PB Awards judge Hayley Snishko on her career and mission to elevate massage therapy
As a multi-award-winning therapist, educator and now Professional Beauty Awards 2026 judge, Hayley Snishko has become a respected voice in the beauty and spa industry. Known for her passion for massage therapy and her dedication to raising awareness of its impact on mental health, she has built an impressive career spanning over 15 years.
In this exclusive interview with PB, she shares her journey from spa therapist to mobile business owner, the importance of awards recognition, and why she believes massage therapy needs to be taken more seriously within both the beauty industry and wider healthcare conversation.
Early inspirations and entering the spa world
Snishko’s connection to massage started long before she became a professional. “My dad used to give me little head and hand massages,” she recalls. “Even at that age, I could tell the impact it had on my body and my nervous system – so it’s always interested me.”
She adds that her personal experiences of beauty treatments shaped her path: “I have PCOS, so I was waxing from quite a young age, then later on I’d get my nails done every month. This industry has been present and inspired me throughout my whole life.”
Snishko began her beauty career as an advanced spa therapist at The Spa at Pennyhill Park in Surrey, an experience she says was formative: “I started at Pennyhill straight from college, and I think that was the best thing for me to have done. Pennyhill is an amazing business, and they’re very client focused. Their customer service really reflects that.”
Her time there gave her firsthand experience of the profound impact of massage. “I remember being asked to massage a client with terminal cancer, and I was really nervous because, back in those days, there was a whole thing around massaging clients with cancer. A lot of therapists didn’t want to do it.
“But my manager said it would be really beneficial for the client. I remember seeing the difference in her after her treatments – it was really impactful.”
Building her own business
Just three years after qualifying as a therapist, Snishko took the leap to start her own business, inspired by her husband, Carl. “The decision to start a mobile business actually happened when I met my husband when I was working as the spa manager at the Weybridge Health Club, and obviously I knew straight away I was going to spend the rest of my life with him,” she laughs.
“He left the health club where he was working as a personal trainer to start his own mobile performance coaching company.
“Not long after, I thought, ‘this could actually be a great opportunity for me’. I was only 21, so it was a good time to do it when I didn’t have massive financial commitments.
“We’re lucky enough to work in an area where people have lots of expendable income, so I could get myself busy.”
She admits she never planned for it to last so long: “Funnily enough, I was only going to do a year or so mobile, but 13 years later here we are!”
Her Surrey-based business, Home Sanctuary, offers a range of treatments delivered to clients in the comfort of their own surroundings.
“When I first started, I did everything – manicures, pedicures, the whole beauty range. Now I specialise in massage and also offer facials,” she says. “Specialising has had a big impact on my business.”
Why awards matter for therapists
Throughout her career, Snishko has earned multiple awards for her work, including Therapist of the Year and Mobile/Home-based Business of the Year at the Professional Beauty Awards in 2024, alongside accolades from Babtac and Cidesco.
“On a personal level, the awards are validation that I’m on the right track,” she says. “I’m someone who has a lot of anxiety, so I do worry about whether I’m doing a good job all the time. Winning the awards was such a confidence boost.”
She emphasises that the awards process is valuable beyond winning: “It helped me to grow and plan where I wanted to go next – I think that’s the good thing about awards; they really get you to focus on yourself and your business, and you can identify what is and isn’t working.
“It’s invaluable and I think everyone should go through an awards process.”
Even if you don’t win the first time, Snishko says, the Professional Beauty Awards process offers a huge learning curve. “You have to look at yourself and think, ‘OK, how can I change this?’ It’s about how you present yourself as a therapist to the judges – finding and highlighting your strengths and making sure the judges understand them and understand you as a therapist.”
Entries are now open for the Professional Beauty Awards 2026 – find out how to enter here.
Championing mental health through massage
One of Hayley’s biggest contributions to the industry is her Massage4MentalHealth campaign, launched in 2022 to promote massage as a credible treatment for mental health conditions.
“The response has been amazing. So many therapists have reached out with their own stories and experiences.
“People are really starting to look at the link between the physical symptoms of mental health conditions and how you can help them through massage.
“It’s such a good industry because it’s full of therapists who care and have so much empathy.”
She has also developed a training programme, The Therapeutic Relationship, which helps therapists understand how their actions can impact clients’ mental health.
“The course is about bringing awareness to how our actions as therapists can impact our clients’ mental health in both negative and positive ways,” she explains.
One challenge Snishko has encountered is maintaining professional boundaries with clients, especially when conversations touch on mental health topics. To address this, her training includes strategies for guiding discussions while staying focused on the treatment.
Snishko explains, “Setting boundaries is a big part of the training, because it’s not just about staying within our role as a therapist, it’s also about our own mental wellbeing, because there is such a thing as secondary trauma where you take on the trauma of your clients.”
The course provides practical guidance for therapists who may encounter clients seeking emotional support, with Snishko recommending a three-step approach: listen and acknowledge what the client has said, bring the focus back into the treatment, and have the numbers of local or national mental health services on hand and give them to the client if appropriate.
She adds, “Therapists can be so caring and want to help everyone who comes in, but we need to really nail down our boundaries to make sure it doesn’t affect our own wellbeing.”
Her work has already attracted collaborations with major brands such as Guinot, and she is continuing to expand the training programme.
Lessons in balance and self-care
As a business owner, educator and campaigner, Snishko has had to learn how to juggle multiple responsibilities. “The biggest thing I’ve had to learn is to let go of perfection. We’re juggling balls all the time, and I’ve come to realise that it’s OK to drop balls because you can pick them back up.”
She also acknowledges that self-care is as important for therapists as it is for clients. “This has come through trial and error, and there have definitely been times when I’ve had burnout.
“It’s so easy to get caught up in your work… but I realised that work had encroached on every single moment of my time. It wasn’t good for my wellbeing, so I put time boundaries in place.”
Now, Hayley carves out space in her day for self-care, even if only for half an hour.
Looking ahead: the future of massage
Over her career, Hayley has seen massage shift from being viewed as a luxury to a form of regular upkeep – but she wants to see its credibility grow further.
“I’d love to see the whole ‘happy ending’ culture change. Anyone who’s a therapist will know exactly what I’m talking about.
“Not only is it completely unprofessional, but it degrades us as therapists. Worse than that, I feel that it creates a dangerous working environment for us.”
As Snishko prepares to return from maternity leave after having her second child in December 2025, she is already planning the next chapter of her business.
She says continual learning will form a key part of her work over the next few years.
“Training should never be secondary or put on the backburner. At the beginning of every year, I decide on the training I want to do and book it in advance.”
She adds, “Once I go back to work, I’d like to do the second part of my training course by developing a treatment protocol. I’ll be continuing the Massage4MentalHealth campaign, and I’ve been thinking about doing a podcast.”
Looking even further ahead, Snishko considers the legacy she wants to leave. “I’ve always loved this industry, even before I was working in it. I know the impact it can have on both a professional and personal level.
“One of the best things I’ve done is meeting all the other therapists and seeing how amazing everyone is, so to help push that forward as much as I can to be recognised by the public and the medical community as credible would be an honour.”
Enter the Professional Beauty Awards 2026
Think you’ve got what it takes to follow in Hayley Snishko’s footsteps?
The Professional Beauty Awards are the most prestigious accolades in the UK beauty, spa and aesthetics industry – celebrating excellence, innovation and professionalism.
Snishko, now a judge for the 2026 PB Awards, says: “Awards are invaluable – they make you reflect, grow and focus on your business. Even if you don’t win the first time, the process itself is a huge learning curve.”
Entries are open now! Submit your entry to shine a spotlight on your business and gain the recognition you deserve.
