Dear Spa Friends,

I had a life-changing event at a spa over 15 years ago. Since then, it has been my mission to share information about spas with consumers and help spa businesses improve. I have traveled extensively to experience and write reviews about hundreds of spas around the world in dozens of countries. I created spas.about.com in 1997 and edited, maintained and wrote for it through 2003. During the 6 years I managed the spas.about.com site, it became an important resource for both spa enthusiasts and those in the spa industry. The site garnered over a million page views each month and won the Forbes Best of the Web Travel Site 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and Yahoo! Internet Life Best Spa Site 2002 awards. I was the recipient of The North American Travel Journalists Association 2003 Award of Excellence. At the end of 2003, I left to create my own web site, this web site - DiscoverSpas.com, a comprehensive on-line resource for spa consumers and spa professionals, and SpaQuality LLC.

I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech and have a broad spectrum of work experience in everything from manufacturing engineering and supplier chain management for a Fortune 50 company to managing software testing for a top 3 consulting firm. Before entering the spa world full time, I worked for 8 years as a quality assessor, educator and consultant. My involvement in the spa industry gave me the unique perspective of observing the industry from two distinct views - one as a very experienced spa consumer and the other as a quality assessor. It has been my vision to bring QUALITY to the spa industry, and I created SpaQuality LLC and the SpaExcellence(SM) program with quality expert, Linda Bankoski, to accomplish this goal. I have had the opportunity to visit hundreds of spas and have experienced the vast spectrum of spa quality firsthand. It is an issue I have wanted to help the industry with and have been working on since 1998.This goal was achieved in 2003 in the form of The International Standards of SpaExcellence(SM), quality system standards created specifically for the spa industry based on the principles of ISO 9000, CE Mark, FDA GMPs, TedQual, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and others. Spas that follow The Standards will develop loyal clients, dependable staff, smooth operations every day and financial success. Along with The Standards, which are currently in their 5th edition, SpaQuality provides education on The Standards for spa managers and staff, scheduled on-site assessments and certification, and anonymous guest assessments.

I have become known as a spa expert and have been interviewed for articles in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and other consumer publications. I have written spa business articles for Pulse, Medical Spas, Dermascope and Spa Business Journal.

I look forward to providing you with everything you need to know about spas in the years to come.

Wishing you health, happiness and prosperity,

Julie Register
jar@discoverspas.com