HOME
OUR
PRODUCTS
ABOUT VAVA
WATER
OUR TEAM
WHAT'S THE BUZZ
VAVA: A
WAY OF LIFE
CONTACT
BUY VAVA
LINKS
|
Lauren Clarke-Bennett Founder and CEO Vava Now, Inc. Lauren Clarke- Bennett is an entrepreneur with over 20 years experience in both traditional corporate environments but mostly emerging growth companies. Her experience is primarily in the apparel trade and communications marketing industry, where she continuously demonstrated her ability to build a successful company from concept to completion Currently, she is bringing her skills and experience to her newest and most personal venture to date – Vava™ water. During the last few years, Lauren has grown increasingly interested and passionate about the health and fitness industry. She discovered vibrational therapy when she faced her own health concerns and challenges. Her experience with vibrational therapy inspired her to launch Vava Now, Inc. and bring vibrational therapy to consumers. To this end, she founded the company and is currently launching Vava water in the Tri-state area. A nationwide roll-out is planned for the coming year. From the late 70’s into the late 80’s she successfully launched Kila Ren, an innovative clothing line, which eventually became the Lauren Clarke label. She was responsible for design and production and worked with sales and buyers to place and sell the collection. The brand was successfully sold in most of the better US retail stores, garnering critical acclaim throughout the industry. She also worked as a freelance designer where she traveled extensively throughout the Orient, Middle East and Europe to design and produce collections to be sold in the US market. In the 90’s she moved, as an independent rep. into the marketing and sales of telecommunications products. She recruited, organized and trained a large organization of marketing/sales people. Under her direction, the team generated outstanding revenue. Lauren was born and raised in New York City, where she attended The Convent of the Sacred Heart. She then went to The University of Miami and FIT. She now resides in New York City with her husband Scott and their son Taylor.
Julia A. Farrell President and COO Vava Now, Inc. Julia A. Farrell is a seasoned executive with a broad range of experience. Whether bringing new products to market or reinvigorating established brands, she has been the driving force behind numerous successful ventures and companies. Julia has worked in many industries including cosmetics, fragrance, fine jewelry, communications as well as venture capital, investment banking and automotive. A strong strategic marketer, Julia, as CEO, led the turnaround of Guerlain, Inc. in the early 1990’s. She restored the company to profitability while broadening the company’s product portfolio including growing cosmetic sales by over 200%. She also launched the first US-created global advertising campaign in the 165-year history of Guerlain. Julia was the President of Omar Torres, Inc. (fine jewelry) during its launch and exceeded targets for sales, distribution and profitability. She was a key player in the early stages of the Prescriptives brand of Estee Lauder when the brand grew from $3 million to $26 million. As General Manager at Graphic Scanning she was responsible for bringing the firm to the next level of success by seamlessly changing outdated technology to a PC based system while increasing division profitability by 25%. She spent much of her early career in finance with General Motors and Loeb Rhodes, Hornblower. As President and COO of Vava Now, Inc. Julia is committed to the company’s mission of manufacturing products of the highest quality while simultaneously protecting the environment. She is proud that Vava Now, Inc. is dedicated to improving the lives of consumers and is focused on delivering high quality water with great taste, designed to help people live happier and healthier lives. Julia is a graduate of Manhattanville College (BA Mathematics) and the Harvard Business School. She lives in Manhattan with her son, Aidan.
Karen Amster-Young Public Relations and Marketing Director Vava Now, Inc. A seasoned public relations and marketing professional, Karen Amster-Young brings almost two decades of experience to the Vava™ team. In 1992 Karen founded Amster-Young Public Relations, Inc. (AYPR), an award-winning, full-service marketing and public relations agency. The agency represented clients from numerous industries, including fashion, food and hospitality, business-to-business, and home and design. In 2002, Ms. Amster-Young sold the firm after having built the agency to $2M in billings. Highlights of the agency’s work include the award-winning successful launch of FIJI Water and ITO EN Teas®. The firm also represented Federated Merchandising Group (Charter Club and all private label brands) and handled numerous projects and events for the American Cancer Society, the Hong Kong Tourist Association, prominent antique shows, restaurants and others. AYPR worked extensively in the consumer design and home arena, representing industry associations such as the Wallpaper Council and the National Tabletop & Giftware Association. These groups included brands such as Waverly, Lenox, and Schumacher to name a few. Amster-Young Public Relations won numerous industry awards for events, creativity, media relations and more. Karen was named one of the top “Forty PR Stars under Forty” by PR Week magazine and has been featured in numerous trade magazines. Amster-Young was the first agency of record for FIJI Water and handled all aspects of the company’s launch, including but not limited to: strategic events, charitable partnerships, media relations, marketing, all press relations and writing, celebrity outreach, trade shows and more. Amster-Young, together with its advertising agency partner, Ryan Drossman & Partners, developed the now ubiquitous “silver-slipper” which facilitated FIJI’s entry into better restaurants and hotels. The agency also handled all guerrilla marketing activities for FIJI, assembling and managing FIJI “Swat” teams who would hit the ground in key markets, stage events and distribute samples to consumers. Acting as the primary liaison for FIJI, the agency secured all details of FIJI’s involvement in the Avon Run/Walk for Women, The American Cancer Society’s Annual Dogs Walk and numerous other events. Ms. Amster-Young won numerous awards for her work on behalf of FIJI Water. For ITO EN Teas (North America) Inc., Ms. Amster-Young handled many aspects of the U.S. launch of ITO EN’s Teas’ Tea®, including the opening of the Ito En flagship store and restaurant on Madison Avenue. This was a significant launch since Teas’ Tea was the first bottled tea of its kind to be introduced in North America. All media relations, strategic planning, charitable partnerships, introductory press events and outreach to retailers and others were handled by Amster-Young. Ms. Amster-Young’s career began at Citibank, N.A. as a communications executive after completing the firm’s internship program – one of the most prestigious in the county. A few years later she joined Ketchum Public Relations in New York, one of the nation’s top ten public relations firms. There she represented corporate clients including Philips Lighting, Aetna Life & Casualty and GTE Telephone. Since 2003, Karen has been representing select clients as an independent consultant. She is often called upon by companies looking for strategic counsel on product launches, particularly in the consumer food category and home/design. Last year her work on behalf of a top designer garnered significant press for his participation in the 2007 Hampton Designer Showhouse – one of the most esteemed design show houses in the country. Ms. Amster-Young is also a freelance journalist; her articles and columns have been published in numerous magazines, predominantly in the Hamptons. An avid entrepreneur, Ms. Amster-Young is always passionately seeking exciting business opportunities – both personally and as a consultant. She lives with her husband and daughter in Manhattan.
