The juggernaut of change pushing through the beauty industry is threatening the vital balance between creativity and commerciality that sustains and enriches it, but one of the speakers at this year’s International SalonSpa Business Network (ISBN) conference in May is determined to burst through the fears that are holding back salon owners from embracing and leading that change.

"It’s not courage, but creativity and intelligence that will enable us to keep ahead of the crowd, stay nimble and inspire others," argues artist, author, entrepreneur and charismatic speaker Erik Wahl, who will be opening the ISBN conference at Bonita Spring, FL, on May 5th. "We must energize our creativity to keep hold of our humanity and our individuality; maintaining an emotional connection in a digital age."

Once immersed in the corporate world, Wahl is now a graffiti artist who uses his past experience and his anarchic approach to galvanize executives into rediscovering their innate creativity. Teeming with energy and full of theatre, he whips his audience along, revealing how they can re-harness their own creativity and use it to the advantage of their business. Major companies such as Disney, CNN, IBM, Twitter and American Express are still benefiting from talks he has delivered to their people.

"But I sense talking at the ISBN will be different. These are my people; in beauty, owners already straddle both worlds: the creative and the business. They already understand the value and importance of creativity in business, how they must provide the spark and the grind. But they still must achieve a balance, sustain their joy in creativity while bending it towards their business in all the ways that count," says Wahl. "To master complexities in a rapidly changing world, owners and executives must innovate and differentiate. They need to reignite their curiosity so they can look at the uncertainties they face and step into them with confidence."

The whole focus of the 2019 ISBN conference is on the need for beauty salon owners to grasp change so they are leading rather than struggling to keep up in such transformative times. Wahl’s aim is to inspire confidence that will lead to creative innovation.

"Creativity is a lens through which to see the world, so we expand our consciousness and look at challenges form a different perspective," argues Wahl, whose books include The Spark and the Grind and Unthink: Rediscover your Creative Genius. "Beauty owners need to keep hold of who they were when they first joined the industry. They are people who listen to their intuition, move fast to keep ahead of the competition, have convictions and stick to them, and who don’t (only) do what is expected of them."

Erik will be speaking at 4:15pm EST on Sunday, May 5.

ISBN’s 2019 conference will take place at the gorgeous Hyatt Regency Coconut Point, Bonita Springs, FL, on May 5-7 and is open to senior leaders of multi-location businesses. The hotel is famed as a retreat where guests can watch dolphins at the beach on a private island, play golf on its stunning green or connect with colleagues in contemporary meeting spaces. The conference opens up with its traditional golf tournament or the option to take a Catamaran Cruise along Naples to meet fellow delegates at the conference. CLICK HERE to learn more and to register for or sponsor the conference.