We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kristy Morris. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kristy below.

Alright, Kristy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of our favorite things to brainstorm about with friends who’ve built something entrepreneurial is what they would do differently if they were to start over today. Surely, there are things you’ve learned that would allow you to do it over faster, more efficiently. We’d love to hear how you would go about setting things up if you were starting over today, knowing everything that you already know.

KAILO started in 2018 as a Wellness Medispa and opened its doors with 8 staff and today it sits at 44 staff and visiting practitioners.. The business has grown in a way my business partner Kath and I could never have imagined. We have a space that offers a diverse range of wellness/medical and skin treatments. It’s a luxury wellness hub that has something for everyone. Throughout our journey we have created our own botanical skincare line along with KAILO Nutrition which is a thoughtfully crafted range of collagen super blends which has launched in the USA. The area we have learned the most in our journey is managing cashflow whilst you are building a brand new start up from our current Medispa business. If we had our time again we would start with KAILO the same way however, launch nutrition first and then once we were established with the product range then launch the Skincare range. It’s definitely been a challenging and extremely exciting time for us and the lessons we have learned along the way have been invaluable.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Kristy Morris, from Brisbane, Australia and I am a 44 year old mother of 3 children and co founder of KAILO Group (along with my business partner Kath Merlo).

Kath and I spent 12 months living in LA and we noticed there was a demand for wellness and medical spaces with a luxury offering. We felt Australia had a huge gap in this space and we wanted to be the first to create a world class luxury space that would allow guests visit our business and feel we can take care of all their needs. We also noticed people were moving away from your typical day spa as they wanted more on offer. Globally people are time poor and want to be taken care of without having to drive to multiple locations. We are a first of it’s kind in Australia and have won number 1 luxury wellness Medispa in Australia 5 years in a row along with winning Australia’s number Wellness brand and most recently a global award for number 1 wellness luxury spa.

Both Kath and I do not have a background in the wellness/beauty space however, we had a passion and saw ourselves as the ultimate consumer. We put together a space we felt would service multiple needs. My background was small business in the food and retail space along with corporate HR advisor in the airlines industry. Kath has a strong background in Marketing and PR and as a duo we saw that as the perfect match.

I feel most proud of the relationship Kath and I have been able to maintain and build upon. There is a deep level of respect between us and that in turn has created an incredible culture throughout our team. As a business we are most proud of our team as they are the best in their field and deliver service excellence and unwavering commitment to their guests.

How’d you meet your business partner?

Kath and I met due to our sons being at school together. We started talking whilst waiting for our sons to finish school and we realised we were both on similar journeys with our sons in relation to their health. The journey we were both on took us to LA to seek better medical treatment that wasn’t on offer in Australia at the time. We realised we both shared a commitment to our son’s that meant them not falling victim to their DNA and searching for better options. Due to that journey and our passion for longterm wellness KAILO was born!

Any advice for managing a team?

People and the culture you drive as a leader is the number one most important component to every business. Without our people we would not be in business.

Managing people is not only the most rewarding part of being in business it is also the area that takes up most time and can also be extremely stressful. If you have one person in your business not performing it can bring the whole team morale down. People want to feel heard and valued and that they are part of why a business is successful. The more you communicate with your employees and find out what motivates them and what supports them to feel valued you will have a more committed team. Your team also need to understand the vision you have as the owner and take them on the journey with you by including them in decisions and seeking ideas from you team. Rewarding your team is something that I feel strongly about and keeping the team connected through outside work fun!

Contact Info:

• Website: Kailo.com.au
• Instagram: @kailo_aus

Image Credits
Will have our marketing manager send through key photos.