The journey to Drift has been full of passion, family and gratitude. Today makes 4 years of being open and we are honored to serve #yeahTHATgreenville for years to come.
The vision of Drift started way back after my third float in 2011. I started floating in a small yoga studio in Atlanta while living there for work. My first float was super weird and kind of unenjoyable due to my excitement to try it and the newness of the environment. By my third float, I knew this was something special. After years of floating everywhere I traveled, in 2016, I started putting pen to paper and went to Portland, OR on a whim to complete an apprenticeship to learn the salty water’s ways.
With no job, no guarantees, I put it all on a credit card and threw caution to the wind. If I couldn’t make this work, I was willing to risk what little I had to lose. I met incredible people, made lasting connections and learned from people who had forged the way in an unknown landscape. When I got back home to Greenville, I blocked the world out and was full steam ahead. I found our current space, perfectly poised for Greenville’s premier float spa. My mom, and friend, became my business partner and we haven’t looked back.
The journey took me to Florida, North Carolina, and finally Vancouver, BC to find the perfect float tanks to fit our vision. On my own in Vancouver for only one day, I floated in the morning, took a bike ride through the day, and floated that night as well. I came home from my short journey, ready to make some decisions. We worked with DP3 Architects and Caldwell Construction (no relation, but they treated us like family), and Drift was born. I was driving back and forth to Asheville to float, using an Infrared Sauna in town and searching for powerful tools for expanding consciousness that are not readily available. That’s when I found the Lucia Light and it blew my freaking mind in concept alone. It was the perfect pairing to floating, a sensory relaxation experience like no other. The perfect yin and yang.
When I made our page on Facebook and instagram, I had people reach out almost instantaneously, excited this was happening, people I didn’t even know! One of those people you may have met at Drift, her name is Kelly Berg aka KB. She was an avid float advocate and with her openness, compassion, and love of service, we hit it off right away. I am grateful to have had her on our team and as a friend along for the entire journey. My family was a huge support with not only my mom as my partner, but my brother and step dad constantly dropping everything to help me at a moment’s notice.
It took 2 years of hard research, planning, and jumping over hurdles to finally open our doors. When that magical day came, we were fully booked a month out, and we… HAD NO IDEA WHAT WE WERE DOING. Except we did, it just felt like we didn’t. We fumbled through a few things as any new business does in launch, and that didn’t stop us. We worked all the hours of the week and slept or floated when we could. Finally, I was able to experience the Lucia Light for the first time and it became a part of Drift just 3 months in!
About a year in, a young man named Jack came in for an interview. Dedicated, kind and intelligent, his addition stuck like glue. Another year later, sweet Kierian (the girl with the blue hair) joined us with loyalty, drive and empathy we know our patrons can feel.
These three incredible people stuck with us through the 10 week shutdown of COVID and came back to welcome a new, grinning face, you may know as Coach. Coach had floated many times before and had the passion and love for our services that reinvigorated our team during a tumultuous time. And finally our team was completed when Olivia came on board with a bubbly personality! I can’t express enough how grateful I am for our team as the faces of our business and human beings as well. I have been honored to have them all with us and consider them all family.
I need to take a moment here and talk about my mom, Robin Carroll. She is the kindest person I have ever met in my entire life with a heart gold would only dare to be like. She is without a doubt my greatest supporter and friend. She cares for others in a way that you can only understand if you’ve met her. She is a beautifully sensitive person, moving mountains with her light. She is more intelligent and powerful than she knows. She is my hero and role model and I believe I am the luckiest person ever to call her my mom. Back to our regularly scheduled programming…
With COVID, our lounge for community gathering no longer made sense, and we had the space to add in massage, a popular request by patrons and a great addition to our space. With it has come a beautiful partnership with Tanesha and Jessica as our therapists, with Melanie joining us next week! We are excited to announce that we have added CRM Counseling, a therapeutic technique for the healing of complex trauma on Mondays at Drift. CRM is practiced by Vanessa Reinarz, a licensed therapist, and avid Lucia Light and Float user. Healing from trauma has been the hinging reason for Drift’s inception as it was my own battle to overcome, and CRM (the Complete Resource Model) is an innovative technique to do so with a licensed counselor.
Life has thrown us lemons, sugar and a lot of salty water. The joy I have experienced from talking with people before and after their experiences has been an unexplainable treasure. I am deeply honored to have created the opportunity for self growth, exploration, and healing Drift prides itself on providing. I am proud of our team and what we have accomplished together but mostly proud of the way they value the treatment of each other and each person who walks through our doors. I am beyond grateful for my mom and my family who I could not have done this without. And finally, I have fallen in love with the people of my home town. Sincerely, thank you for supporting my dream and thank you for reinstitution my faith in humanity. It is through the people I have met at Drift that my belief in the good of humans has been solidified. I cannot cope with my own gratitude over this.
Happy Driftiversary! It’s been a great 4 years with many more to come.
Buoyantly,
Kelly Caldwell
Thank you’s to those I didn’t mention because I couldn’t write a book in this blog post: my fiancé, Allison, you are my rock and my home and your support is everything. Our dogs, Lily and Bean. My Dad, my supporter and friend. Amanda Lipscomb, my ride or die bestie and low key business consultant. Jessica Chasteen, encourager of hearts, who always sees a creative direction when I am lost in monotony. Lauren Reilly, my confidant, sister and best rapper alive. Brionna Morse, talk about everything in the woods friend, soul sister and float ambassador. Amy, the most instantaneous friendship that ever was. Angelo Colato, gains every day, the best old fashioned in town, and friendship that picks up where it left off. Maxx who I can talk to hours with about consciousness expansion, philosophy and crypto. Matt Snipes, the conversations, the podcasts, and the ease of connection. Drift team members, Kiara, Nate, Jeremiah, Hannah, and many others along the way. Dustin Bays, creative sounding board and innovator of many Drift processes. Graham, Ashkhan, Frank and the Float Tank Solutions Team. The innumerable amount of patrons to friends that keep the light alive, Alex, Michelle, Olivia, David and Edward to name a few. Thank you to Lori, Fran and Chrissy for coming in as new friends to me and immediately having my back. I am certain my memory will fail me and texts will be sent apologizing for my lack of acknowledgment here. Thank you for this experience. Thank you for your choosing to come to this planet at this time. Thank you for being you.