ASIS administration, staff, and faculty engage with students because they believe in the industry. The school offers a diverse group of qualified practitioners who believe in high standards, kindness, and generosity. With excitement for their respective fields and commitment to a collaborative educational process, our teachers choose to teach because they believe in the potential of their students and massage therapy as a profession.

School Directors

Laura Todd - Regional Campus Director Laura has almost 20 years experience working with students in all aspects of the education system.  Her passion is working with students, and following them from that first spark of interest through graduation and career placement.  Originally from the Pacific Northwest, she has completed programs in Cosmetology, Medical Central Service, Surgical Services, as well as trainings in Business and Marketing. Laura is both the Admissions Director and the Campus Manager at ASIS Mesa.

Nicole Willenbrock - Financial Aid Director

Michelle Cordero, BA, LMT, CIMT, MLD-C - Education Director Michelle received her Bachelor's degree from Cornell University in 1999. After teaching English in Japan for 2 years, she moved to Arizona and received her Associates of Applied Science in Massage Therapy in 2003. She has run her own successful massage therapy practice and has worked in a variety of massage settings. She enjoys introducing new students to the art of massage therapy with humor and fun. Michelle completed her Certified Infant Massage Teacher training from the ‘Liddle Kidz Foundation’ in 2015 and holds classes for caregivers to give them the tools to bond with and help their babies through massage. In her spare time, she enjoys time with her family, tap dancing, crochet and volunteering for an animal shelter. She has served as a board member and past president of the Arizona chapter of the American Massage Therapy Association.

Jessica Santana - Tucson Campus Director Jessica was born and mostly raised in Arizona. She has worked in the sales and banking industries prior to ASIS. Her favorite part of the job is connecting with the students and being a part of their growth into amazing therapists. Health and wellness have always been a huge priority in her life. She enjoys spending time with her two sons and husband when she is not working.

Shoshana Farland - Flagstaff Campus Director

Continuing Education

Lacey Hall, LMT

Campus Faculty

Instructors

 

Tucson

Jessica Santana - Campus Director

Financial Aid

Nicole Willenbrock Nicole has worked in the financial aid field since 2008. She took a break from financial aid in 2013 and was excited to get back to it. ASIS had an opening and she jumped on it right away. She feels at home here at ASIS and thinks the staff here is very helpful and kind. The Financial Aid Director Kristyn is her right hand and has groomed her to be the best she can be. She loves spending time with her friends and family and going to church. She has a dog named Gussy who she adores, and a son, who lives in Tucson and a daughter who lives in California.

Registrar

Marlene Leon Marlene is a Tucson native. She has worked in customer service for over 10 years. Her favorite part of the job is helping students achieve their goals and reach their potential. When she's not working she enjoys spending time with her dog Milo and her daughter and niece.

Rebecca Hyson, LMT Born and raised in western Massachusetts, Rebecca came to Tucson in the spring of 2003 to explore massage schools and shortly after made Tucson her home. She completed the 750-hour Massage Therapy Program at the Providence Institute in 2005 followed by their 550-hour Zen Shiatsu Certification in 2007. Always on the lookout for new techniques to add to her bodywork toolbox, Rebecca has also completed training in Reiki, Healing Touch, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy, Cupping, Gua Sha, Anatomy Trains, and most recently Functional Range Release. Rebecca believes wholeheartedly in the power of therapeutic touch and integrated massage to heal and loves teaching others about the powerful effects bodywork can have on body, mind, and spirit. In her free time Rebecca loves hiking, dancing, and moving her body in new ways.

Todd Edwards, LMT Todd spent years as a copper miner before he found his calling as a massage therapist, graduating from the Desert Institute of the Healing Arts in 2001. Shortly thereafter he found his second calling—teaching massage therapy­—and has been teaching ever since. Todd currently teaches kinesiology at ASIS Tucson.  

Mesa

Laura Todd - Campus Director

Admin

Claire Hofstetter, LMT, CA, NCBTMB, BA Claire has lived between the Prescott and Phoenix area most of her life. With the exception of living on Catalina Island as a child and on Oahu, where she attended University of Hawaii, Arizona has been home. She received her bachelors degree from Northern Arizona University in public administration and graduated from the Prescott ASIS campus in 2012. As a massage therapist, she emphasizes movement education and injury rehab with a holistic approach. She now helps others find their true path at ASIS!

