I will try not to bore you here… Well, not too much 🙂
I was born in Chicago, Illinois and then family headed out to western suburbs while in grade school. Fast forward…
I graduated high school in 1976 and went to work in corporate America as an executive secretary (hmm, do they even use the word secretary anymore?) Back then most of us girls didn’t even think of college… just got a job, found a husband and had babies. Crazy, huh? Well, not for me…Being a MOM is still my most important role!
My “corporate” existence only lasted a couple of years as I married and had four beautiful children (Joe, Michelle, Kathryn and Laura) and now my role was mom, homemaker and all that it entails was my career. One I took very seriousl
y.
During that time, I was many things and “wore many hats” as you can imagine (Brownie Girl Scout Leader, T-Ball Coach, Soccer Coach, PTA, and the house all of my kids’ friends hung out at…so “baby sitter/activities director/car service/therapist) plus I helped my husband build a side business of a hobby store that sold diecast cars, trucks and trains. Although working at a major corporation, money was still tight having four children…so we turned his hobby into a thriving business.
Once the kids were grown and in high school, I chose to go back to school 1999 to actually get a State License for Aesthetics. I had a childhood friend who suffered terribly from cystic acne and thought maybe I could make a difference, somehow. And since we would be getting any younger, I wanted to learn how to fight the “hands of time,” as well as learn more about body treatments, which then led me to having my own salon/spa.
Here is what really brought me to my love of body wraps and the importance of detoxification! Or really knowing that what ingest and even put on our body can be detrimental to our health.
But let me take you back for just a minute (or two)…It was 1994, I was 35 years old and I had been feeling horrible on and off for years; migraine headaches, tired all of the time, very achy deep within my muscles and bones, it was painful even to be touched lightly, I was bloated and my digestive system was all wacky (if you catch my drift!), and I just looked puffy all of the time.
I went to doctor after doctor, and even to the emergency room on a couple occasions because my migraines were so bad I couldn’t bear the pain..and I have a high tolerance for pain. And none of them could ever tell me that anything was wrong with me. I knew there had to be something; as feeling that way was just not right.
Well I dealt with it for a bit more time, until one day I couldn’t even function. Again I went to the doctor and was told it was fibromyalgia and it is caused from stress and not getting enough rest or taking care of myself! So I went home and was told to ‘relax’ and take it easy. I spent the next 5 days spending my days and nights on the floor of my living room right next to the kitchen so I was able to cook breakfast and dinner for my family, it was close to the bathroom and the front door.
After those five days, I couldn’t take it anymore and went back one more time to my doctor to demand we do something besides blood tests! So they scheduled me for muscle tests (where they would stick a needle in and test the muscle), I had an MRI, a CT Scan, tons of more blood work. They were testing me for MS, Lupus and even the “C” word, cancer. But everything came back negative! Which was totally great, but now what?
I know this took me way longer than it should have, but back then even though I dabbled in the “alternative” and more “natural” remedies, I just didn’t connect that something this awful shouldn’t be seeking a “normal” doctor. Then as I was checking out of the hospital, one of the interns recommended I might want to see a doctor who understands and incorporates both standard medicine as well as alternative methods and suggested I try to call Dr. Peluso who was a Naturopath and worked closely was a Physician/Chiropractor, which was his son. (Sadly, both since have passed, but happily I know they helped many like me regain their lives.)
I figured I had nothing to lose and maybe gain back feeling good, so I made the appointment.
The first thing along with all of the usual paperwork, I was given a very thorough consultation as to exactly what I do, what I eat, how I handle stress, what makes me happy, about family history, about my child births…you name it, they wanted to know.
My daily coffee habit was actually killing me. Well maybe killing is an exaggeration, but because I caught it in time and stopped, I will never know….thankfully!!!
