We were lucky to catch up with Sayuri Tsuchitani recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sayuri, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

I have over two decades of hair stylist experience, but for 12 months during covid, my business was forced to slow or shut down. I had a lot of time to think about what the US market was missing based on various wellness techniques I
was exposed to during my upbringing in Japan. It is clear that the US market is stressed and that the pandemic would
bring on more even more stress and other issues, which could cause loss of hair, diminished sleep quality, and mental
health issues. I wanted to find a way to try to address these issues without prescription pills and in a unique and
affordable way that could easily gain market acceptance- that’s when I conceived of a business plan to start head spas
and try to scale the business across the US. No one else was involved in the development of this idea.

Sayuri, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Massage therapy and acupuncture are becoming more and more popular in America but these services focus on the body and feet. My business focuses on the scalp which is a mostly ignored area of the body despite being so important
to our health! The only major competitor that I see would be the scalp massage devices installed by balding men in
their showers. There are many studies that show that regular scalp massages will increase and stimulate hair follicle
growth but any massage feels better when you let someone else take care of you.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Crushing It!: How Great Entrepreneurs Build Their Business and Influence-and How You Can, Too

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

The pandemic was a huge hurdle to face as a small business but it was also the catalyst for me to re-examine my business plan. At this time I also made money by teaching Japanese head spa techniques over Zoom and this is when I
realized how much easier it is to learn something when you can see someone doing it. Before Zoom I had been creating
my training manual as a Google document but my new employees were not understanding our product well and unable
to learn effectively and efficiently. I also have a lot of employees with language barriers so now I am developing a
learning management system that will allow trainees to learn Japanese head spa techniques and processes from
training videos module within an employee portal instead of Google doc. This will also be an important tool in the
expansion of Head Spa EN as we begin to franchise and need to train people across the United States.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.headspaen.com
• Instagram: @headspa_en