Ted Ning, otherwise known as ‘Mr. LOHAS’, is the Executive Director of the LOHAS Conference, Executive Editor of the LOHAS Journal and LOHAS.com. Ted promotes the expansion and awareness of this marketplace and is in a unique position to examine trends and is able to identify overlapping interests from various LOHAS market sectors. From his vantage point he is able to see emerging trends and provide perspective on the intricacies of responsible business practice and how best to present them in ways that resonate with company employees and consumers. Furthermore, he can provide case study examples of companies that have transformed their business operations to become ‘green’ which have resulted in profitability and healthier work environments. Ted has been with LOHAS for 7 years and has been instrumental in the development of the global LOHAS concept. He conducts tours of Boulder for international groups interested in LOHAS lifestyles, invited to speak internationally about the market to Universities, private and public companies and other business conference and is a contributing writer to various national and international business publications including Spa Business, American Spa magazine and Organic Style Taiwan. He also serves on several boards promoting sustainability, organic living and micro-credit enterprises.

Ted grew up as an outdoor enthusiast in the mountains of Colorado where his family developed a nonprofit that helps impoverished women in Vietnam and Guatemala through micro credit financing and currently has over 5,000 loans in the field. He has been involved in community outreach and nonprofit work from a young age. He has a Masters degree in adult education and a strong passion for teaching. He has lived overseas in Asia where he assisted in nonprofit work and studied Chinese. He also lived in Japan and was a ski coach during the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. He and his wife currently reside outside of Boulder Colorado where he walks his talk; he rides his bike to work, is a member of a community supported organic farm where he gets his meals, recycles and composts to reduce their waste, and lives in a green built home powered by solar. Not only does Ted talk the talk he walks it too.

Note: LOHAS is an acronym for Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability, a market segment focused on health and fitness, the environment, personal development, sustainable living, and social justice.

Note: Chris presented Tales From The Medicine Trail at the 2011 LOHAS Forum in Boulder, CO (2011) and wrote Treasures from the Medicine Trail for the 2011 LOHAS Journal. The LOHAS Journal is a publication that spotlights industry leaders, innovative companies, authors, market research and ideas that speak to the potential influence of the Cultural Creatives on the marketplace as well as furthering the interests of the businesses that serve them.