Be Human: Interview with Megan Richardson-Tiernan and Gretchen Tiernan, Co-Founders and Co-CEOs of Sand Spa

I recently spoke to Megan Richardson-Tiernan and Gretchen Tiernan, co-founders and co-CEOs of Sand Spa.

Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?

Megan: Well, we’ve had quite a few role models through our 20's and now early 30's that have been the most instrumental to our growth. There are people who continue to inspire us and people who we see ourselves in that are constantly and consistently evolving. We love to surround ourselves with people who continue to motivate us and are never fully satisfied with where they are and want to become better versions of themselves day in and day out.

Gretchen: For Megan and I, our parents have been major in shaping who we are as individuals. They've given us a solid foundation of resilience because of who they are innately. And, to some degree, the intangibles our parents embody have been naturally downloaded into our DNA.

As former college basketball players, Megan and I both have always looked up to Kobe Bryant and carry the mamba mentality everywhere we go. There’s a lot we can learn from Kobe - his work ethic, passion, and love for the game means a lot to us not only as athletes but as business owners, too.

Adam: How did you come up with your business idea? What advice do you have for others on how to come up with great ideas?

Gretchen: The inspiration behind Sand Spa came from our background as college athletes. We both played basketball at universities in California and became accustomed to the benefits of the weekly massage treatments for our sore muscles and the constant body aches. We really loved and enjoyed those moments of recovery, rest, and overall relaxation that were built directly into our schedules. Athletics in college are incredibly demanding, and massages were a form of self-care that allowed us to fully relax, unwind, and decompress both our bodies and our minds. Once we wrapped up our careers we realized that, although we loved the benefits of massages, we simply could not afford to keep this habit up on our own. So, we decided to create Sand Spa and carried on with the belief that spa days shouldn’t only be saved for special occasions but instead should - and can - be incorporated into your ongoing self-care and/or wellness routines.

Megan: Our advice for others on how to come up with great ideas is to know and understand that virtually nothing is ever going to go as planned. As much as people would like to think there is, there is no perfect time for anything so you need to just go out and go for it. Your dream will work if you do. 

Understanding that there is also a fine line between being inspired by someone else's story and trying to apply that story to your own life is crucial. You have to write your own book, and you really have to hustle to make your idols become your rivals.

Adam: How did you know your business idea was worth pursuing? What advice do you have on how to best test a business idea?

Gretchen: We knew our business idea was worth pursuing because we knew and recognized the need in the marketplace for more affordable and accessible spa services. And, we wanted to completely modernize the spa experience. When you go to a traditional, high-end spa you are not just paying for the service, you are paying a premium to also have access to all of the spa facilities such as the = sauna, locker room, jacuzzi etc. All of which are amazing and pampering, but not always the best for someone that only has an hour to themselves. These services are also not always friendly on your budget if you’re looking to incorporate massages into a weekly or monthly schedule. 

So when creating Sand Spa, we wanted to take out the fluff and just focus on high-quality services at affordable prices. We truly felt that this was a situation where everyone could relate to, and that this would help people take more time for self-care by having it delivered to them in a more convenient manner. 

Megan: To us, the best test of a business idea is when you take the time to think it through from every single angle possible. If you are an entrepreneur, and truly identify as an entrepreneur, chances are you are always thinking of solving a problem and finding a niche solution to said problem. The difference between good ideas and really good ideas are the ones that you have slept on and have perfected in your head over, and over, and over again. 

Adam: What are the key steps you have taken to grow your business? What advice do you have for others on how to take their businesses to the next level?

Megan: In each of our business endeavors, we have always wanted and strived to create a culture that is welcoming and accepting of people from all walks of life. We love having diversity in our locations – we take everyone for who they are as people and how they do their job no matter their race, gender, sexual identity, etc. As members of the LGBTQIA+ community, it has always been important for us to embrace who we are as individuals and to show up as our authentic self in every situation. We do this because we want others to be able to show up and feel comfortable enough to be and embrace their authentic self. We also want our staff and our clients to feel at home when they come through our doors. And while we may not be for everyone, we most certainly are for anyone.

Gretchen: We have a few pieces of advice on how to take their business to the next level: change up your routine, continue to build organically, and stay true to who you are. Megan and I often change up our routine - we are firm believers in looking for inspiration in the places you wouldn’t always think to look first. It could be finding someone's Instagram profile that brings out something different in you or listening to a podcast that sparks and inspires a new idea or gets you thinking in a different way. We believe that diversifying the people, thoughts, and ideas you absorb is the key to constantly growing. Another ideology we like to live by is to remain malleable while building. Whether it be mandated closures from the pandemic or other problems that arise, we have been able to evolve and seize different opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t have been available to us. Being able to be open to those opportunities has helped our businesses grow tremendously over the years.

Adam: What are your best sales and marketing tips?

Gretchen: Our overarching sales and marketing tip would be to not bombard your clients with overwhelming amounts of specials or deals. In our business we are meaningful with what we choose to email our clients and when we choose to email our clients. Being intentional in email blasts has helped us keep high conversion rates and successful calls to action. We also love to create activations surrounding causes that parallel our own values. We partner with the Trevor Project, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, and many other reputable charities at various times during the year.

Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?

Gretchen: A great defining quality of an effective leader is the ability to lead by example. You can talk the talk, but if you aren’t a mirror of possibilities then your staff isn’t going to take you seriously - you have to be able to lead by example and do things by your own words. Megan and I are constantly evolving and changing to become better, and we want our staff to do the same. We don’t approach meetings with a ‘what we say goes’ mentality, we are more collaborative in what we do and how we do it. We listen to all of our employees and shape what we do to best suit them, along with the needs of our clients, to be able to better the collaboration within our team.

Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading and managing teams?

Megan: Be human. Get to know your staff and let them get to know you - do your best to build relationships with those around you, and with the people you interact with every day. People will go to battle for you if they feel they know you, have something in common with you, and have found ways to connect with you. Try to create relationships with your staff and team members. You don’t have to be best friends by any means, but it also doesn’t always have to be strictly business either.

Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives and civic leaders?

Gretchen: Understand that pressure is a privilege. Pressure means you believe in yourself, or that someone else believes in you, enough to be provided with an opportunity to rise up and do something extraordinary. 

Megan: Another tip is to always take your time and always listen to yourself. Personally, we will not do anything if we have to make a decision in a short amount of time. If it doesn’t feel right to us, we will always try to take time to voice our opinions, concerns, and everything in between. Trust in your gut feelings and intuitions.

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?

Megan: If you think the cost of winning is high, just wait until you get the bill of regret. With that being said, we encourage everyone to just experience everything, wonder often, experiment, go after your dreams - no matter how outrageous and out of reach they seem to be - and do the most.


Adam Mendler is the CEO of The Veloz Group, where he co-founded and oversees ventures across a wide variety of industries. Adam is also the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. Adam has written extensively on leadership, management, entrepreneurship, marketing and sales, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities and non-profit organizations.

Follow Adam on Instagram and Twitter at @adammendler and listen and subscribe to Thirty Minute Mentors on your favorite podcasting app.