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Lee Braun | CEO & Co-Founder | Perspire Sauna Studio

Perspire Sauna Studio: Transforming Health and Wellness with Inside-out Approach

A unique blend of modern science, technology, and ancient healing practices, Perspire Sauna Studio was formed with a strong purpose to Ignite the Wellness Within™. Perspire is the premier infrared sauna franchise that combines the centuries-old practice of heat therapy with science of infrared technology and color light therapy. It offers fully customizable 40- minute infrared sauna sessions combined with built-in color light and high intensity red light therapy.

With an intent to make infrared wellness accessible, Perspire is expanding rapidly, opening locations in communities and cities throughout the country. One of the inceptive minds behind Perspire Sauna Studio is its CEO, Lee Braun.

Being Part of People’s Health and Wellness Journey

We started back in 2010 with neither myself nor my business partner Ken Arsenian ever having owned a business much less having experience in spas and the wellness industry. I was 24 at the time and wanted to start something of my own after a few years in construction management. This was an incredible opportunity for me to get involved with considering I had wanted to be a physiology major in college because the body fascinated me, but fundamentally could not comprehend Chemistry.

Relocating from Michigan to California and taking over a brand new sauna business only recently started by Ken and his prior partner may have seemed like a crazy idea at the time; but I felt up for the challenge and trust me, there were many in the beginning.

The main one being – nobody had ever heard of an infrared sauna, or why they should use one. The other one being the current name at the time, Suitesweat because of the private sauna rooms. Some people thought we were a candy and bakery while others just did not understand the concept we were promoting. When we changed the name to Perspire Sauna Studio, it immediately resonated with people and helped our communities understand what we were about. Over time, we have worked to finetune our message and marketing and now with the wellness boom of the past 3-4 years, we are growing and expanding across the USA.

Now more than ever, people are craving internal wellness – both mind and body. Last year when people were being bombarded with change, disease and societal unrest, they turned to Perspire for help, even when it was scary at times to leave the house. Perspire took great pride in knowing that this was many people’s safe place.

Perspire just celebrated its 11-year anniversary from their first Perspire Sauna Studio opening in Costa Mesa, CA studio in 2010. Even with the initial 4-5 years of struggling through the tough years, we were able to keep going because deep down we knew two truths about this experience; this is for everyone, and this can be everywhere. The continued compliments and positive feedback from members, citing their improved health and general well-being reaffirmed our belief in the power of the business.

Looking back to the beginning when we were excited to hit our initial goals of 25 people visiting Perspire and now, we are getting ready to celebrate our 1,000,000th visitor sometime this summer. To be part of our members wellness journey inspires our team on a continual basis.

Prioritizing Mental and Physical Well-being

The pandemic’s effect on the world has been devastating, but if there is any silver lining it’s that more and more people are prioritizing their mental and physical well-being. There has been an incredible jump in demand for wellness services like infrared sauna use since Perspire re-opened post lock-down back in May 2020. Wellness was already a booming sector, but its growth has clearly been propelled by the pandemic. More than ever, people of different backgrounds and geographic locations are trying out different wellness services in order to feel better. Perspire is thrilled to see more people becoming conscious of their own health and wellbeing and now actively seeking to manage and improve it.

Making Sense from a Franchise Standpoint

Perspire has used infrared sauna and light technology as the cornerstone of its business since 2010. The business model is intentionally simple in its daily operations and has never tried to be everything to everybody. Perspire is mindful of how and when to add new services and the focus is on how these new services or new technology will fit in with the infrared sauna experience for members. With that in mind, in 2020, Perspire negotiated with their manufacturer for a more exclusive and custom infrared sauna model and made specific improvements including adding in a high intensity red light bar in the ceiling to further enhance the wellness benefits of the experience.

Making IR Wellness Accessible and Scalable

Perspire is very excited to be leading the way in making IR wellness accessible in communities all over the country with 16 locations now open and 10 more opening by the end of the calendar year in 8 different states.

Operationally, Perspire is always keeping the health and safety of its members and teams a top priority. From the beginning, the layout and system were designed to provide a modicum of privacy to all the members, which turned out to be an asset in 2020 when the requirement for social distancing became the norm in the business world.

Finding Most Creative and Efficient Ways to Overcome Obstacles

The team behind Perspire is a group of people very passionate about IR, each with their own personal transformational story which fuels them in finding the most creative and efficient ways to overcome obstacles. It is important to always be willing to listen, adapt, solve and pivot when necessary and the entire Perspire team models that on every level.

Transforming People’s Health from the Inside-out

Perspire Sauna Studio’s services are for everybody. It works on a foundational level to transform people’s health from the inside out. The main scientifically researched benefits include as follows:

  • Detoxing the Body
  • Relaxing the mind
  • Burning Calories
  • Easing Pain
  • Enhancing Immune System
  • Clearing and Improving Skin
  • Improving Sleep

People Leave Feeling Better than They Arrived

Perspire has intentionally chosen to grow slowly and organically and will continue to be mindful of such as it enters in this new chapter of its brand evolution. Integrity is one of its core values and will forever be one of guiding principles, leading with morality, honesty, compassion and authenticity from Lee on through to every studio team member. Perspire is always putting people over profit and ensuring that everyone—whether that be an internal team member, a vendor, its franchisees and members—leave feeling better than when they arrived. That’s the key vision and mission of Perspire and its North Star.

Learn more by visiting www.perspiresaunastudio.com