- January 27, 2026
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At times, Karen Medford wondered if her opportunity to own a spa in Waterside Place had passed.
It was eight years ago she opened Sirius Day Spa, Salon and Med Spa at the Green in Lakewood Ranch. She followed by opening another Sirius Day Spa at University Town Center.
When the opportunity arose to own another spa in Waterside, she had to refuse because it was so near her UTC spa.
Then the years began to pass, and as she said, "Life happens."
She was divorced in 2025 and that carried economic ramifications. She no longer had the UTC spa, and was pouring all her effort into the spa at the Green at 11585 State Road 70.
"Then I got a phone call from (Schroeder-Manatee Ranch)," she said. "It was divine intervention. I had another opportunity."
Waterside's La Chic Bohème spa, that opened in 2024, closed. SMR was looking for another spa owner to occupy that space at 1551 Lakefront Dr., Suite 101.
"It was never a question for me," Medford said. "It always had been my dream area to be a part of. I am going on my eighth year (in Lakewood Ranch), and this seemed to be a natural progression."
She said it was meant to be. After her divorce, she didn't change the name of her website, which is SiriusDaySpas.com. Plural.
"I knew this was going to happen," she said while sitting in her new Waterside location that is currently going through a soft opening.
While running the Lakewood Ranch location, she also has two daughters, 13-year-old Ava and 10-year-old Mya. She said she doesn't feel any pressure taking a risk of opening where another spa had failed in Waterside.
"I don't look at it as pressure," she said. "I look at it as this is how I live. This makes me happy.
"I love community, and I have found my home, my community, my place."
Farrah Thomay had worked for Medford for eight years and has been a manager at both the Lakewood Ranch and the UTC spas. She immediately decided to accept the job as manager of the new Waterside spa.
"Karen is very successful and she utilizes people to their strengths," Thomay said. "She makes the most of everyone's career."
Thomay said the Waterside location has great potential and better yet, a need.
"A lot of people have requested for us to be here," Thomay said. "We want to provide a good, relaxing experience, and to provide a one-stop shop for those in Waterside."
Medford said her employees at Waterside all are people she has known and trusted. They were waiting for her to expand.
Heather Gentile is a medical esthetician, certified laser specialist, electrologist, and medical assistant at the new spa.
"This job appealed to me because I was introduced to Karen," Gentile said. "I was in another employment situation that was not ideal. Everything about Sirius was professional and beyond the standards of other spas where I have worked. People are going to appreciate this level of spa."
Medford said she will continue to contribute to the community in any way she can.
"We are community based, and we are not a place you go one time and forget about it," she said. "Everyone has a different approach to business. We build a long-term relationship with the community."
Medford will have one new employee she didn't expect.
My oldest daughter (Ava) is in ninth grade now, and she has to earn community service credits," Medford said. "My friend at Big Cat Habitat (Kay Rosaire) told me that she would find a place for my daughter to work."
When Medford told her daughter the good news, she said she wanted to work at the spa instead.
"You never know if you are doing something right as a mom," Medford said. "But that means she is paying attention."
But can Sirius make it where another spa has failed?
"We are affordable," Medford said. "We are not the Ritz Carlton, but we are class. We are elegant. We are affordable elegance."
The Sirius Waterside location, which is now open with partial services, is hosting a Celebration Soirèe March 5, at which time all its services will be open.
