The Illuminate Team
(Just don’t call them the Illuminati…)
belal breaga bakht
Founder, CEO & Chief Retreat Curator
Entrepreneur and Creative Director with over 35 years experience in building startups in the UK, US, HK and India. Illuminate is a natural extension of his love of connecting people and being a ‘fixer’ through ISANO concierge (and his legendary parties). He curates the retreats, tests them, and brings the biscuits.
meriem bendahmane
Global Retreat Director
Savasana Yoga teacher, Certified Marma and Thai yoga massage therapist Meriem has a passion for mindfulness, breathwork, and exploring ways to heal the body and mind. And as our Country Manager in Morocco and Global Retreat Manager, she’s there to ensure everyone’s ride is as smooth as possible.
kulwinder KALLY kaur
CFO
Looking after the numbers and ISANO’s Illuminate vertical is chartered accountant Kulwinder. With her infectious energy, you’d never think she had over 25 years of experience. She helps keep the retreat costs minimised, and she even finds time to curate and teach at some of the business GrowthCamps.
andrea occipinti
Italy & Europe Country Manager
Like so many of our Luminees, Andrea felt his passion and purpose in life wasn’t being fully fulfilled by his Chartered Accountant position, and now he’s revelling in his role of verifying Locations in Sicily and ensuring our Luminees get the most out of their Illuminate experience in Italy and beyond.
giulia pedrotti
Resident Italian Yoga Luminary
Whether it’s hatha, vinyasa, pranayama, yin, or restorative yoga; nutritional cooking, Tibetan sound healing, massage, kinesiology, naturopathy, or Quantic Business programs, our multi-skilled partner in Giula offers awesome holistic spiritual and physical therapy in Sicily and across Europe.
elysia pinto
Legal & Business Operations
Driven, multi-talented and free-spirited, Elysia isn’t just a Legal Eagle, she’s an Albatross, and she soars. In her role of providing oversight of ISANO and Illuminate’s legal obligations, she ensures that we deliver operations to Luminees and partners safely and efficiently.
daisy STOLOFF
Global Yoga Luminary Team
With 20 years of teaching experience, Daisy has acquired a style as flexible as her movements, using dance and sound to deliver Yoga, immersive meditation, chanting and self-massage. She’s based in France, but part of our in-house AirD&D team whom we fly out to retreats all over Europe.
dawn STOLOFF
Global Cooking Luminary Team
Dawn is the other half of our in-house AirD&D team and her role is to ensure all our Luminees are well-fed and nourished. A much-travelled ex-Hippie, she’s passionate about yoga, plant-based food, nature, inner-growth, and capturing the beauty of life (and Luminees) with her camera.
AAHANA MULLA
Content Creator & Wordsmith
Aahana is a best selling poetry author, a content writer, a spoken word artist and a marketing consultant. She believes in the power of intention setting, commitment to yourself, the magic of the universe and glitter to brighten it all up. And she uses all that to help make Illuminate sparkle!
shabu james
Webmaster
With huge experience in everything IT, tech whizkid Shabu keeps a close eye on the ISANO and Illuminate websites and backend. When people talk about IT having a ‘backbone’, then Shabu is the Yoga for it.
EFIOKPENE EMUEJEVOKE
Coordinator
Voke not only handles a lot of our retreat and location research but also coordination and admin. He keeps the whole team entertained with his boundless enthusiasm and tendency to burst into songs (he’s an excellent singer, songwriter, voice coach, and music director ).