Our faculty consists of some of the best and most talented massage and bodywork professionals who are committed to sharing their academic and professional expertise with our students.

To offer a truly well-rounded, comprehensive diploma program, we made certain that our faculty brings to the classroom a wide range of knowledge, including eastern and western modalities, herbalism, and spa and clinical massage experience.

Our instructors have university degrees and multiple certifications from local and nationwide schools; several philosophies and training programs are represented within our faculty.

All instructors are approved by the Illinois State Board of Education.

Emmanuel Bistas, Founder and Director
Raised in an environment that values the mystical and accepts healing as an innate faculty of life, Mr. Bistas started exploring yoga and eastern meditation systems at the age of 13, in his native Greece. He continued by studying Tai Chi, shiatsu, and massage therapy in New York City in 1984 and 1985, while at the same time pursuing a college education and, later, successful careers in the corporate world and business. Mr. Bistas is a licensed massage therapist, and has a B.S. in Information & Decision Sciences from University of Illinois-Chicago and an MBA in Entrepreneurship from DePaul University. He brings his rich experience in entrepreneurship, business, science, and massage therapy to the classroom where he teaches self mastery and business development.

Dr. Kelli Easterly
Dr. Easterly is a graduate of National University of Health Sciences, where she received her Doctor of Chiropractic degree, summa cum laude. She also has a B.S. in Biology from DePaul University. She is a certified Accupuncturist, Nimmo Triggerpoint therapist, and Kinesio taping therapist. In addition to her role as an instructor, Dr. Easterly functions as the Educational Director for the Human Sciences component of our programs.

Jean Bailey
Ms. Bailey uses her extensive background in marketing and advertising to teach students how to reach, attract, and retain clients. Ms. Bailey has had a brilliant career as Director of Marketing services for Helene Curtis Corporation, and previously as a national advertising and promotion supervisor for Hartmarx Corporation, and a Vice-President of an advertising firm.

Rebecca Grimwade-Brown
Rebecca Grimwade Brown, is a Licensed Massage Therapist and Nationally Certified in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork. She graduated from the Chicago School of Massage Therapy after becoming interested at an early age in massage as an alternative therapy that provides immediate, relaxing results. Her specialties include Fertility massage, Prenatal massage, Therapeutic deep tissue work, Assisted stretching, and Myofascial release. Rebecca believes in the preventative care powers of massage and enjoys customizing sessions to individual client's needs. Her ultimate goal is to help relax and assist in the healing process for all of her clients. She is enthusiastic in sharing her knowledge with students and looks forward to working with them as her colleagues.

Randy Cummins
In his 25 year career, Randy has had the privilege of being on the teaching faculty of The Chicago School of Massage Therapy, the New School for Massage, and The Lauterstein-Conway Massage School. Along with providing trainings throughout the United States and Caribbean, he maintains a private massage practice in both Chicago and Austin, Texas. A respected practitioner and instructor in many forms of therapy, Randy’s expertise, humor and wisdom will help you open to the possibilities of self and client.

Xochitl Vinaja
Xochitl received her Bachelor's Degree from Sarah Lawrence College where her primary interest was in botanical sciences. After a couple years at a microscope doing paleo-ethnobotanical research, she directed her attention toward people instead of plants and became a massage therapist. Today she teaches anatomy and physiology with great enthusiasm (her own studies in the field are on-going) and hands-on massage classes (emphasizing an integration of the core scientific knowledge with energetics and individualized care of both therapist and client to uphold NSM's "body, mind, spirit" approach).

Philip Brown

Sarah McLaughlin Sarah received her massage training at the Chicago School of Massage Therapy and the Chicago School of Thai Massage. She is trained in pregnancy massage and works with women postpartum to help strengthen their bodies after childbirth. She is certified in Bodywork for the Childbearing Year and is a birth doula. Sarah has studied in Thailand with a master teacher of Thai Massage, Pichest Bonthumme. She has also completed continuing education in Clinical Massage for Rotator Cuff and Shoulder Dysfunction, Lymph Drainage, and Oncology Massage. Sarah is a licensed massage therapist, a registered thai therapist, is nationally certified in therapeutic massage and bodywork (NCTMB), and is currently studying Zen Shiatsu. Sarah maintains a private practice in Evanston at The Heartwood Center and works with Bloom Yoga Studio in Chicago. Her practice is grounded in her belief that you have the inner ability to heal, given the right combination of external support and stimulation of your own inner resources, and that real and positive change is always possible.

Jennifer Pavlus
Jen teaches our Professional Development curriculum and welcomes new classes of students to the school each month in our Orientation and Introduction to Key Concepts program. She graduated from the University of Illinois, Urbana – Champaign with a B.S. in Accounting and worked in the financial services and human resources fields for 16 years before finding her way to The New School for Massage – first as a student, and then as a career placement coach and faculty member. She is a licensed massage therapist and certified health coach, and is grateful to blend her business background and passion for wellness and balance as a member of The New School family.

AJ Soracco
AJ graduated from the New School for Massage, Bodywork & Healing and has been working at the School since 2005. Her background before massage therapy includes competitive sports, the medical field and business management, training, and development. As a young athlete, AJ benefited from and performed sports massages on team-mates in pre-event, post-event and as part of the training regiment. AJ graduated from University of Illinois at Chicago. While at UIC, AJ studied techniques for tutoring English as a Second Language/Standard English as a Second Dialect (ESL/SESD), Student Leadership and Development and Human Science. While completing her degree, AJ worked as a Medical Assistant and Surgical Assistant. She also trained the new Medical and Surgical Assistants, focusing on creating and maintaining sterile fields, assisting in medical procedures and the OR, and pr/post surgical patient care and counseling. Later as a professional in a corporate setting, AJ worked to train the corporate trainers, and as a Corporate Trainer for many topics including diversity, professional development, and health insurance codes and regulations. During this time, AJ found the benefits of massage invaluable for stress reduction and repetitive posture and repetitive movement symptom relief. AJ uses her experience and training to serve a wide scope of clients, specifically in repetitive motion/posture injuries, prenatal, Thai, sports massage, stress relief and many other modalities. She believes in blending these techniques to create an individualized treatment plan for each client, depending their goals. AJ feels honored to be of service to her students and clients.