Wellness Reimagined: Crystal Bethea Of C3 Wellness On 5 Things That Should Be Done To Improve and Reform The Health & Wellness Industry
An Interview With Maria Angelova
Make organic the standard and not a privilege to those who can afford it. You’ve seen your grocery bill lately.
In our world of constant change, and with life moving faster than ever, topics such as mental health, self-care, and prevention have become popular buzzwords. But there are misconceptions about the meaning of self-care and exercise. Many opt for quick solutions — surgery, pills — to dull the problem without adequately addressing the underlying cause. Meanwhile, many parts of the industry are unregulated and oversaturated. People with years of training are competing with people with weekend training. Many providers are overworked, overwhelmed, and underpaid. The general public is not educated about asking the right questions when selecting a wellness provider. In the face of all this, what can be done to correct the status quo? In this interview series, we are seeking to hear from a variety of leaders in the health and wellness industries who agree that the wellness Industry is in need of an overhaul and offer suggestions about what can be done moving forward. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Crystal Bethea, owner of C3 Wellness Spa.
Bethea is an army veteran, licensed medical massage therapist, and experienced cosmetologist. C3 Wellness Spa, her holistic wellness center in Kissimmee, FL, specializes in helping veterans with physical ailments, as well as empowering the Central Floridians to live healthy, active lives. Inspired by her family of fellow veterans, Bethea strives to evolve and serve the physical and mental needs of those in her community.
Thank you so much for doing this interview. It is an honor. Our readers would love to learn more about you and your personal background. Can you please share your personal backstory? What has brought you to this point in your life?
I’ve been a licensed medical massage therapist for 12 years and cosmetologist for over 20 years. I started off providing mobile services until an opportunity came up for me to work out of a room inside a gym facility in a small community. From there, I grew from a one-woman band to having two of our very own spa locations built within five year’s time. Learning so much about our clients’ needs through our wellness spa services convinced my husband and business partner Marcus and I to expand nationwide. We are now a SBA Certified Franchisor of C3 Wellness Spa.
What is your “why” behind the work that you do? What fuels you?
Growing up, my family always leaned towards herbal care, oils, and natural ways to treat everyday ailments. Also having my daughter develop respiratory issues and experience both natural and clinical care, I found that we got the most benefit from going natural. It later became a necessity to share that knowledge and help other people.
Being an Army veteran myself and coming from a family of vets, I thought it important to honor my family and other service members through our center. They gave selflessly and their bodies paid the price. Their suffering goes unnoticed, and we want to bring relief and reeducation to prevent the opioid crisis through holistic care.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting new projects you are working on now?
Having a blast getting the word out about our new franchise endeavor. The marketing, advertising and teaching portion is really exciting stuff! I’m totally dedicated to getting the message out that clients should not wait until they’re at an acute stage to seek treatmet. Self care maintenance conditions your body towards healthy aging.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
As part of spreading your message of advocating for holistic care, you’ll need to delve into business areas you might not have experience with, like marketing or advertising. I would say to slowly edit and verify all content and images on your marketing materials before printing or publishing. My very first brochure had a business-suited professional on the cover… but I didn’t realize he had a small cigarette in hand that we didn’t catch! I still don’t know how we missed that…lol!
OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the core focus of our interview. From where you stand, why are you passionate about the topic of Reimagining The Health and Wellness industries? Can you explain what you mean with a story or an example?
Absolutely. My daughter for example, as I mentioned before about her respiratory problems, when she turned one it was like a switch went off. She had a cough that wouldn’t go away. Doctors prescribed steroids and nebulizer treatments five times a day that produced zero results. They tried to convince me that she would have to do this for life, and I just couldn’t accept that. I started doing some research of my own, and I started using essential oils and salt therapy. It produced results immediately to the point of healing her condition completely. I learned how important it is to take charge of your own healthcare. Making small changes to your home environment and making a conscious effort to flush and replenish your body is just the ticket to wellness.
When I talk about Reimagining the Wellness industry, I am talking about reimagining it from the perspective of the providers as well as from the perspective of the recipients and patients. Can you share a few reasons why the status quo is not working for both providers and patients?
It gets tough on the providers and patients in regards to the constant changes to medical insurance policy and coding without notice until payouts start to decline.The VA is especially difficult in gaining secondary referral authorizations for continued care of our veterans. These problems have systemic effects on the patient when our care treatments are delayed. We stay in the fight for our vets no matter how complicated it gets! We do everything we can to prevent gaps in their treatment plans that ultimately lead to downward health spirals and stress to patients.
