Spa Canada is proud to have contributors located in all parts of the globe.
Jim Carr
Jim Carr has spent most of his life in communications as a journalist, editor and columnist in daily newspapers, as well as writing news for radio and TV. During this period, he also freelanced for a number of trade publications.
He switched careers after 20 years, working as a marketing communications consultant for a number of major corporations that included the Bank of Canada, The Bank of Nova Scotia, Royal Bank, AGF Mutual Funds, Richardson-Greenshields, Beutel Goodman, CNR, CN Tower, Toronto Convention Centre, Kimberly Clark, Standard Chartered Bank of Canada, Sumitomo Bank, etc.
Now in retirement, he writes fiction, a blog about Thai resorts and resorts, and is a regular contributor to Spa Canada.
For the first five years of his working life, he taught Latin at the high school level and still enjoys translating some of the great Roman poets like Catullus.
Robert Cass
SPAFORMATION, led by CEO Robert Cass, are leading consulting, marketing and training advisors to the spa and salon industry. They bring 40 years of successful spa, salon, hospitality management and development experience as well as an endless commitment and passion towards excellence.
Industry leaders such as Ste. Anne’s Country Inn and Spa, Red Door Spas, LifeSpa, Proctor & Gamble, Lifespa, Stillwater Spa, Langdon Hall Country House Hotel and Spa, FIORIO Salons, Hockley Valley Resort and have all chosen to work with Spaformation because of their intimate knowledge and expertise of the spa & salon market.
Rob has led award winning properties including multiple recipients of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Private Companies award. Rob was a founder, director and Vice President of Premier Spas of Ontario.
Robert travels the continent as a keynote speaker, author and trainer, educating and elevating the standards of today’s salons, day, medical, resort and destination spa operations.
As specialists offering consulting, training and marketing to the Spa and Salon industry, no project is too large or too small.
Spaformation is “building business”
www.spaformation.com
Douglas Alexander Coburn
Douglas A Coburn was the first man to graduate from the Ottawa Academy of Aesthetics and Hair Design. As a mature student he immediately became aware of the lack of information when concerning male aesthetic practices. This experience motivated him to begin his mission to foster better education in the field of male aesthetics. Today, he is a respected pioneer of Male Esthetics as well as the creator of REFLEXOLOGY ANATOMY ™. He graduated from the Reflexology Of Canada Association with an Honours Diploma in 2001. Douglas is well known for the co-creation and operation of the Little House Day Spa of Ottawa Ontario, which was famous for coining the phrase; The Men’s Den. In 2011 Douglas founded M.E. Male Esthetics in Toronto which was sold a year later so he could turn all his attention to the study of foot care and creating a new modality named REFLEXOLOGY ANATOMY. From his base in Toronto Canada he studied and graduated from the North American School of Podology. He graduated in 2013 earning his Bachelor of Science Degree in the study of Podology.
CURRENTLY he acts independently out of his studio in Montreal Quebec providing Sante des Pieds Esthetiques pour Hommes, plus offering continuing education, consulting, training and now co-creating a new on-line concept of education. Besides serving the public from his studio, teaching private classes he continues to write for various editorials and magazines across Canada and even a few places beyond. Douglas is a respected public speaker, notably for his honest, genuine approach to learning and sharing the great reward of education.
Douglas A Coburn AIIC, RAC cert., B.Sc.Pod
www.dougcoburn.com
https://www.facebook.com/ReflexologyAnatomy
Michael Effler, International Design Concepts
Michael Effler is an expert spa and medical spa designer, creating holistic, unique spa design platforms for spa entrepreneurs and physicians to succeed.
After designing interiors for major department stores, Michael Effler founded International Design Concepts, a design and architectural firm, in 1984. He travels extensively, gathering cultural inspirations to develop spas, med spas and wellness facilities across the US, Canada, Asia, South Pacific and Europe.
A spa visionary for over 30 years, Effler offers a rare combination of design and business savvy. He has collaborated with hundreds of spa and wellness entrepreneurs to build spa environments with a dynamic sense of flow and unique guest experiences. IDC’s strategic design solutions create a highly efficient, smooth operating environment that maximize practitioners’ time as well as spa owners’ return on investment (ROI).
IDC provides expert design services for every step in the spa development process, from consulting to complete facility design. Services include site planning, exterior and interior architectural schematics, and full construction details.
Effler is a regular contributor to Spa Canada, Spa Business and Spa Management, etc. A founding member of the International Medical Spa Association, member of International Spa and Day Spa Associations, Effler is also a popular keynote speaker at international conferences in New York, Chicago, Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Las Vegas and Hawaii (ASAPS, IECSC, ESI).
Clients include luxury hotels: Marriott, Hilton, Trump Towers, and Sheraton; resorts: Ocean Reef, and Palm Island; spas: Z Salon & Spa, and Aveda Concept Spa, med spas: Hermann Memorial Wellness Center, Azul MedSpa, Beverly Hills MedSpa, and Bliss Yoga Spa; recent projects: Las Vegas Clinic & Medspa and Moyo Spa & Wellness.
info@ idc-design.com
Ken Ingram
“I mind your business” is Ken’s favorite quote because it is meant to send message to clients who are looking to work with someone with experience and who will really care about their business.
An international professional business coach, trainer and conference speaker, with a focus on “KASH” – Knowledge, Attitude, Skill and Habits. Skills learned over a 22-year corporate career in complex and demanding environments. Ken has an engineering background and is a graduate of McGill’s management program. If you want to grow your business by bridging the gap between knowing what to do and doing. Then Ken’s suite of tools and ideas will enable you to become more competitive and profitable.
