By Olivia N
In Southern California, wellness trends change as quickly as the city itself. However, few founders have impacted the conversation around accessible, science-based healing as meaningfully as Mariam Hakopyan. Her Encino-based medspa, Empower Wellness Spa, is one of Los Angeles’ most influential wellness destinations because it provides real physiological support along with empathy, education, and community connection. More specifically, Hakopyan’s work speaks directly to individuals who have spent years searching for answers. This includes people navigating lymphatic disorders, chronic inflammation, autoimmune challenges, hormonal imbalances, or persistent fatigue. Many arrive after exhausting traditional healthcare pathways that dismissed their symptoms or offered high-cost treatments with limited long-term benefit. Hakopyan’s goal with Empower, influenced by her own experience managing Lipedema, is to offer functional, non-invasive therapies because she believes people have the right to understand their bodies.
Before Empower existed, Hakopyan found that wellness treatments were often inaccessible, aggressive, or detached from how the body naturally heals. Through her personal experiences with the industry, she became convinced that wellness should be based on education and consistency – not fear or desperation. These insights eventually became the philosophy behind Empower. Instead of treating the body as a collection of isolated issues, Hakopyan pictured an environment where circulation, lymphatic function, detoxification, oxygenation, and nervous-system regulation were understood as interconnected systems. Her goal was to reintroduce clients to their bodies in a way that felt empowering rather than intimidating. “When people understand their bodies, they feel empowered to take action,” she expresses.
At Empower, Hakopyan provides therapies with the intention of helping the body work the way it was designed to. For example, one of the spa’s most requested services, Ozone Sauna Therapy, uses steam, heat, and ozone to support oxygenation, stimulate lymphatic movement, improve circulation, and activate the body’s natural detox pathways. Many clients describe feeling clearer, lighter, and more energized afterward, a feeling that surprises them if they have spent years feeling disconnected from their bodies. Hakopyan prefers to start new clients here because it gives them a firsthand experience of how the body responds when foundational systems are supported. From there, she guides clients toward other complementary treatments such as red light-enhanced movement therapy, lymphatic-focused facials, and Endospheres compressive microvibration for the face and body.
This approach stands out in Los Angeles, where fast-paced lifestyles, chronic stress, and information overload often push residents into reactive, one-off wellness choices. This is why Hakopyan’s model pushes people toward routine-based care that gently builds resilience from within. Hakopyan intentionally created a space where people are never rushed through appointments or expected to justify their symptoms. Her team is trained in therapeutic modalities as well as hospitality, which she believes is essential to healing.
Although Empower is known for its treatments, the spa’s community events, and especially the recent Elevated Soirée, are essential extensions. During the February gathering, wellness professionals, influencers, and local creators explored the spa, sampled services, and learned how Empower’s modalities support the body from the inside out. Warm lighting, music, and conversation with the team created a space that felt celebratory and educational. “I hope events like this help shift the narrative around wellness,” she says. Historically, non-invasive therapies were often dismissed or overshadowed by more dramatic options. But as more research highlights the significance of lymphatic health, mitochondrial function, stress regulation, and detoxification pathways, Empower is helping the public connect those dots in a tangible way. She adds: “These gatherings strengthen relationships, build trust, and position the spa as a forward-thinking wellness leader in the community.”
Despite rising demand, Hakopyan is not in a rush to scale her business. Instead, her priority is to maintain the quality, mastery, and consistency of Empower’s services. She continues refining her current model while preparing additions like the new Foot Zoning Therapy. In this way, each expansion demonstrates her belief that progress should be thought through.
Through her personal story and professional mission, Hakopyan has made Empower one of Southern California’s most forward-thinking wellness spaces, giving people back their independence and reconnecting them with the intelligence of their bodies.
For more information about Empower Wellness Spa and its services, visit the spa at 16101 Ventura Blvd or see https://empowerwellnessspa.com/.
