Meet Anne Payne: Well Room’s Newest Massage Therapist & Esthetician
Well Room is thrilled to welcome Anne Payne to the team. A board-certified licensed massage therapist and esthetician with 20 years in holistic care, Anne brings a full-body philosophy to every treatment she offers, whether she’s working on your face or your whole body.
Anne’s path started somewhere unexpected: doing makeup for weddings. That work led her to pursue her esthetics license for more formal training, and somewhere along the way, she fell hard for facials. While working at the resort at Poplar Springs, where she first found her footing and learned to treat every session as a full experience rather than a single service, she decided to add a massage license to her toolkit. “I wanted to treat the body as a whole system,” she says. “With facials, it’s not just the face you’re treating, it’s all connected. I wanted to learn about the whole body and how it works together.”
That whole-body instinct still shapes how she practices today. Since honing her craft at Salon 730 in Fredericksburg, Rituals in Midlothian, and Bokketo in Richmond, Anne has built a signature approach that treats tension as connected tissue, not isolated spots. “When there’s tension in the face, I’ll work a certain part of the foot. If a client has tension in the neck, I’ll work certain parts of the hips to release it,” she explains. It’s a holistic method rooted in working with the body’s own systems, rather than against them, to help it function the way it’s meant to.
As an esthetician, Anne has spent two decades getting to know skincare from the inside out. She’s worked across a wide range of product lines and has deep knowledge of ingredients, formulations, and how they interact with different skin conditions, including how nutrition can support healing and nourish skin over time. Her goal is to treat clients both internally and externally, an approach she describes as slow beauty.
Book a facial with Anne and expect plenty of massage, sculpting, and lifting, largely by hand, along with tools like gua sha and cupping, all customized to your skin’s specific needs. Her massage practice is just as varied: fascia release with arm compresses, cupping, and a flowing Swedish style, with the ability to go deeper into sports massage when that’s what a client needs. (Note: Anne does not offer pregnancy massage.)
What keeps her passionate after 20 years is simple. “I love enhancing people’s natural beauty. I like helping them feel good about themselves, and I love the connection with my clients. I tend to build a deeper connection through touch.” Outside the treatment room, Anne is a devoted mom of three and a self-described gym rat who lifts weights regularly, something she credits with supporting her mental health. She’s also a frequent concert-goer and an avid reader, often picking up book recommendations straight from her clients, so bring them on.
Anne is now offering both massage and esthetic treatments at Well Room, including Custom Facials, Gua Sha / Sculpt & Lift Facials, Dien Chan Zone Facial Reflexology, Hair + Scalp Treatments, Peels, Dermaplane, Microneedling, Body Sculpt / Wood Therapy, and Massage.
For now, catch her Mondays and Tuesdays, 10 AM – 4 PM, with expanded hours coming soon.