Spa Owner Takes a Holistic View to Business

Finding Funding

Breitbard was 34 when she started Betty's Bath, having "burned out from teaching English as a second language," she drew on a background that included business people in her family; both her parents are accountants. She is not a practitioner of the healing arts herself, but she has a passion for wellness. "I really believe in integrative health and appreciated other spas I'd been to," says Breitbard. "I merged the concepts of two spas she says she really loved, one in San Francisco and another called Ten Thousand Waves in Sante Fe."

To start the business she was able to put together a package of loans including an SBA loan and through an Albuquerque-based micro lending organization, WESST Corp., which provides assistance to women and minorities who want to start businesses.

Staying Active

Breitbard discovered that running a business, but also leadership, comes naturally to her. She calls on these skills to stay active in her community. In 2003, she started the local Albuquerque Independent Business Alliance, or AIBA, to raise awareness about the benefits of shopping at neighborhood businesses.

It doesn't all end there, Breitbard acknowledges that she has the entrepreneurial bug, and her dreams include starting other businesses where she sees a need and the opportunity, including a green building-supply company, a business in micro lending, and an organic ice cream store right next door to Betty's.