inclusion of snowboarding in the Paralympics, where she would go on to win two Paralympic medals.

Purdy also spoke about pushing past comfort zones, sharing her experience on Dancing with the Stars:“ It was one of the hardest things I’ ve ever done in my life.” Her first appearance came only 72 hours after competing in a Paralympics race in Russia. She had to perform live in front of millions of viewers, dancing the cha-cha-cha after only three half-day practice sessions with her partner, Derek Hough, and her challenges went beyond nerves.“ Other contestants worried about what shoes to wear— I had to figure out what feet to wear.”

She left the audience with a call to embrace challenges.“ It takes a lot of courage to step outside of your comfort zone,” she said.“ We always have the choice of whether we’ re going to let those challenges break us down or use them to build us up.” n

THE 2025 ISPA CONFERENCE’ s Day One kicked off in Broadmoor Hall, a hub for registration and networking. Power Session sponsor Eminence Organic Skincare’ s Boldijarre Koronczay energized the crowd( don’ t miss the pics!) before sharing a video celebrating ISPA’ s 35th anniversary. ISPA Chair Kelleye Martin then welcomed attendees, followed by The Broadmoor’ s Jack Damioli, who highlighted the resort’ s deep spa and wellness roots— dating back to 1918, when guests could enjoy an alcohol rub and oil massage. Martin reflected on ISPA’ s own history of innovation and growth, celebrating recent achievements like iLearn, new Foundation research and the CoHE internship program. She urged members to embrace ISPA’ s memberdriven spirit:“ Get involved, make meaningful connections.”

A video from“ the godmother of spa,” Deborah Szekely, introduced keynote speaker Amy Purdy as the ISPA Alex Szekely Humanitarian honoree for 2025.( See page 25 for story.)

Scan the QR code to view Eminence’ s Power Session video.

During a Power Session rehearsal, Amy Purdy prepares to introduce a meaningful photo. In her live keynote address, she told the audience,“ In this photo is my friend, Shane Bird. Shane was our spa director when I was at Canyon Ranch. He’ s who hired me and he was by my side the entire time I was in the hospital.”

T� BEST WAY TO SPEND 52 �NUTES TODAY

FOR A LIMITED TIME, Amy Purdy’ s full keynote address is available to all ISPA members on iLearn. Hear her inspiring story in her own words:“ Change and challenge— that’ s where the opportunities live.”

MAY 2025 n PULSE 29