About

Julie Rose, Owner of the Spa del Mar, was born in San Francisco, California. She grew up in a town called Hillsborough, 15 minutes south of the city. Starting in the beauty business as a sales representative, she knew that she wanted to get out of sales and into the spa industry. This encouraged her to broaden her experience by becoming a massage therapist.

After working as the Spa Director for a local day spa, she started her own business. Julie has been the owner and operator of Spa del Mar for 20 years. She has also been a spa consultant for ten years. Even though she owns and operates the spa, Julie loves being “hands on” in her business by doing deep tissue massage and various body treatments. She also enjoys the creation and marketing of her signature spa treatments helping her stay current with spa trends. Julie enjoys traveling, spending time with family and friends, reading, writing, swimming, and beach walks.

Raquel was born and raised in Santa Barbara — Paradise as she likes to call it. She has always really enjoyed working in spas. Previously she was the manager of a day spa on State Street for fourteen years. Raquel then started work at Spa del Mar and has loved her time with her co-workers over the last nine years. In her spare time, Raquel enjoys biking, being outdoors, and spending time with family and friends.

Silvia was born in Switzerland. She loves the beauty/spa industry because she likes to make people feel good about themselves. Silvia believes that massage can be a great way to enhance people’s self esteem. She has always been interested in different types of body work as well as the overall health of the body. Silvia has been working at the Spa del Mar for over 18 years and loves working in a fun, yet relaxing environment. Silvia enjoys walking, meditating, riding her bike, and practicing yoga.

Potjanee was born in Thailand. She was initially interested in the beauty/spa industry as a meaningful career that focuses on helping others heal. She has been working at the Spa del Mar for sixteen years and loves the spa environment. In her free time, Potjanee enjoys meditating and studying. Most specifically, she enjoys studying Buddha’s teachings about self-esteem for the mind and body.

Sandy was born and raised in Santa Barbara. She became interested in the beauty/spa industry after living in New Zealand for twenty years. When Sandy returned to Santa Barbara, she wanted to pursue New Zealand’s holistic approach to medicine. She has been working at the Spa del Mar for eleven years and loves her co-workers, the owner/director, the clientele, and the property. In her free time, Sandy enjoys playing tennis and spending quality time with her kids.

Suely is originally from Brazil. What she likes about working in the Spa industry is helping others feel good and relaxed. She believes that massage is a valuable art. Suely has been working at Spa Del Mar for the past 7 years and loves the environment. She enjoys the beautiful Santa Barbara scenery with great friends during her spare time.

Linda was born and raised outside Pittsburgh PA but has also lived in Montana, Washington, Utah and New York. She has been interested in holistic health and healing since 1992, when conventional Western medicine failed to alleviate a medical crisis. Learning all she could about homeopathy, exercise, and food choices, in 2001 she graduated from The State University of New York with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Massage Therapy.

She has worked consistently in the massage field ever since. Her clients have included professional triathletes, Olympic medalists, cancer patients, and everybody in between! In 2004 she spent three weeks in Thailand in an immersion program learning Thai massage. She is a Reiki Level III practitioner. Other certifications have focused on deep tissue, reciprocal inhibition, Chinese Medicine, and acupuncture.

In her spare time, Linda enjoys ultra-running, hiking, cycling, mountaineering, reading, writing, and blogging on her health and lifestyle blog badassveganathlete.tumblr.com

Keely Cross was born in Inglewood, CA then moved to Riverside, CA where she spent most of her adolescents. After living there for many years, she decided to move to Santa Barbara, CA to attend photography school at Brooks Institute. Shortly after receiving her Bachelors degree of fine arts in professional photography, she was introduced to massage therapy. Once she discovered the world of massage therapy, she was hooked. What she likes about the spa industry is the opportunity to help relax and soothe people’s aches and pains. She just graduated school and is new to the industry. Her hobbies include photography, painting, gardening, hiking and playing sports.

Suzanna Young was born and raised in Santa Barbara. She became interested in the beauty/spa industry because her mother used to complain of headaches. To help her, she would push on a spot on her neck or shoulders and her mother would exclaim, How did you know?! She would reply, I don’t know, I guess that’s where I would feel it if I had a headache. Empathy and touch have long played an important role in Suzanna’s life. Once she was fed up with the politics involved in her non-profit administrative and fundraising career, she decided to pursue massage therapy, and has not regretted it since.

She has been working at the Spa del Mar for five years. Although she has worked at many different establishments as a massage therapist, Spa del Mar sets itself apart. Suzanna appreciates that the owner/director, Julie Menicucci, is also a practicing therapist, so she has a distinct understanding of everything that is involved physically, mentally, emotionally and logistically that comes with massage. According to Suzanna, it is equally as challenging as it is rewarding to serve people and it is fantastic to have someone like Julie on her side to provide the support and share in the celebration of their services. In her spare time, Suzanne is a budding songwriter!

Beatrice was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and received her comprehensive training at the Esalen Institute – Massage & Healing Arts. She practiced massage professionally in the U.S since 2000. She connects deeply with each client to accommodate specific requests and preferences within the “Esalen Massage” modality. This modality combines a full – hearted presence with long integrating strokes and slow, deep muscle work to release everyday stresses and still the mind. This will leave you feeling integrated and deeply relaxed.

Her education includes two Bachelor of Art degrees in the area of fine Arts and Art Therapy that she received from a Brazilian University. Beatrice has travelled and lived abroad extensively. She has collaborated with international Artists, worked with disadvantaged special needs children in Impoverished communities. She loves to spend time creating her Art in her own Studio.

Joellen was born in New Hampshire, and attended the Elizabeth Grady School of Aesthetics. She relocated to Santa Barbara and has built a local clientele for the past 22 years. Her expertise is in European facials, which includes electric facials and teen facials and is also proficient in green French waxing. JoEllen says “ I was always meant to be a Californian even though I was born in New Hampshire !”