Arinola Adeniyi is the adorable lady behind Venivici Health Club & Urban Spa in Lekki Phase 1, in Lagos. It is a leading brand in the Spa and Wellness Industry.
This lovely lady who read Economics at the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University and MBAin University of Lagos was formerly a high flying banker.
Venivici HealthClub and Urban Spa began operations in the Spa and Wellness Industry in June 1999 at a location in Kofo Abayomi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.
In 2004, she moved into her ultra-modern facility at Plot 146A Ligali Ayorinde Street, Victoria Island where she remains till date. Venivici Spa specialises in Holistic and Alternative TherapyServices in an Oasis of Tranquillity and Serenity.
The ambience, aesthetics, cleanliness of our ultra-modern facility lend credence to this. Venivici Spa, believes in Preventive Total Care that keep clients at Optimum Health and wellbeing whilst also enhancing their outward appearance.
Venivici is a multi-service/therapy facility. So there’s something for everybody: Male, Female, Young, Old, Yuppie, Middle-Aged, Black, White, Asian, Caucasian.
What stands her business out is service delivery which is excellent and unique-offered by well trained professional therapists.
Treatments include: • Weight and Stress Therapy • Aromatherapy • Stone and • G5 Massage, • Facials • Body Polish • Mud Wrap • Waxing • Foot and Hand Treatments • Colon Hydrotherapy • Corporate Wellness Coaching.
All treatments are therapeutic, natural and non invasive. They can also be custom-made to suit the needs of individual customers. Benefits of the treatments include how it enhances physical and emotional wellbeing, increase circulation and detoxifies reduce stress hormones in the body and induce relaxation, ease bloating caused by water retention, weight loss: help breakdown fatty tissues and tones muscles, stimulate immune system, visible improvement in condition of skin-celluite (body), acne (face) etc.
According to Arin what life takes out of you, through our holistic treatments, Venivici puts back in you. Our wonderful and dedicated team at Venivici will ensure you emerge from the treatment room completely relaxed and revitalised!
Recently, Arin who is a Corporate Wellness Coach, Colon Therapist, Diet & Nutrition Specialist,Mind Coach Trainer all rolled into one spoke to City People about how far she’s carried her dream.
Tell us about Venivici Spa?
Our niche in this very wide industry, of beauty is the Health and Wellness Spectrum.
It is a very huge industry but what we do is what we are called for. We have narrowed it down to Health and Wellness. It was a period when I also had to do my yearly seminar which is on Preventive Health, on ageing gracefully, anti-aging, so, it was held at that period. It wasn’t just going away to celebrate my birthday quietly abroad. It was also because I had to be in school and the knowledge and information I brought back has been very helpful in helping people in the area of diet and nutrition, lifestyle.
I go back to school very frequently to update my skills. I tell people that I have done more courses then I did when I was in the banking industry for very many years because there is a lot to catch up with. It is a fast growing industry and there is always something new.
The pace of the whole world itself is very fast to remain relevant. I have added a new area, corporate wellness.
That is our new thing in Venivici. Its called Corporate Wellness Coaching. We appreciate that people don’t have time to come here so we would go to them and teach them how to make little changes in our lifestyle that can keep us healthier, our focus now is about creating a healthier society.
We have realised that right now, everybody is just busy so I can give those in the corporate world healthy tips on Wellbeing Diet and Nutrition, on things you can do on your own, on how you can achieve your 10,000 steps a day and of that without coming to me. We would give you a paedometre, so you are counting yourself, instead of going in the elevator you climb the steps.
What is the big deal about this Corporate Wellness Programme?
Oh, its very crucial and important because we have realised that all the lifestyle diseases of Hypertension, Stroke, Diabetes are all lifestyle related. It is because of the lifestyles we are living. So, if there is someone medging you, reminding you, encouraging you to live or eat right it will help. For instance we can encourage you that oh instead of you having all pastries at your Board meetings, at your management meetings.
