Erin Gargan King

Wednesday, September 11, 2019 | 1:30 - 2:30 pm |

Digital Persuasion: Ignite Your Social Influence

When you type, text or tweet, how persuasive are you? What if changing just ONE word could make you twice as influential online? Get ready to learn exactly how to create social media content that persuades others to stop their scroll, lean forward, and SAY YES. Using the tested, proven “PUB” method, you will become empowered to tell a better story and share a stronger message. It's time for you to attract attention, increase influence and sell smarter in today's digital world. Stop feeling frustrated and start winning more “YES” the very next time your fingers touch your keyboard.

Takeaways:

• Why social influence has shifted from brands to individuals- and what you can do about it
• How to find and engage your most effective social ambassadors authentically
• How to measure and illustrate social influencer marketing success
• Psychology principles behind social influence
• The biggest influencer marketing mistake everyone makes- and how to avoid it

Speaker Bio

Erin Gargan King is a best-selling author, former World Champion Irish Step Dance competitor, and digital persuasion expert. She has helped clients ranging from The Academy Awards to the United States Navy use social media more effectively. She sold her first two companies, Jump Digital Media and PMS.com before the age of 30. In 2010, she founded Socialite Agency, a social media firm whose clients include VISA, Target, Siemens, Hitachi and others. She is the author of the Digital Persuasion book series. Erin helps sales and marketing professionals attract attention and increase influence by becoming more persuasive digital communicators.

Tanya Chernova

Wednesday, September 11, 2019 | 1:30 - 2:30 pm |

Reinvent Your Client Journey to Increase Your Sales

The notion of retail sales has evolved tremendously for our spa and wellness industry – as well as our consumer. In this eye opening interactive session, you will upgrade your thinking and develop new success strategies. Harness the power of each step along your client journey. Learn to connect with your clients and inspire them to become active participants in the sales process. Energize your leadership, grow your sales, distinguish your brand and support your team’s efforts.

Takeaways:

• Learn the psychological and emotional role each step of the client journey plays to drive sales
• Reinvent your client road map with new engagement strategies
• Learn to connect with your clients and inspire them to become active participants in the sales process
• Energize your leadership, grow your sales, distinguish your brand and support your team’s efforts
• Leverage your physical and your digital space

Speaker Bio

Committed to empowering people and companies to break through their blind spots and achieve their full potential, Tanya Chernova has been Awarded Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada (WXN & Financial Post), and Iconic Women Leaders of the Decade Envisioning a United World by the Women’s Global Economic Forum.

Tanya is an engaging and charismatic industry expert, multi-award-winning speaker and #1 best-selling author who has inspired countless individuals for 3 decades in over 60 countries around the world. Tanya began her career as Canada’s youngest government licensed aesthetician, became the #1 sales representative for Canada’s largest spa distributor, exceeded her sales goals by 300% in developing new accounts, headed national brand education for 5 different labels and moved to France at age 23 as the international educator and business development agent, driving 10 million dollars in sales in 22 countries. She became an internationally awarded entrepreneur at the age of 27 when she formulated her own brand of non-surgical facelift products, reaching 1 million dollars in sales her first year. Trusted as a voice of inspiration by the world’s biggest brands in beauty and wellness, Tanya has been a global consultant on record for L’Oréal Professionnel since 2007.

Tanya’s degrees in business, neuropsychology and dozens of teaching certificates in business development, combined with her vast expertise in human behavior and the realm of neuroscience, make her uniquely suited to help entrepreneurs, corporations and their teams achieve breakthroughs in any work environment. Experience a fresh, engaging and scientifically proven approach to creating change, accelerating success and increasing your Joy Per Minute (JPM).

Tanya is also the co-founder of the ground-breaking global self-empowerment organization Courageous Living and PNRT (Progressive Neural Resolution Therapy), a revolutionary and proven means of overcoming subconscious barriers and maximizing individual potential; accredited by the Psychotherapy Association of Canada.

