PEOPLE

Thani Talk 2 8 March 2020 Rin Minckler, Owner of Bamboo Spa Entrepreneur Extraordinaire Spans Two Continents Just 12 years ago, on Christmas Eve 2007, Nichada resident Rin Minckler opened Bamboo Spa near Starbucks in Nichada. From Day 1 the quaint little spa retreat was a success, she said. Rin and her family now live in Portsmouth, New Hampshire (about one hour north of Boston), but Bamboo Spa is still going strong here in Pakkred with Rin expertly running the business from the other side of the world.

Rin, born in Thailand, returns to Nonthaburi four times a year. But when she is stateside, she puts technology to good use to stay in touch with her 8-member staff, including six therapists, a receptionist and a manager. "I manage the spa remotely, with the help of my family in Bangkok, when needed," said Rin. "...my team and I communicate daily with emails, messaging apps and calls. The time difference is 12 hours, which can be challenging, but I still manage to keep in touch with the business daily."

Rin, 42, graduated from Assumption University (ABAC) with a major in marketing. She met her husband Andy Minckler, an American, at a trade show in Bangkok in 1998. Andy is with InsurExcellence Insurance Brokers (self-employed). Andy still runs his insurance business in Asia, so he has to travel back and forth to Asia frequently. The couple has two teenage sons, 17-year-old Ryan and 15-year-old Matthew. Both boys started pre-K at ISB before moving to the United States in 2018 after finishing 9th and 7th grades, respectively.

"The primary reason for our move was so the boys could attend high school in the US, as preparation for going to university in the US, including playing baseball in college," said Rin. One of the family photos she shared shows the boys in the baseball uniforms of the local Bangkok baseball league when the family lived in Nichada. The boys nowattend Portsmouth High School in New Hampshire.

The Mincklers are a very sports-oriented family. When living in Thailand, the boys played a variety of sports at an increasingly higher level, necessitating frequent travel in Asia and the US for the family. Now that they are in the States, the Mincklers remain equally active in their American community. "We support the basketball and baseball teams that our boys play on with things like fund raising and helping out on game days," said Rin.

Rin said she and her relatives are very entrepreneurial. "My family and I still own a customized apparel business," said Rin. "My husband and I used to be partners in a healthy food and beverage business called Twist Smoothies, with one shop in Nichada and one downtown." During her family's 14 years in Nichada, and before opening Bamboo Spa, Rin worked as a merchandiser in the leather goods and footwear industry. But she was always on the lookout for other good business opportunities.

"First of all, my husband, my family and I are all entrepreneurs, so we enjoy starting new businesses" said Rin. " After taking time off to raise her sons, Rin decided to start a business that would offer the flexibility of parttime hours. Bamboo Spa turned out to be the perfect answer.

Setting up a business wasn’t all smooth sailing. The biggest challenge was staffing. "For me, it was how to find and keep good therapists, and to have low staff turnover," said Rin. "For the Nichada market, finding a receptionist who spoke good enough English proved quite difficult, so I had to do dozens of interviews. I have always believed if you treat your staff like your own family, they will also treat you the same. After 12 years of being in business, I’m very proud to say most of my staff have been with Bamboo Spa a long time, and some from the very beginning."

Before opening Bamboo Spa, Rin spent plenty of time researching the spa industry, studying service standards, ambiance and pricing. "Firstly, I hired a spa consultant

Thani Talk March 2020 Bamboo Spa (Near Starbucks in Nichada) 39/20 Moo 3 Bangtalard, Nonthaburi Tel: 02 583 9871 Liz Lu to advise us on all aspects of setting up the location, services, equipment and so on. Secondly, I hired an interior designer to create the customer experience and ambience that we wanted," she said. Lastly, she took a spa management course at Chiva-Som, a leading spa business and training program. "This really helped me to conceptualize Bamboo Spa, but also to understand the other key parts of the business, like finance, management, staff training and retail," said Rin.

"Our business model was to create a ‘high end’ spa experience, but priced at a reasonable level so customers would want and could afford to come back again and again," she said. It took about nine months to go from the idea for Bamboo Spa to opening day, said Rin. Most of the spa's marketing and promotions are done through social media, which Rin handles herself. All products sold at Bamboo Spa are made in Thailand by Pranali Wellness, said Rin. "Every product I use at my spa, I have to test it myself and make sure that there is no allergic reaction or any other issues."

Although in the US Rin has no outside job, she spends several hours a day running Bamboo Spa from afar. Even when Rin relaxes, she constantly challenges herself to learn. "I am very interested in learning about how social media can help grow a business," she said. "I spend a lot of my time studying this area, and have taken some online courses. I’ve also enjoyed becoming a micro influencer to help brands promote and review their products (health and skincare) on Instagram."

The success of Bamboo Spa for more than a decade has brought Rin tremendous satisfaction. Said Rin, "Starting and operating any business is never easy, but it’s been very gratifying to see Bamboo Spa become one of the anchor businesses within the Nichada community."