CARMEN DEPASQUALE

CEO

Carmen DePasquale, was born and raised in Paterson, NJ, came back from serving in the US Air Force in the mid 1960's and began to search for a "career." Unsure of quite what he wanted to do, and influenced by members of his family in the beauty industry, DePasquale became a stylist. It was a time of great transition and new possibilities, both in the world and with regard to beauty; and DePasquale was both inspired by the times and moved to the realization that knowledge is not enough, and rather it was the execution of knowledge that ultimately broadens one's range of possibilities-his entrepreneurial spirit was ignited!

Being a stylist gave Carmen the tools necessary to grow in all directions of the beauty world. Today, his beauty empire, the eponymous DePasquale Companies, encompasses five subsidiaries which he refers to as the "DePasquale Circle of Beauty." They are as follows: DePasquale The Spa, DePasquale Salon Systems, Artistic Academy of Hair Design and Aesthetics, ECRU New York, and Cures by Avancé. Each one supports and reinforces the next.

Carmen created DePasquale The Spa (Morris Plains, NJ) to be a revolutionary beauty and wellness environment. The salon is widely recognized for its color and design artistry. The spa pioneered the way for its approach to wellness through treating conditions while working in harmony with physicians providing specialized medical services.

Carmen formed DePasquale Salon Systems, a professional beauty distributorship, to provide professional products, services, and education to salons and spas along the East Coast.

DePasquale's Artistic Academy of Hair Design and Aesthetics is a progressive cosmetology school. Students of Artistic are versed in both the technical and interpersonal aspects of the business. The school not only provides well-trained employees for his own salon and spa, but also for the salons within his distribution network.

Carmen also entered the world of manufacturing through the following: ECRU New York-which produces boutique collections of products which target specific lifestyles; including ECRU New York, the signature collection, New York Streets, a hair culture collection, and Beauty Addicts, a cosmetic collection-and also Cures by Avancé, a curative and corrective collection of professional skin and body therapies; treating skin conditions from the inside out.

Though Carmen is still deeply involved in his businesses, he is more than an entrepreneur. He is an active philanthropist who prides himself on giving back. He raises funds and awareness for such organizations as the City of Hope, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, The American Heart Association, The American Cancer Society, and Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. He has received such honors as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's

Crystal Ball Award and the Columbus Foundation's Man of the Year Award. He has won Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year Award and was most recently inducted into the Hall of Leaders (one of the beauty industry's most coveted honors). DePasquale has also won a number of Abbie Awards for product advertising and marketing accomplishments.

Carmen, who is a father of four and a grandfather of seven, currently resides in New Jersey with his wife, Janice.