At The Healthy Touch Day Spa, relaxation begins the moment clients walk through the door, greeted with soft music, calming scents, thoughtfully prepared treatment rooms and a warm welcome at the front desk. Every detail is rooted in making clients feel comfortable, cared for and completely at ease during their visit, said spa owner Sloan Kennedy.

“Our licensed therapists, estheticians and cosmetologist bring a balance of warmth with precision … while still making clients feel like they are more than just an appointment,” Sloan said. “Whether it’s adjusting pressure during a massage or offering a calming word during an esthetic treatment, they create a safe, nurturing space.”

For years, that attention to detail and personalized approach have made The Healthy Touch Day Spa one of the community’s favorite places to unwind and recharge. This year, readers selected the spa as the Best Place to Get a Facial, Best Place to Get a Massage and Best Smelling Business in the 2026 Readers’ Choice Awards. Several staff members also earned individual honors, including Ashley Kennedy Purnell as Best Esthetician, Carl Duggan as Best Massage Therapist and Sierra Napier as Best Receptionist. Sloan credits much of the spa’s success to its team-centered approach and the staff’s ability to combine professionalism with genuine compassion, all while delivering a consistently high-quality, rejuvenating experience.

“They don’t just listen to what clients say, they sense what they need,” she said.

That level of care is something Ashley Kennedy Purnell strives to provide every day through her work as an esthetician.

“I’ve always been very passionate about skincare,” Ashley said. “The moment my husband made me realize I could do something with this passion, I quickly switched my entire career plan and went to the esthetics program at Ogeechee Technical College — and I couldn’t be any happier with my decision.”

For Ashley, the most fulfilling part of the job is helping clients feel more comfortable and confident in their own skin — though it’s a connection that goes far beyond skin-deep, as Ashley was reminded during one particularly poignant session.

After providing a facial and scalp massage to an elderly woman, Ashley said the client became emotional.

“She looked at me … and said, ‘That was the first time I’ve been touched since my husband passed away a year ago,’” Ashley recalled. “We both teared up in that moment.”

Experiences like that, she said, reinforce the deeper purpose behind her work.

“It’s about comfort, care, human connection, and helping people feel seen and valued,” Ashley said.

Massage therapist Carl Duggan approaches his work with a similarly thoughtful mindset.

“I became interested in massage therapy during college,” Carl said. “I was young and didn’t know much, but I knew I needed to work with my hands and couldn’t sit all day.”

That path eventually led him to New Mexico, where he enrolled in a massage therapy program. Years later, he still finds the work rewarding because no two clients — or sessions — are exactly alike.

“The nuance I sense in the tissue when I work isn’t anything like when I began,” Carl said. “I still find the transition during a session pretty remarkable.

“It’s like a conversation — or more like diplomacy,” he continued. “The body is one place and wants to get to a different state. I help it find that space.”

Ultimately, he said, helping clients move more comfortably and with less pain is what keeps his passion alive.

“People’s response to the work is its reward,” Carl said.

At the front desk, Sierra Napier helps shape clients’ experiences in a different but equally important way.

“As the first person many clients interact with at the spa, I set the tone by creating a warm, welcoming and calming environment from the moment they walk through the door,” Sierra said.

She values the relationships she builds with clients and knows that even the smallest gestures often leave the most lasting impression.

“Little things like remembering their name or their work schedule for scheduling purposes … makes the experience even more special for them,” she said.

Beyond greeting guests and answering phones, Sierra also helps manage scheduling, paperwork, inventory, laundry, refreshments and treatment room preparation, working diligently behind the scenes to keep daily operations running smoothly.

For Sloan, this year’s Readers’ Choice Awards are a recognition not only of the spa’s top-tier services but of the culture the team has worked hard to build together, which remains at the heart of everything they do.

“A happy, supported staff radiates warmth and positivity that clients can feel instantly,” she said. “Guests may forget the exact treatment, but they remember how you made them feel.”