Meet Cayla Ogbulie | Spa Owner and Lead Esthetician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cayla Ogbulie and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cayla, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?

I love this question because, in my line of work, my community is so important. As a black woman business owner in one of the most culturally diverse cities in America, I felt it necessary to be inclusive for all people. It may not seem important, but everyone needs self-care, but not everyone feels comfortable in these spaces.

Women especially carry the world on our shoulders and often forget to take care of ourselves because we are so busy taking care of everyone else. But for women to be able to give, they have to recharge and renew, and it shouldn’t be a ‘treat yourself’ type of care that is every once in a blue moon. Self-care should be continuous and maintained. However, it’s not just exclusive to women, self-care for anyone who needs to implement self-care in my community.
I purposely haven’t raised my prices in years because I want everyone to be able to afford self-care. I donate services and time to different organizations that promote self-care as well. Do I lose some revenue? Yes, but those clients are loyal and make up for it by referring other women who need to include self-care in their routine.

After becoming the owner of my Spa business, I moved my business location into a community where you wouldn’t think you would necessarily see a spa located. It is important to me for people to know that getting a spa service is not unattainable.

I often mentor young women who are looking to be entrepreneurs themselves. I am always available to them, and even though many of them have thriving businesses now, they know that at any time they need me they are welcome to reach out to me. We need more women-owned businesses in our community, so it’s important to me for them to know and learn from my mistakes and knowledge.

And something that is near and dear to my heart is the well-being of the earth. We want to help the world by being a green-owned business. It means making responsible choices and using materials with a minimal negative impact on the environment. We are proud to say that we are the 1st and ONLY spa in the Bay Area to achieve this goal, and it was not easy. They had to create a category for us.
We hope our impact is felt far and wide.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

I’m Cayla and my company is Breathe Day Spa, located in Oakland California. I began my career in the spa business almost 20 years ago as a part-time receptionist in Oklahoma City at a fancy spa inside of a hotel in downtown OKC. I was there for over 6 years and advanced from receptionist to spa director of all 4 of her spas in that area in those 6 years. I moved to Oakland in 2009 and took a demotion to be an assistant manager of a small neighborhood spa and throughout the years I eventually worked my way up from being the director of the spa to then owning a spa.

Up to that point, I was strictly on the admin side of the business, I was not yet a service provider. When the opportunity to become the owner of the spa that I was managing in Oakland came up, it was the next natural step in my career. By now I had been in the spa business for over 12 years. As my partner and I took on the business of owning a business, we went through many hardships outside of the usual things that can happen with owning your own business. Within the 1st 2 years, the building we were in sold and the new owners came in and raised our rent to double what we were previously paying, and immediately began construction above our spa every day (can you imagine?), all the while letting their children play the clarinet above our treatment rooms, there was even a flood (their fault) in a space that I had just renovated out of my pocket and it closed that part of the spa for over 8 weeks and during that time one of their workers walked in on one of my clients during a spa treatment. It was, to say the least, a difficult and toxic situation.

Throughout all of this, we were determined to stay in that space since we had been there for so long, but a business mentor of ours advised us that it was time to leave and we eventually moved to a more hospitable location. 2 years after being in business we had to start all over.

It changed the whole way that I looked at my business, coming from a very upscale downtown spa in Oklahoma City, that was fully staffed, with 4 spa treatment rooms, and offered every spa service imaginable, to moving to a busy neighborhood gem of a spa that still offered a wide array of services with a full staff and 3 spa treatment room, I initially thought that that was the only way to be a spa. But I soon learned that I could survive on my own. I revamped my brand and scaled back and moved into a very small one-room suite that I only had access to on the weekends. I offered a small list of spa treatments including the V-Steam and had a staff of 1 appointment only Esthetician and 2 on-call Massage Therapists. My main business was V-Steams and that’s how I became a treatment provider. It was a learning curve but I did it. And while it was slow at first, soon word got out about V-Steams and how beneficial they were and within two years, I was the premier spa in the Bay Area for offering V-Steams. I found something that no one else offered and it was for my community of women.

