Podcast Summary: The blondEST – "Building My Dream Spa"

Host: Savanna Boda (The Dallas Aesthetician)
Co-host: Tyler
Episode Date: September 8, 2025

Overview

In this candid and humorous episode, Savanna Boda takes listeners behind the scenes of building her dream spa—Savanna Boda Aesthetics (SBA)—while juggling the construction of her custom home, running her business, and navigating personal life. The conversation covers the intensity, passion, and unique vision Savanna brings to her projects, the unexpected hurdles she faces, and the lessons learned along the way. The episode is an honest look at the highs and lows of entrepreneurship, design, and the sometimes-overwhelming process of turning a vision into reality.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Chaotic Backstory

• Rabies Shot Saga: Savanna opens with a comedic recount of her rabies vaccination mishap during travel, highlighting her overbooked life and the running joke that she might have rabies.
  Notable Quote:

  "I'll just start it on September 1st and hope for the best." – Savanna (01:15)

• Juggling Multiple Major Projects:

  • Simultaneously overseeing the building of her dream spa and custom home.
  • Managing the practical complexities—delays, cost considerations, finding trustworthy contractors, and making design decisions for both projects at once.

2. The Spa Vision & Design Process

• Dedication to Details:

  • Savanna insists on being "fully 100% enwrapped in every fucking aspect" (04:47), emphasizing her need for control and perfection.
  • Frustration with others not sharing her vision or diligence:

    "No one cares the way I care. No one goes above and beyond, no matter how much you pay people." – Savanna (03:40)

• Unique Features (Cryptic Hints):

  • Alludes to an undisclosed, innovative element for the front desk that delayed construction.

    "It's a thing that you want different during different times." – Savanna (04:20)

• Balancing Personal and Professional Life:

  • Contrasts the first time opening her business as a solo venture with her current life (married, with a child and a team).
  • Admits delegation has led to decisions she wishes she had overseen more closely.

3. Lessons in Home Building

• Cautious Decision-Making:

  • Savanna held off on breaking ground for her new house due to a shady builder entering her neighborhood—a decision she credits to business smarts and a desire for long-term value and resell potential. (06:17–09:19)
  • Acknowledges the stress of being an early adopter in a new development and waiting for market stability.

• DIY vs. Professional Help:

  • Opted for an independent architect ("She eats") to save money, but it doubled the project timeline.
  • Used the same interior designer for both house and spa, leading to overlapping, exhausting all-day meetings.

4. The Difficulty of Decision Fatigue

• Admitting Mistakes:

  • Savanna shares the story of accidentally removing a break room sink during a design meeting due to overwhelm.

    “Per example, I took a fucking sink out of the break room. Like a dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb motherfucking dumb idiot. Like, the fucking stupidest thing I could have fucking done.” – Savanna (13:14)

• Visualizing the Space:

  • Describes her process of mentally “walking through” the finished spa at night as a tool for manifestation and vision building, but says this could only really start happening once the walls were up. (14:00–15:00)

5. Balancing Team Needs with Personal Vision

• Creating Personalized Spaces:
  • Made one treatment room dark and moody to reflect a staff member’s (Lauren's) style—an intentional deviation from her own aesthetic.
  • Points out costly last-minute changes caused by accommodating others and not having full oversight.
  • Despite frustration, believes it led to better results:

    “I’m glad I did it because now, honestly, it looks better than it would have. Everything works out the way it’s supposed to.” – Savanna (18:41)

6. The HVAC Catastrophe

• Major Setback:

  • Returns from travel to find three large HVAC units installed directly in front of her favorite treatment room’s window, blocking the view of a cherished tree. This becomes the central venting point and comedic meltdown of the episode.

    “Three fucking AC units covering my tree. Three tall AC units covering half the window, obliterating the obstruction of the tree. Can't happen. Won't do. It's bad, Tyler and you know it.” – Savanna (22:39)

• Unfiltered Frustration:

  • Savanna unpacks her reaction, feeling sabotaged and fixated on finding a solution (even if it means moving the units herself).
  • Expresses that for her, this is "the worst thing that could happen" in the building project.

    “It is an obstruction. It is a monstrosity. It is hideous. Like, I hate it. I won't work here.” – Savanna (24:31)

• Pledging Action:

  • Assigns Tyler responsibility:

    “Promise me, not that you’re going to get it fixed. But promise me that you’ll do everything in your fucking power.” – Savanna (26:16)

7. Humor as Coping Mechanism

• Melodrama and Banter:
  • Savanna jokes about burning the building down, everyone going jobless, and requiring a Nobel Peace Prize for the solution.
  • Playful disputes about who really needs the prayers culminating from the HVAC fiasco.

    “Everyone better fucking fear me in an H Vac unit. Okay?” – Savanna (30:07)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Perfectionism:

  “At the end of the day, what makes SBA SBA is when I am like fully 100% enwrapped in every fucking aspect.” – Savanna (04:48)

• On DIY Mistakes:

  “Savanna was like, whose idea was this? And then our interior designers were like, I just checked my notes. It was yours, babe.” – Tyler (13:20)

• On Team Dynamics:

  “Everyone has their own skills and talents, and I just have a very peculiar brain.” – Savanna (14:00)

• On Post-HVAC Disaster:

  “I will not. I can't. For my mental health. I cannot deal with it. I just need someone to fix it…Burn the fucking building down.” – Savanna (26:17)

• On Delegation & Ownership:

  “Nobody eats until that's done.” – Savanna (27:42)

• On Manifestation:

  “Everything works out for me. I’m God’s favorite… It’s gonna be fine.” – Savanna (32:01)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:05–02:50 – Comedy about rabies shot, traveling, and re-entry into work life.
• 02:51–04:47 – Spa sign goes up; Dedication to design specifics and frustrations with delegation.
• 06:17–09:52 – Home building story: shady builder saga, early investment anxieties.
• 11:45–13:14 – Decision fatigue, mistakes from overlapping meetings.
• 14:00–15:00 – Savanna describes her visualization/manifestation process.
• 17:00–19:37 – Accommodating team aesthetics; design swaps; costly near-misses.
• 21:05–26:39 – The HVAC nightmare: confrontation with the spa’s obstructed tree window.
• 30:07–32:01 – Banter about the HVAC solution, wishes for divine intervention.
• 34:18–35:02 – Wrapping up with prayer requests, humor, and genuine exhaustion.

Tone & Language

• Candid, Unfiltered, Sarcastic & Relatable: Savanna and Tyler banter effortlessly, dealing with setbacks using humor and sometimes melodrama, never shying away from explicit language or self-deprecating jokes.
• Emotional Realism: The episode balances moments of stress, frustration, and disappointment with gratitude, ambition, and the roller coaster of truly caring about your craft.

Summary

This episode is a raw, humorous, and insightful look at what it really takes to build a dream business (and home) as a driven entrepreneur in the beauty industry. Savanna’s obsessive attention to detail, business acumen, and emotional transparency make for engaging listening, especially for anyone who’s ever tried to bring a personal vision to life at scale. The HVAC saga serves as both comic relief and a metaphor for the bigger challenges of leadership and vision: sometimes, your biggest battles are over the details only you will truly care about.

If you need a dose of business reality, blunt humor, and a peek into the behind-the-scenes of luxury aesthetics, this episode is a must-listen. And if you know an HVAC specialist who can move three units for Savanna, say a prayer—or send a DM.