Hello Lovelies,

Nothing brings me more joy than to feel inspired. Truly, nothing. And this summer has been about unearthing as much inspiration as I can possibly handle. I figured, if I’m actually going to jump off the cliff and shut down my storefront of 18 years, I might as well make it worth it. Do all the things I possibly can that’ll bring me pure unadulterated inspiration. I have not been disappointed.

The ancients described spa as both a place and a state of healing and of finding sanctuary. This is partly why I want to make a sarcastically beautiful coffee table book entitled Dive Spas of Chicago - we’ve digressed.

Healing sanctuary. I could spend an eternity cultivating a healing sanctuary. These two words resonate to my most inner core and something I’ve spent the better part of my life studying from various perspectives. I can simplify it further into one word: home.

The home is our spiritual center. “You have to learn that you are your home” is such a beloved verse from a poem by an obscure writer that hung on the wall of the room I stayed in on Greenwood Ave across from the UChicago Law School in Hyde Park when I first pulled into town. So true, wouldn’t you say?

Working outward, then, our actual home is part of the physical sanctuary we cultivate. What a perfect addition to your home is a concierge spa! It just happens to be my specialty, come to think of it. That is the vibe I want to incorporate for our visits together. A healing sanctuary in your home. I have several tips coming later as to how we can hone and prune this.

I’ve already seen several of you picking up on this vibe, too! It’s so exciting to see. One client, Lisa, who last Christmas showed me her little sanctuary room during her holiday party and has on several occasions told me how much she loves that space. Her sweet little pug, Aunt Bea, also loves it too. This is where she’s come to navigate us to meet. It’s such a cozy inner sanctuary. Another client, Lauren, who recently has converted her upstairs duplex into an extra space for the family/AirBnB has designated such a lovely space in the area surrounded by sun-filled windows. It’s so light and peaceful. What a joy. Another, Renee, has a sanctuary room already in the form of a kind of loft that opens out to a garden complete with summer vine-grown tomatoes and a view of Wrigley Field directly across the street. Many have lit candles, put on soft music. All these thoughtful and intentional offerings in the name of healing and sanctuary.

I am truly uplifted by watching you cultivate this idea and make it your own, all while probably not even being aware of it. So, let's challenge ourselves to look beyond the surface, beyond the "what" and explore the depths of the "why." Let's seek inspiration from our found purpose and allow it to guide us on our journey. Remember, it's not about achievements or possessions but how those accomplishments impact our sanctuary.

Maybe sanctuary isn’t something we escape to at all. Maybe it’s something we cultivate—slowly, deliberately, beautifully—in the place where we already live. And I’m finding there’s something incredibly inspiring about being invited into yours.

xx,

Tracey

Hi My Lovelies!

Woah, this summer’s been intense. And I’ve got the bruises to show for it. Literally, I’ve never been more bruised in all my life from lugging massage tables all over the Chicagoland area, but I’m not here to talk about that. I’m here to rave about the Power of the Pivot. I. Am. Here. For. It.

In hindsight, I think it started in May 2023. Lordy. It was the first time I scheduled five days off since navigating a small business in Chicago through the tirade of Covid and I collapsed. Literally didn’t leave my room and binged all seasons of True Blood. Something in me shifted. Snapped. I’d felt like I’d run a damn marathon.

What exactly snapped, but only in baby steps, was my willingness to go along with endless compromise. You put a lot of things on hold as a successful small business owner. Something I generally excel in. But I found myself kinda fed up. Lightfoot and Covid had taken things a bit too far. While I’d felt like the last man standing and Luminere’d actually thrived thanks to my Facialgrams I’d established in 2014 (I’d even run out of space on my schedule while most spas were folding), I was pushed a little too far in the compromising department.

Then came the war on commercial real estate and small business in Chicago that no one was talking about that led to me founding the non-profit Stop ICC Hostility after they had the bright idea to - in the face of a 25% historic vacancy rate of commercial real estate in Chicago - to add a tariff onto our utilities that equated to doubling my bills. This in a state that boasts the hightest property taxes in the country and charges commercial real estate 6x that rate.

Then came the crazy experiences with clients - mostly ones I’d not worked with but a couple I’d had. Somewhere in the years that followed 2020, something changed. Not with everyone—and certainly not overnight—but I began encountering a level of anger, entitlement and outright aggression from customers that I had rarely experienced before. A boundary became an insult. A price increase became a personal betrayal. A scheduling conflict became a confrontation. “No” became something that required a defense.

Last Labor Day weekend, the front of my shop was vandalized with white paint being smeared all over my windows by a fellow small business owner hair stylist. What egregious thing did I do, you ask? I politely chose not to reschedule her. Last November, I donated to the Lakeview High School Dance Team but also declined to schedule the lady who I’d given the donation to that worked there after she’d canceled twice. This led to 1,2,3…7 scathing fake reviews (that have been removed) and a bunch of weird vm threats to my personal safety.

In February, I had to get a restraining order against my neighbor on the 3rd floor of my building because he did actually physically attack me. Why in the world, you ask? A parking dispute. Yep, literally had to go down to a city building with judges and hire an attorney. Had to take photos of bruises and bloody scratches on my arm and decollete. Over parking. The judge said it best when he said, “You’re kidding.”

Professionally, I was hitting a glass ceiling. This breaking point came in 2024. I’d bought a hydrofacial machine to introduce in January 2025 only to receive notice from the state that same month on their website that my license no longer permitted me to use the device. For the past 25 years, this has been the trend. Every single thing that’s been introduced in my industry has been medical grade only and many things that used to fall in my purview have been converted to medical grade only. Challenge accepted. I’m going to NP school. And thank you for the needed motivation.

This summer, however, presented the biggest motivation. The huge glass warehouse, Tortenson’s, across the street, is being torn down. In its place, city council has granted special permission to build a 99 unit apartment complex with basically no parking. In essence, they might as well as knocked on my door and told me to move because none of my clients are going to be able to park nearby again. This, combined with the fact that vacancy rates in Chicago for commercial are now at a historic 30% and my beautiful shop that I bought with cash and built out completely in 2013 is now worth less than it was then - and that concludes my participation.

I’ve been thinking about the ‘everything happens for a reason.’ Oddly, I’ve been seeing it everywhere too. And it got me thinking. Everything happens for a reason sometimes to push us into doing the thing that’s the hardest. It’s a damn narrow gate to get through to do what we should be doing. I’ve often got to remind myself to speak it into existence, to think it into existence. You following me? Because we’re certainly not surrounded by positivity and encouragement throughout the day. And our thoughts naturally tend to go to what the problems and downsides and shortcomings are.

I am reminding myself that I’m made up of about 90% grit/10% leap before you look for good measure. And I intend to cover myself with only, and I mean only, what is and what is is that I have a God-given mandate and was made with no shortcomings. Nothing is going to ooze in that doesn’t absolutely align with that. That’s the pivot.

Because the pivot isn't admitting defeat. It's finally realizing that you don't have to keep winning a game you no longer want to play.

So I'm going to NP school. I'm changing what Luminere looks like. I'm changing what my life looks like. And for the first time in a very long time, I'm not compromising my way through it.

I actually f***ing did it.