While on a family vacation some five years ago, Alafia Young, then a mechanical engineer and event planner, took her two young daughters to a nail salon, hoping to share with them the rest and relaxation she and other adults enjoy on their visits.
But afterward, she said, “I realized that it wasn’t the right environment for them. They didn’t really get the treatment I was looking for in a kid-friendly manner. My oldest said, ‘If I got to play with the water a little bit longer, then it would have been fun.’”
That experience spawned a business idea that Young decided could fill a niche in Boston’s neighborhoods: a “spa-tailored self-love space for kids and craft,” which, in 2022, came to life as Dream Kids Spa on Hyde Park’s Dana Avenue.
For the past three years, she said, things have been “full steam ahead,” with in-house and mobile spa parties, day services, and discovery crafts.
Earlier this year, Young, who was looking for support and a business mentor to help her build out the company, found both through Chase Bank’s Coaching for Impact Program, a four-month-long course that connects small business owners with consultants for one-on-one coaching.
“We meet with these business owners and pick some priorities that they’d like to take care of within their business,” explains Jay Karamourtopoulos, a senior business consultant for Chase. “There could be issues they have, but it also could be positive – expansion plans, bringing on more employees, etc. We have the ability and the opportunity to spend four months with them and really lift the hood of their business and try to help them with whatever they may have needs about.”
Karamourtopoulos and Johnny Charles, another Chase consultant, helped Young customize a personal plan to improve the business. For her, it meant getting involved in the community.
“Branding is a big deal for me, but I wanted more visibility and community impact by measuring more partnerships with different community affiliates,” Young told The Reporter. “People assume we’re owned by a giant, but we’re really not. If you’re in a situation where people]assume you’re a big box, that means you have big box funding standing somewhere in a corner, which we don’t have. We want them to know we are a product of the same community that you guys currently live in, and that was important to us.”
Young, born and raised in Jamaica, immigrated to Boston’s Hyde Park neighborhood at age 15 with her family in the early 2000s. Now a Brockton resident, her business keeps her rooted in her old neighborhood.
Dream Kids Spa currently collaborates with Open Streets and Hyde Park Main Streets and recently received one of Mayor Wu’s Summer Activation Grants. Young also offers a free monthly workshop for all families, regardless of financial standing. On these days, kids can get mini manis and pedis, make slime and paint, or dress up like rockstars.
Young said she prides herself on hiring teens and young adults, referring to her business as a “first job empire.”
Last month, Karamourtopoulos and Charles watched Young and other small business owners graduate from the program.
“Hands down, graduation for Johnny and me is our favorite day,” said Karamourtopoulos. “There are a lot of emotions that go with it. To see the participants in the program get up very confidently and talk about their business and what they want to accomplish, and how the program helped them, some of the stories that you were able to hear during those graduations honestly can get you a little teary-eyed.
Young’s happened to be one of the stories that brought tears to many eyes on graduation day.
“During the course of time, my family had just lost our son, and then I became pregnant again with our rainbow baby,” Young said. “I was extremely sick, and for me to get up and go to Boston every Thursday, it speaks volumes. Knowing that I’ve been bedridden and still showed up to class on time to absorb what they had to offer, it gives you an idea of how powerful the program is.”
This month, they are hosting a Potion Skincare Workshop, a Spooktacular Haunted House, and a free Decorate a Pumpkin workshop.
“We’re hoping that we have a lot more community partnerships, bridging the gap with our corporate clients, and also establishing in more communities,” said Young. “We’re here for the long haul.”
You can visit the spa on its website, dreamkidspa.com. More information about the bank’s program can be found at chase.com/business/coaching-for-impact.
