Intersection of Wellness and Business

Fountain Entrepreneur Interviews

This week on the Fountain, a good friend of Ria and I, and a friend of the Fountain, Scott Emslie, CEO of Circle Wellness, joined us for a conversation about building something with intention, seeing opportunity before it becomes obvious, and playing the long game in wellness.

Scott has spent years turning a personal recovery practice into one of the most thoughtful thermal wellness experiences in North America, and his perspective on leadership, partnership, and restraint offers a lot for founders and operators alike to listen and learn.

Thank you Scott for taking the time to share with the community.

Circle Wellness is a private, self-guided thermal wellness experience based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Each session takes place in a fully private suite, for yourself and our yourself and a partner, and follows a contrast therapy circuit that includes hot soaking, cold plunge, heated rest areas, and an immersive sauna environment in a beautifully curated environment.

Guests move through the experience at their own pace, with no membership required, creating a calm and intentional space for physical recovery and mental reset.

We hope you enjoy the conversation with Scott and share with those that may also benefit from his jewels.

Before we dive in, a quick note of appreciation. This thing keeps compounding week over week, largely because you’re passing it along. If there’s one person you think would enjoy or benefit from this, send them the signup link. Everything shared here is stuff I’d back personally. Appreciate you helping The Fountain find its people.

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Building a Wellness Brand and Playing the Long Game

“Wellness” is a word we hear everywhere now, but it was not always obvious that it would become such a meaningful part of how people live, train, and recover.

When I sat down with Scott Emslie, CEO of Circle Wellness, the conversation kept coming back to that idea: seeing something clearly before the rest of the market has language for it, then having the patience to build it properly.

Scott joined us from Granville Island in Vancouver, where Circle Wellness operates one of the most thoughtful and highly regarded thermal wellness experiences in North America.

The company has grown quickly, but not carelessly, and that restraint shows up in everything from the physical design to the way Scott talks about leadership, partnerships, and expansion.

Circle Wellness did not begin as a reaction to trends. For Scott, it started much earlier and much more personally.

Before Circle Wellness existed, Scott was living in Europe, where thermal therapy was already embedded in everyday life.

Several times a week, he would cycle through sauna, steam, and cold plunge as part of a normal routine. It was not positioned as luxury or performance optimization. It was simply how people took care of themselves.

When he returned to North America, what stood out was how difficult it was to find anything comparable outside of destination resorts.

There were a few notable locations in places like Whistler and Kelowna, but nothing that felt accessible, repeatable, or integrated into daily life.

That absence stayed with him.

At the same time, Scott was coming off a successful entrepreneurial run in events, entertainment, and hospitality. He was not looking to chase another opportunity for the sake of it. He wanted the next chapter to be something he genuinely believed in and wanted to use himself.

As he watched cold exposure and wellness culture begin to grow, particularly during the pandemic, it became clear that the demand was accelerating faster than the infrastructure. People were searching for community, recovery, and rituals that made them feel better physically and mentally. North America was late to that conversation, and Scott could see it.

When he connected with Circle Wellness founder Paul Hennessey, the pieces aligned. Paul had spent years developing the intellectual property and physical amenities behind the Circle experience.

What began as private installations had already generated significant interest through word of mouth alone. There was demand without marketing, which is usually the clearest signal you can get.

One of the reasons Circle Wellness stands out is that it does not try to be everything.

Scott and Paul spent a significant amount of time early on aligning around values, mission, and the kind of company they wanted to build.

Their mission is straightforward but demanding: to create the most impactful therapeutic experiences in the world. That clarity removes a lot of decision fatigue. If something compromises the experience, it does not make it in.

Scott talked at length about feedback as a core operating tool. Roughly thirty percent of guests provide detailed feedback after their sessions.

That information is taken seriously, filtered thoughtfully, and used to guide incremental improvements. Over time, those small changes compound into something meaningfully better.

This approach has helped Circle maintain an experience that feels intentional rather than overproduced.

The materials, lighting, sound, privacy, and pacing are all designed to support recovery without distraction. It is wellness without noise.

What stood out in the conversation was Scott’s emphasis on restraint. There is no rush to layer on memberships, private club structures, or adjacent business models simply because the market supports them.

Right now, the focus is on refining and scaling the core circuit experience. The company is already on its second generation of design, incorporating lessons and feedback from earlier locations.

Scott’s background as an athlete shows up in how he approaches business.

Team dynamics, long-term effort, and consistency matter more to him than short bursts of intensity.

That mindset also shaped how he approached partnership. Paul is a creative and an artist, while Scott operates more as a builder and operator.

Early on, they took the time to understand each other’s non-negotiables, communication styles, and potential friction points.

They still meet monthly to stay aligned and address issues directly.

Scott was clear about how important this has been. Many partnerships fail not because of bad intentions, but because alignment is assumed rather than maintained.

We spent time talking about energy, perspective, and how Scott tries to remain a fountain rather than a drain in his personal and professional life. Between running a growing company, being a father, and staying physically active, time is limited.

Scott prioritizes intentional inputs. He is careful about where his energy goes, especially when it comes to people or situations that consistently take more than they give.

When drains appear, he spends more time with people who replenish him and less time trying to fix what cannot be fixed.

Scott’s story is a reminder that meaningful businesses are often built by people who notice something missing in their own lives and decide to build it properly. Circle Wellness did not emerge from trend chasing or opportunism. It grew out of lived experience, patience, and a clear sense of what mattered.

For founders and leaders reading this, the lessons are simple but not easy.

And if you find yourself in Vancouver, book a Circle Wellness session ahead of time. They fill up notoriously quickly. We’ve been and it’s incredible.

Scott Emslie Full Interview

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