Andrew Finkelstein has over thirty years experience in the professional beauty industry, including positions as President of Jean Louis David USA, Vice President of marketing and retail for Glemby International and Vice President of Stores for Cut Co Industries. He’s been around long enough to see both the metamorphosis of beauty salons into today’s day spas, the creation of the medical spa industry as well humble beginnings of today’s professional retail business.
Mr. Finkelstein began his career fresh out the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of business, when he joined Federated Department Stores’ executive training squad intending to work in the retail business. But the lure of the beauty salon business intervened, and he was soon working for his family’s business Glemby International. At Glemby he started behind a reception desk and learned the nuts and bolts of the salon. Getting out from “behind the desk” and demonstrating his ability to run a group of salons in the US, the company transferred him to London where he ran the London salons as well as the company’s training center.
The opportunity to work with some of the world’s finest hairdressers including Kenneth, Garren, Oribe to name but a few drew Mr. Finkelstein back to the US, where he ran the company’s prestigious New York City Group – with salons in Bergdorf Goodman, Henri Bendel and The Plaza Hotel among other places. Here he and his team created and marketed the country’s first day spa in a specialty store – where among other things they installed the nation’s first dental esthetics salon as well as the prototype for today’s pedicure “throne”. When the style director’s position became available at the company’s Bergdorf Goodman salon Mr. Finkelstein discovered and recruited Frederic Fekkai. Together they put Frederic’s name on the door.
Mr. Finkelstein realized that retail was growing increasingly important in the salon, so in addition to the salons and day spas he ran he also got involved with product end of the business and ran the company’s marketing, training and private label retail product group.
When the family sold the company Mr. Finkelstein went to work for CutCo Industries, a public company, where he ran the company owned salons and developed that company’s franchise prototype day spa.
Mr. Finkelstein seized the opportunity to work with legendary beauty industry visionary and entrepreneur Jean Louis David, President of Jean Louis David, USA.
He founded The Beauty Resource in 2003 and concentrates his time and talents on helping beauty salon and day spa owners as well as small professional salon industry manufacturers get more clients and run more profitable enterprises.
His philosophy is based upon the following tenets: Profitability is not
optional, Salons/Day Spas can and should be great places to work, it all starts with the owner/manager, you don’t need a degree from Harvard to run a widely successful salon/day spa business and the biggest obstacle to a salon/day spa owner’s success is himself (or herself).
He works with salon/day spa as a coach, consultant and trainer using a variety of leadership and marketing programs and products. He believes that different clients need different things. One size doesn’t fit all. Although he has variety of programs that address a wide variety of issues, he approaches each salon/day spa with the same attitude: Mr. Finkelstein works with you to produce sustainable results for you and your business with the least amount of struggle.
Mr. Finkelstein publishes The Finkelstein Report – the industry’s #1 E-Zine and salon/day spa management guide. He is also a contributing editor to Strategies Magazine where he writes the New Leader column. He has served as Vice President of Beauty Cares and is currently a member of the Day Spa Association, The Professional Beauty Association.
THIS PROFILE HAS BEEN SUBMITTED BY THIS MONTH'S SPA PERSON AND IS BEING PRESENTED AS GIVEN TO THE DSA. STATEMENTS AND CLAIMS MADE DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE DAY SPA ASSOCIATION AND WE DO NOT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OF THE CONTENTS.
Owner and Director of Education at Elite Academy of Skin in Dunedin, Florida, has been in the Medical Aesthetics field for over 20 years. In that time, she has worked with board certified plastic surgeons (Drs. Erel Laufer and Jay Ross) and Ocular Plastic Surgeon (Dr. Larry Perich), to establish a pre- and post-operative protocol for skin care to reduce “down time” and speed healing. In this vein, Judiann is the sole US Distributor for Atzen Pharmaceutical Skin Care (owned and distributed by Universal Companies) and is a National Trainer for Atzen’s Lymphobiology® machine. In 1999, Judiann became a distributor for Mattioli Microdermabrasion machines and also acts as a Certified Service Center for Mattioli. Also in that year, she purchased Elite Academy of Skin Care, hoping to give students a superior education in a field that was quickly becoming more clinical. In addition to the basic aesthetic course, a Paramedical Course, a Permanent Make-up course, and a Massage Therapy course have all been added to the curriculum.