Michael Conte and Nancy Nemer

Wednesday, September 11, 2019 | 1:30 - 2:30 pm |

Vision to Victory -- Elevating Your Sequence-of-Service 360 Degrees

If you were a guest at your own spa, would you be wowed with the experience from start-to-finish? It may be a tough question to answer because sometimes we can’t see the forest for trees as our lens can be somewhat clouded.  In this session, you will garner specific examples on how to step back and take look at your business by evaluating the most important guest service elements and how they are intimately connected.  Our Sequence-of-Service philosophy is built around elevating sensorial experiences and protocols for reservations, arrival, locker/waiting room, in-room, departure/retail and menu development so that you can achieve unparalleled service. Whether you're striving for a 5-star rating or if you are just looking to elevate your guest experience, you will benefit from specific examples provided from Michael and Nancy’s firsthand experience.

Takeaways:

• How to develop a complete guest experience from reservations to departure
• How to increase staff buy-in through passionately executed service and training
• How to make your menu part of the experience rather than part of the problem
• How to elevate sensorial experiences
• How to create a buzz-worthy spa

Speaker Bio

Michael Conte has 10 years of experience as a Spa Director for 3 Forbes 5-star spas and currently serves on the Forbes Travel Guide Standards Advisory Committee.  Nancy Nemer has 18 years of experience as Spa Consultant and interior designer serving the luxury hotel and resort sector globally.  They met during the development of The Spa at Meadowood Napa where they became cohorts, colleagues and friends.

Mimi Brown

Wednesday, September 11, 2019 | 3 - 4 pm |

Slaying the Demanding Dragons: How to Wow, Woo, and Win Over the Hard-to-Please-Client

This session encourages the use of effective communication skills to enhance client service, particularly when dealing with difficult clients. The presenter will help attendees recognize difficult clients at an early stage to ultimately reduce complaints and build rapport. Attendees will discover effective ways to turn around challenging situations and how to avoid certain words and body language that can potentially trigger a bad client outcome.

Takeaways:

• The seven types of difficult people and how to work with them
• Client centric communication skills to diffuse any tense situation
• Positive resolutions for client complaints and how to end on a positive note
• Tips on how to manage job related stress with ease
• Key words and phrases to avoid

Speaker Bio

Motivational Keynote Speaker, Mimi Brown, works with organizations that seek to add more power, pizzazz and punch to their lives and businesses. She mentors with passion, guiding her clients to effectively strengthen and elevate their client service to new heights.

With over ten years of corporate training experience, a knack for making meaningful connections with audiences and an insatiable appetite for helping others maximize their potential, Mimi knows how to rock a platform, connect with a crowd and provide training so that others can effectively do the same.

Mimi has diligently worked with spa professionals, helping them to increase sells by improving their ability to deal with difficult clients.

Michela Henke-Cilenti

Wednesday, September 11, 2019 | 3 - 4 pm |

The Psychology of Recommending Up-Selling Services and Homecare

In this session, you will learn easy to apply, corrective actions and concrete initiatives to build your teams’ skills and confidence in recommending the right products and services to guests. This session will identify and teach you how and where to recommend in order to get better outcomes, ideally every time. You will leave inspired to support and build your teams’ sense of ownership over the guest journey and their returning visit. In turn, guests will become greater advocates who will grow your spa in more ways than one.    

Takeaways:

• Understand the recommending and buying psychology and how to grow add-on revenues
• Determine and be aware of driving more exclusive and specific treatments and services
• Identify and learn about team psychology and how it increases employee engagement scores
• How to return the team to owning the guest journey and automatically raise guest survey scores

Speaker Bio

Michela Henke Cilenti is an experienced hospitality, change management consultant. Michela’s areas of experience are: connecting team purpose and engagement, creating a positive sales culture, activating and managing guest advocacy, inter-organizational communication and the psychology of retailing and up-selling. The emphasis of Michela’s skills are reducing the knowing and doing gap implementing practical techniques and approaches to connect with every single guest, every time- that’s the magic.  

Michela fully empowers the team to identify opportunities to deepen and widen guest re-lationships. With growth in employee engagement and guest advocacy scores and of course revenues, ROI is at least 200%, 2 days after training. Michela is also is a personal and business coach and works with a number of individuals and small businesses across the hospitality industry.

Heath and Nicole Reed

Wednesday, September 11, 2019 | 3 - 4 pm |

Integrating Provider Practice with Corporate Vision

Do your massage therapists seem to be in a world of their own? Do their practices support your business intentions? Join experienced therapists and educators as they spotlight some of the common reasons why listening and communicating with therapists can be improved through simple redirects and understanding. You will gain practical improvements and practice strategies to empower your entire therapist team—from the soft-spoken, introverts to outspoken complainers. Learn methods to easily communicate in ways that decrease negativity, criticism, and blaming to establish open and effective lines of communication.

