In November last year, a new spa and salon called Kenshō opened its doors and wowed Dhakaites with its graceful ambience and quality of services. Kenshō, which means ‘beginning the journey to knowing one’s true nature and finding the beauty and light within’, was born out of a desire to bring out the inner beauty and confidence in a woman, irrespective of age, color and creed.
Inspired by the Japanese culture and its onsen spas, Kenshō specializes in providing wellness experiences rather than just offering commercial spa and salon services. When one walks into Kenshō, they can sense that they are inside a space to rejuvenate; a place where they can recenter their minds and destress. The interior of Kenshō is softly accentuated with elements of nature such as wood, bamboo, and plants, and complemented by subtle hues and muted tones that are soothing to the eyes. It’s a perfect place for a little quite time and reflection.
Before there was a name, theme or structure to this venture, it was the budding dream of a young entrepreneur. Born to a mother specialized in Cosmetology, Alavee Hossain’s childhood was spent in awe of the grace and glamor of the women who came to her mother, Bali Hossain’s salon to get pampered and look pretty. Alavee’s interest in beauty and wellness was peaked from a very young age, so, despite having a background in Computer Science and investment banking, when she relocated to Dhaka a few years ago, the fire of a once forgotten dream of running her very own spa and salon was rekindled. Although the local market was already saturated with countless beauty salons and a few spas here and there, Alavee saw a gaping hole in the industry in terms of a holistic wellness experience, and she was keen to be the first one to fill it. By watching her mother work so closely, she had already gained a lot of valuable insight on managing a salon, however, Alavee knew that in order to realize her dream in all its glory, she would need more help. As a result, she made the wise decision to approach and partner up with two of her mother’s closest friends, Fatema Zahir and Shamima Huda – two like-minded individuals with the same aspiration. Together with the versatility of their skills and talents, they all paved the way towards building Keshō, a dream that became a reality.
TO BE HONEST, THE TOUGHEST CHALLENGE WAS THAT WHEN WE STARTED, WE DIDN’T KNOW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE; THERE WAS SO MUCH UNCERTAINTY SURROUNDING THE LOCKDOWNS.
With corporate experience of over 25 years and a 19 year old career as a communicative English Language teacher and teacher trainee at the American Center under the US Department, Fatema Zahir has extensive experience and training in dealing with human behavior, psychology, communication and etiquette which enables her to efficiently engage with the management, staff, and customers and ensure that the services provided at Kenshō are of the highest standards.
Having started her entrepreneurial journey in 1995, Shamima Huda’s strong business acumen has made it possible to set up multiple business ventures and lead them to great success. Her experience as an entrepreneur and finance management, along with her creative knack for design, gives her a considerable leverage in managing the finances, and aesthetic presentation and ambience of Kenshō.
Wanting to create a salon where they would be able to offer a fully immersive rejuvenating and uplifting experience to the patrons, the partners did extensive research and educated themselves on the different treatments, techniques, high quality spa services, products and most importantly client services offered by the most reputed spas and salons around the world. While working on Kenshō, they also reviewed the existing services available in our country and the current shortfalls in the industry. They travelled to different countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, US and experienced the services themselves from the best spas there. After planning for almost two years, and interviewing and training the staff for the salon for two months, they finally launched the spa and salon last year, in the middle of the pandemic. Looking back, they believe that that leap of faith was probably the best decision they took as the response has been fantastic from day one!
What was the experience launching of Kenshō amidst the pandemic like?
Launching in the middle of the pandemic was quite challenging. We had a lot of big plans for Kenshō – we spoke to certified trainers from the US, India and Japan who were supposed to come train our girls for services of hair, facials, eye brows, etc., and we also had masseuses from Thailand, however when the pandemic hit, all of those plans came to a halt. We did, however, manage to arrange some online training classes for the girls, thanks to the power of technology!
Unlike other establishments, maintaining hygiene and safety measures was not a big challenge for us as we had it in the pipeline to have all machines sterilized, vacuum sealed and professionally cleaned, regardless of the pandemic.
To be honest, the toughest challenge was that when we started, we didn’t know what would happen in the future; there was so much uncertainty surrounding the lockdowns. No matter the situation we still had to cover bills and operational costs, so we had to plan strategically in order to capitalize on the days we could remain open. We had to take some hard decisions in the process and it was a tough situation, but somehow we managed to overcome all the hurdles armed with an incredible team who were exceptionally co-operative.
Can you elaborate a bit on the specialized services you offer at Kenshō ?
All our products are exclusive, which are mostly imported and some are produced in-house using organic premium raw materials available locally. We offer some services which are exclusive and not available in other salons, such as the Post/Pre Natal massage, Migraine therapy, Sinus Relief massage, Rose Experience, etc. We have kept in mind that some clients can be wheelchair bound and thus have made accessibility points accordingly.
We also offer luxury line of facials, where all the products used are imported from exclusive brands we have partnered with. For example, we offer Stem Cell Therapy using sheep placenta, Oxygen Lift and Aqua Peel Facial, Diamond Microdermabrasion Facial, Gold Facial, etc. All the above facials are inclusive of the experience of the ‘TEN’ – Microdermabrasion, Ultrasonic Infusion, Infrared Ray Light Therapy, Skin Water Jet Cleaner, Oxygen Therapy, Frozen Repair Technology, Multi Polar RF, Bio Firming, Aqua Peeling, Ultrasound.