From its inception, Birmingham’s Birch Tree Day Spa has been so much more than meets the eye.

It all began when Dawn received disheartening news. At five years old, her son was diagnosed with autism. Quickly, Dawn started searching for the best support for her son and later began traveling to Colorado in pursuit of treatment in the form of intensive occupational therapy. Knowing that high-quality treatment was vital, she shouldered the financial burden until she could no longer manage it. In search of creative ways to supplement her income, she had the idea to share with others something she had always known well: the spa experience.

Originally from Toronto, Dawn was highly familiar with the importance of skin care well before her move to Alabama at 18 years old. “We were very used to going to the spa. I think I got my first facial when I was ten. It was just something that you did where I was from,” Dawn shares.

Having left her corporate job upon her move to Alabama, her mother arrived to find that the area was experiencing a distinct lack of access to aesthetic treatments. With a lifelong interest in the subject and more free time on her hands following the move, she decided to go back to school to become an esthetician.

What blossomed from this decision exceeded all expectations. As Dawn tells it, “She opened Nancy Taylor Day Spa in Tuscaloosa. And it became so successful. It just boomed. It was amazing.” But Dawn explains that the success was no accident, “It boomed because of her work ethic and because of her care and the relationships that she built with her clients.” As a young adult, Dawn was given the unique and invaluable opportunity to work alongside her mother and watch her run an incredibly successful spa, and she savored it.

Dawn took in everything she possibly could from the experience, and in a pivotal moment years later, that knowledge became invaluable. Dawn’s short-term solution to the financial need—her spa nights—began humbly but quickly grew in popularity. She found a love for the way in which she could build community around the activity, and she slowly began to build out her own business while using the money earned to fund her son’s treatments.

It was a transformative time for Dawn in more ways than one. As she shares, “I also found God at that time. I’d lost him for a long time. I was a really angry person, just because we had so much loss and so much that we thought was going to be, and it just wasn’t.” As her son’s treatments continued to be ineffective, Dawn found a firm foundation despite her frustrations by reconnecting to her faith.

During one of her most exciting but confusing times of life, while she was working to save money for her son’s treatments, she had a moment of complete clarity. Dawn shares, “There was a young lady in my small group who had just had her car repossessed. She had lost her home, and she was in a big financial strain, more so than we were.” Upon hearing about the woman’s situation, something about the story resonated with her, and she was moved to act. “Something told me to give her the money.”

In that moment, Dawn decided to donate all of the money she had saved for her son’s treatments to help the woman get back on her feet. This is the specific moment that Dawn cites as the beginning of Birch Tree. “What that did for me is it opened doors that were truly a God thing—that’s how Birch Tree came to life.” From that point, Dawn was continually blessed with new clients, and when the chance came to expand to a brick-and-mortar space, she jumped at the opportunity to better serve them.

Originally doing business under Dawn Diehl Skin Therapy, she decided to use the move to her own dedicated space as a moment of transition for the business. Dawn decided that she did not want the business to be about herself alone; she valued her community and the amazing people working alongside her. Soon, the answer came to her: she would name it Birch Tree. As Dawn explains, “The meaning of Birch tree is renewal— renewal of life and renewal of all things in nature. It was a renewal for us— a way for our clients to feel renewed, a way for our clients to feel pampered and loved and cared for.”

Specializing in skincare, massage, and waxing, Birch Tree is able to breathe life back into its clients through curated, custom treatments. For Dawn, Birch Tree’s services are meant to be more than what the average med spa offers. “It is more about building relationships, meeting people where they’re at, and being a safe place so that when they do come in, if they need to fall apart on the table, they can, and there’s no judgment.” She and her team are driven by the opportunity to see their clients leave transformed, “The best feeling is when you can take insecurity and turn it into self-confidence and beauty.”

Birch Tree offers treatments to suit all skin types from facials and dermaplaning to microneedling and massage. Their custom facials and peels are client favorites with three of their most popular peels—Vitalize, Illuminize, and Rejuvenize—as standouts. Dawn encourages anyone interested in trying a treatment at Birch Tree to call (205) 989-0001 or book online, and she ensures that her team is happy to speak with you to answer any questions you may have and set a time well-suited to your schedule.