Aras has an educational foundation in clinical medicine as a Medical Doctor from his native Turkey, followed by a Master of Management in Hospitality at Cornell University focusing on wellness resort development, as well as a Fellowship in Integrative Medicine from the University of Arizona.

He brings 15+ years of experience in the wellness development and resort programming field from some of the leading healthy lifestyle and luxury hospitality brands in the world; as a past consultant to Miraval, as the former Corporate Director of Experience Development for Canyon Ranch, and as the SVP of Programming and Facilitation for Chip Conley’s Modern Elder Academy.

At Canyon Ranch, Aras was responsible for the business development of all wellness experiences provided in resorts as well as cruise ships, and he spearheaded the programming of their 2016 resort opening in Kaplankaya, Turkey, and 2019 wellness retreat opening in Woodside, CA (SF Bay Area).

He also spent two years as the National Director of Integrative Well-being at Watermark Retirement Communities, creating and piloting a wellness program and health coaching infrastructure for their 65 locations across 21 states at the time, providing development support for their ten newbuilds in the pipeline, while also serving as the research lead of the Covid Task Force.

Aras also served as a founding member of the Vitality Lab at Google from 2019 to 2022, a curated collective of experts from diverse backgrounds, synergizing advances in their respective fields to encourage more Googlers and their communities to live purposeful, healthier lives.

He lives in Tucson, Arizona with his wife Katrinka and their two sons, and plays rhythm percussion for an Eastern European band as he finds the opportunity to do so.