Behind SoHa Sauna Rentals: A conversation with Arthur Piszczor

In 7000 BC, the earliest known version of a sauna was created in Finland, using hot stones and water to create a steamy environment of relaxation and healing. Over the millenia, saunas became an integral part of Finnish culture. Today, part-time South Haven, Michigan resident Arthur Piszczor has brought the concept to the United States after realizing the health benefits and stress relief capabilities of saunas during his time working in Europe. While hesitant at first, his former boss encouraged him to try it as a way to disconnect from the world around him. 

“I took his advice, and I absolutely loved it,” Arthur said. “I loved the fact that I was able to completely disconnect, and the level of conversations that you have in those areas when everyone is relaxed and feels at ease are conversations that I've never had elsewhere.”

After returning to the United States, he began considering purchasing a sauna for himself and later thought about renting it out to others. In 2023, he traveled 15 hours to buy a 6-person sauna, loaded it onto a trailer, and brought it to South Haven for everyone to enjoy by founding SoHa Sauna Rentals. 

“The whole idea generation was, I pitched it as a business, half expecting it to fail. But I wouldn't really lose anything because I'd still have the sauna that I wanted to buy originally out of it.”

SoHa Sauna Rental's original, 6-person sauna

Opened in February 2024, SoHa Sauna Rentals travels anywhere from 10 to 30 miles from South Haven throughout Southwest Michigan, with the mission of bringing a Finnish-style sauna experience directly to one's home or event: to offer feelings of relaxation while fostering community and meaningful connection for wellness-minded individuals, families, and vacationers.  They provide everything that is needed to operate a Finnish-style sauna, including wood, a fire starter, an oven glove, a fire poker, a ladle and bucket for the water, and a fire extinguisher for emergency use. 

“I tell everyone if they can start a bonfire, you could start a sauna because the sauna is just essentially a bonfire that's enclosed. It's even easier to start than a bonfire, so for the end user, you don't need much. We ask that they watch a 10-minute tutorial video and that everyone stays hydrated and consult their doctor before going into a sauna.”

With temperatures averaging between 170 and 210 degrees, a sauna session should be limited to 30 minutes. According to Arthur, customers are allowed to leave the sauna as many times as they would like, and encourage people to listen to their bodies when they feel it’s time to leave. Customers are also required to sign liability waivers, provide their email and delivery address, and have proof of approval from the property owner if relevant. 

It is also not advised to take your phone into the sauna, which is something else Arthur said he loves about the sauna experience. 

“Your phone will turn off if you bring it in. It'll overheat, and what that does in today's day and age is that it really helps me relax if I don't have that constant call to check my phone. I force myself to go in there without a phone, and I come out 30 minutes later feeling refreshed, feeling so much better, and the sleep benefits alone are amazing.”

In addition to sauna service, SoHa Sauna Rentals offers a cold plunging tub. Like a sauna, cold plunging provides a range of health benefits, including promoting muscle recovery, boosting immunity and metabolism, and enhancing circulation. The tub has a temperature range of 34 to 50 degrees and comes with a mechanical timer that can be set for anywhere from 30 seconds to three minutes. 

“It shocks you, and you get kind of an endorphin rush…..people have to realize that adding the cold plunge to the sauna experience really gets that ideal feeling— that recovery people are looking for.”

As if these services weren’t excellent enough, something new is coming to SoHa Sauna Rentals this year. According to Arthur, the crew at SoHa Sauna Rentals are building a second sauna, which will be able to accommodate 12 people and feature a window, WIFI, a changing room, a device to measure the temperature and humidity in real-time, and it will be solar-powered. The sauna was built in response to customer requests to accommodate larger parties. Arthur also thought that creating a larger sauna would be a good way to build relationships with new people in a relaxing environment. 

