Young (right) told the Reporter that Dreams has become a place where many young adults in the community go to get their first job. Courtesy photos

While on a family vacation some five years ago, Alafia Young, then a mechanical engineer and event planner, took her two young daughters to a nail salon, hoping to share with them the rest and relaxation she and other adults enjoy on their visits.

But afterward, she said, “I realized that it wasn’t the right environment for them. They didn’t really get the treatment I was looking for in a kid-friendly manner. My oldest said, ‘If I got to play with the water a little bit longer, then it would have been fun.’”

That experience spawned a business idea that Young decided could fill a niche in Boston’s neighborhoods: a “spa-tailored self-love space

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