Issue link: https://canadawidemedia.uberflip.com/i/879023
FOUNDATION F rom an early age, Leah LaVanway struggled to get her acne under control. As a gymnast and horseback rider, her athletic pursuits made it difficult to keep her skin healthy and clean. it was those personal struggles that also led her into the medical skin-care industry. "it was always my mission to learn more about skin and try to figure out why my skin was breaking out," she tells Our House magazine. LaVanway graduated as a Certified medical esthetician and sought to start her own business in B.C.'s Lower mainland. But life got in the way, at least for a few years. Just as she was getting her spa business up and running, her boyfriend, William, a trainer of racehorses, was injured in a car accident and couldn't work for a couple of years. she put her business on hold to help with the equestrian work that her boyfriend—now her husband—couldn't do. 30-second COmmUTe How a B.c. woman transformed her home into a skin-care spa By Jeremy Deutsch The But once he got back to work, LaVanway wanted to get back to helping people. she set up her spa business in a few retail locations around the Lower mainland, but none seemed to be the right fit. the storefronts didn't offer the privacy that she felt her clients wanted. they were also telling her if she ever set up at home, they'd come to her there. she did just that, moving her spa into her home. since 2012, LaVanway, 32, has been operating essence of L medi spa & Laser Clinic out of her White rock, B.C., home, and hasn't looked back. "People love it. they come in and they feel comfortable. especially since a lot of my treatments are for acne… a key reason to keep it here was the privacy," she said. Leah LaVanway (below) at her White Rock, B.C. home where she also operates a skin care spa.