Do you have the audacity to be the master of your destiny?
www.TACresults.com – www.TACfocus.com
James Knight
James Knight is a International business person, journalist and guest speaker, over ten years experience working with Partners Publishing, writing about some of the leading hotels in Europe, including Four Seasons in Milan, Florence, Budapest, Park Lane London and Lisbon, The Savoy and Claridges in London, Wynn in Las Vegas and Charleston Place SC
International guest speaker including Las Vegas for nine years, also in Dallas, Washington DC and Montreal
In Britain on global luxury at Judge Business School Cambridge, Brookes University Oxford, mentor on hospitality, Universities of Surrey, Bath and Reading
Worked with the Small Business Administration in America, also produced research papers for the British Coalition Government on Niche Luxury brands for exports
Fellow of the Institute of Directors the leading Directors organisation in Europe, FCIPR Public Relations London, FSCPR in New York, Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts London and a Ambassador for Barts Charity for Cardiology in London.
ASHE LEVESQUE
For decades ASHe Levesque has been providing spa services along with being a valued educator in the field of wellness, esthetics, and spa consulting throughout North America.
His various expertises in hair; “Salon-Film-TV-Stage”, spa care; “Treatments-Yoga-Esthetics” and the arts have brought about his compassion to coach others on the benefits of creating options both personally and professionally.
Melinda Minton
Melinda Minton is a spa consultant and health and beauty expert is a past spa owner, certified massage therapist, esthetician and cosmetologist. Minton has consulted on spa management issues, product formulations, spa profitability and strategy among sundry other projects. Minton has worked on hundreds of projects involving everything from spa start-ups to launching marketing programs for Fortune 500 companies. Minton is the founder of The Spa Association (SPAA), a world-class organization dedicated to enriching the professional beauty industry through self-regulation, education and sound business practices. SPAA is the largest spa association in North America. Minton is also a member of the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE) and of Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW). In 2005 Minton was honored by Gannet for her accomplishments in business. In 2006, Minton was appointed to the United States Business Advisory Council (BAC) representing small business interest and was named Colorado Business Women of the Year by the Presidential Commission of the Bush administration.
Minton founded and launched Reed Elsevier’s Spa and Resort and co-located Medical Spa conferences now in Miami, New York City and Los Angeles. Minton has also organized the International Fitness Show, Club Industry spa track events for Primedia for many years. Melinda has written countless consumer and trade publications. Featured in consecutive year in Entrepreneur magazine, Minton serves as an expert resource for such publications as Better Homes and Gardens, Shape, First for Women, In Style, and Alternative Medicine magazines and is on the Board of Directors for Healing Retreats and Spas and Hotel Executive magazines. Clients have included: Roche, Teledyne Waterpik, Sandals and Beaches, Borghese, Avon, Disney, Solta Medical, the Mandarin Oriental, Estee Lauder and Nordstrom.
Vivienne O’Keeffe
Vivienne O’Keeffe, of Spa Profits Consulting, does what few other spa consultants do. She gets the job done by being with her clients where the action is – on site. Her bag of tools includes over 23 years’ experience in all areas of the industry; a fierce commitment to see visions become reality; a passion for curating structures that facilitate growth, sustainability and quality; and the ability to develop systems that grow a business till it and its people thrive.
“Her understanding of the industry and leadership skills are second to none. She brings such a wealth of experience and is able to teach it in an inspiring and empowering way. We renovated, re-branded, changed our spa culture, added in spa systems, certified in Spa Quality (ISO 9000 standard) grew the business substantially year over year and turned our spa into profitability. If you are a new owner, re-branding, re-building, or need to turn over a new leaf, look no further she is one of the best in the industry and will add great value to your business,” says Jen Spencer from award-winning Sante Spa Victoria, when talking of their 7-year working relationship with Vivienne.
Vivienne’s specialty is curating unique guest experiences and journeys, underpinned by quality systems that encourage sustainability and growth while helping mitigate risk to spa owners and spa guests. She has been a member of the Standards and Practices Committee for the Spa Industry Association of Canada since its inception in 1997, a co-contributor to ISPA’s Risk Management for Spas online course (2007), and contributing author to Retail Management for ISPA International publication (2005). Leading Spas of Canada acknowledged Vivienne with an Outstanding Achievement Award in 2001, 2005 and 2012.
Lori Raudnask
Lori is an international speaker, entrepreneur and author who has coached, trained, and mentored thousands of people around the world. She has mastered the sales process building a team that generated well over 150 million dollars in direct sales. Lori has launched the careers of hundreds of successful entrepreneurs worldwide.
For over three decades, she has dedicated her life to helping others win big. Lori has produced and hosted the TV show Persistence Pays and is the author of Persistence Pays: How getting what you want is easier than you think. Lori was the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and was chosen as Stoney Creek’s Citizen of the Year for her community service.
Lori believes that if we are persistent we can have anything we want, and she does mean everything!
Mindy Terry
Mindy Terry is the Vice President, Spa & Wellness for Carillon Miami Wellness Resort. Terry has more than two decades in spa & hospitality and has consulted on award-winning projects around the world. Terry has an extensive background in spa menu creation, logistics and management. More on Terry and Carillon Miami Wellness Resort on www.CarillonHotel.com.