Empowering Wellness with
Infrared Saunas and so Much More
by Kim Henderson
Cover Story 13.12
 Aaron and Connie Zack
Partners in life and business, Aaron and
Connie Zack are on a mission to keep
people healthy. By offering state-of-the-art
tools for health that include the industry’s
leading infrared saunas as well as by “walking the
talk” in the refreshing way in which they run their
fast-growing company, they are making a difference
in people's lives. Yes, they take their company’s new
slogan “Empowering Wellness” to heart. With the
recent name change from Sunlight Saunas to Sunlighten,
the Zacks are positioning their company
to expand its product line in the future to include
more than its superior infrared saunas. “We are in
the business of disease prevention. We want to
help people stay healthy,” they said, finishing each
other’s sentences.
The Mission of Health
Their health “mission” started nine years ago. “My
brother suffered from debilitating chronic fatigue
syndrome (CFS) and fibromyalgia. It was really bad.
He could barely get out of bed. I was so concerned
because I saw this healthy young man destroyed,”
Connie explained. Then infrared sauna therapy
was recommended to him for detoxification. He
purchased a sauna and cured himself. “Yes, cured
himself,” Connie emphasized. The Zacks were
dumbfounded by the power of the infrared technology
to make such a dramatic difference in Connie's
brother’s life. That’s when they got the idea
for Sunlighten. They wanted a business that would
not just be profitable, but one that would also help
people live healthier lives. “We hear from so many
customers who suffered terribly from auto-immune
disorders or pain or arthritis and who are completely
transformed and restored to health by regular use
of our saunas. They send us ‘thank you’ notes and
we display them for everyone to see in our main office
area,” Connie told me. In fact, these success
stories helped shape Sunlighten’s new logo—the
lotus flower. “Before the lotus flower blossoms, it
grows in the mud, under the water. We think of our
infrared saunas as helping people to get through
not-so-pretty health challenges to the other side,
where they blossom into vibrant health. It’s the perfect
symbol for our company,” Aaron explained.
Industry Leader
Today, Sunlighten is the leader in the infrared sauna
industry. Aaron credits this largely to the amount of
resources they have devoted to research and development.
From the start, they have remained on the
cutting edge of technology, pushing the industry to
hone and improve sauna performance and convenience.
This commitment to innovation is probably
why Sunlighten was featured on The Oprah Winfrey
Show over all other infrared saunas on the market.
Sunlighten also has the distinction as the only sauna
used in a clinical study. The study conducted by
researchers at the University of Kansas found that
regular 30-minute infrared sauna sessions lower
blood pressure. And it’s no mistake that Sunlighten
continues to be recommended by more doctors
and health professionals than any other sauna.
When Dr. Mehmet Oz featured a Sunlighten
Sauna on an Oprah segment titled “High-Tech Ways
to Extend Your Life,” the health benefits of infrared
sauna therapy finally reached the masses. Previously
known to those on the vanguard of alterna-
tive health, Dr. Oz shared with a broad audience of
millions the multiple proven health benefits to be
gained from infrared sauna use—improved circulation,
lowering of blood pressure, increased metabolism
and weight loss, detoxification, pain relief
and relaxation. (The cardiovascular benefits are so
well recognized that Sunlighten is a partner with the
American Heart Association (AHA) and donates a
portion of its proceeds to the AHA every February
for National Heart Health month.)
Continuing to Innovate:
The New mPulse Series
 The New mPulse Series.
Sunlighten, the continual innovator, is not resting on
its laurels. The exposure in 2009 has simply pushed
the Zacks to expand their mission. They have just
come out with a new line of revolutionary, patent-pending
saunas called the mPulse Series. The
features are impressive. “We wanted to create a
health tool that allows you to be in the driver’s seat
of your health. Something very customized,” they
said. And the mPulse is indeed highly customized.
With the touch of a few buttons, you can adjust the
temperature and type of infrared ray to best target
your health goal—whether it be lowering your blood
pressure, burning calories, relieving back pain or
more. You can measure your heart rate, your body’s
core temperature, the amount of water you lose
from sweat—you name it. And you can even track
your health via an exclusive online website. Each
sauna comes with an interactive DVD LCD touch
screen. There are some amazing options, too—like
music sound therapy. “You can receive a musical
massage. It feels like you melt into the sound. The
sound vibrations are actually designed to take you
into a deep relaxation,” Connie explained.
While the new mPulse Series is Sunlighten’s
high-end offering, they have other models designed
to fit every budget that use the same, health-promoting
Solocarbon® heating technology.
Walking the Talk
The Zacks do not limit their desire to empower wellness
to customers; they let it inform many of their
unique, health-promoting business practices. Their
success is, in part, due to their willingness to invest
in both their employees, whom they call “associates”
and in eco-friendly business practices. “We didn’t
want to create a hierarchy in our office culture. We
are a team. The term “associate” better conveys this
core value of our company,” Aaron explained. Most
companies are concerned with keeping overhead
down and they end up skimping on benefits to employees.
But the Zacks see the long-term benefits
of making healthy options available to their associates.
And they are shaping a new work paradigm
for the twenty-first century—one that
makes health a core value—a kind of
sustainable wellness.
Green, Green, and
More Green
To start, they designed their new offices
(in a renovated building) with
an executive chef who makes healthy
and tasty meals every day. For a small
fee, employees can eat on site. (They
can even put in an order with the
kitchen for produce or send out their
dry cleaning.) There’s a gym available
so that it is easy for employees
to work out at any time before work,
during a break or after work. The fact
that they don’t have to go to the market,
out to lunch, stop by the cleaners
or the gym allows them to be much more effective
in their jobs. “They can focus on work when they are
at work,” said Connie.
Sunlighten’s building is in the process of becoming
Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED)-certified. LEED addresses whole-building
cleaning and maintenance issues (including
chemical use), recycling programs, exterior
maintenance programs, and system upgrades.
The future? The mPulse launch this January
will keep Sunlighten pretty busy. But the Zacks
told me to expect to see new products designed
to empower wellness to be rolled out over the next
couple of years. DPHL will be sure to give you the
scoop, first!
Resources
For more on Sunlighten
(formerly Sunlight Saunas),
visit the company’s highly
informative website,
www.sunlighten.com;
you can also learn more by
calling 877-292-0020.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
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