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Elizabeth Szolosi

director of guest happiness

Our resident Eva Longoria lookalike, Elizabeth has been our Director of Guest Happiness since 2008. She started at sparkspace part-time after graduating from Bowling Green State University -- GO FALCONS! She quickly moved to full-time because, well, she rocks!

Our guests love Elizabeth's responsiveness and amazing attention to detail. We love how so many of our guests tell us how fabulous she is on our guest satisfaction surveys. Well, truth be told we're a little tired of it because we hear it ALL THE TIME. :)

Elizabeth is an avid runner (3 half-marathons and counting). She's also the youngest of 8 kids, loves to shop, and has an unusual obsession with the movie Back To The Future. Besides BTTF (we think she's the only person who refers to the movie that way), she'll also park on the couch occasionally to watch The Office or The Biggest Loser.

When she's not at sparkspace, you might spot Elizabeth on a cruise ship or at El Vaquero. She loves big ships and she loves salsa & chips.

The next time you call sparkspace, there's a pretty good chance Elizabeth will be the one who picks up the phone. So now you can freak her out by asking her a random personal question about her big family, her latest marathon, or her weird fascination with BTTF (ughhh, now she's got US saying it).

Duane Thompson

space operations manager

While his title may imply that he helps stranded Apollo spacecraft return safely to Earth, his real job is to take phenomenal care of the most inspiring business retreat center on the planet (although we have thought about requiring him to wear horn-rimmed glasses, a short-sleeved shirt, and a skinny black tie like those NASA guys do).

Originally from Painesville, OH, Duane graduated from THE Ohio State University and received a Masters Degree from Case Western Reserve University, which pretty much makes him smarter than all of us. Or he has a higher tolerance for pain and suffering. Or both.

To say Duane loves the Outer Banks area of North Carolina is like saying that cartoon bird in the cereal commercials is cuckoo for Coco Puffs. If he ever runs away from home, the Outer Banks will be the first place his wife & kids will look for him.

He claims to be an Ohio State fan, but - suspiciously - we had to encourage him to buy an OSU t-shirt to wear on football Fridays (a sparkspace tradition). We believe him now, but there was a moment we were wondering...

Duane has a great family and a twisted sense of humor, which makes him grounded, funny, and one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. Make sure you say hi to him next time you visit sparkspace (or vacation in the Outer Banks).

Heather Zeigler

promoter of enriching pathways

Want to discover an enriching pathway? You have found the right person, my friend. Heather works side-by-side with sparkspace clients to discover and plan effective (and enriching) workshops and events.

While Heather officially joined the sparkspace team in 2010, she has had a very long-standing connection with the company. Way back at the beginning, sparkspace used a fantastic "virtual receptionist" service to help us manage our incoming phone calls. Heather managed our account for that company. We loved her way back then. Needless to say, we always wanted to hire her to work here -- it just took us ten years to actually convince her to work here.

Heather's studies in Applied Psychology at Franklin University included a lot of positive psychology courses. The result? Heather's positive outlook on life and business is very uplifiting to our staff, our guests, and our clients. She's so positive it's almost irritating.

Heather grew up in and around Columbus and absolutely loves it here. In fact, when asked were she'd like to live someday, she says she doesn't want to live anywhere but Columbus, Ohio! We like that about her.

When Heather is not taking classes, or hanging out with friends & family, you might just find her teaching yoga at the YMCA or watching Fight Club (one of her favorite movies). We still don't know how those two things fit together in the same person, but it sure does make her interesting. Maybe you can ask her about it the next time you call about one of our workshops. Of course her answer could be "The first rule of fight club: never ask me about fight club." So maybe start with the yoga thing.

Jessi Reynolds

creator of extraordinary expressions

This sassy staff member comes to us from a suburb of Cincinnati -- Fairfield, Ohio! She's a proud Ohio State University graduate that loves to call Columbus "home."

While we'd like to refer to her as our Disney Princess (given her awesome internship at Walt Disney World prior to joining sparkspace, combined with her obsession with the color pink), she's actually our Creator of Extraordinary Expressions! Her responsibilities include developing an extraordinary and fabulous social media presence for sparkspace, attacking new marketing strategies, and taking care of our fabulous guests while they're here for meetings and events.

When Jessi isn't at sparkspace, you can likely find her with friends exploring Columbus, trying new restaurants, or saddling up and riding a horse. She's a proud older sister and loves spending time and visiting with family. Even if it's just to go shopping with her sister or catching a UC game with her dad. Yes, this Buckeye is also a Bearcat fan. We'll let it slide.

We love her because of her outgoing personality, which of course has led her down some interesting new paths, including registering for a half-marathon and mastering the art of cooking. The two go hand-in-hand, right?

The next time you're at sparkspace, don't forget to say hi to Jessi. You can shout out an "O-H" and she'll surely be the first to respond with a loud "I-O" (it's an OSU thing).

Jason Messick

chief reality officer

Our General Manager -- we mean, Chief Reality Officer -- comes from one of the most interestingly named places we've ever heard of: Mouth of Wilson, VA. He eventually found his way to Wittenberg University in Ohio. But that's not the only place he's been. Jason has visited over 40 states and 13 countries, which makes him the most jet-setting member of our staff.

Part of Jason's extensive travel was a side benefit of serving in the Peace Corps in The Gambia, West Africa. He's one of those people that has service hard-wired into his very being, which is what attracted us to him in the first place. As the story goes, our founder was shopping in World Market one day and Jason performed a simple, yet profound act of service. That led to an article on our blog about Jason, which led to a conversation over coffee, which led to another conversation over coffee, which led to an interview, which led to a job, which led to this bio on our website.

As our Chief Reality Officer, Jason is responsible for, well, just about everything at sparkspace. You'll often find him meeting and greeting guests in the lobby. But he also oversees our staff, makes sure our space is always in world-class condition, and pushes us to take our level of service to an even higher level. It's his job to help us "keep it real" (which is no easy task in this place full of dreamers).

Jason loves the outdoors, camping, and live music. He told us when we hired him that he will mysteriously disappear each year in late spring for a music festival called Merlefest where he has actually meets people like Elvis Costello, Bruce Hornsby, Bob Weir, and other famous music types.

Jason has an awesome wife and son and he says the best job ever is being daddy. That's ok with us, we're happy to be second best to a job like that!

Mark Henson

creator & chief imagination officer

"It was all his idea." Usually when you say that, it's a bad thing. Not in this case, though. Mark is the man behind the curtain at sparkspace.

After graduating from Oklahoma Christian University, Mark fulfilled his lifelong dream of becoming a radio personality. In fact, there are at least three people who still call him by his radio name: Joe Bahama.

Leaving the world of backstage passes and Hawaiian shirts behind, Mark spent a decade at FITCH, a leading brand development firm, where he eventually developed the idea for sparkspace.

Mark's passion for creativity, hospitality, and inspiring others has made him not only the leader of the most inspirational business retreat center on the planet, but also a sought-after writer, keynote speaker and workshop facilitator. His main role at sparkspace is to develop new ways to help companies and individuals be more amazing at what they do through our spaces and programs.

Two dogs, two kids, and one wife keep Mark busy at home. In his spare time he enjoys running, working on his grass like an old man, and exploring new places.

But maybe the most interesting fact about Mark is that he was born in Ann Arbor, MI (home of the University of Michigan), which takes a lot of nerve to admit here in Buckeye country.