Wayne B. Evans
Wayne Bentley Evans is an American entrepreneur who co-founded Massage Heights, a membership-based franchise offering massage and skin therapy services, alongside his wife, Shane Evans, in San Antonio, Texas, in 2004. He served as the company's president and chief executive officer from 2004 to 2008. In later years he stepped back from day-to-day operations while retaining his role as co-founder and equity partner.
Early life and career
Before co-founding Massage Heights, Evans worked as a teacher. He and his wife both worked previously for a health club, where they were first introduced to the membership-based business model. According to the Houston Chronicle, Evans had spent fourteen years at Bally Total Fitness prior to co-founding Massage Heights.
Founding
In 2004, Evans and his wife developed the concept for Massage Heights after Shane experienced a costly and unsatisfying massage during a holiday vacation in Sedona, Arizona. They withdrew funds from their retirement savings and opened their first location initially called the Massage Heights relaxation clinic in the Alamo Heights neighbourhood of San Antonio, Texas, naming the business after that neighbourhood.
Evans had a background in the health club industry and Shane Evans in sales; together they saw the membership model as a fit for therapeutic massage services.The business was built on a low-cost monthly membership model intended to make regular massage affordable and accessible.
Leadership changes
As the company grew, Shane Evans was elevated to president and chief operating officer, and Glenn Franson Shane's brother was named chief executive officer, while Wayne Evans stepped back from day-to-day operations. In June 2014, Massage Heights named David Humphrey, a franchise-industry consultant and former CEO of Massage Envy Spa, as chairman of its board of managers; the same announcement formally elevated Shane Evans from vice-president to president.
Evans was quoted in the announcement saying that welcoming Humphrey would help the company "move ahead even further and faster in our rapidly growing industry. In 2016, Glenn Franson transitioned from the CEO role at Massage Heights to lead a new holding company, The Elevated Brands, while Shane Evans continued to lead Massage Heights day-to-day operations and Wayne Evans moved into a role overseeing company-owned stores.