Monica Ketterman has worked in the spa industry for many years. Now, the Nocatee resident has established a new outlet for her skills and knowledge. She recently opened Halo Spa in Nocatee Town Center.
Tell me about Halo Spa.
We are located in the heart of Nocatee behind Town Center. We are inside Lakeside Professional Offices. It’s a new office plaza. We’ve been here two months.
How did you come up with the name?
The name “Halo Spa” came about when I was doing research for a salt room. Salt rooms have been around for a very long time. They’re also called halotherapy or salt caves. So, I kept coming across “halo.” I kept hearing it over and over again, and I just liked it. I thought people would get it [laughs], but nobody really does.
What is a salt room?
You go into the room. You relax. I have nice relaxing chairs — I chose to do recliners, like La-Z-Boy. So, I spent a little more money than the norm.
There’s a salt generator. You put in pharmaceutical-grade salt, and it’s ground up in the generator and dispenses in the air. You just sit back and you breathe.
Some of the benefits of salt therapy are: it helps with allergies and asthma, skin disorders, lung problems … the negative ions release serotonin in the brain, so it helps with stress. Just a whole realm of things. … And it’s safe for children, pregnant women and daily use.
But it’s something new to the area, and so I’m just really trying to educate people.
And we’re adding a vitality booth. Inside the vitality booth, which I also did a lot of research on, you’ll get salt, oxygen and red-light therapy, which helps improve your red blood cell count.
It has good, all-around health benefits, but especially if you’re recovering from an injury or if you have arthritis.
Do you offer any other services?
We have facials. We have microdermabrasion — we have wet/dry microdermabrasion. We have all kinds of facial stem-cell hydration facials. We have a LumaFirm facial. We have massage. A body wrap. We do make-up applications, and we do waxing.
And we’ve already had two private parties booked. So, we are definitely ready to cater for private parties, any special occasions, birthday parties, employee appreciation, bachelorette parties, bridal and baby showers.
Tell me about your background and how you started this business.
I’ve been in the spa industry for over 25 years as a make-up artist and an aesthetician. And I just wanted to bring something unique and different to the area, to Ponte Vedra —especially because I live here — with the salt room and the vitality booth.
What do you like most about what you do?
Helping people feel better. Making people smile, like when we can create a really nice facial. When they leave Halo Spa, they’re more radiant, more youthful feeling and looking younger.
And then, of course, with the salt room, they just feel better, whether it’s their allergies, their asthma. I’ve had several clients that were like, “I can breathe!” I’m sure with the vitality booth we’ll get the same results if not more, because we’ll have the oxygen and the red-light therapy.
What do you like most about living in Nocatee?
I like the area. I like the people. I like how relaxed it is out here. That’s why I thought bringing a spa to this area would be such a plus, because we’re all looking to just relax and feel good. There’s so much going on in the world. We need some anti-stress. We need some down time.
How do you like to spend your free time?
I don’t have any! [laughs]. We also have a photography company, so my free time is with my family, my kids.
