A Good Steward: Doctor Balances Overnight ICU Shifts with Multi-Unit Ownership

Name: Eric Jenkins
Title: Multi-Unit Franchisee
Company: MassageLuXe
No. of units: 8 MassageLuXe
Age: 47
Family: Wife Rachel and 5 children
Years in franchising: 11
Years in current position: 11

Dr. Eric Jenkins, a St. Louis–area critical care physician, owns eight MassageLuXe locations, and his schedule runs like a relay race with no slow laps.

Every other week, Jenkins works 12-hour overnight ICU shifts at St. Luke’s Hospital in Chesterfield, Missouri. When he clocks out at 6 a.m., he goes to the gym instead of bed. From there, he goes home to see his family, knock out errands, and spend three to four hours overseeing his MassageLuXe spas. After that, he grabs four to five hours of sleep before heading back to the hospital for another overnight stretch.

“I always wanted to have a backup plan for my career,” Jenkins says. “Medicine is a solid career, and it serves a need, but I thought it would be nice to have another option. It is a way to reach my retirement goal earlier or in a better way. My financial planner told me I should be a good steward of what I have in life, and the word “steward” resonated with me. I looked at being able to provide opportunities for people within my circle that wouldn’t be limited to just medicine.”

As a kid, Jenkins developed an interest in business ownership while playing the Rich Dad Cashflow board game with his brother. More than a decade ago, he received treatment at a MassageLuXe location after suffering a back injury and a dislocated rib. He spoke with the manager about the concept at checkout. He was impressed with the business model and started thinking about owning a spa.

Eight years after graduating from medical school, Jenkins opened his first MassageLuXe unit in Fort Myers, Florida, in 2014. Although the original plan was for him to serve as an angel investor, a failed partnership forced Jenkins to take a more active role in operating the franchise. He turned around the struggling business within six months, which led him to move ahead with a three-unit agreement and acquire other locations. Jenkins now owns seven spas in Florida and one in Pennsylvania.

To operate that number of units across the country while based in Missouri, Jenkins relies on a director of operations and two regional managers. Managers at each location set monthly goals and create end-of-month reports to hold themselves accountable. Every so often, the director of operations brings team members together in one location to celebrate wins, plan goals, and discuss ways to better support each location.

Given his schedule, Jenkins doesn’t visit his spas often. Having a dependable team and promoting from within when possible help create a culture of accountability across his locations. This system allows Jenkins to own franchises in desirable markets while overseeing the business from afar in St. Louis.

“I often tell other owners that they shouldn’t limit themselves by their geography,” Jenkins says. “If the best location is elsewhere, find a way to make it work or look for an area where you can make it work. If you limit yourself to your own geography, you won’t be a successful entrepreneur.”

Jenkins is focused on improving two underperforming locations and paying off the financing on five others while leaving open the possibility of adding more units. It’s all part of being a good steward while getting a jumpstart on retirement.

PERSONAL

First job: I was a fry cook at Carl’s Jr. when I was 16 years old.

Formative influences/events: I moved several times as a child, and each move gave me a chance to reinvent myself. Being a member of the Boy Scouts of America and serving a two-year mission in Ecuador also shaped who I became.

Key accomplishments: I earned the rank of Eagle Scout when I was younger and graduated in the top 5% of my medical school class.

Biggest current challenge: Working on turning around two underperforming locations that we acquired from previous owners. We will try to do that by growing our membership base for each. The difficult thing is that if we cut costs in certain areas, it can reduce the resources available to improve and grow.

Next big goal: Pay off my financing for five of my locations over the next two and a half to three years.

First turning point in your career: Parting ways with my former partner after two years of struggling financially. I had no experience in running a business at that point, and that forced me to learn how to be an owner, interview people, and take charge of the operation.

Best business decision: When I parted ways with my former partner, it gave me the freedom to take full ownership and make decisions that set us on the right path. I was later able to open a second location and continue to grow the business.

Hardest lesson learned: People lie, cheat, and steal sometimes. I had a manager who stole more than $30,000 from me through credit card theft. You need to be vigilant as a business owner. If not, people can take advantage of you.

Work week: I work full-time as a critical care physician on overnight shifts, alternating weeks on and off. During my off weeks, I focus on accomplishing as much as possible outside the hospital.

Exercise/workout: I exercise five to six days a week, mostly strength training for an hour and 15 minutes.

Best advice you ever got: One of our church leaders, Thomas S. Monson, said to choose your love and love your choice. It’s about being deliberate in your choices. When you choose something, remember why you chose it. When things get hard, be loyal to that decision. It is something you can apply to many areas of life.

What’s your passion in business? I love being in the wellness industry, knowing that our services improve the lives of our customers. I also love giving opportunities to our employees to change their lives for the better through their hard work.

How do you balance life and work? I work a lot! But I make sure to take days off. I make the most of my time off by spending it with my wife, family, and friends.

Guilty pleasure: Carbs—all of them.

Favorite book: The Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson.

Favorite movie: The “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

What do most people not know about you? I am good at quilting.