We could device healthier alternatives, people will be satisfied and it will be more nutritious and beneficial to their health because really we don’t need most of the food we take in. We need to ask ourselves how much food do we really need and we are eating the wrong food and its not our fault. Its because of our lifestyles.
In Lagos, the quality of our lifestyle is really very appalling we make up at 5.00 am, have to be out of the house at 6.00 am, beat traffic, get to your office, after spending 2 to 3 hours in traffic you are tired already. Even those who live in VGC it takes you 3 hours to get to work, you are totally tired.
And the biggest problem now in Corporate World is not so much that people are absent ‘Absenteeism’ it is ‘Presenteeism’ meaning that we are present but we are not doing anything. We are just there. We are just going through the motions without being productive.
So if you have a Corporate Wellness Coach that comes in, you have a talk maybe once in a quarter or once a month and before we start we take their Biometrics. We need to know their BP, their BMI, when they are in their state of health and this subtle little changes will help them. Once you affect one member of the family, you can affect the other family members and then they’ll share the new information with their neighbours and we are going to end up having a healthier Nigeria. That is now our main focus, our trust.
It is the Corporate Wellness Therapy, offering lifestyle options. Our jobs are sedentary, so we are not exercising, we spend to much time in traffic so we are not exercising. Meanwhile we all know that we need to take a certain number of steps to be healthier in a day. Our choice of food is wrong. Our meals are not planned and its not our fault. We are just on a roller coaster motion, 24/7 existence.
We don’t even think of taking care of ourselves and it is important to do so. We can age gracefully, and can be healthier.
How old is Venivici?
Venivici is actually 20 years old and like I tell people the business is older than myself because I started it when I still had my corporate job. But in 2002, I left the bank full time to face Venivici.
Looking back at what you’ve been able to achieve in 20 years how does it make you feel?
Its very humbling. Its gone through different phases. Like I tell people your vision is never unfolded to you at once. It is in phases and in stages and you need to be able to grow with it. Maybe if I knew how wide, how engaging it will be I probably will not have started it.
So you need to have a passion for any business you do. If you don’t have a passion for a business and you go into it, you will have a problem. But the results that we get from people, the testimonials is just amazing, the positive difference you are making in peoples wellbeing has made it all the very well worth it to remain in the business.
That encourages us to want to do more. They are enormous. Is it the bride that is getting married and we are able to help her with her acne and the make-up goes on smooth on her face or someone that has a weight challenge and is able to lose weight before the d-day or someone that has to do a detox to be better.
We do a wide range of treatments from your detox, to your stress management, to diet and nutrition. There is something for everybody. It is not only for woman. Men too can benefit from what we do. Younger people, old, young, yuppie, male, female everybody can benefit.
What gave you the confidence at that time to leave a well paid job banking job as a Deputy GM job to follow your dream?
I saw a gap in society that needed to be filled. Like they say, a good intention executed now is better than one that you never execute. For me it was like we are starting this and I did. You know how you have an idea in you and you don’t get the peace and rest until you do what you need to do and you do it well and the gap was very well.
At what point did you start feeling you needed to go into this Wellness and Health business.
It was because of the lifestyle I was living when I was in the bank. I didn’t like it and I needed to have a work and life balance. It was too hectic for me and I didn’t know of any place I could go for a Massage in Nigeria. That made me get a Steam Room so I had a steam cubide in my bathroom for 10 years even before this Venivici business started. So I always tell people that my business started in my bedroom, right in my bathroom.
So, I was forced to read up about the essential Oils because that just made me feel better because life is all abut balance. You have to balance your mental, physical, emotional wellbeing because when one of the parameters is out of the balance it is chewed. For me I needed to maintain that work/lifestyle balance.
And for me I have always believed that preventative measures like this is better. What we do is preventative health. You don’t wait till you fell ill or get burnt out before you take action. Its a pro-active action to managing your health and wellbeing.
How have you been able to achieve this balance?
It is about making an effort. I make a conscious effort to also make sure that I work the talk, so I take part in the treatment. I create the time. You plan it and it becomes part of you.
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