Over the years, I was able to expand my business and I now have 4 rooms to do spa treatments in, and I took advantage of the forced time off during the pandemic to go to school and become a licensed Esthetician so that I could offer skincare along with the V-Steams I was already offering.

Was it easy? No, but I just kept on. That’s been my motto, “Onward and upward”. It’s the only direction I could go. I didn’t have any other options, I had to make Breathe Day Spa work. They say that if you can make it the 1st 2 years of owning your business you will make it. I had an extraordinary amount of pitfalls in the first 2 years, but I wouldn’t trade it, it shaped me into who I am today. It helped me develop a thicker skin and learn how to problem-solve. I overcame my challenges by moving forward constantly and not looking back.

I am the queen of lessons learned. Something that I’ll pass along is to read your lease, it saved me many times. Apparently, the landlords had the lease drawn up but didn’t read it, which worked to my advantage. Have good people in your circle. When we had to leave our space, I cannot tell you how many people reached out to help me and offer me advice, even other business owners who had similar businesses reached out and even offered their space for me to operate out of temporarily. I was overwhelmed by their generosity. Don’t discount the school of life. This is a good one, let life teach you, and don’t ignore that education. Also really think things through, don’t make impulse decisions, make pros and cons lists, and above all trust that gut feeling that has gotten you this far. Take care of yourself, there have been times that I was so busy that I neglected my health, and it’s an everyday struggle for me to take care of myself. But do it and this includes mental health as well. I’ve recently been diagnosed with high-functioning ADHD. I knew it, but it took me years to get diagnosed. Now that I know I can maneuver through life better.

If I could tell the world about me and my brand I would say I am here for my community. It’s a big part of why I am still in business. I love that my spa is located in Oakland. Oakland gets a bad rap, but I’ve learned that It’s important to serve the community that serves you. I’ve had the offer several times to take my business elsewhere, to a suburb so I could get more clientele, ones who will pay more money. I refuse to leave the community that supported me.

MY story is unique because you don’t know where life will take you. Who knew taking a summer job as a part-time receptionist would change my life in the way that it did? Take chances and find your BIG PICTURE, sometimes it may start as a small drawing but keep moving forward, what a beautiful painting it will be.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

So this is a super realistic question for me because I am not from here and my bestie visits at least once a year (pre-covid). We’re both foodies, so we are definitely going to hit up some awesome places to eat. We also love art so that’s a must and we love a great cocktail too so it’s going to be on the list. Local small businesses are a must to support when you travel, it’s the best way to get to know the vibe of the city.

Some of my recent faves for eating would definitely be Magnolia Street Wine Lounge and Kitchen in Oakland for weekend brunch, 3 words: Peach Cobbler Waffle…not to mention their other amazing dishes including Oxtails and Grits and Fried Chicken and don’t leave without getting their flight of mimosas, and they have an awesome DJ, it’s a great place to take out of town friends.

I would take her to the M2 Lounge in Oakland, which is black-owned and features every Mimosa you could ever think of, along with other equally tasty cocktails and light bites. The DJ is spectacular and the vibe is town business all the way. Around the corner on Lakeshore is Bardo and we’ve actually been there before so like I said super realistic. Their cocktail list features some of the most uniquely crafted drinks I’ve had and they have an extremely laid-back atmo that is relaxing and festive.

I’ve recently gotten a chance to visit the Oakland Museum where they had Afrofuturism on display and it was one of the dopest exhibits I’ve ever seen. Beyond that, they have a black-owned Town Fare Cafe inside of the museum which features everything from shared plates of chicken wings, to full entrees of Shrimp and Grits to Blackened Jackfruit Carnitas Tacos.
And because we are in the Bay Area we are definitely going to hit up Napa, a few of our favorites to hit when she is in town are V. Satuii, Domain Carneros, Chandon (because I’m a champagne type of gal), Auburn James, and Brown Estate, which is black-owned and is a whole vibe from their wine to the bathroom decor!

It’s always fun to hang out at Lake Merritt, there are always food vendors, with unique food and drinks there, it’s a blast because you never know who will be there, and you may get a whole concert of the show just from the everyday community. It’s always fun to walk or just pick a spot and chill with friends and oh yeah you can barbecue there. And not far from there is a little cafe Oaklandia and it has the best little sandwiches and coffee, so that’s a nice breakfast spot.