Pet peeve: Loud chewing.

What did you want to be when you grew up? A veterinarian.

Last vacation: To the Dominican Republic in November with my wife and five other couples who are good friends.

Person you’d most like to have lunch with: Neil deGrasse Tyson.

MANAGEMENT

Business philosophy: Challenge yourself to grow but remember that you can’t grow without discomfort. Approach growth knowing it will be hard. Anything that will be worth it will be hard. It will have a great payoff, and you will be able to grow personally and professionally. You have to stick with it and “embrace the suck.”

Management method or style: Set clear expectations and then empower and enable your staff to achieve success.

Greatest challenge: Maintaining a positive and consistent culture across all locations. It is important to have someone who does that in person. If not yourself, then someone you trust. Culture is not something that can be built remotely.

How do others describe you? Energetic and outgoing.

Have you ever been in a mentor-mentee relationship? What did you learn? When I started, I had no experience as an owner or operator. Jason Malacarne, the former VP of operations, and Amy Hoelscher, a franchise rep on the MassageLuXe corporate team, guided me as a first-time owner. They helped me build the foundation for expanding to additional spas. They taught me that a positive approach to challenging experiences matters more than how skilled you may be.

One thing you’re looking to do better: Spend more time with friends and family.

How you give your team room to innovate and experiment: We reward performance. Sometimes, location managers need to figure out what motivates them and their staff to achieve those rewards.

How close are you to operations? I am fairly removed. I have multiple layers of management across my organization.

What are the two most important things you rely on from your franchisor? Operational system and a consistently high brand standard.

What you need from vendors: Consistent availability of supplies.

Have you changed your marketing strategy in response to the economy? How? Less fluff. Anything that doesn’t drive business isn’t worth my time. Most of our marketing is done through Facebook and Google.

How is social media affecting your business? For the better. Online gift card sales through social media advertising are key.

In what ways are you using technology (like AI) to manage your business? Not yet, but MassageLuXe has innovations coming for us in 2026, so we’re looking forward to that.

How do you hire and fire? Hiring comes either from trusted referrals or through platforms like Indeed. Firing should be quick and direct. If someone doesn’t believe it is fair, make sure to have clear and concrete reasons why they are being terminated. It needs to be action based, not attitude based.

How do you train and retain? My managers do a great job with training their staff members, and performance-based bonuses help reward and retain top talent. Managers go through a two-week training process, which is a mix of online and in-person training. Corporate has put together online modules, and managers also take tests to go through front-desk training.

How do you deal with problem employees? Make sure they were trained appropriately, redirect, reset expectations, and follow up. If they still don’t improve, then we promote them to customer (a line I heard from author Scott Greenberg).

Fastest way into your doghouse: Lack of integrity. Your actions should match what you say.

BOTTOM LINE

Annual revenue: $9.25 million.

Goals over the next year: To increase our member base by 10%. We want to make sure every single customer experience is top-notch. Our goals are to retain customers, decrease cancellations, improve our closing percentage, and have more stability at the front desk.

Growth meter: How do you measure your growth? Through total revenue, number of customers, number of services we provide, and the satisfaction and happiness of our staff.

Vision meter: Where do you want to be in five years? 10 years? I would like to be debt free in the financing of our locations over the next five years. I may look at expanding our number of locations, which may or may not impact the goal of being debt free. In 10 years, I may be planning to retire.

Do you have brands in different segments? Why/why not? No. I’m focusing my energy and resources on growing what I have right now.

How is the economy in your region(s) affecting you, your employees, your customers? We have seen a slide in our membership base and retail purchases.

Are you experiencing economic growth in your market? Yes and no. More people are moving into most of my markets. However, the cost of living is outpacing income, and in some areas, a large portion of my customers are retirees.

How do changes in the economy affect the way you do business? As the economy fluctuates, expansion has to slow. We have been slower to increase customer prices than I would like, which has decreased our profit margin. A down economy can be tough on us because we are a luxury service.

How do you forecast for your business? MassageLuXe has an internal system with a lot of features that forecast the business based on reaching certain benchmarks. Being able to achieve some of those goals is the unknown.

What are the best sources for capital expansion? Close relationships with local bankers.

Experience with private equity, local banks, national banks, other institutions? Why/why not? I’ve only worked with banks so far, which allows me to maintain focus and control over decision-making.

What are you doing to take care of your employees? We value our team, and ensuring they receive competitive wages is a top priority. We offer health insurance and PTO to our full-time employees.

How are you handling rising employee costs (payroll, minimum wage, healthcare, etc.)? To stay competitive with employee pay and continue delivering high-quality service, we adjust customer pricing as needed.

What laws and regulations are affecting your business, and how are you dealing with them? Recent changes to tip taxation laws have been beneficial. Since we are no longer taxed on a portion of the tips our employees receive, we’re able to redirect that money into strengthening the business.

How do you reward/recognize top-performing employees? Through monthly top performer awards for reaching certain parameters based on performance metrics.

What kind of exit strategy do you have in place? Sell all of them as a group to another owner who wants rapid expansion.