Takeaways:

• Review common therapist archetypes/stereotypes, and best approaches to earn their confidence and loyalty
• Explore some of the common filters that lead to miscommunication and utilize helpful verbiage to eradicate needless complaints
• Uncover your own perceptual filters to giving and receiving feedback and requests
• Learn to encourage and empower therapists to take responsibility, communicate what they want, and avoid criticism and complaints
• Practice specific, and simple practices to connect with therapists in ways that encourage trust and appreciation

Speaker Bio

Heath and Nicole Reed delight in team-teaching experiential classes that invite participants to grow their positivity, happiness, and loving kindness. Heath and Nicole co-founded Living Metta 17 years ago and use the container of their business to coach healing practitioners, yogis, and leaders’ results-driven techniques that enhance health, wellness and thriving relationships. The couple utilizes the playground of their 22-year relationship as a living laboratory with the goal of generating and sustaining larger amounts of ease, flow, and fun! Join the Reeds as they put to practice potent life hacks to establish harmonious thriving relationships!

Cassie Sampson

Wednesday, September 11, 2019 | 3 - 4 pm |

Building Bridges: Communicate, Educate and Advocate for the Spa Industry

This workshop will give spa leaders the confidence and tools they need to become valuable go-to experts for law enforcement, city councils, and state legislators. Leaders will learn to stay ahead of legislation with bill tracking tools to ensure our industry has representation when decisions are being made about the spa profession. Attendees will learn how to keep positive spa industry news front and center, and how to change the conversation when local media focuses on unfortunate industry incidents.

Takeaways:

• Familiarity with bill-tracking tools to stay informed of legislation impacting the spa industry
• Best practices for organizing industry awareness and lobbying events
• Strategies for establishing oneself as an expert resource for elected officials, law enforcement, and policymakers
• Tips for building relationships with local media, pitching stories and managing messages
• Connections with fellow spa leaders who share "hot topic" issues in their own communities and how they're being addressed

Speaker Bio

Cassie Sampson, BA, LMT, owns East Village Spa in Des Moines, IA. She’s been a massage business educator for over a decade. Cassie works with colleagues, city councils and law enforcement to help shape business ordinances that give law enforcement tools to fight illicit businesses without creating undue burdens for licensed massage therapists. She’s helped educate the public and lawmakers about industry issues, organizing the first AMTA-Iowa lobbying day at the state capitol in 2018. Cassie serves on the Iowa Board of Massage Therapy and is passionate about ensuring that the public access to safe massage therapy and spa services.

Petra Kolber

Thursday, September 12, 2019 | 8 - 9 am |

The Mindset Reset for Transformational Leadership

Leadership today is challenging, fast-changing and the rules of yesterday no longer apply. There is no one way to lead a team and before the latest handbook is printed the landscape has already changed. Only you and your Emotional IQ will give you what you need to coach your team into greatness. While our past experiences provide useful data and research, if we lead solely based on our history, nothing will ever change in the future. Here is the truth, the human condition is one of self-doubt, fear and scarcity and the feelings we have about ourselves and our place in the world, influence every choice we make and action we take. However, feelings are not facts, and it is only when we can separate who we are from what we do, that transformational leadership can take place. Based on the research from Positive Psychology and the science of how to influence and inspire others, you learn how to do a mindset reset (at any moment) and create a PERMAnent foundation for inspired change both within yourself and the team you lead.

Takeaways:

• How to use curiosity versus control as a leadership lever
• Recognize where your leadership mindset resides - in the past, present or future
• Learn how to use the leadership lever of strengths, empathy and appreciation
• Five ways to do a mindset reset in less than 60 seconds
• Master how to bring out the best in others to help them maximize their potential

Speaker Bio

Petra Kolber is an internationally renowned fitness expert and wellness leader who is known throughout the industry as a crusader for change and a beacon of authentic happiness. As a national workshop leader and keynote speaker, she inspires people around the globe to stand up for their lives and live profoundly from their hearts. She has been a consultant and contributor to many national fitness magazines and has been named Fitness Crusader of The Year by Health Magazine.  She has been the face and voice of leading food and fitness companies such as Reebok, Spry Living, and California Walnuts. 