Long story short…I was a coffee drinker, a big coffee drinker once I became a mom. Although I never drank a drop during any of my pregnancies or while breast feeding, I quickly went back to my three pots a day. Crazy, huh? I would brew a pot at 6 a.m., one at 2 p.m. and another at 6 p.m. (this one was decaf!). That in itself was bad enough…so I was told, but the kicker is what I put in the coffee.
At that time, and just like today, sweeteners can be quite controversial. I would put a pack of Sweet ‘N Low in each of the cups of coffee, which was anywhere from 9 cups or the full 3 pots, 24 cups! With a pack of Sweet ‘N Low each. According to the doctors and them from my research I found that I was pretty much embalming my body while still alive. Remember too much sugar is bad, so anyone wanting to stay slim used the “pink pack.”
NOTE: (At the time of this writing, there is still controversy about whether it is ok to ingest saccharin and have no harmful side effects. I STILL disagree (STRONGLY DISAGREE) and always warn anyone who uses it and is willing to listen to my story to stop using it. Please do your own research and decide for yourself on whether you should continue to use it or it there are better alternatives.)
So get this, all of those doctor visits, all of the pain, all of the time lost boiled down to me stopping the use of saccharin, which ultimately also led me to cut back my coffee intake to only 2 – 3 cups per day. You see, I was addicted to the saccharin, or Sweet ‘N Low. Now remember I had been drinking the “pink pack” ever since I started drinking coffee, which was age 17! However, not to the extent of the 3 pots a day when I became a mom, but the amount I had consumed for the 18 years before I quit was horrendous. Now what?
Detoxing my way to feeling better using body wraps.
I was advised that I needed a major detox. You see, according to Dr. Peluso as well as the research I began to do, this artificial sweetener actually stays in our body, in our joints, in our muscles, and is just kind of fermenting. (Although if you do a bit of research again, you will find that some state it does nothing and passes through your system. Based on myself and myself alone, I totally disagree.) Although a bit skeptical to think that it was the saccharin that was making me ill (after all the FDA wouldn’t allow the company to make anything that could harm us, right?), as I have known many others to use the “pink pack” that were not exhibiting the same symptoms as me, but then again I didn’t know anyone who consumed as much as me either!
Other than the coffee and saccharin, I was a really healthy eater. Didn’t even drink soda unless it was a regular Coke going through the drive through at Mickie D’s. So the plan was to begin a detox program and stop using the saccharin. I was to keep drinking the coffee, but had to learn to drink it black because we were testing if it was the saccharin itself or maybe it could have been the coffee of both combined.
The plan was for me to use a half packet instead of a full “pink pack” for the first two weeks, then I was to cut down to a half packet in every other cup for the next two weeks and then no Sweet ‘N Low at all from then on. Since I had been consuming it for so long, the doctor felt that it would take me about a year to really clean out my body. Well that was just too long for me!
I was advised to drink a glass of water (I barely ever drank water back then) in between every cup of coffee to begin. Ultimately I was to drink at least half of my weight in water, filtered water, every day and I was to also take a hot bath (as hot as I could stand it) with 2 cups of Epsom salts in it every other night for the first month and then twice a week for next month and then once a week for the next 10 months. My year of ridding my body of these horrible chemicals that make up saccharin was about to begin.
My search for a ‘better bath” for a better body detox began…
Now this is where the story gets REALLY good. (Plus, ya know how something good can always come out of something bad? Well that is exactly what happened. Read on.) I was not willing to wait for 12 months before I was going to feel great again…or even good again, so I began a bit of a plan on my own; which was to find a faster and hopefully better way to detox the body. And I did.
In my search, I found different natural remedies that included body wrapping. Most I found used clays or volcanic ash and although seems to work, they were just too messy. Plus knowing that the Epsom salts were simply magnesium and sulfate, which are easily accepted and absorbed into the body through our largest organ, the skin, and believed that magnesium sulfate or Epsom Salt can flush toxins and heavy metals from the cells, easing muscle pain and helping the body to eliminate harmful substances I knew I was on the right track to building on this research.
