The Space You’re In - Episode 1 - A conversation with Olivia Grigg

The Space You’re In is a new blog and podcast series that highlights talented women in London, Ontario and the spaces they are creating. We sat down with Olivia Grigg, owner of Olivia Therapy and Retreats where she is also a therapist. Olivia recently opened a new wellness centre here in London.

A: I want to get a sense of how spaces impact you as a creative person and someone in the wellness field. So let's start with the space that you're in. Did you have a vision for the business first and then what that space would look like, or did you find the space and then build the business around that?

O: I had the intention of building a business in my mind and then finding a space to fit, and then it happened the opposite. I was thinking much smaller than this. I was thinking of finding a place that had maybe two offices and a group space. I wasn’t thinking about having my own building but then my realtors told me about a building that's was empty for a long time.

When I walked to the building, I walked by the Elden House gardens on the way in and there was a warm breeze. I saw the porch and then I walked in the front door and saw a stained glass window. And then I saw this fireplace and I thought there could be something really special here.

Even though it was in disarray. The walls were brown. There were cobwebs. There was paint splatters on the floor. A door off the hinge. It's like I was seeing it through a filter of what it looks like now. I could see it instantly. So the business became what it was because of the space. In the span of two months. I signed the lease in November and had tripled my team by January.

A: That's so impressive. So take me through the steps. You found the space and then there was obviously things that had to be done to the space because it was in disarray. What took place to get you to the place of opening the space?

O: I knew how much needed to happen for it to look better, but the bones of it were good. So I knew flooring didn't have to change. The functional structure of it really didn’t have to change. It just needed to be refreshed. Things like painting, new ceiling tiles, new lighting and anything that needed to be repaired. And then I very slowly (after kids' bedtimes every night) would come and fix things up myself.

A: I remember you were doing that. You were here all the time!

O: I was thrifting all the time. I would say 75% of the stuff in here is thrifted. I posted on my stories and asked if anyone had any chairs. The chairs we’re sitting on were from a different company that was closing, so I would come in and spend an hour or two. My landlords did all the painting and structural stuff. Really, it was just a decor that brought it to life. I wanted it to be simple and clean.

A: Thrifted and colourful.

O:It was a lot of hard work.

A:So when you were ready to open, what was your intention for the space? How did you want your clients to feel when they walked in?

O: I really wanted my existing clients to feel the same vibe they'd always had but just in a larger space. It felt important to me to have brand recognition from space to space.

Everything that I had in my old two offices, I brought over so clients would feel like the space was already familiar.

I didn't want people to feel like I had sold my soul because I was expanding. We're just actually getting a little bigger. And for new clients coming in, I want them to feel comfortable in the space. Our staff doesn't dress up for work. We're very professional, but business casual.

I want it to feel very homey and warm. I want it to be noticeable that things are thrifted, but they're in good condition. I don't want it to feel like we just went out and bought everything new because we didn't. The feel is supposed to be lived in. Our dress code is business cozy. And then that's how everything is supposed to feel. Professional but cozy.

A: Can you speak to some of the elements in the space, like your mural that bring cozy, safe space vibes here?

O: Our beautiful mural is by Pauline who lives in Woodfield in London. I had sent her a request to install wallpaper for me and she looked at the wallpaper and told me she could hand paint it. So she took the inspiration of the wallpaper and just drew it on the wall. It took her two to three weeks. I love it so much.

O: I buy a lot from local businesses like Lofthouse Living and Heemans. That matters to me. It matters to me to support other women and have that represented in all the rooms.

A: It sounds like your vision is very clear. How did that vision form?

O: It's been very intentional for me for years. I feel like it wasn't just that I walked into this space and two months later I had a business idea. It was years and years of imagining what I could do and this is the maximum of what I had pictured. I had thought maybe in 10 years when my business grows, I could have a standalone building in a pretty place. And then when I walked in and realized I could just do it now.

A: Yes!

O: So it was all these things I had collected over the years and just had in places in my house where I didn’t need but had saved. And now they fit perfectly into the space.

It's also like being around other women who have businesses that I’ve loved for years. I've been around so many influential people that I've thought, “I love what they're doing” and I felt honoured enough to take pieces from all those people I've learned from, to make something that's just an extension of my values as a business owner, therapist and a person.

It matters to me to walk into a space and you don't feel judged.

It really matters to me to take feedback from people if something's not working. It's been so intentional and I feel like I haven't been able to necessarily define what those intentions were until we moved in. In my heart it just all came together.

A: You've been here for one year?! It feels like so much longer than that.

O: My lease started January 1st, 2025.

A: Okay, so one year in. What have you learned when it comes to space and how it inspires the work you do?

O: I feel like I've learned that it's okay for things to change from your original idea. I feel like when I first moved in I thought, this is how we're going to use this room, or this is how we're going to use that room.

We've moved the massage room three times. And now it feels like we have the right rooms in the right places. I'm always reimagining rooms. I feel like I've learned to be more flexible with my dreams.

A: What's next? What are your future dreams for the space?

O: I had a really great networking night in October and there was something about the energy of having other business owners who really want to be collaborative. There was some energy around that, I'm not exactly sure what's coming, but it just felt like a new excitement around can we share this space in a way we hadn't pictured?

I feel like 2026 is about learning how to just be with what we have and not try to get bigger.

A: It's only been a year!

O: It's only been a year. Take a deep breath.

A: Do you think that spaces hold energy? When I walked into my space, I just felt the space wanted to be something different. Did you feel that?

O: Yes it was a feeling, an instinct. Like I feel like when we were renovating some of the rooms upstairs the feel was very dark in contrast and very sharp. When I came in with the decorator from the rental company she was asking me about blinds and I told her I was thinking soft, like linen and flowy and she said, “That's what this building has been like waiting for!” And I was like, yes!

I want people to leave a workshop, not only with the amazing things they learned from their practitioner, but also being like, it was just so nice to be there. I loved that there was blankets in the corner and looking onto this beautiful space. It goes back to intention. It really is intentional. Everything is in our work.

A: You were trying to create an experience for people.

O: I want people to expect that when they sign up for something here, that even if it's not me hosting it, you're going to get a similar level of excellence because it's my team.