144. From Borrowed Playbooks To Authored Ones

Wellness has had its growth spurt. 

But growth alone doesn’t create legacies. 

In this episode, I share why 2026 marks a quiet but powerful shift in the wellness and hospitality industry, and why the next decade won’t be led by those chasing trends, but by those who’ve earned the right to design what endures. 

As I closed 2025 and stepped into 2026, I found myself reflecting on more than two decades in wellness. 

I’ve seen this industry move from the margins to the centre. 

From spa as an afterthought to wellness as a serious commercial and cultural conversation. 

I’ve lived through the years of having to convince. 

Convince owners. 

Convince brands. 

Convince boards. 

And now, five years after publishing The Wellness Asset, I’m working with a very different kind of entrepreneur—purpose-led founders and land owners who don’t want wellness at any cost, but want it done with coherence, responsibility, and intelligence. 

This episode is a reflection on what has crystallised for me over the last 20+ years, and why I’m choosing to spend the next 25 teaching what I know works. 

Here are the 3 things we wxplore in this episode: 

1.- Why the wellness boom is over, and why that’s a good thing 

The last five years have shown us that scale without stewardship creates backlash. Overtourism, community resistance, hollow wellness claims - these are symptoms of growth without depth. The next era belongs to those designing with intention. 

2. The shift from fluid intelligence to crystallised intelligence 

In our earlier years, we borrow frameworks. We study others. We absorb endlessly. 

But there comes a point where wisdom stops being external, and becomes authored. I share how this shift has shaped my work, my models, and my decision to teach from lived intelligence rather than theory. 

3. Why there is no longer a playbook, and why that’s liberating 

There is no single way to “do wellness right.” 

Every destination, every land, every founder carries a unique intelligence. The future belongs to those who stop copying and start designing: from who they are and what they stand for. 

By the end of the episode you’ll understand: 

→ Why wellness is no longer about facilities, features, or trends 

→ What it truly means to build a wellness business that performs and endures 

→ Why the most powerful work ahead is not scaling faster but stewarding better 

And how to recognise when it’s time to stop looking outside for more and start implementing what you already know.