This is where my passion for body wrapping all began. I totally believe that body wrapping myself with minerals (magnesium sulfate, potassium, dead sea salt, calcium, zinc and selenium) helped me to detox faster than just drinking water and taking an Epsom Salt laden bath. I began to lose the bloat and my migraines subsided in the first month. By the end of second month I was free of my headaches completely. Even though I was feeling much better and looking less bloated and my joints gave me less pain because of these detox mineral body wraps, it was getting to be a lot of work in making my own mineral solution and wrapping myself in bandages made from flannel sheets that I cut into strips.
ANOTHER SUGGESTION CAME MY WAY: I use to go to this really eclectic bookstore in downtown LaGrange, IL. The owner was a worldly lady who was into crystals, stones and just the power of the earth and what it can offer. I was there looking for a book about body detoxing and she told me about a place that offered niacin based body wraps and a whole body cleanse and that she believed it would help me. I called, I went and I complied to the program…7 days of the whole body cleanse, then another 3 weeks of continuing with products to clean out my system and body wraps that were to help my lymphatic system drain all of the gunk out of my system. What an amazing 30 days! (the products I was using for the cleanse were by M’Lis) Now…..
I was so happy when I found a local spa that offered mineral body wraps. I was hooked! Now along with the M’Lis detox and what I was experiencing from the baths and the wraps for the past few months of doing them on my own, I was on my way to getting my life back. I was able to see and feel how I was not looking so bloated because this body wrap spa applied the wraps with elastic “Ace” type bandages. By doing so, my body was actually able to go down a couple sizes in only 6 body wraps. (If you are interested at all about body wraps, I will be happy to explain all the hows, whys and types to you.)
I didn’t lose any weight at all and I was actually wearing a very tight size 10 refusing to buy a size 12, but with the elastic bandages creating a compression all over and pushing all of the cells closer together I actually went down to a not too tight size 6! Plus I truly believe that with the M’Lis detox, it set my body up to help it to easily get rid of the buildup of toxins.
I was still taking my Epsom Salt baths as directed and I was still wrapping myself at home once a week, but now I added the compression mineral body wraps and everything started to just all make sense in this detox process I was experiencing.
I then added infrared treatments to my detox regimen! I found infrared to be the ultimate in detox and the missing link on my journey to feeling better. Check out how I used infrared on my daughter once her chemo treatments were over HERE.
What a difference a few months made. Considering I was “poisoning” myself for so many years this was a really fast road to recovery.
It took me just short of 6 months to have no headaches, no joint pain, my muscle pain had all but vanished and I was now wearing my size 6 jeans again….so no more bloat!
I truly believe that the mineral body wraps I concocted, the M’Lis Detox with M’Lis body wraps, the mineral compression wraps and infrared treatments saved my life…Thank you Dr. Peluso for pointing me in the right direction. Now I don’t mean that I was going to die, but feeling better again gave me my life back!
Now remember when I said, something good coming out of something bad? Simply being sick like that and finding a way to ‘heal’ what ailed me brought me to a place of passion and a place that has allowed me to share that passion with others.
When what looks like something horrible at the time can bring you to a place you are meant to be.
Since I loved the whole detox process and mineral body wraps and experienced my own success story using them and I learned how to body wrap just by watching and getting the wraps, I did get asked by the owner of that body wrap spa to work there. Absolutely, I said, Yes.” This was just another step in the master plan. I worked there for a year and decided to go back to school.
I enrolled in Esthetics School and 750 hours and one year later I became a Licensed Esthetician. I then had the opportunity to partner and open an Aveda Concept Spa, solidifying myself in the beauty industry.
Fast forward…life changed a bit and I sold my part of the business. I then began traveling around the country training and consulting other spa and salon owners to incorporate body wraps into their business. These travels then led me to NC, owning and operating a body wrap/detox spa, which grew to three locations. I focused on and offered mineral body wraps, infrared body treatments, ionic foot cleanses and microcurrent facial and body sculpting…all natural ways to detox, heal, and help people feel and look better about themselves.