Our new sauna is a big one — large enough for groups, built with multiple benches, and heated by a Harvia wood-fired stove packed with hundreds of pounds of rock. This thing holds serious heat and delivers that authentic wood-burning experience every time. #southhaven #mobilesauna #southwestmichigan PC: @Sohasaunarental IG

“We've really gone all out with our second sauna. We're very excited about launching that….I think with the six-person sauna, you have really good conversations with family members  but the larger one is the one where I want to have those conversations occur with strangers. I think that's a really neat environment to meet new people. 

The company has become something of a family business, albeit unintentionally. When finding someone to assist in building the new sauna, Arthur turned to his cousin, who is a master carpenter.  Arthur’s brother-in-law and sister-in-law also help him manage SoHa Sauna Rentals' social media accounts, and his parents assist him in cleaning the saunas. 

“I think initially, everyone thought it was a little bit crazy when I said, ‘hey, I'm buying this, I'm going to put it on a trailer, or I'm building one, and I'm going to rent it to people….now they’re messaging me all the time with inspiration ideas and health stats that I should share. It’s become very much a family-involved business.” 

While having his family involved has helped alleviate some of the stressors of starting a business, there will always be obstacles to overcome. For Arthur, the most significant adjustment period came when scheduling sauna drop-offs around his personal schedule, obtaining insurance, and promoting the business in the community.

“There was a couple of weeks where I just said, you know, screw it. Should I take the sauna off the trailer, enjoy it in my backyard, and write this down in some sort of journal to remember to tell my kids? Or do I just push through? Ultimately, I decided just to push through, and, you know, life comes in waves. I was able to find a delivery driver, my family was more than supportive and they've started helping out even more because I think they started to sense that frustration.

When searching for a delivery driver, Arthur turned to the South Haven Chamber of Commerce. Joining during his first month of business, he met his current delivery driver at a networking event hosted by the SHCC. 

“All these other small business owners came up to me, wanted to get to know me, were super supportive, asked how they could help, said, hey, this is great, I'd love to advertise for you. So that is something that just completely shocked me…..you never really know how people will react to something like this.” 

He added that he would recommend joining the South Haven Chamber of Commerce to

other business owners. 

“As soon as they find out you're a small business owner or there's some sort of overlap or, issues that you're dealing with, they're there to provide you with solutions.”

With the second sauna approaching its launch date, Arthur said that his next step is to focus more on promoting the business by partnering with the city of South Haven and surrounding businesses to host their own events. Earlier this year, SoHa Sauna Rentals became the unofficial warming hut of South Haven’s Ice Breaker Festival through a partnership with Off Map Glamping, which will have its own grand opening over Memorial Day Weekend. Additionally, SoHa Sauna Rentals has partnered with DayDreamer Domes for sauna nights at the glamp-site. There have also been discussions with nearby communities to offer sauna nights at the beach. However, making time for beach use may become difficult due to the rise in popularity of sauna use. 

“Demand has been such an issue that we haven’t really been able to establish a day where it’s going to show up at the beach and have that walk-up kind of walk up traffic.” 

Arthur said that, ideally, he would love to host a community cleanup event, where participants receive free entrance to a sauna. For now, however, an official ribbon-cutting ceremony is in SoHa Sauna Rentals future. 

“I was very hesitant to schedule the ribbon-cutting ceremony in case things didn’t pan out, but I’m happy to let you know that it's soon to happen. We're finalizing a date, so, that was my last hurdle.”

For those who may want to start their own business in the future, Arthur’s advice is to do your homework and keep trying. 

“If you do come across a roadblock, just reset, hang up, call again, and see if you get someone else and then try again.” 

While running a small business is difficult, it is clear that for Arthur, all the stress is worth the reward of building community and connection among new people. 

“When you are in this intimate space, the conversations seem to be more meaningful. People seem to be more engaging and life slows down.....whether it's strangers, friends or family, the conversations just seem to flow there because there's, there's there's no fallback plan, You can't pull up the phone.”

Booking information and pricing for SoHa Sauna Rentals can be found at https://www.sohasaunas.com/ 

Updates on the opening of the 12-person sauna and upcoming events can be found on SoHa Sauna Rentals Facebook and Instagram page. 

All photos courtesy of @Sohasaunarental IG