In August 2018, in association with Da Capo Lifelong Books, Kolber released her first book, The Perfection Detox: Tame Your Inner Critic, Live Bravely and Unleash Your Joy, which made its debut at no.1 in new releases on Amazon Kindle.
As a two-time cancer survivor, she is passionate about waking people up to the precious gift of time. Her mission is to inspire people to move more and fear less, so that they can stretch their dreams, strengthen their courage muscle and build an inspired life, full of joy and gratitude. In her spare time, Kolber is an aspiring DJ, a budding cook, an avid traveler, and podcast maven who feels deeply blessed on the mornings she can wake up early enough to watch the sunrise.

Kristie Overstreet

Thursday, September 12, 2019 | 8 - 9 am |

Serving Transgender and Nobinary Clients with Dignity

With increased awareness, education, and visibility, transgender and nonbinary individuals will continue to come out as their true selves. Spa professionals receive little if any training in working with these clients. The presenter’s years of clinical experience working with the transgender and nonbinary community helped her develop best practices for spa professionals.

Takeaways:

• Best practices in working with transgender and nonbinary clients
• Issues that transgender and nonbinary clients present within the spa setting
• Differences in gender identity, gender expression, biological sex, sexual identity, and romantic orientation
• Steps and techniques to create an inclusive spa experience

Speaker Bio

Clinical sexologist, psychotherapist, and author of Fix Yourself First, Dr. Kristie Overstreet helps people improve the relationships with themselves and others. Dr. Kristie specializes in relationships and transgender identity. Her role is to provide unconditional support, motivate people to be their best, and always meet them where they are in their growth. She believes that each person is the best expert in their own life and her role is to help them find the answers. She is also the creator of the Transgender Healthcare Dignity Model training and certification program for healthcare providers.

Jon Player

Thursday, September 12, 2019 | 8 - 9 am |

Recharge & Renew Your Employees Through a Continuous and Customized Performance Review

In today’s environment, employees demand constant feedback. The most effective performance management systems in the world are based NOT on forms, documents, and once-a-year reviews; instead, they are rooted in ongoing dialogues between people. World-class performance management is a dynamic process based on individuals and teams working together, continuously giving and receiving feedback, raising the bar on performance, and coaching and mentoring each other to improve their effectiveness in alignment with the company’s mission and the challenges of growth. This highly interactive session will lay the foundation for lasting coaching and mentoring relationships and ongoing dialogues of continuous improvement.

Takeaways:

• Understanding wider-scale, comprehensive, long-term leadership development that will improve the performance of your organization
• Improved effectiveness by building coaching and mentoring skills that empowers individuals and teams to solve problems and make decisions
• Development of a personalized system for your organization to provide useful and valuable feedback to employees
• Learn to recognize and encourage the personality styles of great leaders, coaches, and mentors

Speaker Bio

When you interact with Jon Player, you won’t be surprised to learn about his background as an attorney and a scientist. Player takes an investigative approach to identify and analyze issues that hinder growth, and he is a skilled presenter who has sharpened his skills before judges and juries. For nine years at a boutique litigation firm, he developed a reputation as an attorney who could analyze complex issues and break them down into essential manageable elements. Clients sought his counsel on the most complex cases, as well as for his measured approach to dispute resolution.

Player lived in Guatemala volunteering for a medical organization, managed large-scale research studies investigating the role of genetics in cancer development and helped start an institute to exonerate wrongly convicted prisoners in Virginia. Companies who turn to Bell Leadership for training and consulting appreciate Player’s unique perspective from his manifold experiences and the value he brings to their organizational cultures.

Player can be spotted on a North Carolina trout stream or perfecting a dish in the kitchen for his wife and two boys.

David Avrin

Thursday, September 12, 2019 | 1:30 - 3 pm |

Customer Experience is the New Competitive Advantage - What Works, What Doesn't and Why It Matters

The greatest source of lost revenue for your business is the prospect you never knew about. They clicked away without buying, drove past without stopping in, or hung up on your voice mail system. Worse yet, you have no idea who they were, or how many there were. So, how do you earn and keep customers when patience is short and alternatives are only a short drive or a click away? In this presentation, the presenter will shine a light on the monumental shift in purchasing behavior and expectation, while showing your team everyone’s role in eliminating barriers, engaging prospects and creating customer experiences worth sharing.

