When my good friends Ann Mincey and Mary Wilson invited me to Destination Rejuvenation, a three-day retreat to rejuvenate mind, body and spirit, I jumped at the chance. Ann and Mary hold these retreats twice a year, in October and April, at the Surf & Sand Resort in Laguna Beach, CA, which is as close to paradise as you can get. We were joined by 17 other women, many of whom are in the beauty profession. Many of us tend to put everyone else's needs ahead of our own, so we savored this chance to spend time together meditating, journaling, taking guided walks on the beach and more.
We were all given a copy of Ann's book, Get Glowing: You Are a Star Right Where You Are, to read before we arrived. Our goal was to use the book and Ann's advice about everything from body image to relationships to learn how to handle the endless personal and professional demands that can take a toll on our physical and mental health.
In this positive environment, we engaged in myriad activities. We took a yoga class, practiced meditation and learned about HeartMath, which can reduce stress. We spent one evening in silent reflection, and then met on the beach the next morning before the sun rose. Mary gave us a set of sentences to complete, such as "The people in my life are so fortunate that I am . . ." and "Being silent last night and this morning has taught me that . . ." We recorded the answers in our journal as we walked in silence for the next hour. Each day we had lunch on the patio overlooking the ocean, and I got to know some wonderful people, including Marie Ferro, who has a salon in Malibu, CA. With a stable of longtime celebrity clients like Jane Seymour and Farrah Fawcett, Marie is one of the few female hairdressers who have been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show. We talked at length about why so few women like her have become household names the way, say, Frédéric Fekkai and Ken Paves have.
 |
I also got to know Melanie Koroyan-Kopeikin, president of People in Beauty. She's a beauty industry veteran who specializes in sales, marketing and business development. The night before we all went home, Marie, Melanie, New York City hairdresser Xena Parsons, former American Salon columnist Barbara Giuliano and I bonded over dinner at The Beach House in nearby Dana Point. It was the icing on the cake after three days in the company of these most extraordinary women. To find out how you can have a similar experience, visit rejuvenationgifts.com or call 888/598-2514. —Marianne Dougherty, editor in chief, [email protected]
BEST OF YOUTH
Chances are you'll be hearing a lot more from Rachel Burney in the years to come, so remember her name. Before she graduated from Paul Mitchell The School in San Diego, Burney spent summers in Africa volunteering with Invisible Children, an organization that cares for AIDS orphans. Now she is in Rwanda, where she is working with the nonprofit organization Keza and will open one of the country's first cosmetology schools.
 RACHEL BURNEY |