In 1984, I went to work for a company called Sun, Fun & Fitness in Englewood, OH – we distributed Klafsun/Wolff tanning systems. When I started, our big seller was a 24-lamp Klafsun Saturn sunbed with a wooden frame! The key selling feature was Ponderosa Pine, which we said “made the bed operate cooler.” I eventually wound up in Charlotte, NC where I sold for the company for eight years. That’s where I met Steve Spencer, owner of Forever Tan, another distributor. We were friends and competitors for years. Then in 1995, I came to work for Steve to sell beds made by Sun Industries, which was acquired in 1999 by JK North America/Ergoline, and I’ve been here the last 22 years.
Honestly, I love helping our customers achieve their dreams of owning a successful small business. I have helped open hundreds of salons in my career, and sold thousands of tanning beds over the last 30 plus years. I’ve also made some of my best friends along the way.
I like to spend time with my family. My lovely wife Pam and I were high school sweethearts and have been married 34 years. We have two sons – Ryan, 32 and Aaron, 31. So, Pam and I have been empty nesters for the last ten years or so. We love riding the Harley, camping, and roller skating for exercise. Pam is a former roller derby girl, so she’s the one who got me out there skating.
My biggest pet peeve is the way the media is influenced by the dermatologists and big sunscreen companies that fund them, and their focus on the negative effects of UV light, which of course, is overexposure. They totally ignore all the studies of the positive effects of UV and the sun, which we all need to survive. Hopefully, with some of the recent positive UV studies, some of this will start to change.
Crab legs
“Game of Thrones”
Becoming a grandpa – I need my boys to start working on that!
Since 1997, IST Magazine (formerly known as Island Sun Times) has been committed to the success of salon professionals, while promoting the growth of the tanning industry as a whole.
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