Takeaways:

• How to see all the choices available from the customers’ perspective
• How stories of lost opportunities at every level reach the masses and why it matters
• How missed moments, and maddening policies are contributing to lost sales and negative reviews
• Why differentiation trumps competency and connection earns sales
• How you can understand your customers far better than your competitors to deliver what they want the way they want it

Speaker Bio

One of the most in-demand business marketing and customer experience speakers in the world today, David Avrin, CSP has shared his content-rich, entertaining, hard-hitting and memorable presentations to enthusiastic audiences across North America and around the world. Recent presentation locations include Singapore, Bangkok, Melbourne, Brisbane, Antwerp, Buenos Aires, Sri Lanka, Manila, Rotterdam, Barcelona, Monte Carlo, London, Johannesburg and Dubai. David Avrin shows business owners and leaders, sales professionals, HR audiences and entrepreneurs how to ferret-out, recognize, craft and promote compelling competitive advantages.

Avrin's business insights have been featured on hundreds of broadcast media outlets and thousands of online and print publications around the world. He is also the author of three books including the acclaimed: It's Not Who You Know, It's Who Knows You!, Visibility Marketing, and his newest book: Why Customers Leave and How to Win Them Back will be in bookstores worldwide this coming March.

Debra Fine

Thursday, September 12, 2019 | 1:30 - 3 pm |

Communicate Like a Leader: One Conversation at a Time

Leaders learn the technical skills required for career success, often overlooking the importance of conversation and rapport building skills. The ability to talk easily with anyone is a learned skill, not a personality trait. Acquiring it will help develop rapport and cultivate collaboration within your spa organization. In the competitive world of business, the more emphasis placed on developing personal business relationships the more successful employee engagement and retention.

Takeaways:

• How to integrate conversation tools that enhance leadership skills
• Ways to avoid sending contradictory or confusing signals
• Preventing the most common conversation blunders that create a negative impression
• Demonstrating that you're a positive and self-confident leader while experiencing more ease during face-to-face interactions and meetings

Speaker Bio

Fine is the author of bestselling books The Fine Art of Small Talk: How to Start a Conversation, Keep It Going, Build Networking Skills—and Leave a Positive Impression (Hyperion), and The Fine Art of the Big Talk along with her just released third in the Fine Art series: Beyond Texting The Fine Art of Face to Face Communication for Teenagers (Canon).

A 20+ year member of the National Speakers Association, Fine presents programs to hundreds of audiences around the world that include Google, Delta Airlines, Spectra Energy, KPMG, General Electric, and NASA. Her books are translated and published in two dozen countries across the globe. A regular Huffington Post blogger, Fine's recent media appearances include The Today Show, the Early Show, NPR Morning Edition, Fox Business News and CNN. View additional information about Debra at www.DebraFine.com.

Jon Player

Thursday, September 12, 2019 | 1:30 - 3 pm |

Ace the Interview: Keys to Getting to the Core of Interview Candidates

Hiring employees in the current job market is difficult. Limited talent, an increased need for specialized skills, competing offers and tight timelines significantly impact the quality of your search. Despite those challenges, companies are charged with filling a talent pipeline with the “right” candidates to fill open roles. The candidate driven job market further accentuates cost of making the wrong hire. In this session, we will explore how the quality of an interview can impact a candidate's perception of your organization and how you can determine if a candidate is the right “match” for your job. Participants will master the art of questioning to uncover a candidate’s true values and behavior patterns and if those would translate to success in the role. Participants will receive advanced, specific and actionable methods to discover more about candidates in less time, significantly increasing the quality of your hires.

Takeaways:

• Enhanced ability to communicate clearly with interview candidates, by learning how to create authentic connections
• How to ask specific and effective questions of interview candidates, by learning actionable methods to draw out crucial information
• Insight into the assessment of how candidates will fit at your organization
• Development of a more effective interviewing structure through analysis of the technical, commitment and personality skills required for your open position

Speaker Bio

When you interact with Jon Player, you won’t be surprised to learn about his background as an attorney and a scientist. Player takes an investigative approach to identify and analyze issues that hinder growth, and he is a skilled presenter who has sharpened his skills before judges and juries. For nine years at a boutique litigation firm, he developed a reputation as an attorney who could analyze complex issues and break them down into essential manageable elements. Clients sought his counsel on the most complex cases, as well as for his measured approach to dispute resolution.

