CONVERSATIONS
What’s in a conversation? It’s the beginning of new ideas. A sharing of personal stories.
A start of meaningful relationships. This Pulse section called Conversations
highlights opinions, ideas, visions and personal anecdotes of CEOs and leaders from across industries.
Join the conversation. Send your questions and suggestions on leaders you’d like Pulse to profile.
B Y M A E M A Ñ AC A P - J O H N S O N
F
or the“godmother of spa” and Rancho La Puerta founder Deborah
Szekely, age is but a number. At 90, she shows no signs of slowing
down, even launching WELLNESS WARRIOR, a lobbying coalition initiative designed to create legislative change on issues affecting health
and wellness.
She was once drawn to the world of politics and ran for the U.S. Congress in
1982. “Although I lost my race, I decided to commission a manual to teach new
members how to set up their offices, manage their staff, and best serve their constituents,” she says, adding that such achievement is one of her proudest
moments.
Today, she continues to inspire others to speak up and act on important issues,
especially on childhood obesity, Slow Food and environmental protection.
PULSE: What prompted you to launch WELLNESS
WARRIOR?
Szekely: When I turned 89, I realized I didn’t feel any different than when I was 60. I was still running around and
traveling and doing everything, and I said, ‘Well, what should I
do with these extra years, my bonus years?’ I wasn’t expecting
this. I didn’t plan that I wanted to do a new career at 90; it had
never crossed my mind. But then I thought, ‘What could be the
most useful thing I could do?’
P: What were the challenges in launching such an
initiative?
S: At first I wondered if there were enough nonprofit organizations addressing the hundreds of wellness issues we have in
this country: childhood obesity; chemicals in our water, food
and soil; reliance on pharmaceuticals to treat illness rather than
prevent it in the first place; and so on. All of us in the spa
industry know that prevention is the master key to ‘wellness.’
But I soon discovered that these many causes are well-served by
passionate organizations of all sizes—Environmental Working
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March/April 2013
Group, Center for Science in the Public Interest, and Edible
Schoolyard are prime examples. I had to turn to the idea of creating a lobbying coalition—in this area, we clearly must be
stronger if we are to counteract the influence of major corporations and special interests that stand in the way of sensible
wellness initiatives.
P: In what way can a lobbying coalition, which is the
goal of WELLNESS WARRIOR, help create real change
on issues affecting health and wellness?
S: First of all, I’m inspired by the strength of the many people in
the Middle East who came together in the Arab Spring. WELLNESS WARRIOR must be a social networking movement to
grow and be feared—yes, feared by those in Washington who
place profits in front of health. As a 501(c)(4) organization—a
unifying PAC (Political Action Committee)—we can throw
financial support behind those legislators who believe in protecting the environment and health, and lobby against the bills
and hidden riders that weaken our nation’s commitment to its
citizens’ health. We will be the peoples’ watchdog.