YBN’s 8th Annual Business Retreat
September 27–29, 2008
La Costa Resort & Spa Carlsbad, California

Far from your average beauty industry show, YBN’s 8th Annual Business Retreat delivered an action packed, career building, learning event for its 2008 attendees.  Held at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California on September 27 – 29, YBN exposed participants to quintessential business topics and solutions pinpointed to challenges unique to the beauty industry. Despite economic conditions, YBN members arrived in droves to gain knowledge from the industry’s leading professionals.  

Expert speakers included:
MAINSTAGE

• Susan Harrow - Double or Triple Your Salon/Spa Business with PR
  
• Bert Carder - Salon Survival: Managing your business during tough times!
  
• Steve Gomez - Coaching! Translating GREEK to GREAT!
  
• Julie Shepperly - IV Pillars of Profit
  
• Kimberly Alyn - How to Deal With Annoying People
  
• Susie Carder - Networking Forum

BREAKOUT SESSIONS:

• Louis Mattassi - My Big Fat GREEK Paycheck
  
• Dawn Ellinwood - The REAL STORY on opening a Salon or Spa!
  
• Alejandra Crisafulli - Winning the Gold Medal of Life
  
• Heather Moreno - Achieving Physical Wealth: 5 Keys to a Healthy Body and a Thriving Business
  
• Colette Carlson - The TRUTH about BALANCE: How to Achieve the Unexpected
  
• Kimberly Alyn - How to Give a Butt-Kicking Presentation
  
• Liz Goodgold - Red Fire Branding: 6 Secrets for Turning Your Personal Brand into Hot Sales

At the opening night welcome party, a.k.a. the “Festival of Fortune”, guests dressed as Greek Gods and Goddesses and had the opportunity to meet the speakers and fellow beauty professionals.  Beforehand, the Carders honored longtime YBN clients with an exclusive Loyalty Reception, new to the 2008 retreat.

One retreat attendee, Thia Pilar of the San Francisco area commented on how the information learned at the YBN Retreat could have made a difference early in her career. "This kind of information would have been so beneficial to me when I first started out 17 years ago. Had I known this stuff, I would have wasted less of my time and would have been able to pinpoint the challenges immediately".

Armed with the knowledge from YBN, clients are able to work smarter not harder. Pilar continued, "It's a shame they don't teach this in cosmetology school.  This kind of information could elevate the industry as a whole".

Handpicked exhibitors featured exclusive opportunities for YBN members.  The venue afforded a unique setting to demonstrate ways their products could be used as additional streams of revenue to any business.

Also new this year, the VIP Lounge offered a respite between breakout classes for YBN’s VIP retreat guests. Students from the Poway Beauty Academy provided services to YBN’s special attendees. Makeup touchups, hair touchups, hand massages, manicures, food and beverage services were among the perks offered exclusively to VIP members.