ABOUT US

From the outside, the place may look like a typical corner house you see just about everywhere. But to many habitués of Healthy Alternatives Day Spa and Wellness Center, an irresistible invitation to indulge, relax, and reinvent takes over them the minute they stepped inside the spa’s cozy welcome room.

A brief tour of this issue's featured spa can turn anybody to a converted client. It’s a place for lovebirds and snowbirds, the restless and restful, the young and the young at hearts alike. It’s definitely a warm-comforting paradise for people seeking solitude or controlled excitement.

That total feeling of surrender every visitor is sure to feel is all calculated and planned by the married couple who runs the business. “I have a Type-A personality. I know what people want and I know how to serve and get it right,” prides co-owner Juan (John), the confident brain behind Healthy Alternatives and Wellness Center. He made sure that every square foot of the facility, and its prim-and-proper ambience, must score high to a great number of discriminating tastes. “It is in my nature to be the tireless go-getter, work-obsessed owner.” 

Having been in the medical field for over 27 years, Johnny’s day job has taught him to be an efficient leader who can react to and confront every pressure thrown his way without pausing to blink. “Taking on a role in the medical field is never a walk in the park,” he says. He is well aware that it is a profession in which dedication should always be second to none. “I set aside any personal cares up until the moment I got out of the office parking lot to drive home.”

What a lot of people do not realize is that dedicated workaholics with no self-gratifying counter activity outside of the office to balance and even things out might have been flirting with disaster. “People should begin to recognize the importance of relieving stress and getting into the habit of disciplined relaxation,” Juan (John) opines. “My trips to a local spa from time to time have pulled me back from the brink of burn-out more than once.” Juan himself used to be one of the clueless souls unaware of the valuable health benefits giving in to well-deserved pampering does.

“It was during an excursion—for two consecutive days at a destination spa—that I had an ‘a-ha’ moment in my head: I’ve been working hard most days of the week and I deserved treats just like anyone else.” It was right in that type of environment (where smiling, satisfied patrons are everywhere) that he realized he’s been way too unforgiving of his self. The comforting service that destination spa offered was the one he’s been missing all along.

Little did Juan (John) know that an opportunity to offer and package affordable solutions to the lifestyle he believes everyone should get into will come his way.  He and wife Lila are the proud owners of Healthy Alternatives Day Spa and Wellness Center located at 626 North Highland St. Mount Dora.

 

Their facility is committed to superior customer service. Its staff will always strive to go beyond one’s expectations. They promise each visiting client a warm and friendly personal service and a relaxing environment.

 

Healthy Alternatives Day Spa and Wellness Center was established in August 1997. The spa is currently staffed with ten licensed massage therapist and three estheticians. They see clients six days a week, Mondays through Saturdays from 9am to 8pm, with evening hours and Sundays by appointment. While the majority of clients are female, the population of convinced and satisfied males has been growing steadily in recent years.

 

The spa’s menu of services is periodically updated to reflect new trends in a variety of areas: multiple types of massage techniques are employed depending on the client’s needs; body wraps, scrubs, and facials utilizing the well-known Pevonia line of skin care products.  In addition to Pevonia, retail products include music, books, essential oils and other health-based stress-relief items.

During non-appointment hours, the place is available to hold classes on health and beauty topics. The shop is utilized for small party gathering or business meetings. 

 

“The possibilities of things we can offer are endless,” Lila guarantees. “We will support every whim and might even tailor-fit our facility to a specific function any client has in mind should they consider to do business with us.” With those parting sincere words, one is assured that regardless of whether you are visiting from elsewhere or longtime local residents ready to discover what’s waiting for you in your own backyard, you are sure to slip into that Sunshine State of mind once you find yourself in there.

 

Healthy Alternatives and Wellness Center is a family owned facility.  Johnny Uson and wife Lila are local residents of Lake County for the past 29 years.  Johnny, a registered nurse who completed his degree in nursing at the University of Central Florida, has served in various capacities in the healthcare profession.  Respected and well-liked by employers, colleagues, and his staff, he works as a Administrator at the Surgery Center of Mount Dora, and as an Administrative Supervisor at Leesburg Regional Medical Center, a Central Florida Health Alliance System.

 

His wife Lila is a Civil engineer graduate from the University of Santo Tomas, Philippines.

Isaiah is their 18-year-old son.