Hot Off The Stone is Hand & Stone’s monthly franchisee spotlight series. Each month we feature one of our franchisees, sharing the journey behind their ownership, their community and what drives them to show up every day for their teams and clients.

Our network is made up of some of the most diverse owners in franchising, from veterans and military operators to IT engineers, lawyers, architects, doctors and even massage therapists and estheticians who built a career in wellness and never looked back. What unites them is a commitment to bringing accessible luxury to the communities they serve. Behind every spa, there’s a story.

Franchisees Aamna Khan and Vijaya Nandella on Turning Complementary Strengths Into Cheshire’s Newest Wellness Destination

Meet Aamna Khan and Vijaya Nandella, the entrepreneurial duo behind Hand & Stone’s new spa in Cheshire, Connecticut. The two opened their doors to bring accessible luxury to a community that needed a dedicated spa destination. Vijaya possesses a background in Fintech and Business Ownership, contributing strategic leadership and operational expertise, while Aamna is a dual-licensed esthetician and massage therapist whose hands-on experience as a practitioner ensures a client-first approach grounded in genuine industry insight. The pair already have their sights set on a second location – a clear vote of confidence in the brand and in the business they’re building together.

Both mothers balancing family, careers and personal growth, Aamna and Vijaya built their partnership on trust, shared dreams and a genuine desire to help others feel their best. Below, they talk about how their complementary strengths came together, why they chose Hand & Stone, and the vision behind what they’re building in Cheshire and beyond.

H&S: What made the two of you decide to go into business together?

Vijaya: Aamna and I come from different professional backgrounds. She has spent years doing the hands-on work herself, and I have spent mine running the operational and strategic side of a business. At some point we started talking about what a client-first spa could look like with both of our strengths coming together, and it just made sense. Neither of us wanted to build this alone, so partnering was the natural choice.

Aamna: It’s really about the trust Vijaya and I share. We were aligned from day one on how we wanted to treat our clients and our team, and that shared philosophy has been the foundation of this partnership. If your values line up before you open, everything else tends to fall into place.

H&S: Vijaya, how does your background in Fintech and Business Ownership translate to running a spa?

Vijaya: Running a business comes down to the same fundamentals. You need strong systems, you need to understand your numbers, and you must be able to make decisions quickly. A lot of that translated more seamlessly than expected, especially with the infrastructure Hand & Stone already has in place, the membership platform, the reporting tools, and the operational know-how.

The biggest difference here is of course the service we sell. We are selling an experience and how someone feels when they leave, not software. That shift has been one of the most rewarding parts of this transition.

H&S: Aamna, you’re a dual-licensed esthetician and massage therapist. How does that hands-on experience shape how you run the spa?

Aamna: I have done the job myself, so I understand the difference between a treatment that is just okay and one that brings someone back, or in our case, turns a client into a member. That perspective shapes everything, from how we train our team to how we set up a treatment room. It’s the kind of detail you really notice when you have actually been the one delivering the service, and it has made a real difference as we have built our spa in Cheshire.

H&S: What drew you both to Hand & Stone specifically?

Aamna: When we started evaluating franchise opportunities, Hand & Stone stood out immediately. We connected with how the brand was built and the level of support behind every franchise owner. It did not feel like we were simply buying into a business, but like we were joining something established and proven.

Vijaya: The financials mattered a great deal to me as well. Hand & Stone has been named the number one spa franchise multiple times, and the membership model creates consistent, recurring revenue along with upsell opportunities through retail and add-on services. I’ve run a business before without that kind of infrastructure behind me, so having a proven system and a corporate team genuinely invested in our success made this an easy decision.

H&S: You’re both mothers. How has that shaped your approach to wellness and this business?

Aamna: Being a mother changes how you think about wellness. It’s easy to put everyone else’s needs first and let your own fall to the bottom of the list. That is part of why this spa matters so much to us. We wanted to build a place where people, especially parents, feel permission to prioritize themselves.

Vijaya: We are both balancing family and career, so we built this business with that reality in mind. And, when you’re building a business that you really believe in, it’s certainly hard work, but it’s rewarding work. It’s not another obligation – it becomes the thing that makes everything else more manageable. We understand how valuable that hour – or hopefully more – to yourself can be, because we value it in our own lives too.

H&S: Why did you open your spa in Cheshire?

Vijaya: Cheshire did not have a dedicated spa destination, and it’s a growing community that clearly values health and wellness. We saw that gap and felt confident we could fill it well. Hearing from clients who say they have been waiting for something like this reinforces that we made the right call.

H&S: What can guests expect when they walk into your spa?

Aamna: Guests can expect a full range of massage and facial services, from relaxation and deep tissue massage to hot stone and Himalayan salt stone massage, along with skin treatments like DiamondGlow and LED therapy.

Skincare is actually a huge part of what we do, and Hand & Stone is the world’s largest provider of facials systemwide. We partner with Dermalogica and IMAGE Skincare and offer treatments like NuFACE, so clients are receiving professional-grade care from trusted brands. A visit to Hand & Stone is not a visit to a generic spa – it’s truly an experience that will be the best part of your day.

H&S: Are you planning any additional locations in the near future?

Vijaya: We always envisioned Cheshire as the beginning. Hand & Stone is one of the fastest-growing spa franchises in North America, and there is still significant white space in New England, so a second location is something we are actively exploring. The response we have seen in Cheshire so early has given us a lot of confidence – in this business and in each other, and that is what is driving those conversations. We’re excited to continue exploring expansion with Hand & Stone and know that additional communities would benefit from the accessible luxury we can provide.

H&S: What would you tell someone considering going into business with a friend or partner?

Aamna: Choose someone whose values align with yours, and not just someone that may possess the skills that complement yours. Skills of course matter, but shared values are what keep a partnership strong over the long run, whether that person is a close friend, a spouse, or someone you meet along the way.

Vijaya: Align early on the practical details too, who is responsible for what, and how decisions will get made. Aamna and I did that from the very beginning, so we have never had to guess. That clarity has made all the difference, and I would encourage anyone building a business with a partner to begin there.

Ready to bring accessible luxury wellness to your community? Visit https://handandstone.com/franchise/ and begin your franchising journey today.