Whether it be musicians, from Alanis Morissette and Selena Gomez to Lady Gaga and Sting, businesses like Proper Hotel, and so many more, wellness is becomingly increasingly important in the public consciousness in 2025. And why not?
In these stressful and chaotic times, those moments to unplug and take care of your mental health and body are a necessary respite from the frenetic pace of life. Take, for example, just giving yourself an hour to sit in an infrared sauna. To detox, to shut down the phone, to take time for yourself.
Having gone through a serious fungal infection a few years ago, the very determined multi-hyphenate Caroline Newton, an Angeleno via Philadelphia, found out just how vital that time for yourself was for both mental and physical peace of mind. When Newton, a force of nature who backs up her claim, “Anything I set my mind to I do well,” by having proven herself as an actress, waitress, a poet, a journalist, and now a business owner, struggled to find a suitable infrared sauna her doctor recommended, she set out to fix the problem the best way she knew how – by opening her own location
As she explains: ˈ”sônə (pronounced SAUNA) is an intimate infrared sauna studio set to service the East Side of Los Angeles with 7 private sauna suites and 2 luxury showers. We’ve signed the Tropico lease (3909 San Fernando Rd, Suite 108), represented by Sam Devorris of Cresa, and are now in build-out.
“To our knowledge, we’ll be among the first dedicated sauna studios serving the Eastside – Glendale, Atwater, Los Feliz, Silver Lake – an area that’s been underserved compared with the Westside. Our goal is to reimagine the sacred act of sweating – a ritual rooted in ancient cultures – into modern routine care for the mind, body, and spirit. We’re doing that through sensorial design and top-tier hospitality. ˈsônə is where the functionality of a sauna studio meets the tranquility of a neighborhood spa.
“Market & culture context: Industry analysts project the U.S. sauna market to grow by about $151 million between 2025 2029 (approx. 6.4% CAGR), and we’re seeing a broader shift toward wellness-oriented, alcohol light socializing, especially among younger consumers, which supports third-space concepts like ˈsônə.”
I spoke with the very impressive Newton about the origins of ˈsônə studio and why this is an important idea during this chaotic time.
Steve Baltin: Where does your interest in saunas and the wellness world come from?
Caroline Newton: A couple of years ago, I had a gut fungal infection, and I was like seeing both a western and an eastern doctor. I was attacking it from both sides and my holistic doctor said, “You should incorporate saunas into your care routine because it’ll help your body process all of the herbs and everything that I was taking at the time and help with my diet. It’s using your body’s largest organism, your skin, to detox and assist in healing.” So, I was looking for a sauna. At the time I was in East L.A., and I was looking for a sauna. I couldn’t find one that didn’t feel cold and clinical or was just a group sauna at a spa or something. Then there was another one that just wasn’t the aesthetic that I was looking for. So, after using saunas and trying a bunch of different places thought, “I would love to open my own sauna studio.” And I’ve been in hospitality for 10 years, so I have experience in that world. That’s how I became interested in saunas. And Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Atwater, we don’t have a sauna studio. We have spas with saunas. Glendale, I believe, has a recovery space with a sauna. But not an actual sauna studio. The spelling is phonetic, so the name is actually ˈsônə studio, and our flagship location will be in Glendale. Technically, it’s the Tropico neighborhood of Glendale, and it’s Atwater adjacent.
Baltin: What were your initial steps?
Newton: I put together a team. I’ll be working with Alex Sheft and John Farrace of Sheft Farrace, an architecture and interior studios firm. What I really appreciate about their work is that they blend architectural precision with this immersive storytelling and the way that I designed ˈsônə studio to be is more of a sensorial experience. What I felt like was missing in the L.A. market was a dry sauna studio that is a functional dry sauna studio, but has the feeling, warmth and sensorial effect of a spa.
Baltin: How much did you have to research all of this to feel prepared to embark on this venture?
Newton: Two and a half years so far. Two and a half years and counting. The interest started a little before that, but the actual active work of building this company has been two and a half years. I’ve been following the sauna market trends and the way the growth of the market and where wellness is going. Then searching for a location takes a long time, finding the right market that you want to serve. But the whole process has been about two and a half years. I took a business class at UCLA, business management and entrepreneurship. Then I built my business plan, I built my projections. I talked to many business owners, hours spent talking to first-time business owners, longtime business owners, managers, people who’ve managed some of the largest hospitality groups. I just talked and talked and I absorbed everything. And it really helps me build this company in a way that feels authentic.
Baltin: I noticed that you write poetry, you’re also an actress. Have you always been one of those determined people who just can set your mind to something and will it into existence?