Dr. Ilan Bohm Chair, Advisory Board
Vava Now, Inc. Dr. Ilan Bohm is the Director of the Office of Integrative Medicine on Fifth Avenue in New York City which he started in 2004. He specializes in Complementary Medicine including Chiropractics, Acupuncture, Toxic metal elimination, Applied Kinesiology, Herbology and Vibrational Medicine. Born in Israel, Dr. Bohm moved to the US in 1957 where he subsequently graduated from Lakewood High School and Rutgers University. For 6 years in the 1970’s, Dr. Bohm was in the US Naval Air Medical Corps. He spent close to two years of that time at the University of Montpelier in France where he did research and development in Biomechanics and prosthesis. In 1980 he graduated from the New York Chiropractic College and is board certified in New York and Florida. He received his post-graduate degree in Advanced Acupuncture from The Acupuncture Society of America where he is a fellow. He did post graduate studies in Chiropractic Orthopedics at Lincoln College in Nebraska. He also took advanced courses in Applied Kinesiology. He is a Diplomat of the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners. His first private practice was in New York City from 1980 – 1993. He then moved toTel Aviv, Israel where he opened a private practice. While in Israel he was the team physician for Macabee Tel Aviv Hapoel Jerusalem and Galil Elyion basketball teams. Returning to New York in 2000 Dr. Bohm resumed private practice. He is the father of five and resides with his wife Louisa and family in Westchester, New York.
James L. Oschman, Ph.D. Jim Oschman is the author of a ground-breaking series of articles on "healing energy" published in the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies. These articles have now been developed into a book, Energy Medicine: the Scientific Basis, published in the Spring of 2000 by Harcourt Brace/Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh. This book is giving the most skeptical academic scientists a theoretical basis for exploring the physiology and biophysics of energy medicines.
Another book, Energy
Medicine in Therapeutics and Human Performance, was published in the spring
of 2003 by Harcourt Health Sciences/Butterworth Heineman, Oxford. Jim lectures widely on the energetic phenomena taking place in the therapeutic situation. He has developed useful insights that can help all therapists better understand and advance their work and explain it to others. Jim has both the academic credentials and the background in alternative therapies to carry out his explorations. He has degrees in Biophysics and Biology from the University of Pittsburgh. He has worked in major research labs around the world. These include Cambridge University in England, Case-Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, the University of Copenhagen, Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he was on the faculty, and the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, where he was a staff scientist. His many scientific papers have been published in the world's leading journals. And, to learn about the theories and practices underlying complementary methods, Jim has both taught and attended classes at various schools around the world, and experienced a wide range of bodywork techniques. This has brought Jim some distinctions, including acting as President of the New England School of Acupuncture, and a Distinguished Service Award from the Rolf Institute. Jim continues his research and writing in Dover, New Hampshire, where he is President of Nature's Own Research Association. Recently, Jim is increasingly being invited to present the concepts emerging from his research to medical professionals at various hospitals. He has also become involved in the development of cutting-edge medical devices and other applications of the emerging concepts of energy medicine. Recently Jim became a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the National Foundation for Alternative Medicine in Washington, DC. On November 16, 2002, Jim and a number of other individuals were presented with the Foundation's Founders’ Award at a ceremony held at the Madison Hotel in Washington, DC.
1961: B.S. Biophysics, University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh; Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh
1967-1969: Postdoctoral Fellow, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland physiology,electron microscopy 1970-1974: Winter research, Cambridge, England; summer research, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA
1975-9: Staff Scientist, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA
1990: Distinguished Service Award, Rolf Institute Acupuncture (NESA), Watertown, MA
1986-1990: Director of Research, World Dolphin Research Society Major Acadenic Research: water and ion transport across epithelia; role of calcium in control of cell
function;
scientific basis of complementary therapies 1992-present: President, Natures Own Research Association
Lectures and Workshops: Stichting Opleiding Manuele Therapie, Amersfoort, The Netherlands; Concord Hospital, NH; Rolf Institute and Guild for Structural Integration, Boulder, Colorado; Colorado Cranial Institute, Zurich, Switzerland; Upledger Institute United Kingdom; Rosenberg Institute and Nordleys Massage school, Silkeborg, Denmark; Ergoterapeut-og Fysioterapeutskolen, Holstebro, Denmark;, Massage Therapy Research Agenda Workgroup, American Massage Therapy Foundation, Grand Rounds, Rehabilitation Medicine, NIH, Grand Rounds, Wentworth Douglass Hospital, Dover, NH 2000: Education Consultant, Institute for New Medicine, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington DC 2001: Member of Study Section for evaluating National Institutes of Health Research Grants. 2002: Member of the Scientific Advisory Board, National Foundation for Alternative Medicine (http://www.nfam.org) 2002: Recipient of the Founder's Award from the National Foundation for Alternative Medicine, Washington |