Through all of her endeavors, Judiann has enable hundreds of students who have passed through Elite Academy of Skin and Massage to leave with a level of knowledge that is unequalled by her peers in the skin care education field. The students who leave Elite Academy are well-prepared to work in any aspect of skin care and most continue their education at Elite Academy’s Paramedical Course, which prepares them for work in the Medical Aesthetics field. Judiann’s commitment to educational excellence and passion for passing this knowledge on to the aestheticians she teaches and mentors, has made a most positive impact on the Skin Care field as a whole, and the Medical Aesthetics field in particular. As a member in good standing of the National Coalition of Estheticians and Associations (NCEA), Elite Academy is in the process of being certified as a National Training Center for the NCEA Master Esthetics Course, the first school in Florida to be designated as such. Through all of these avenues, Judiann has raised the standard for aestheticians nationwide. Elite Academy of Skin and Massage, 1559 Main Street, Dunedin, FL 34698, Ph. 727-733-0346; Fax 727-733-3495; Email: eliteatzen@aol.com
THIS PROFILE HAS BEEN SUBMITTED BY THIS MONTH'S SPA PERSON AND IS BEING PRESENTED AS GIVEN TO THE DSA. STATEMENTS AND CLAIMS MADE DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE DAY SPA ASSOCIATION AND WE DO NOT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OF THE CONTENTS.
After 7 years as a research and development chemist in the pharmaceutical field Ms. Wilson decide she needed a change and looked to the spa industry. She became a licensed esthetician with the hopes of pairing that with her chemistry background to develop products, she got side tracked when she feel in love with the spa industry and wanted to be of service to the spa consumer and industry as a whole.
In 1997 she started a company called SpaTemps,Inc which served as an employment and marketing resource company for the spa industry now serves mainly as marketing and event resources. She also acts as creative director for many public and private spa events such as Lovely Ladies Lounging an all-inclusive spa event that takes place at luxury hotels and spa resorts. To date she has supported many people in starting a career in the spa industry as well as getting new consumers to make the spa industry a part of their lifestyle.
Though she considers 10 years in the spa industry as a short time, she has packed in quite a bit of experience from; assisting in hair transplant surgery, laser treatments, product development, project consulting, websites but what she does well is pulling together resources, networking and planning small to medium sized events.
THIS PROFILE HAS BEEN SUBMITTED BY THIS MONTH'S SPA PERSON AND IS BEING PRESENTED AS GIVEN TO THE DSA. STATEMENTS AND CLAIMS MADE DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE DAY SPA ASSOCIATION AND WE DO NOT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OF THE CONTENTS.
Katie Armitage is President of Associated Skin Care Professionals (ASCP), an organization launched in January 2007 that is solely devoted to skin care professional member needs. This includes offering professional liability insurance and business-building tools, along with the esthetician's publication, Skin Deep through low-cost membership. In this role, she coordinates all day-to-day operations and leads professional liability insurance program and skin care association activities. ASCP recently topped the 6,000 member mark; before the launch it had 5,000 members under the banner of Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals (ABMP).
Katie continues in her role as Vice President of Operations and Executive Director of ABMP. She joined the Evergreen, Colorado-based company in 1993 when membership hovered around 10,000. ABMP now boasts a professional massage membership of more than 60,000 massage therapists and bodyworkers, making it the largest massage membership association in the nation.
Her previous experience includes 12 years of association work, supplying logistical management; meeting planning and special-event planning services for a destination management company. Her decision to dedicate her energies to one association was prompted by her enthusiasm for the massage, bodywork and skin care professions.
Katie has become a fixture in the spa world, forging and nurturing many relationships within the profession with her trade-show presence and school visitation travel through the years. She strives to elevate current educational standards in the profession, and provide education about liability and risk management to the industry.
She belongs to the Day Spa Association, International Medi-spa Association and the International Spa Association, as well as serving on the advisory board for the National Coalition of Estheticians, Distributors/Manufacturers and Associations. Under her guidance, ASCP as an organization recently joined the American Association of Cosmetology Schools.
Katie is a fourth-generation native of Colorado and enjoys boating, camping, gardening and reading. She enjoys most sports as a spectator, especially as an avid Broncos fan. She lives in Golden with her husband, Tim and three dogs. They have two college-aged kids.
THIS PROFILE HAS BEEN SUBMITTED BY THIS MONTH'S SPA PERSON AND IS BEING PRESENTED AS GIVEN TO THE DSA. STATEMENTS AND CLAIMS MADE DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE DAY SPA ASSOCIATION AND WE DO NOT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OF THE CONTENTS.
Dan Hussey has over twenty-five years of entrepreneurial, commercial banking, international finance, Government Service/Relations, and business analysis and development experience.
Education includes a BA in Political Science in International Relations from the University of New Hampshire and a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the Whittemore School of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire. Dan is currently participating in the Executive Coaching Certification Program at Penn State University’s Smeal College of Business.
Dan has worked internationally as a Senior Analyst doing feasibility studies and finance structuring for infrastructure development, including major hospital projects. Work has been done for the US Trade and Development Agency and Export-Import Bank of the United States in South Africa, Mauritius, India, the Balkans, Brazil, Colombia and the Bahamas. He also was the Senior Export Finance Officer for seven years at the New Hampshire International Trade Resource Center where he developed the nationally recognized Top of New England and New Hampshire Export-Import Bank of the US City State Program.
