NIACC Pappajohn Center & SBDC Recognizes Megan Dennis of Still Waters Day & Scalp Spa as the December 2025 Entrepreneur of the Month

The NIACC John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center and North Iowa Area SBDC are proud to announce Megan Dennis of Still Waters Day & Scalp Spa in Clear Lake, IA as the December 2025 Entrepreneur of the Month.

Megan built Still Waters Day & Scalp Spa from a mix of professional experience, personal curiosity, and a clear sense of purpose. Megan began her career in nursing, working for several years in the field before taking a call into ministry and mission work. Although she found her time away rewarding, she realized she missed nursing and wanted a way to use those professional skills again. “Founding Still Waters was a way to get back into that,” Megan said. “It’s been a good marriage of my professional skills with the business side of things. I’ve always felt that entrepreneur spirit of wanting to create and try new things.” Still Waters specializes in nurse esthetician services with a focus on scalp and facial treatments, with additional full-body treatments available. Megan’s guiding goal is to help her clients find a moment of rest and relaxation in an increasingly busy world.

Megan’s go-getter attitude led her to the idea of opening her own business, but the concept of a day spa caught her attention when she saw it featured on social media. “I was on social media one day and saw these luxurious hair and scalp treatments come across my screen and I was like, oh, that looks really relaxing,” Megan said. When she looked for local options however, she discovered the nearest spa offering this type of service was in Chicago. Megan recognized a gap in the market and began exploring the credentials she would need to bring the service to Iowa. After going back to school for esthetics, she was ready to tackle bringing her dream to life.

Megan’s next step was to join the NIACC Pappajohn Center cohort of the University of Iowa’s Venture School, an eight-week entrepreneurial training program. She entered Venture School early in the process of putting together her business plan, and credits the extensive customer discovery process with shaping the future of Still Waters. “Venture School talked a lot about pivoting, and there was a point where I made a big pivot in finding out if this concept would work in our area. There was a huge interest in this specialized service,” she said, recalling how she shifted from massage-based ideas to the specialized scalp and facial model after interviewing potential customers. Venture School emphasizes in-depth customer discovery and real-world business model experimentation, which for Megan turned into building early relationships with her target clientele. “After connecting with people in customer discovery, I could go back to them and say Still Waters is opening, come check it out, and just through word of mouth, it spread like wildfire,” she said.

Megan also worked closely with mentors at the NIACC Pappajohn Center and the North Iowa SBDC as she learned the business side of entrepreneurship from budgeting to finding a location. “I relied heavily on mentors,” she said. “Candi Karsjens and Ashley Page helped me so much. I didn’t have any business training or background but they helped me with how to move from idea to Venture School to actually opening my business.”

Once open, Still Waters quickly found its core audience: those who rarely take time for themselves. “Most of the people who come in for the first time, it’s because it’s been gifted to them,” Megan said. “The best compliment is hearing them say ‘I can’t believe how much I needed that.’” For Megan, those are the moments that matter most and guide every part of the service experience at Still Waters. “This is the fuel that keeps me going, hearing that they’re getting exactly what I’d hoped – rest and refuge and relaxation,” she said.

Looking back at her entrepreneurial journey, Megan credits her family as her strongest supporters. “They’re the people that stick with you through the whole process and cheer you on throughout,” she said. As a solo business owner, their encouragement has mattered at every stage. Megan also encourages anyone thinking of opening the own business. Her advice for others just starting out is simple: “Focus on your clients, their heart and their needs, and make sure that you’re actually meeting the thing that they’re looking for. When you figure out a way to do that that’s true to who you are and your skills, it builds a special relationship with your client. And that’s really what it’s all about.”

The NIACC John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center is the expert in rural business innovation and success. In partnership with North Iowa’s Small Business Development Center, together we provide tools, support, and resources to Iowa’s entrepreneurs. We counsel both new and existing local businesses, from Main Street to industry leaders. We’re growing Iowa’s entrepreneurial culture through grade school initiatives, college and community programs, and business training and development. Contact the NIACC Pappajohn Center at 641-422-4111 or pappajohn@niacc.edu. Visit the NIACC Pappajohn Center online at www.pappajohncenter.com.

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