It’s official; Melinda Norton will be taking over as the new President of the American Suntanning Association. Norton comes with business experience from outside the industry, with eight years as retail district manager for a national jewelry company and, of course, inside with six years as the President of Larry Paul Tanning Spa. For months now, she’s been a major player representing the industry’s interests in Washington, D.C., and now it’s time for her to become the official face of the industry.

Even beyond her success in business, norton’s background certainly makes her something of an “All-american Girl.” Norton played with the U.S. Women’s National Softball Team and once won the crown of Miss Illinois. This mother and midwestern small business owner is the perfect representation of our female-driven industry for consumers and politicians alike.

Norton is just like you. She embodies what every salon owner is working toward, with the familiarity and know-how of a small business owner. She’s supporting a family and depends on her businesses to maintain her livelihood. It’s imperative to her for the industry to change negative perceptions about tanning and overcome any interference threatening her businesses’ success. That’s why she joined the ASA in the first place.

“I wanted to get involved and be a part of something. I was interested in what the ASA was doing to help and didn’t want to just be a person in a meeting hearing about it. I wanted to be involved and provide my input, while getting other leaders’ opinions as well. You want to be with the leaders and people making an impact, and that was what I found with the ASA board and staff. I felt my voice would be heard,” says Norton.

In recent years, despite running her own business, the interests of the entire industry have become her mission, job and passion. Her voice has certainly been heard both in the ASA board room by owners and representative of much larger companies, and on Capitol Hill, where she traveled many times to work with the ASA lobbying team to educate politicians about our industry. AS President, she will spend one to two weeks a month delivering our industry’s scientifically supported position to politicians, regulators and targeted groups.

Click here to read the entire article in the latest issue of Smart Tan Magazine online.