Elase is Reshaping the Medical Spa Landscape
Backed by Imperial Capital, Elase (formerly Birch) has acquired a number of top medical spas from Utah to Florida. But this isn’t just any typical acquisition. We create an ongoing partnership with you to build and empower an experienced, forward-thinking team. We are dedicated to providing an unforgettable customer experience every time.
As a trusted Elase partner, you will be an integral part of a national brand that is revolutionizing the medical spa space together.
"We’ve built Elase on the philosophy of delivering premium customer experience, building lifetime clients and creating a best-in-class team of medical spa industry leaders."
Stephanie Hu, CEO of Elase
Why Partner with Elase
Is an Elase Partnership Right for You?
We’d love to meet you and learn about your goals if you answered yes to these questions. Elase is not a cookie-cutter solution. Our platform is flexible, and the first step is for us to share and collaborate on an ideal partnership for you.
Let's TalkCarrie Brinton, Co-Founder of Elase“A partnership with Elase (formerly Birch) provides the rare opportunity to work with a team of people that will execute your vision while keeping the culture that you’ve worked so hard to create intact and thriving. Of all the groups that we met with, Elase was the one that aligned with our vision and supported our core values the best. We are excited about the opportunity to create a best-in-class medical spa that continues to empower our team and our clients.”
Matt Brinton, Co-Founder of Elase“The process of going through due diligence confirmed that Elase and Imperial truly follow through with their commitment to integrity. They always focused on fairness and ensuring we felt confident with our decisions. Working with the Elase leadership team has been a seamless transition. Stephanie has a very personable and collaborative leadership style, and each member of the leadership team brings with an immense amount of experience and solid leadership skills. We are excited about the future with Elase.”
Stephanie Hu
CEOStephanie Hu
CEO
We are led by Stephanie Hu, a purpose-driven leader based out of Denver, Colorado with 20+ years of consumer and health and fitness experience.
- Stephanie was previously the CEO of Wellbiz’s Beauty Division, where she oversaw the Amazing Lash, Drybar and LunchBox Wax brands covering a combined 500+ locations.
- Prior to joining the Beauty Division at Wellbiz, Stephanie was CEO of the Fitness Together brand (2 years), President of Life Time Sport (4 years), and went through the consumer marketing program at General Mills.
- Stephanie completed her MBA at Harvard Business School.
Jeffrey Lasher
CFOJeffrey Lasher
CFO
Our CFO is Jeffrey Lasher, an experienced finance leader based out of Denver, Colorado with 20+ years of retail and consumer brand experience
- Jeff was previously the CFO of Crocs, Inc, the international footwear brand and the CFO of West Marine, Inc. an outdoor retailer focused on marine and boating products. He was also CFO of International Car Wash Group prior to the firms acquisition by Driven Brands, Inc.
- Jeff also has 15 years of Automotive experience at Ford Motor Company, Budget Truck Rental and AutoNation.
- Jeff completed his MBA at Pennsylvania State University and has a bachelors degree in business from the University of Alabama
Jessica Pratt
VP of Technology & Business SystemsJessica Pratt
VP of Technology & Business Systems
Jessica Pratt has focused her career on workflow efficiencies for client facing businesses, for both the studio teams and clients. She’s based out of Parker, Colorado with 16+ years of health, wellness and fitness experience
- Jessica was previously the VP of Business Systems for WellBiz Brands, where she oversaw the client facing technology for Fitness Together, Elements Massage and Amazing Lash Studio brands covering a combined 600+ locations
- During her tenure Jessica led projects to make the point-of-sale system more efficient and released multiple products with automation to improve the experience such as customized online booking, digital forms and two-way SMS
- Jessica understands the needs of service-based brands having worked as a massage therapist and as a front desk associate at Elements Massage
Mindy Düster
VP of Human ResourcesMindy Düster
VP of Human Resources
Our VP of Human Resources, Mindy Düster, is a multi-unit HR expert with 14 years of progressive HR experience. Her authentic passion to evolve company culture and people operations has supported organizations from 150 – 13,000 employees in 23 different states.
- Mindy started her HR career in the public sector and moved to Denver based companies Smashburger and CorePower Yoga, where she managed and directed benefits strategy, people operations, leadership development, compliance, and employee relations.
- Most recently, she worked at outerwear brand Stio in Jackson Hole, WY where she oversaw human resources and supported culture and leadership growth.
- Mindy, who was born and raised in Colorado, holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from University of Colorado, Boulder and a Master’s Degree in Stategic Human Resource Management from the University of Denver.
Ashley Fallhowe
SVP of SalesAshley Fallhowe
SVP of Sales
Ashley Fallhowe, brings nearly 20 years of experience driving profitable growth in both retail and service businesses. A charismatic leader with a focus on strategic growth and client experience, Ashley is recognized for a collaborative work and leadership style and a keen ability to synthesize creativity and analytics to drive results.
- Ashley most recently held the position of Senior VP of Sales, Customer Experience and Sales Operations at Interior Define, a custom furniture business
- Ashley held the position of VP of Retail, Sales and Customer Experience at CorePower Yoga
- Ashley has also worked for Pure Barre, Sports Authority and The Gap and she graduated from Duke University with a double major in History and Public Policy
Andrew Neelon
SVP of Development & StrategyAndrew Neelon
SVP of Development & Strategy
Andrew Neelon is our SVP of Development & Strategy and brings a mix of Real Estate, Finance, and Strategy experiences to the company. While most of his career has been spent in omnichannel DTC brands, his roles have spanned a wide range of functional areas.
- Previously, Andrew built 1REC, an advisory platform and resource hub for brands beginning their retail expansion efforts from scratch. The platform offers a breadth of resources for aspiring, new, and seasoned retail operators, built from his experiences scaling numerous brands’ footprints nationwide.
- Prior to 1REC, Andrew was the VP of Finance & Growth at Interior Define, where he split his time managing Finance and Accounting; Store Development & Retail Strategy; and Innovation & Business Development
- Andrew also previously worked at Walmart, Bonobos, Hudson’s Bay Company, and Sagent Advisors; and graduated from the University of Virginia with a major in Commerce.
Molly Bacon
VP of MarketingMolly Bacon
VP of Marketing
Our VP of Marketing, Molly Bacon, brings 10+ years of experience leading successful marketing programs for B2C and B2B brands, utilizing data and creativity to build scalable programs that help companies grow.
- Over Molly’s career, she has worked with numerous purpose-driven brands. Previously, she led Care2’s growth and performance marketing team and successfully helped grow the company to over 50 million users globally.
- Molly has also managed a social media team for TechSoup, partnering with leading tech companies like Google, Adobe, and Microsoft on campaigns to support nonprofits worldwide. In addition, her entrepreneurship and digital marketing consulting background contribute to her versatile marketing knowledge.
- Molly is based in Denver, Colorado, and holds a BS in Planning and Public Policy, with a minor in Business Administration, from the University of Oregon.