Martina Willis (Columnist)
I CAN’T help but see the irony in the new path I have chosen.
The first half of my life was spent surrounded by hard facts and logical thinking, as I navigated my way around giant corporations in the technology sector.
Now my job is to create balanced, happy and healthy minds, bodies and spirits.
Back then, I didn’t give a megabyte about the so-called ‘beautiful’ things in life, as I was doggedly worked my way up to board level.
Beauty products were for the female assistants of my ‘boys’, who worked for me… certainly not for me.
Yes, I needed to look the part when I entered a board room and tried to convince the men around it to part with their money or follow one of my schemes.
But my fashion sense only went as far as a tailored black suit, and a very moderate level of make-up, usually bought at the airport on the way to a meeting.
To be honest, I wouldn’t have recognised the modern-day me, with a new passion for Coco Chanel lipstick and my favourite red Jimmy Choo stilettos.
Now the proud owner of an idyllic wellness retreat, the Source of Wellbeing, hidden in a stunning valley near Marbella… my life has changed 100%.
The old me was driven by the deep psychology of human emotions and the intricacies of business.
I learnt how to lead and coach my employees to success in my many years working in Europe, USA and the Middle East, mostly sleeping little more than four hours a night.
Now, I usually get eight hours a night, get a siesta if I feel like it and take as much time as I want to walk my dogs, work out and hang out with my friends.
Sure, setting up a wellness business here has had plenty of challenges, in the loosest sense of the word.
There are a myriad set of different problems to cope with on a daily basis, but as I remind myself when I get a bit desperate about the ‘Spanish’ way of things: ‘Come on Martina – you’ve dealt with a lot worse.’
And yes, if a water leak the size of the fountain in Lake Geneva is spraying into my courtyard, I can deal with it.
Because, after all, I moved here because of the weather, the lifestyle and the life-loving locals… not the kind of things you usually associate with a boardroom.
Over the next few months I will share my successes and pitfalls in setting up a retreat in – frankly – the middle of nowhere.
I have become an expert in keeping ‘cool’ with all the many challenges one runs into when building a business in Spain and at the same time navigating through the endless jungle of beauty, wellbeing and body treatment therapists.
If you’d like to get in touch email me at martina@thesourceofwellbeing.com or visit the website www.thesourceofwellbeing.com
