Becca Hensley and I met decades ago when I was launching American Spa, but we really bonded around the time I co-founded Organic Spa, back in 2007. We were in Switzerland at the Beau-Rivage Palace Hotel, which had just debuted its Cinq Mondes spa. We shared really good Champagne, and she gave me melatonin because I couldn’t sleep. Along the way, we realized we had both always been poets, writers, and artists who love to travel. We were kindred spirits with a history rooted in spa.
Becca remembers discovering a book on how to make your own masks, which she did—at age ten. She carried that book to college and spread eggs, honey, diatomaceous earth on her face. She was inspired by the women in her family, all great beauties, as well as a crazy ex-pat grandfather who was an amateur herbalist and did funky fasts. Becca started writing for spa magazines because it was an umbrella for all the things she enjoyed or wanted to learn about—from food to fashion to spiritualism to wine.
For more than three decades, Becca has been a journalist who has published in Gourmet, Travel & Leisure, Self, American Way, South China Morning Post, Chicago Tribune, and elsewhere. She has also published more than 500 poems, a number of short stories, and three novels. She lives in Austin and used to teach at the Austin Jung Society and the art museum in Austin—mostly poetry and creative jump-start classes. She’s married with three kids and loves dogs and cats. She’s a Scorpio who believes in magic and past lives and is a seeker of profound inner wellness. Becca believes that a good story has the power to change lives.
Please join me in welcoming Becca Hensley as the new Editor at Large for Insider’s Guide to Spas.
Mary Bemis
A pioneering voice in spa and wellness journalism, Mary Bemis has spent four decades chronicling, championing, and helping shape the modern spa industry. As Founder and Editorial Director of Insider’s Guide to Spas, she brings a distinctive editorial perspective informed by a career that has helped define the language and landscape of spa media. Mary launched American Spa magazine in 1997, co-founded Organic Spa, and helped launch Luxury SpaFinder and NewBeauty. Her industry leadership extends to board service with ISPA, NYSPA, and WSPA, the latter two organizations she helped establish. She has also served as Special Advisor to the Balneology Association of North America. Today, she serves as Special Advisor to Global Wellness Day and sits on the board of the International Sauna Aid Foundation. Recognized among Medika Life’s Top 30 Influential Voices Transforming Wellness, Mary is also a recipient of the prestigious ISPA Dedicated Contributor Award, an inaugural Folio Top Women in Media honoree, and an American Spa Wonder Woman of Wellness. Her mission remains as steadfast as ever: to keep spa culture alive and relevant, honor its roots, challenge its shortcomings, and inspire an industry to live up to its promise.
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