Being in the beauty industry for about 15 years, has allowed me to learn what works and what doesn’t work when owning and operating a spa or salon. Would you like to discover what I did…
- to turn 50 clients a month into 700 clients a month for just one type of service?
- to take one location and effectively expand to three locations?
- to add products and services that delivered immediate results?
- to create systems that would ultimately double my income each and every month?
- and to train other Spa and Salon owners to do the same?
And I want to help you to.
My passion is to inspire, share, teach and empower you to have an incredibly successful business using the exact same systems I used. It is also my hope and desire to share with everyone the power of detoxing and how even simple little changes can lead us to a healthier, toxic free life.
If you would like to get to know me a bit better and allow me the privilege of sharing with you what I have learned, please accept my gift to you of my FREE Video Series. I recorded them especially for you. You will discover and be able to implement these systems and ideas the very same day you watch them into your business.
Looking forward to our paths crossing one day.
Be well,
P.S. As if that wasn’t long enough, right? I felt compelled to write just a bit more.
It is not about the destination, it’s about the journey. On the road that has been put before me, many things have shed greater light as to why I have had many twists and turns. Whether they seemed bad, questionable, scary, or just down right painful beyond my wildest imagination, I have faced them, tackled them, learned from them and found peace in knowing that God will not allow me to go through something (anything!) that He will not get me through. To find the greater good in what looks like a devastating situation, even just a tiny bit of good will bring even more good once you get through those trials and tribulations.
I know we all have plans and hopes and dreams. Now matter what they are, I can bet it will not be a straight road, but a winding one, a sharp curved one, and up hill one, as well as down hill at times (that God!) and even forks in the road where we must choose. But…
If you take a moment and look at where you are today and then think and look back to your past (now don’t go there often as that is not helpful to your present or your future if you dwell on the nasty part of the past, learn from it and plow face forward), you too will see how it has set you up for what “is” to come and that all along the way you were being prepped for now.
The reason I bring any of this up, is that in this business of “people”…. that you and I are in, many of those people have stood before me (most of the time in their underwear as I was body wrapping them or as they were lying there suppose to be relaxing while I was giving them a facial or a microcurrent treatment and have shared their stories and what is going on in their life and would say, “Why ME?”
I will tell you what I have told them. “BECAUSE.” “Because you need to go through those trying times because it is preparing you for something greater. Because maybe you thought you were making a simple “wish” many years ago, when really it was a foreshadowing of what was to be and if you didn’t go through those times, you would not get to where you are meant to be or are needed to be.”
For me, and I won’t go through all the gruesome details, all of those times that seemed impossible, painful, and miserable have prepared me for being here with you right now.
Everything has led me here to be able to pass on what I have learned in this industry owning my own Spa and Salon businesses in order to help others. Ahhhhh, the teacher in me, which is why I am so glad you are here!
I know that if you are here and reading this right now, that we have a connection and you are not here by accident. So if you take nothing else away from all of my rantings, is that the next time you want to say to yourself, “WHY ME?” that you will smile and think of me smiling back at you saying….”because.”
Whatever you have gone through, I am praying it was not as bad as you thought it was when you were in the midst of it. And because of it, I may have the pleasure of getting to you know you better.
Hopefully we will one day meet, so I can hear all about your life and your exciting happy times, and we can together be grateful for those times we would sooner forget! I will be so happy to meet you because that simply means we are in exactly the right place at the right time.
Everyday our journey begins again…..enjoy!
Please just say “Hi” below and go ahead and give me a shout out about your business and what you are doing. After all, you are doing because of all that you have done. Let’s celebrate you!
Please feel free to contact me at 630-343-9730 or check out what I am up to now at BioSonic Beauty.