Meet Winsome Belnavis...
Patriotic Spa Operator

Dated: 12 November 2003

winsome Belnavisfounder, New Lifestyle Wholestic Health Clinic & Spa

Anything that could have happened to anybody in Jamaica has happened to her. She has lost her house to an unscrupulous attorney, who incidentally, is behind bars. Her house was broken into several times. She had her chain cut from around her neck in downtown Kingston. She was held up and robbed, escaped sexual assault. She has also had the experience of losing close friends to gunmen. She even lost all her money in the stock market.

Despite all these unfortunate things, Winsome Corine Belnavis, founder of the Corporate Area’s leading wellness and spa facility, is one Jamaican woman who never one day entertained the thought that she would pack up and leave Jamaica, like some of her compatriots, for the USA or the UK, even though she had the means to do so.

This is one daughter of the soil who has unapologetically descried herself as a "patriotic, nationalistic Jamaican."

"I had just about every unfortunate experiences you can think of that Jamaican people complained about. I have had close friends, for example, murdered, but what that sort of thing happen everywhere. Is there a place on earth that I can go that I would not be subjected to similar experiences? I don’t think so, besides, there is no other place like Jamaica as far as I am concerned. I just want you to know that these things happen everywhere you."

Of course there are people who are going to say how bad minded she is and that is because she had never traveled outside the borders of Jamaica why she has said the aforementioned. If that’s your claim, then you have got to hear the other side of this woman of steel.

"I went to school and lived abroad for 10 years, traveled to most places around the world that Jamaicans never dreamed of, vacationed at the best 5-star hotels, had lots of money… at one point I was earning US$5,000 per month whilst still living in Jamaica," she recalled, without a trace of regret noticeable in her voice.

Speaking of running away to a country that has less violence and where the grass seems greener, Winsome knows who she is and the stuff of what she is made. "It doesn’t matter where I go, because I’m always going to take me with me," she said very profoundly. "If I can make what’s inside of me work in a foreign land, then I can surely make it work here at home. Running away from this island is not an option. Staying is my destination. Furthermore, I have already proven myself. You only have to just go into the pharmaceutical industry and ask about my work. After more than 20 years, my record still stands. If I can do it for them, then there is no difficulty doing it for myself."

When Winsome made the decision to leave the pharmaceutical company, H.D. Hopwood, in 1992, she took the gamble and put most of it in the stock market. After having borrowed money from the bank against her stock market investment, she lost the stocks, which plunged her into a debt of $350,000 that soon became $1.5-million. At the time, she was also trying to get a second mortgage as she was making plans to expand her house so as to incorporate her new business venture.

"So, I decided to sell my house, which at the time valued at $7.5-million, to pay off the bank and to have enough money to set up my business. The putting up of her house for sale, also came with its own attendant problems, as she recalled having given the business to someone whom she considered her friend and who she deeply respected to finalize the sale. However, according to Winsome, it turned into a comedy of errors. Among the villains were an unscrupulous purchaser who had no money and moved into my house, after being encouraged by my attorney -at-law to move out of my own house and ended up paying $60,000 per month for rental, while someone else occupied my house, rent and mortgage free. I eventually lost everything. I suffered tremendously," she remembered. "I still have not regained my previous life style. I still see areas of my life that have not yet been restored."

The trauma practically stopped when Winsome fully came to her senses after having put the past in the background and decided that she wasn’t going to let all those negative things ruin her entire life. "I had to now start my business after being totally exhausted trying to get justice through the courts and so on, accumulating a mountain of debt, and coming up against several stone walls. Having taken enough of the run around and frustration to 1996, it was then that I decided to put everything behind me and move on with my life."

She recalled starting with nothing, "absolutely nothing, except for one bed." Fortunately, she didn’t have to pay a deposit on the little one-room apartment she rented, and for which she had only the first month’s rent. Neither did she know where the other installments would come from, yet still she moved into the apartment with her bankbook full of hope. "From there, I just kept on going, and going day after day, just like the Duracell bunny. I just kept on working and working while parleying my experiences in business, marketing, public relations to get me to where I am today."

Today, she is the proud owner of a thriving wellness and spa business, appropriately named the New Lifestyle Wholistic Health Clinic & Spa, founded in 1993 as a sole proprietorship. It was totally funded by Winsome from personal resources, including personal investment incomes and personal financial resources as well as small commercial loans.

The business, located at 19 Phoenix Avenue in Kingston, has survived an extremely difficult economic climate, when businesses - large corporations as well as medium and small - have failed, but despite the odds, Winsome has grown it steadily over the years which today boasts a clientele of over 400, representing the top echelons of the private and public sectors, and 20% of which visit monthly and 5% on a weekly.

"Our clients have remained loyal to us over the years because of our high standards of service, integrity and confidentiality," Winsome said. "Besides, we have been able to survive in the business due to our extremely prudent and frugal approach to managing the company.”

Winsome, who is a graduate of Kidderminster College, Worchester, England with a Diploma in Sociology and Psychology, is an Aesthetician, Advance Massage Therapist, Reflexologist, Reflexology Tutor, Aromatherapist and Spa Therapist and has spent over 11 years in the pharmaceutical industry as a medical representative for Glaxo Smithkline and French and Smithkline Beecham during which time she implemented several national programmes achieving major successes for all three companies.

Winsome, who is also a registered nurse trained having trained at the famed "London Hospital" in England, is a specialist in bodywork, including Swedish, shiatsu, reflexology, zero balancing, neuromuscular therapy, and psychosocial integration.

The spa-clinic also offers an exclusive VIP Corporate Membership Club that takes special care of their corporate clients who want to be at all times at their optimal best, and for who a comprehensive health management programme is developed.

The VIP membership programme is designed to provide a service package consisting of mix therapies and other supportive services at an extremely generous rate.

For an annual fee of $5,000, clients can avail themselves to the following services:

This VIP club programme, which accepts membership strictly by invitation-only, came into effect November 1999, and so far, according to Winsome, the "response has been excellent."

What of the future? Winsome feels the time has now come for her to expand and retool so as to be able to offer the services of a full, all-inclusive spa and teaching academy.

New Lifestyle, uniquely positioned against the competition, offers services that are based on an integrated medical approach, and is managed by a multifaceted staff trained to the highest level of industry best practices.

"We guarantee the highest standard of personalised care, professionalism and confidentiality at all times. Based on the growing awareness and increased demand (we get an average of five clients per month), we are also confident that by upgrading our facilities, and installing the required equipment, we will be able to offer critically needed services that will satisfy our clients’ needs and requests," she concluded.