Show Notes
Letha Sandison, CEO + Founder, Four Moons Spa
A lifelong creative and service-driven visionary, her work has always centered around creating spaces that help people feel more seen, supported, and inspired. Before founding Four Moons, Letha lived in Uganda, where she ran an NGO supporting pediatric cancer patients and their families—an experience that deeply shaped her understanding of healing, human connection, and the power of community care. Upon returning home, she envisioned a new kind of wellness space: one where beauty, healing, artistry, and meaningful connection could coexist under one roof. Under her leadership, Four Moons has evolved into more than a spa. It is a wellness playground and community gathering place designed to help people slow down, reconnect to themselves, and experience wellness as a way of life. Through thoughtful details, transformative experiences, and a deeply human approach to hospitality, Letha continues to shape Four Moons as a space where ritual becomes a return to self. Outside of Four Moons, she finds inspiration in travel with family and loved ones, painting, and all things art and design. For her, self-care looks like daily morning and evening rituals that support a conscious and mindful life. She feels most lit up when creating art, connecting with interesting people, and exploring the world with family and friends.
Connect with Letha: Instagram socials: @fourmoonsspa and @lethasandison LinkedIn: @lethasandison
Episode Summary:
Lyndsay Dowd sits down with Letha Sandison, founder of Four Moons, a wellness "playground" in Encinitas, California, built for slowing down and reconnecting. Letha shares how nearly a decade running an NGO in Uganda — creating a fashion line that funded chemotherapy for pediatric cancer patients — shaped her belief that self-care isn't a once-a-year luxury but a daily necessity. She and Lindsay dig into why wellness has become a critical leadership tool, what sets Four Moons apart from a traditional spa (community programming, "healers and mystics," makers markets, women's tables), and why prescriptive wellness advice ("meditate for 30 minutes or you're failing") often backfires. Letha closes with a look at Four Moons' upcoming at-home ritual product line and her hope that listeners give themselves permission to be honest about what they actually need.
Key Takeaways:
- Self-care isn't a treat for your birthday — it's daily fuel that shows up in how you lead and show up for others. - Working harder doesn't make you better. It just burns you out faster. - Wellness works best when it's a two-way street: healers with formal training paired with more intuitive, esoteric support. - Rigid wellness rules ("you must meditate 30 minutes a day") can make people feel like failures. Start small and build the muscle instead.
Episode Chapters:
00:00 Cold Open: Why Self-Care Isn't Optional 00:48 Welcome & Guest Introduction 01:53 Letha's Path: Art School to Nonprofit Work 03:08 Founding a Fashion Line to Fund Pediatric Cancer Care in Uganda 06:13 Coming Home and Reimagining Wellness 07:37 Why Wellness Is a Leadership Imperative 10:23 Inside Four Moons: A Wellness Playground, Not a Spa 13:00 Community as Medicine (and Coming Home to Social Media) 14:55 What Leaders Experience and Take Away 16:04 Ditching One-Size-Fits-All Wellness 19:01 Sponsor Break: Cozy Earth 19:59 What's Next: Bringing Spa Rituals Home 22:26 Where to Find Letha and Four Moons 22:43 Inspiration, Legacy, and Final Advice
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