Financial Aid

Instructors

Emily Vandevier, BS, LMT Emily graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Northern Arizona University in 2012. She is also a graduate of ASIS in Prescott in the same year. She has been a practicing Licensed Massage Therapist since 2013 and spent the bulk of her career working in high volume clinics, touching the lives of thousands of clients allowing her to hone her skills . Presently, she focuses her efforts on teaching Swedish massage at ASIS in Mesa and providing massage services to a limited client base outside the classroom. Her style of massage is a blend of several modalities including deeper-pressure Swedish massage, Myofascial Release, stretching and energy work. When she isn't filling her heart and hands with massage, her favorite hobbies include: camping, hiking and dancing with her fiance, playing guitar and bass guitar, watching TV and movies while snuggling with her dog, Dude, and her three-legged cat, Evaline: The Evil Three-legged Thing (Eva), writing and performing stand-up comedy and performing in other theatrical endeavors, knitting and crocheting and tinkering with her life long VW Camper Van project, and its name is Gustav (Gus the Bus). She loves to have fun, laugh, and spread her love of bodywork everywhere she goes.

Mario Castro, LMT A licensed massage therapist since 1993, Mario has worked with an array of clientele encountering many true to life situations. It is many of these antidotes that Mario shares with class participants to balance and validate the theoretical terms and concepts. Humor, class participation and inspiration are important components of classes taught by Mario. In 2006, Mario started teaching continuing education courses to licensed massage therapists. The subjects include Postural Analysis, Neuromuscular massage for; Cervical/Neck, Shoulder/Rotator cuff and Lumbar/ Low Back regions Mario has been an instructor for 28 years. Subjects Mario teaches are, Anatomy/Physiology and Pathology, Sports Massage, Neuromuscular massage, and Postural Analysis. Regularly described by his students as inspirational, enthusiastic and humorous he has the ability to take a topic such as Anatomy and make it understandable and fun. Mario enjoys the challenge of educating students and changing their preconceived notions about a topic.

Melissa Voight, LMT, BCTMB, BCSI Melissa became a Licensed Massage Therapist and Board Certified in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork in 2003 after graduating from the Central Florida School of Massage Therapy. She later became a Board Certified Structural Integrator, completing Tom Myers’ Anatomy Trains Structural Integration program in 2010. She began her massage career in outpatient rehab and sports medicine at the Florida Hospital. There she worked closely with many physical therapists in patient care, providing therapeutic massage for athletes, pregnant women, and patients rehabilitating from surgery and injury, as well as patients seeking pain management for chronic conditions. Since moving to Arizona in 2005, she has maintained a private practice administering goal-based therapeutic massage and structural integration and has contracted her services to several resorts and therapeutic offices for specialized client care. Her basic massage training provided her with a solid foundation that has allowed her to pursue a successful and meaningful career, and she’s passionate about passing on that education to another generation of massage therapists so that they’re given every opportunity to succeed in this ever growing career field.

Morgan Strong, LMT Morgan is a licensed massage therapist and massage educator located in Scottsdale, Arizona. He is the owner of Integrative Manual Bodywork, a practice that takes an integrative approach to manual therapy focusing on pain management, injury rehabilitation, and life in general. He received his training from the Finger Lakes School of Massage in Mt. Kisco, NY and holds a license to practice massage therapy in the state of Arizona and New York. As a massage instructor at ASIS, he enjoys taking part in helping students become new therapists. He is a Board Approved Continuing Education Provider through NCBTMB, and also teaches with Advanced BodyWork Education and LMT Success Group. He creates a dynamic learning environment with an energetic teaching style, keeping classes interactive and creative. As an educator, his focus is on enhancing skills and helping each massage therapist grow in their own unique styles.

Marna Wreath, LMT Marna is a movement and soft tissue specialist with 30+ years of experience in teaching dance and movement and 10 Years of massage experience with the perfect balance of East meets West. Inspired by dance and many years of working with the elderly in assisted living, Marna saw firsthand how age and gravity affected the elderly and how they were always in pain. It became very clear early on how touch was both soothing and therapeutic. She views massage as a conversation that we have with the body to assist in what it does naturally (heal and fix itself) and total homeostasis (balance and wellness as a whole unit). Daily living activities and stresses can throw things off kilter, leaving the body in an unbalanced state, causing issues. Marna is thoroughly trained in many Eastern and Western modalities and teaches classes that reflect this. She has extensive training and continued education in Thai, Craniosacral, Lomi Lomi, Structural Integration, Stone work (Hot, cold, contrast and integrated/Thai and Shiatsu stone work), Reflexology, as well as Trigger Point and Injury recovery.