Player lived in Guatemala volunteering for a medical organization, managed large-scale research studies investigating the role of genetics in cancer development and helped start an institute to exonerate wrongly convicted prisoners in Virginia. Companies who turn to Bell Leadership for training and consulting appreciate Player’s unique perspective from his manifold experiences and the value he brings to their organizational cultures.

Player can be spotted on a North Carolina trout stream or perfecting a dish in the kitchen for his wife and two boys.

Dawn Kaiser

Thursday, September 12, 2019 | 3:30 - 4:30 pm |

Joyful Leadership: A Secret Weapon of a Successful Spa

Joy is the catalyst for good people to do great work! As spa leaders you have the ability to create a competitive advantage that allows your associates to flourish and your profits to grow. In this session, you will learn practical examples to show that a more joyful, a more fulfilling path to leadership is not only attainable, but imperative for your business to thrive. The key characteristics of a joyful leader and the proven path to building a culture of joy at work will also be revealed.

Takeaways:

• How to identify the business case for joy at work
• The seven key characteristics of joyful leadership
• Outlining the proven path to building a culture of joy at work
• Create a joy-driven culture strategy
• Assess the level of joy in your workplace

Speaker Bio

Dawn Kaiser is known as the Joy Refueler and the author of “Joy Notes.” She specializes in energizing, encouraging and equipping organizations and individuals to unleash the joy at work. She is a Certified HR Professional and she has her Master of Education. Dawn has been studying such topics as positive psychology, leadership and employee engagement for the past two decades. Each year, Dawn is a featured presenter at more than 40 events across North America. Additionally, Dawn has appeared on the North Dakota Today Show as a regular guest and she has published articles in Perspectives and ISPA’s Pulse Magazine.

Melissa Jansma and Chris Kolodziejski

Thursday, September 12, 2019 | 3:30 - 4:30 pm |

The Keys to Retail Success

In this session, attendees will learn the keys to retail success through the lens of an experienced professional in the luxury retail world working with companies like Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdales. Joined by a seasoned spa operator with a proven track record in selling retail, the presenters will share insight into the spa retail elephant, the cardinal rules of selling, how events and demonstrations can drive sales and how all these are tied together through principals applicable to the spa industry. The presentation will be interactive, with real strategies for attendees to immediately implement into their businesses.

Takeaways:

• The "7 Cardinal Rules" your spa team should be using daily to to drive retail revenue
• How to create a marketing calendar of demonstration sales and events for the year and include vendors in planning process
• Strategic tips for inventory management and exercises and worksheets to help with implementation
• Keys to managing your relationship with vendors to avoid being inundated with emails and calls
• Location and merchandising tips to drive sales and increase revenue

Speaker Bio

Melissa Jansma is a respected leader in the spa industry with a passion and proven track record in retail sales. This experience was extremely valuable as she transitioned to the "other side" of the industry, as head of sales for multiple spa cosmetic and skincare brands. She brings an understanding from personal experience along with a wealth of spa and retail sales knowledge and is passionate about sharing it.

Chris Kolodzjieski is a former NFL football player, investment banker, real estate developer, and most recently founder of a luxury cosmetic brand sold in the spa channel. Chris has extensive retail experience from working with some of the largest luxury retailers likes Saks, Bloomingdales, and Neiman Marcus. Early on in his beauty and wellness career, Chris surrounded himself with some amazing mentors in the industry which helped him develop his successful brand. He has shared his knowledge at numerous professional trade shows including IECSC and Face and Body.

Les Sweeney and Leslie Young

Thursday, September 12, 2019 | 3:30 - 4:30 pm |

Preventing Sexual Misconduct in the Spa Setting

We’ve all seen the headlines, so we know it’s happening. Sexual misconduct. When you look beyond the headlines, you find you can’t pin it down to any one group. The media reports on inappropriate therapists, but what about inappropriate clients, or inappropriate management? As a spa owner or manager, the responsibility for maintaining a safe environment for staff and guests is yours. Do you have clearly established policies? Do you know how to properly respond to sexual misconduct complaints?  Do you understand the legalities of making decisions that result in the termination of an employee or banning a client from the business?