Newton: When I set my mind as something, I do it and I do it well. Starting a business is, to me, just another example of that. Being in hospitality 10 years I’ve learned I’m really comfortable talking to people. As a result, I’ve been told I’m really good at my job. And starting a business, I’ve treated with the same determination to succeed. I’ve combed through every single aspect of it. Anything I didn’t know, I said, “I’m going to ask someone what the answer is, or I’m going to figure out the answer.” I might not be the smartest person in the room, but I will know the smartest person in the room. That’s been my philosophy about starting a business because I think if you start a business and you pretend you know everything, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
Baltin: What have you learned thus far from this venture?
Newton: When you start a business there’s so much unknown and you really have to embrace the unknown. It feels like every corner you turn there’s a new obstacle which is why I look at obstacles so differently. I want challenges because every new challenge I get makes me stronger and more creative for the next hurdle. I used to look at challenges, when I was younger, as too scary for me. Now, every time a challenge happens, I think, “Okay, I’ll figure it out.” And guess what? I always do figure it out.
Baltin: That is the key to success. All successful people crave that. Whether you’re a CEO or an artist or whatever, what drives successful people in all fields is an internal fire. You don’t care what’s happening outside, you constantly need to challenge yourself.
Newton: I 100 percent agree with that. It’s a constant challenge to yourself. I’m always wondering, “How do I get better in hospitality?” In building this company, it’s infiltrated everything I do. Because I look at now every shift as a way to serve people better. And that’s what I want to take to ˈsônə studio because it is an elevated infrared sauna experience where when people come in, I want them to feel that my space is their space, your space to come, relax, step away from the crazy world. Whatever I can do to make someone have a better day is ultimately the goal. Really of all hospitality, but I think sometimes in hospitality the plot has been lost a little bit.
Baltin: What are the practical benefits of infrared saunas?
Newton: It’s a science-backed holistic healthcare, which a lot of holistic health care isn’t science-backed. And saunas have been around since we were ancient people digging a hole in the dirt as a sweatbox. It’s really good for you. There’s the detox factor I was talking about. It increases your metabolism and blood circulation. There are new studies coming out about how it improves brain function and cardiovascular function. It’s really good for your immune system and pain management, and it’s obviously relaxing. I don’t know if you’ve ever come out of a sauna. You come out with a high.
Baltin: What’s the difference between the regular sauna and the infrared?
Newton: ˈsônə studio is going to be a hundred percent infrared saunas and then red-light therapy, which is also in hand. We’ll have seven infrared saunas in our booth. It’s seven private suites. So, you have your own space to change. And if you want to sweat in your birthday suit, you don’t have to worry about being around people. You can bring a friend or a partner, the booths fit two to three people. Three people would be pretty tough, but you could do it. But then we’ll also have an accessible sauna as well. Infrared saunas use infrared light panels to heat the body directly rather than heat the air. A traditional sauna heats the air. It could be electric wood gas heaters. Sometimes you’ll see those coals inside of the sauna and they can be dry, or steamy but infrared saunas are a dry heat. Infrared saunas have a deeper tissue penetration which is why they’re popular in the United States. And we are coupling ours with red light therapy which is really good. It’s like a full body facial, so the panels that we’re getting are large enough to give you a full body facial.
Baltin: How much time have you spent doing infrared saunas to experience it yourself?
Newton: I’ve done infrared across town, tried a bunch of them. And I’ve really liked my experience with both the red-light therapy and the infrared sauna. It’s one of the most popular for housing installs too.
Baltin: How much of a difference do you find it making in both your physical health and state of mind? So much of wellness needs to be focused on state of mind.
Newton: I agree because healing the body is healing from within. My personal benefits were that I slept better, my skin looked better. We all have a lot of inflammation in our bodies. And it felt like every time I went into the sauna, my inflammation went down and the redness in my face went down after the initial heat wore off. From a stress management perspective, because you’re sitting in the sauna, you carved out a lot of time for yourself in the day to relax specifically and take care of yourself. I think just the habit of that really affected my mood.
Baltin: How would you like to see ˈsônə studio grow?
Newton: My goal with ˈsônə studio is eventually I want to expand ˈsônə studio into a larger kind of social space. So, this is our flagship location and for our flagship location, these will be private booths with some social ability. But my eventual goal is to explore wellness trends with our community. And one of the things that people are moving towards is that they want to meet people in wellness settings. So, you’re talking about it in their in their daily lives. What I would love for ˈsônə studio is eventually to be a larger brand and a larger community space that allows for that social ability.
Baltin: Talk about the vision for the flagship location.
Newton: The way that me and my architect team are designing ˈsônə studio, it’ll all be red, and really warm yellow, orange lighting. And the reason for that is because we’re always on our phones all day with blue light. We’re surrounded by blue light. And red light is so good for your eyes.