Why do you think there is a good opportunity now to improve and reform the health and wellness industry?
It’s definitely overdue, but I think the past few years during the pandemic gave us all an awakening. People around world are paying more attention to their bodies than ever.
Can you please share your “5 Things That Should Be Done To Improve and Reform The Health & Wellness Industry”? Please share an example or story for each if you can.
- Make organic the standard and not a privilege to those who can afford it. You’ve seen your grocery bill lately.
- Bring back and revamp home economics in schools. If we teach kids how to take better care of themselves and how to cook healthy meals, things can change from within. For some, this is the only positive exposure they have on the subject of healthy eating.
- Remove synthetic fragrances from home and personal care products. The constant exposure of this poison to our skin and respiratory system stresses our immune system on a daily basis. Many of these ingredients are even banned in other countries.
- Increase recognition and attention towards holistic treatments as an alternative care method. The opioid crisis has spiraled out of control due to lack of management.
- Place higher importance on laughter and joy as a form of medicine. Its an absolute necessity to good health to have those feel-good hormones kick up throughout your day. But often it’s hard to get the butt of the joke due to the level of censorship these days.
From the recipient and patient side of the industry, can you please share a few ways that patients and recipients should reimagine what the wellness and healthcare industry should provide?
As the client, I would imagine that paying for insurance my entire working life would cover a whole lot more instead of needing to pay more out-of-pocket costs. Europe and Canada seem to get the picture on this, and America really should be leading in this aspect. We need more holistic services for treatments for acute conditions and for preventative care. The Silver Sneakers program is a great option for seniors, but what about the youth?
What do you think are the biggest roadblocks to reforming the industry? What can be done to address those hurdles?
I completely understand that liability is a large road block, but we can’t formulate such a negative stipulation on holistic care treatments any more than we do towards traditional healthcare. Both the holistic caregivers, like doctors of acupuncture and licensed massage therapists, all hold private liability insurance like physicians and specialists. This should allow the client options to take control of their own healthcare.
I’m very passionate about the topic of proactive versus reactive self-care and healthcare. What do you think can be done to shift the industries towards a proactive healthcare approach? How can we shift the self-care mindset for consumers and providers alike?
I think the world has already shifted their mindset due to Covid. I think more people are more focused on their health now and trying to make those steps, but time management is a factor. Everything is so spread out. Massage place over here, hot yoga over there… That’s why my husband and I decided to franchise our holistic spa. C3 Wellness Spa is your one stop to complete, comprehensive care. Having facilities like ours make combining efforts easier to maintain that wellness factor.
Thank you for all that great insight! Let’s start wrapping up. Can you share your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Why does that resonate with you so much?
“Don’t put off tomorrow what you can do today.” I try to be as proactive as possible each day by segmenting my time. I find that when I look up, I have way more free time leading into my weekend because all my tasks are completed early. I’m more prepared for those random things that pop up when my plate isn’t full from procrastinating.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why?
OPRAH! I tell you, I’ve been a huge fan and took notes from her growing up. Learn to keep your eyes/thumb on every check and expenditure going out from your business. It really prevents you from being taken advantage of. My husband and I follow that to date.
I appreciate your time and valuable contribution. One last question, how can people reach or follow you?
You can learn more about C3 Wellness Spa and our services on our website. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.
About The Interviewer: Maria Angelova, MBA is a disruptor, author, motivational speaker, body-mind expert, Pilates teacher and founder and CEO of Rebellious Intl. As a disruptor, Maria is on a mission to change the face of the wellness industry by shifting the self-care mindset for consumers and providers alike. As a mind-body coach, Maria’s superpower is alignment which helps clients create a strong body and a calm mind so they can live a life of freedom, happiness and fulfillment. Prior to founding Rebellious Intl, Maria was a Finance Director and a professional with 17+ years of progressive corporate experience in the Telecommunications, Finance, and Insurance industries. Born in Bulgaria, Maria moved to the United States in 1992. She graduated summa cum laude from both Georgia State University (MBA, Finance) and the University of Georgia (BBA, Finance). Maria’s favorite job is being a mom. Maria enjoys learning, coaching, creating authentic connections, working out, Latin dancing, traveling, and spending time with her tribe. To contact Maria, email her at angelova@rebellious-intl.com. To schedule a free consultation, click here.