In addition to his international experience as an officer in US Army Military Intelligence and Commercial / International Banking Dan has nearly twenty years of HealthCare involvement as a Hospital Board Member, Board Chairman of a Home Healthcare/ VNA Agency and President of Pacific Therapies Corporation. Currently, as President of Global Success Solutions Dan focuses on helping businesses sort out their financial management methods/systems, business financing and executive coaching in three niche’ industries: small businesses, small businesses involved in international trade and the Spa Industry.
He has been recognized by the US Small Business Administration, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and the US Department of Commerce for his business counseling work with small and medium sized businesses. His experience in Government Service/Relations has also been recognized several times in “Who’s Who in American Politics”.
THIS PROFILE HAS BEEN SUBMITTED BY THIS MONTH'S SPA PERSON AND IS BEING PRESENTED AS GIVEN TO THE DSA. STATEMENTS AND CLAIMS MADE DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE DAY SPA ASSOCIATION AND WE DO NOT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OF THE CONTENTS.
President, Iatria Day Spa
After 12 years as a corporate marketing executive for Sprint and Bell & Howell, Erika Mangrum opened Iatria Spa and Health Center in 1999 and serves as the firm's President. With four locations in the Raleigh area, Iatria has received the Pinnacle Business Award for Steady Growth and Profitability for two consecutive years and was included in the Triangle Business Journal’s 2004 and 2005 Top Women-Owned Businesses list, as well as being named a 5 Star Destination by Beauty Magazine and one of the Top 20 Salons and Spas in America by Launchpad Magazine. Just recently Iatria Spa and Health Center was awarded First Place for Mid-Size Businesses as Best Places To Work by the Triangle Business Journal, Best Place to Pamper and Best Day Spa by Cary Magazine’s Maggy Awards and Top Day Spa/ Medical Spa Chain by DAYSPA magazine. Iatria’s most recent award was Distinguished Day Spa of the Year Award presented by the national Day Spa Association.
In 2004, the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) named Erika Woman Business Owner of the Year and was also awarded Business Leader Magazine’s Women Extraordinaire. As a recognized expert in the industry, Erika is a sought after speaker and mentor. She has been featured on the cover of Business Leader Magazine, appeared four times in Entrepreneur Magazine and has been interviewed locally, regionally and nationally by such publications as The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Triangle Business Journal, News & Observer, Fortune Magazine, Health Magazine, SpaFinder and Health, with articles featured in Pulse Magazine, American Spa and Skin Care Inc.
In addition to her appearances in magazines, Erika was also featured weekly on News 14, Time Warner, as part of the Morning Makeover Television Team and has multiple television appearances including MSNBC, CNN, The WB, ABC, NBC and CBS.
In 2000, Erika formed Corporate Health Fairs, a consortium of Triangle female business owners, which provides health fairs for regional businesses free of charge. These health fairs teach employees about health, fitness, stress reduction and chronic pain management. She is a founding member of the Triangle Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO), a non-profit organization whose members are a diverse group of entrepreneurial women presidents who have guided their businesses to generate at least $2 million in gross annual sales or $1 million for a service-based business. In 2003, she was named one of the 25 Most Influential Women In Business by the Triangle Business Journal. She was named to Top Business People Under 40 by Triangle Business Journal in 2004.
Erika has served on the Board of Directors for the Assistance League of the Triangle, whose charity projects include Women in Need, Kids’ Place at Wake Med and Operation School Bell. Her firm is actively involved in supporting a number of other civic and charitable organizations. Erika says that community activism is important to her.
Erika has been named to the Executive Committee and Vice Chair of Small Business for the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and serves on its Board of Directors. She served as Corporate Partner Chair of the Raleigh Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) and is an active member of the Women’s Forum of North Carolina Inc.
She serves on the Advisory Board of Solana MedSpas, Inc. in Irvine, CA, and The Castleton Group, Inc., and numerous charitable organization boards. Last year, Erika Chaired the Speaking of Women’s Health Conference, a national conference held in Raleigh, NC. Through Iatria, Erika provides spa gifts each year to regional public and private school teachers and speaks frequently
on the topic of health awareness and provides complimentary health services at many events and conferences.
Erika has a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC, and has completed executive education programs at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and Cornell University. Erika is currently on the faculty of the University of California-Irvine where she authored and teaches Spa Marketing and Retail Management for the institution's Spa and Hospitality Management Program and also serves on the university’s Advisory Board. Erika says that her proudest achievement is her six year old daughter Heather with whom she enjoys spending her spare time.
THIS PROFILE HAS BEEN SUBMITTED BY THIS MONTH'S SPA PERSON AND IS BEING PRESENTED AS GIVEN TO THE DSA. STATEMENTS AND CLAIMS MADE DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE DAY SPA ASSOCIATION AND WE DO NOT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OF THE CONTENTS.