Speaking of breakfast, you cannot visit the Bay and miss Ole’s in Alameda. If you’re looking for a throwback spot that has ALL the diner food you could ever think of, this is the place to go. A favorite of ours is their pancakes and omelets. And I love their story, during the pandemic, the owners had the option to retire, but to help keep their workers in employment they sold their retirement house to keep them afloat, I mean how can you not support a small business like that?

And to be honest, I would definitely bring her to my spa, Breathe Day Spa. When my friends come into town, I always treat them to a spa treatment. Sometimes, it’s the V-Steam or it could be a Facial or Massage. And since it’s a destination spa (we have regular clients who fly in from Seattle, Las Vegas, and even Utah just to get our services) and we offer unique services that you can’t get anywhere else, it’s a must-see. It’s not work for me because a lot of my friends are the reason I am here today so I want to give some of that support back.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

There are so many people who deserve a shoutout. I am under no illusion that I have made it here by myself. There are so many that I can’t even mention them all. I will mention just a few.

My mom Flora instilled a business mentality in me when I was very young. I would not be here if it were not for her guidance, it’s something that I miss but refer to daily since her passing. I come from a family of women, who are for lack of a better term, SOLID. That’s the word, they are SOLID. My sister Cynthia is an entrepreneur and author, her children consist of doctors, nurses, and business owners. One of them is the owner of a worldwide company that helps black people get jobs, raises, and education (Black on the Job). I have another niece that is a truck driver. You could say I come from a self-sustaining family. It’s nothing short of phenomenal.

But if I have to pinpoint the reason that I am the owner of Breathe Day Spa, I would have to say that I would not be here today if it weren’t for my best friend Jasmine. She was working at a fancy spa in downtown Oklahoma City (which is where I am originally from) as a part-time receptionist and needed someone to cover for her while she was on maternity leave. I was a school bus driver at the time and happened to be on summer vacation so she asked if I would cover. I accepted and it’s kind of hard to explain but all the missing pieces of my career just fell into place. 3 weeks in, I called her and asked, if she was planning on staying home or if was she planning on coming back to this job. She told me that she had decided to leave the job and stay home with her newborn. I was elated and told her that I would be keeping the job because I loved it. I found my niche. I went from being the front desk girl to the spa director of all 3 of the owner’s spas around the city in less than 3 years. It was my spa home for over 6 years. If not for Jasmine allowing me the opportunity to delve into another career field, I’m not sure I would have found it on my own.

I got married and moved to Oakland and I found another spa home. While I took a demotion (started as an assistant manager), I quickly moved into the position of Spa Director there as well in less than 8 months. This was a slightly different spa, and there was an immense amount of education that came with it. After 6 years, the owner decided to move into a more solo business and before she put the spa up for public sale, she gave me the offer of buying it from her and it seemed to be the next natural step.

I say all of this to say that once she left a good amount of clients followed her and I needed to fill in that revenue, so I began to brainstorm on adding services and a conversation that I’d had with my best friend Jasmine (again) came to mind, where she’d told me that she had gotten a V-Steam. It was something I had never heard of before and I started to research it. I took a year and researched everything I could find. I educated myself and even found an herbalist.

Around this same time, Gwyneth Paltrow featured this service on her Goop website with a particular chair that seemed very modern and top of the line. I realized there was hardly anyone doing them here in Northern California and so my partner/husband Levant and I began to do some research on the right chairs to get. If I was going to do it, it had to be right. Levant was determined to find the chairs but there was a lot of gatekeeping going on and it was difficult to get information on that particular chair. It was important to me to get them and Levant tirelessly researched and finally found the chairs that Gywneth had and the rest is history. It was a game changer. No one in Northern California to this day has the chairs that I have.

I could shout out so many others, but right here today, these are the superheroes in my life.

Website: www.breathespaoakland.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Breathespaoakland/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/breatheoakland?lang=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Breathespaoakland

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/breathe-day-spa-and-boutique-oakland

Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@breathespaoakland?lang=en

Image Credits
I took all the photos myself