gadgets I couldn’t begin to understand. So from the time I got to our regularly scheduled appointments, I would fire off a list of questions. I wanted to know it all! When I got to Maple Leaf in grade 12 there was a class called Co-Op where you do an internship for a semester at a company of your choice. I then worked at Meta Spa in Port-of-Spain for the semester learning all the behind the scenes of a spa you never get to see as a client. After graduation I went to Boca Raton, Florida to learn Paramedical Esthetics, upon moving home afterwards I then went back to work at that spa for two years.”
Ashley always knew she would branch out on her own but never thought it would be so soon. “I knew I would eventually open on my own but I never thought it would’ve been now at age twenty-one, I thought I would’ve been older with my life figured out and probably married with kids. One day I approached my Mum and asked her when she thought would be a good time for me to start a spa of my own. Before I knew it there were plans being drawn and contractors hired. What was going to be a small one studio spa out of my home then expanded to our building on Farrah Street in San Fernando.
When it comes to the name, Ashley and her team were so busy with the renovations to the building and preparing to open that a name was never really decided upon. “My Mum and I would constantly be thinking of names and juggling back and forth but never really found the right one. One night I was at my boyfriend’s family Sunday lunch which then became Sunday dinner, after a lot of wine we were talking deeply about what I wanted the spa to be. A Safe Haven, somewhere that women can leave their everyday worries, even if it’s just for an hour, and leave feeling relaxed, beautiful and confident. Ready to be the best versions of themselves. So often we are so caught up trying to balance everything on our plate we forget to treat ourselves sometimes and show some self-love. I’ve seen it many times, a flustered mother comes rushing in, balancing work, husband and children and she smiles because through the hustle of her everyday life she made her appointment for a facial that she’s been dying to try and never got a chance to. She hops in the spa bed excitedly, her phone ringing constantly so she puts it on do not disturb. In the one hour she’s at the spa, her mind is cleansed, her worries exfoliated and her confidence enriched. I poured my heart out to his family and that’s when his cousin suggested, A.S.H Beauty, A Safe Haven.”
Ashely, who does this full time, has learned many lessons as an entrepreneur on her journey to date. “As an entrepreneur I’ve learned that sometimes you just have to roll with the punches. A.S.H Beauty opened its doors on November 27th which gave me maybe three months before the pandemic hit and we had to all go into quarantine. I was crushed having to go from business booming during Carnival to everything in lockdown. I was crushed for the first couple days but then I made the best of it doing treatments on my Mum and sister, Becky. Coming back out to work now was a combination of feeling excited and anxious for what open doors can bring but I’ve learnt to not borrow tomorrows worries. I try to take it day by day and just do better than yesterday.”
And what about any advice for those out there who may want to begin their journey as an entrepreneur? “My advice would be that you are never going to feel like you’re ready so you just have to start. It’ll always be an anxiety-fueled rush of sweaty palms and sleepless nights; but why not just get it out of the way? Plan, design, research and as my Dad would say, “Yuh hadda handle yuh stories. Sometimes yuh have to break your jaw a little.” Today is better than tomorrow for tomorrow may never come. If you have to start small then maybe make an Instagram page or Facebook page. Before the opening of the spa I was so anxious for I remember I couldn’t even eat the day of the opening because my stomach was in a knot. This project I had been working on for a year that everyone was hearing about but not seeing was now on display. I felt like me heart was exposed for the world to see. I doubted myself and my capabilities thinking I was too young and too inexperienced to handle this. Now I know I can and everything I was worrying about was in my head. Take it day by day, week by week and follow your f*cking passion.”
A.S.H. Beauty A Safe Haven offers facials, waxing, massages, manicures, pedicures, gel nails and much more.
