A GREENOCK wellness studio owner has told how she scooped a top prize at a prestigious national awards ceremony just weeks after recovering from a partially collapsed lung.

Blessed Wellness Studio on Union Street was crowned Scotland’s bespoke retailer of the year at the recent Scottish Independent Retail Awards in Glasgow.

The big win came as a much-needed boost for the business’s owner Leanne Templeton, who today paid tribute to her team of practitioners at the business.

The 41-year-old spent much of January and February recuperating from surgical emphysema and a partially collapsed lung, having developed the conditions after surgery at the start of January.

Greenock Telegraph: A Greenock wellness studio owner has told how she scooped a top prize at a prestigious national

The dedicated entrepreneur spent several days in a high dependency unit but was able to bounce back from the difficult period and organise a successful retreat for some of her clients.

She then went on to take home her award at a swish ceremony held at Glasgow’s DoubleTree by Hilton in her first full week back at work.

Leanne said: “It’s our second award, as we won small/medium enterprise wellness studio of the year for Renfrewshire and Inverclyde at the end of last year.

“I was told about our nomination while I was off sick, and I found out that it was between 10 nominees on the night.

“I went along to have a nice night out, I didn’t expect to be winning it.

“When our name got read out I was so excited, I was trying not to cry like Gwyneth Paltrow at the Oscars because it’s been a really hard year.

“I’ve got an amazing team and there has been a bit of change in the last month or so but everyone who has ever worked here is amazing.”

Leanne opened her studio in 2022 having previously worked as a beauty therapist after qualifying in 2007.

Blessed has grown into a successful hub for Leanne and other wellness specialists to grow their businesses and ply their trade locally.

Greenock Telegraph: A Greenock wellness studio owner has told how she scooped a top prize at a prestigious national

Leanne added: “I wanted to create a place people could go to get wellness classes, to go to yoga or to go for treatments.

“It was important to me that it was all in the one place because people with anxiety can struggle to go to a lot of different places.

“I’m proud of the fact that this has been a base for so many people to start their businesses, it is really difficult to say that you’ve got an idea and you want to open a shop, because that costs a fortune.

“People have been able to come here, find their feet and work out what they want for their business.”

Leanne said her team at the studio stepped up to help her while she was off and she is now looking forward to continuing to grow the studio alongside them.

She added: “I knew the surgery was coming but I thought I would get more notice, I only got eight days.

“It was quite traumatic.

“My surgery was fine but I developed surgical emphysema and had partially collapsed lungs.

“I’m somebody who’s really busy all the time, so I thought resting would be sitting in my bed and completing online courses, because I love my job.

“I thought that’s what my recovery would look like but it was a lot of crying and feeling completely useless and being tired and in pain all the time.

“I started a phased return in March and then the week we won was my first full week back, which was brilliant.

“My team were amazing while I was off, they kept the place going and were such a huge help.

“I couldn’t have done January, February and March without them.

“I’m just so happy and proud to have won this award.”