13986691 Canada Inc.

When Don and Sue Lee immigrated to Toronto from Korea, Sue had no trouble putting her spa and nail care experience to use. “She did better than I did,” Don recalls with a smile. So when Sue wanted to start her own business, he encouraged her to pursue her dream.

An experienced banker, Don was able to focus his efforts on the financial side of opening a business, and within four years he had secured Haute Spa & Nails’ current location on Eglinton Avenue west of Yonge Street.

Haute Spa & Nails is the husband-and-wife team’s first business, and as Don admits, running the spa initially involved a lot of trial and error. Luckily, their backgrounds complemented each other and they worked well together. “Both of us cooperated on decorating the store and then recruiting employees. It was a very interesting and good opportunity for us,” Don says. They learned from their initial mistakes and nowadays, managing the business is a much smoother and enjoyable process.