Meet the Team

John Teza, CFE joined Hand & Stone as President and Chief Development Officer in 2020 and recently announced as the new Chief Executive Officer. John is an experienced franchising executive and has served in various C-level roles with several national brands across his twenty-year plus career. John has been a Hand & Stone member for ten years and recognizes the role the brand plays in his health and wellness routine. John looks forward to leading the next wave of Hand & Stone’s growth and to helping scale the benefits of the brand through robust franchise development. John’s passion for franchising stems from the belief that the franchise model is the single biggest and most accessible wealth creation vehicle in the US economy.

Favorite Franchisee Phase: “To me, there is nothing better than the day a new spa opens. The opening represents the combined realization of a franchise owner’s bold action and faith in themselves, the consumer’s trust that the brand’s promise will be fulfilled anew, and the company’s ability to guide an owner through a well-designed and efficient opening process.”

Favorite Spa Service: Deep Tissue Massage with CBD Oil

Joining Hand & Stone in late 2022, Jennifer served previously as the Chief Development Officer for Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants, a lifestyle brand with over 55 outlets and the country’s largest wine club with over 600,000 members. Before Cooper’s Hawk, Jennifer served as the Chief Development Officer for Checker’s & Rally’s Restaurants, where she grew restaurants across the country introduced a new modular prototype which reduced spend by 25% and improved ROI to over 30%. Jennifer also supports and collaborates with the Real Estate, Design and Construction teams to optimize Hand & Stone’s new spa growth.

Favorite Franchisee Phase: “I love that bravery that comes with taking the leap to inquire about franchising with Hand & Stone. Spa clients, friends of other spa owners or those looking to make a legacy for their families creates an opportunity to share the compelling growth potential and the returns that come from spa ownership. There simply is no franchise opportunity better than Hand & Stone!”

Favorite Spa Service: DiamondGlow® facial – it’s like a time travel machine!

Chris brings a wealth of financial and operational experience to Hand & Stone with a professional background that spans healthcare, technology, consumer services, distribution, logistics, and real estate. Prior to joining the Company in 2024, Chris served as the Chief Financial Officer at Amtech Software, where he oversaw finance, internal IT, and sales operations. Prior to his role at Amtech, he was the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Veterinary Practice Partners and also served as the Chief Financial Officer of PetroChoice Lubrication Solutions. Earlier in his career, Chris was an investment professional at several private equity firms, including Greenbriar Equity Group, Blue Point Capital, and the Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds. In his new role, Chris will manage all aspects of the financial function, including analyzing the brand’s operating model and ensuring the team remains focused on providing a compelling investment and return for its franchise owners.

Favorite Franchisee Phase: For me, it is the first year of operation. The franchisee begins to realize the tangible benefit of all their hard work and to see more clearly the full potential of their new spa. As a brand, we are helping a new community of people create and maintain their health and wellness routine. Empowering an owner’s entrepreneurial spirit and supporting our customer’s wellness ritual – those two things are the essence of Hand & Stone’s mission, and that first year captures both in a unique way.

Favorite Spa Service: Deep Tissue Massage

Cindy is a health and wellness industry veteran with 20 years of experience. Before Hand & Stone, she was self-employed as a personal trainer and worked at a large New Jersey-based gym. Cindy joined the company in 2012 as Director of Training and has had multiple promotions prior to her current role.

Favorite Franchisee Phase: “Meet the Team Day says it all.”

Favorite Spa Service: Himalayan Salt Massage with CBD Oil

Prior to joining Hand & Stone in 2023, Desai served as the Senior Vice President of Technology Tropical Smoothie Café. Having spent several years in technology leadership positions at SunTrust Bank and Accenture, he brings diverse experiences that will allow him to advance the customer, employee, and franchisee experiences for Hand & Stone’s spas to operate more efficiently, ultimately leading to improved profitability. In his role, Desai is responsible for leading the brand’s operational and consumer-facing digital technology advancements, aligning with Hand & Stone’s strategic business goals, future franchise expansion and overall brand growth.

Favorite Franchisee Phase: Building meaningful relationships with our franchisees and getting to know them on a personal level. These relationships allow us to establish trust that fosters open communication and allows us to work towards a common goal. Franchisees become friends, and who doesn’t want to work with their friends all day?

Favorite Spa Service: Hot Stone Massage

Jack’s background includes 30 years in the franchising industry, 15 years in the health and wellness industry, and seven years with Hand & Stone. He believes this is a marketer’s nirvana – the brand positioning aligns perfectly to consumer sentiment, a great corporate team at every level that all share the same passion for the brand, and awesome franchisees who not only bring forward awesome concepts but execute on the plans we develop to perfection.

Favorite Franchisee Phase: “Working with franchisees through every step of the way and seeing them succeed.”

Favorite Spa Service: Swedish Massage

Kris entered the franchise world in 1991 and never left. As a thirty-year veteran in the franchising industry, Kris joined the team in 2011 as Director of Real Estate and was promoted to his current position in 2022.

Favorite Franchisee Phase: “Without a doubt working with new franchisees through the development of opening their first Hand & Stone spa. Every project is unique, and it is a pleasure to be a part of that journey with them.”

Favorite Spa Service: Hot Stone Massage

Jeanine Linehan joined the Hand & Stone team in late 2022. She previously served as the Chief of Violent Crime at the United States Attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where she led a 21-person team and managed a docket of over 300 cases. Throughout Jeanine’s prior legal experiences, she collaborated both nationally and internationally with local, state, and federal investigative organizations. As General Counsel, Jeanine advises on all legal initiatives, including corporate governance, franchise development and administration, compliance risk management and litigation.

