International Women’s Day is all about honouring the incredible women who encourage us to dream bigger, nurture our spirits, and empower us to reach our full potential.

At Aqua Sana Forest Spa we're proud to foster an environment where women thrive. This International Women’s Day we’ve got to know some of our extraordinary female leaders and colleagues a bit better and what the themes around International Women’s Day mean to them.

Can you tell us a brief overview of your career history?

Nadine: My career history is relatively textbook landing my first job as a Marketing Co-ordinator straight from university, progressing within the marketing, product and commercial functions across a wide range of businesses since then. Looking back, I reflect more on the projects I’ve worked on and the people I’ve learnt from over the ‘job’ specifically because it’s that variety that has shaped my experience.

Kelly: After 13 years of working for a well-known high street brand I left my Sales Manager position in November 2017, following the birth of my second child. My time at Center Parcs began in the Contact Centre before I moved over to the Guest Services team, followed by a promotion to a new role of Shift Leader for the Pre-Arrivals team. Overseeing the spa concierge journey and guest interaction on our social media platforms is where I found my love for Aqua Sana Forest Spa. In July 2021 I moved over to Group Spa Scheduler and have never looked back. More recently in December 2024 as part of our continued growth I was promoted to a new role of Business Development Manager.

What advice would you give to your 18-year-old self?

Stephanie: Trust the process, listen to your gut instinct, be brave.

Gemma: Keep doing what you love. If you don't love it, move on. If you love the role you’re in and the company, keep enjoying the ride!

Kelly: Stay curious, keep learning, and take any opportunities that come your way! Try different roles and be open to training courses whether inside or outside your workplace. These will always help improve your skills.

Nadine:

• Your attitude will get you everywhere – show up even when you don’t feel your best or things aren’t going the way you’d hoped.
• Experiment – try new things particularly with work experience it will help you identify what energises you, making it easier to make the right career choices as you progress.
• Limit overthinking, accept you can’t control everything. Get comfortable making mistakes, don’t feel ashamed when you get it wrong but fail fast, accept it then learn from it. I’ll admit that I still haven’t mastered these last two points but much further on than my 18-year-old self!

What do you think is the key to building a workplace where women thrive?

Gemma: Communication, development, rewards and recognition.

Nadine: Employers can support by offering ongoing access to employee resource groups, which facilitate interaction and enable women to connect and share perspectives with each other outside their immediate working network. Mentoring programmes and active sponsorship of females giving them better opportunities to grow and develop.

As a leader, I strive to be a role model for women whose careers are important but who are also raising a family. With first-hand experience of the joys and challenges this shared responsibility can present it’s so important normalise the everyday reality and talk openly about the common ground we all experience. I happily share my real-life imperfect stories and hope to make a difference by inspiring others to believe they can be successful at both.

Stephanie: Creating a safe and positive space where women feel comfortable, confident and secure in talking, sharing and asking for support. As a leader I aim to be open and honest with the challenges I have faced in my career and in my personal life, I believe this has created a trusted space where my colleagues are able to do the same, and with that I am able to support them at work. It has also fostered an inclusive environment where you do not feel alone and recognise that as women, we often share the same obstacles and insecurities. In doing this not only am I able to support my team, but they also naturally support each other which creates a loyal and trusted work environment.

The theme for this year’s International Women's Day is 'accelerate action' what does this mean to you and how do you think we can do this at Aqua Sana Forest Spa?

Stephanie: For me, again this means creating a space where women feel confident to succeed and thrive in the workplace. One of the biggest challenges I see is the pressure of balancing work and family life, the mental load, guilt, and financial burden having an impact on how to do this still appears to predominately fall to the woman. Creating flexibility at work for both men and women and promoting a sense of security for both, will allow the balancing act of family life to not influence the perceived performance or capabilities at work but, in actual fact would likely only improve performance and potentially, more importantly change societies expectations on women to own this. At Aqua Sana Forest Spa we enable this with shift working and the ability for flexible work requests and I think allow people to speak honestly about their needs. However, we are only one space, and it requires the shift externally particularly in male dominated professions to have the same approach, allowing the natural support for women to thrive in the workplace.

Who are some of the women who have inspired you throughout your career or life?

Kelly: Our teams on village inspire me daily. The service and delivery are outstanding, and they all play their part. These teams were a huge help to me when I began my Aqua Sana Forest Spa journey.

Gemma: My current manager, Head of Department at Sherwood Forest, Lucy Smith. We have grown together and been a part of the Aqua Sana Forest Spa journey for over 20 years together. We have taken different directions, for different reasons, but Lucy will always remain my biggest inspiration. It never fails to amaze me in how dedicated, passionate, loyal, and strong she is.

How has Aqua Sana Forest Spa supported your growth and development?

Nadine: Leading the exciting brand development of Aqua Sana Forest Spa over the last 18 months is the ultimate project! So, I’d say ‘I’m thriving’ on this journey so far.

Gemma: I really owe a huge part of my working career and development to our Aqua Sana Forest Spa, it has made me the passionate Service Manager I am today. And 25 years on, I still love it!

Thank you for our four special ladies for taking the time to speak with us. If you are interested in joining our team, head to our careers page to find out more.