Curam had the privilege of interviewing the model and entrepreneur behind HEAT by Sophia Lie, namely Lie herself. 32-year-old Sophia Lie has a background as a fashion model in New York. After ten fast-paced years of constant travel and living in the city that never sleeps, Sophia found love on Swedish soil and moved back to Norway to commute Norway-Sweden.

However, there was one thing she was missing. Sophia didn’t want to imagine a life without an infrared sauna. She then took matters into her own hands and decided to ship her detox sweetheart to Sweden. This resulted in the first infrared sauna ever in Scandinavia called HEAT by Sophia Lie which quickly became a success!

-The infrared sauna is my most effective beauty hack; feel good and look good as well. I was burnt out at the age of 28, and so infrared therapy also became a medication for me. It is a necessity in my everyday life.

Unlike ordinary traditional saunas, infrared saunas are so-called low-temperature saunas with degrees between 40–65 degrees celsius. This brings with it several health benefits such as detoxing, pain relief, stress management and anti-aging. Sophia discovered the infrared sauna during a hectic time in her modeling career.

– The modeling profession involves a high pace with non-stop travelling. This in combination with the fact that the job itself is about looking good can be straining. Being constantly jet-lagged and eating airplane food takes effort and that’s when the infrared sauna became a very important tool for me. In New York, the method is and was, both well known and trendy, especially in the modeling industry. I tried it out and I got hooked after my first session!

Sophia started bathing in infrared saunas 2-3 days/week. She experienced an incredible difference in that she was less stressed and stepped out of the sauna fresh and recovered, ready for the next photo-shoot. When we ask Sophia for more tips on how to stay mentally and physically happy, she answers:

– I meditate daily. Everyone can learn how to meditate and I realized that when I was 26 years old in New York and I remember being stressed out, I took a meditation course for three days. There and then I started a new routine and I now meditate for about 20 minutes a day. I also see physical activity as an important key for a happy life.

Sophia seems to have brought with her a lot of rewarding things from her time in New York. We are incredibly grateful that she brought some goodies to Sweden. It was back in November 2018 that the gates on Birger Jarlsgatan in Stockholm to HEAT by Sophia Lie were opened. A spa-like center where infrared saunas are in focus. The expansion went both quick and well. Nowadays Curam is a proud partner to HEAT and the cups are available for sale so that you can use them during your sauna session. We ask Sophia about her best tips for reaching out with a product that you yourself believe in.

– Get people to try the product! In fact, everyone who tries an infrared sauna for the first time has a good experience, which in turn sells the experience – so it’s about getting them to take the first step and try it out. We at HEAT have also worked a lot with our social media. Infrared saunas are very Instagrammable and that in combination with the fact that we work a lot with information about its effects on Stories and other apps has worked out well.

Right now Sophia is working on developing the HEAT concept and says that there will be another interesting product in the future and more HEAT studios will be opened. Cool! The interview is beginning to go towards the end, we at Curam are so happy to be partners with HEAT and the last big question awaits …

So what do you think about the Curam cups?

– It’s a favorite in the sauna! I usually sit and meditate with a static cup on each side of my neck. The suction really alleviates the strain on the neck.

The receptionist at HEAT usually runs around the studio with the cups on her haha ​​- we love them!