SPA Renata França

A Bahian Miracle "When I arrived in São Paulo, I slept on a blanket and only ate once a day." Like in the legend of Midas, Renata Franca, 39, turned misery into fortune with the touch of her hands. In 2004, she arrived in São Paulo in dire poverty. "I slept on a blanket and ate once a day," she says. Born in Ilhéus, Bahia, she left her studies to help her mother in a beauty salon. A client invited her to work as a masseuse. Months later, with 157 reais in her pocket, Renata took the bus to the Tietê Terminal to try for a career in aesthetics. One day, she learned that clients were paying 500 reais for the massage she had created at the SPA where she earned two reais per hour of work. She began to offer home services - and the miracle happened. Word of mouth, the praises for the talented hands of the Bahian reached the ears of Taís Araújo, Sabrina Sato, Bruno Gagliasso... In 2016, the "celebrity masseuse" opened a luxury SPA on Alameda Gabriel Monteiro da Silva, in Jardins. But she really makes money from the courses where she teaches her methods. Renata has 8.000 trained students and franchisees in Portugal, Italy, and France. "This year, we're opening in Japan," she says. The complete training costs 35,000 reais. Today, she employs 100 people, has 1 million followers on Instagram, and fell in love with the metropolis, which was so harsh at the beginning. "When the plane lands at Congonhas, I feel like I'm home," she says. "São Paulo embraced me. I'm a black, northeastern woman who has always been very well treated by the people here." One hundred employees and 1 million followers: "This year, opening a branch in Japan."