We’ve met a good deal of you in person at the Float Conference, or at Float On in Portland. Some of us (mostly the easily identifiable ones with the larger facial hair) can even be seen in many an online video discussing salt buildup and small business.
For some of you, though, we’re just disembodied voices answering questions about health departments and non-porous porcelain tile. I was looking at the floaty, incredibly talented, and very silly people around me a few weeks ago, and it occurred to me that it might be worth taking the time to actually introduce them.
Graham Talley
Graham is one of the original Float On founders. Due to ongoing insomnia growing up, his first experience with (limited) sensory deprivation was laying in bed waiting for hours to fall asleep.
He has a degree in Experimental Psychology and a graduate certificate in Theater. He served on the board of the Float Tank Association, has taught donation based small business workshops for two years, and received an unofficial 4th place in the Musketeer category at the World Beard and Mustache Competition in Norway.
Graham does consulting and training with Float Tank Solutions and divides time between helping new centers start-up and helping existing centers deal with unpredictable, often salty, catastrophes.
Frank Ciavarello
Frank was introduced to floating through Float On, and has since found a calling toward Nothing. He is a published author, and before delving into the extensive world of sensory deprivation, he received a degree in philosophy.
He has pursued extensive training in the float industry, and is now one of the Float Tank Solutions float tank experts. Frank gives consulting and ongoing support to centers around the world, and contributes regularly to our blog.
Ashkahn Jahromi
Ashkahn, or by his full legal name, Ashkahn Danger Jahromi, helped found Float On after making his way up to Portland from the State of California, earning a degree in Theater along the way. He is an expert in the creation and expulsion of fake blood, the different methods of cooking an Ostrich egg, and hugging.
Ashkahn is the main organizational powerhouse behind the annual Float Conference, and has personally talked to Health Departments in every state in US. He is a Certified Pool Operator, served on the board of the Float Tank Association, and is no stranger to international facial hair competitions.
He does consulting and training for Float Tank Solutions, working especially closely with our apprentices each month.
Jake Marty
Jake Marty joined the Float On team in 2010. Beginning as an intern and working his way through employee and operations manager, he is now one of the owners of the company.
Jake believes the float tank is, at its very core, an efficient and effective tool. While in the tank, the elimination of the outside world creates an environment where his creativity and ingenuity can run wild.
Jake does consulting and apprenticeship training with Float Tank Solutions. He served as general contractor for Float On’s construction and is an expert in sound and water proof construction. He’s a certified notary, a Certified Pool Operator, has a memory like a steel trap, and (sorry fellow humans) he’s taken.
Kathryn Sullivan
The only way Kathryn can tell the difference between waking and dreaming life these days is that her pen strokes stay put when she’s awake. She doesn’t know what you mean when you ask her how long she’s been drawing. She has always been drawing.
Kathryn also enjoys live theater, modding video games, and translating her favorite songs into really terrible Korean.
Kathryn started with Float Tank Solutions by doing illustration and design. She has since been unexpectedly drawn into a very strange land of filter schematics, medical diagrams, and disco bath tub illustrations.
She provided the portraits for this post.
—
Graham Talley, Founder Float On