Favorite Franchisee Phase: “I enjoy using my legal expertise in many areas to assist the franchisees at every stage and to ensure that Hand & Stone remains the industry trendsetter on health and safety measures. I try to do my part to continue to seek ways to make the clients’, the service providers’, and the franchisees’ experience rewarding.”

Favorite Spa Service: Deep Tissue Massage

With over 15 years of industry experience, Brock has been with the company since 2008. Hand & Stone has not only allowed Brock’s to continue to advance in the technology field but has also given him the opportunity to be a business owner himself. He owns an Arizona Hand & Stone location.

Favorite Franchisee Phase: “Conventions. It is a great time to get to know the owners and share success stories. We also get to unveil new products and services.”

Favorite Spa Service: Himalayan Salt Massage

Anita has two decades of franchising experience. Since 2008, she has been the head of marketing for all of Canada until February 2021 when she became SVP & Division GM. Anita is responsible for the Canadian operations and overseeing the national strategic marketing direction. Looking forward, she is excited to support budding entrepreneurs who are investing in themselves and the Hand & Stone franchise brand as they pursue the dream of small business ownership.

Favorite Franchisee Phase: "Because I was involved in marketing for so many years, my heart is still in that endeavor. I would have to say the Grand Opening."

Favorite Spa Service: ClarityRx Facials and the ClarityRx product line

Beginning her journey with Hand & Stone as a Spa Associate in our flagship store in 2007 Meghan, now SVP Franchise Operations where she leads a team of 17 passionate professionals that are dedicated to supporting our franchisees. She is humbled to work alongside such talented business owners and team members. Meghan is also pursuing her MBA to further her career at Hand & Stone.

Favorite Franchisee Phase: “Our Friends & Family launch week event, when franchisees’ friends and family are invited in for services as a practice run post-training. This is when it all comes together, the staff that was just trained can practice booking appointments, performing services, and selling memberships and ‘the dream’ is officially a reality. Every doubt in your mind dissipates and you prove to yourself what you are capable of. This day is full of so many wins and the franchisee and their team believe in the process and their ability to be successful.”

Favorite Spa Service: DiamondGlow® Facial

After beginning her business career in the mortgage industry, Lisa realized her passion for skin care and decided to pursue the interest as a career change. After becoming a licensed skin care professional and gaining experience for a few years in the spa industry, Hand & Stone provided the perfect opportunity to leverage both her business and spa experience together. In 2012, Lisa began her career at Hand & Stone as one of the first Regional Operations Managers. Since then, she has been promoted several times, with her current role as now serving as Chief Brand Officer. In this role, Lisa oversees brand positioning, service & product protocol, massage student program, and the brand’s Franchisee Innovation Committee.

Favorite Franchisee Phase: “I love the Grand Opening week because you see all the hard work put in during pre-opening pay off for the spa owner. It is always a big celebration to introduce this business to the community- everyone loves a massage or a facial! I also love our annual conventions because the energy is super high, and the best practices exchanged amongst franchisees are so rewarding to facilitate.”

Favorite Spa Service: DiamondGlow® with Red LED Phototherapy and NuFACE Lift, otherwise known as The Triple Threat Facial

Matt joined the Hand & Stone team in early 2023 to help lead the Franchise Development efforts for both new and existing franchise opportunities. Matt previously held the role of Senior Director of Franchise Development at Driven Brands, who has over 4500 locations and is the largest automotive aftermarket franchise company in North America. He was responsible for the addition of over 100 franchise locations, resulting from both existing and new franchise owners. Matt believes the health and wellness industry is one that is thriving and on an upward trajectory, with Hand & Stone at the forefront of innovation and change. He works closely with all departments at Hand & Stone to ensure that franchisees are supported throughout the entire development process, from first exploring the opportunity to opening their spa.

Favorite Franchise Phase: “The discovery phase. Building a relationship to better understand someone’s why. Everyone has a different motive as to why they are exploring franchising and owning their own business. The most exciting part for me is having a better idea of someone’s reasoning and what they hope to accomplish, and discussing how Hand & Stone may align with what they are looking to achieve. It’s equally exciting to see the success of existing franchisees and their desire to become multi-unit owners, which is very common within the Hand & Stone community!”

Favorite Spa Service: Deep Tissue Massage

Andie joined Hand & Stone’s team in 2023 and was most recently with Fuzzy’s Taco Shop where she was part of the Franchise Sales and Development team for the past 7 years. While supporting existing franchisees’ growth, Andie also focused on bringing new, talented multi-unit operators into the system. Andie has worked through all facets of development to support franchisees through their discovery phase, real estate selection, grand opening, and future operations. Andie believes the opportunities in the health & wellness space are endless for Hand & Stone franchisees, due to the brand’s many available markets, continuous innovation to stay the leading competitor in the space and the immense support from our management team of experts. Hand & Stone is continuously proving to foster dreams into reality for so many.

Favorite Franchise Phase: The Discovery Phase is exciting because each group is so unique. Seasoned franchise owners who are looking to expand their portfolio, or a family whose dream has always been to own their own business - Each is rewarding! Building and continuing relationships through this phase, all the way to their first Grand Opening and beyond to multi-unit ownership, is my favorite part of franchising!

Favorite Spa Service: Hot Stone Massage – It’s magic!