Takeaways:

• How to curb inappropriate behavior—from therapists as well as clients
• The importance of setting the stage for therapists during screening interviews, the orientation process, and throughout employment
• Ways to set the stage for clients during initial appointment booking, setting client expectations, and being aware of potential predatory clients
• An awareness of the importance of spa managers setting the bar of expectation and being open to honest, reflexive communication with employees

Speaker Bio

Les Sweeney started with Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals (ABMP) in 1994, helped it grow from 13,000 to more than 80,000 members, and has been its President since 2006. He gets more credit for its success than deserved, and probably an appropriate amount of blame. He is renowned for leading the company staff meeting on a monthly basis and was once on the Super Bowl telecast while returning to his seat from the restroom. There will not be a test.

Through her roles at ABMP, Leslie Young, Ph.D. has worked to empower massage therapists for more than 16 years. As ABMP Vice President of Communication, she regularly fields member and media inquiries about challenges facing the massage profession. Leslie’s served as a trustee, donor, and volunteer for the Massage Therapy Foundation for more than a decade and was awarded the MTF’s 2017 Massage Therapy Foundation John Balletto Distinguished Service Award. She was inducted into the Massage Therapy Hall of Fame in 2011. Leslie has partnered with the Polaris Project in Washington, DC, to help educate key constituents about the massage profession and help curb human trafficking.

Debra Jason

Thursday, September 12, 2019 | 3:30 - 4:30 pm |

So You're On LinkedIn. Now What?

Working in such a social, relationship-oriented industry, it’s important for spa professionals - from product vendors to health and wellness facilitators - to have a robust, optimized LinkedIn profile. With 73 percent of LinkedIn members using the platform for networking, it's a business tool spa professionals should be implementing to spark the power of their personal brands, increase their visibility, share their expertise and develop long-lasting, trusting relationships with referral resources and potential partners. During this presentation, using an interactive game show format, my goal is to eliminate the mystery and demonstrate how spa professionals can maximize their experience and use the platform to gain a competitive edge in the marketplace.

Takeaways:

• Seven common mistakes professionals make on LinkedIn and how to avoid them
• How to create a profile that is 40 times more likely to open doors to opportunities through LinkedIn
• How to initiate engaging interactions and develop relationships with prospective sponsors, affiliate partners, industry influencers, referral resources and potential clients
• A single strategy that can increase your profile views 14-21 percent
• One simple step you can take to have your profile show up higher in a browser’s search results

Speaker Bio

With close to three decades of experience operating her business, The Write Direction, Debra Jason is a national marketing speaker, direct response copywriter, and multi-faceted marketing strategist. From engineers to real estate agents, she has guided hundreds of professionals in creating robust and optimized LinkedIn profiles that help them open the doors to receiving more opportunities on the network.

Debra created the first social media program offered through the Office of Continuing Education at Kaua`i Community College. She is the author of the award-winning book, Millionaire Marketing on a Shoestring Budget™. She is the recipient of Boulder Chamber of Commerce’s “Small Business of the Year Award” and the Rocky Mountain Direct Marketing Association’s “Creative Person of the Year Award.”

Abbe Goncharsky

Friday, September 13, 2019 | 11 am - Noon |

HR "Hot Topics" in the Spa Environment

Successful spa operators must master the art of juggling. Human resource management is among the many more complex "plates in the air." Spa operators may sometimes unintentionally de-prioritize the human resources side of business when things are running smoothly, creating unforeseen legal (and financial) risk for the company. This session will cover relevant HR-related topics designed to help owners and managers identify and minimize risk.

Takeaways:

• Current trends in employment law
• Best practices in employee handbooks and policies
• Employee classifications: correct identification of employees vs. independent contractors
• Employee classifications: methods of compensation (exempt vs. non-exempt)
• Social media policies - tips and traps

Speaker Bio

Abbe M. Goncharsky is an experienced labor and employment counsel and human resources executive. A lawyer for over 16 years, she has represented numerous spas and hospitality industry employers and served as Vice President, Human Resources and Associate Counsel for Mister Car Wash, the largest conveyorized car wash company in the United States. For the last several years, Ms. Goncharsky has worked as a solo practitioner, continuing to concentrate her practice on assisting businesses in risk analysis and prevention and representing businesses in state and federal courts, before administrative agencies, and in governmental investigations. Ms. Goncharsky speaks regularly and provides training to employers on all manner of employment law topics, particularly on issues related to wage and hour laws, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act.