EXECUTIVE TEAM
VIRTU’s global team leads the concept and creation of a portfolio that is one-of-a-kind and in high demand. Our goals and ideas are big and new to the real estate, hotel and leisure markets. With great enthusiasm we assist land owners and developers in creating cutting-edge wellness real estate, leisure and hotel destinations for purpose of encouraging personal renewal and wellbeing.
“VIRTU intends to change the way the hospitality industry and luxury wellness real estate sector looks to the future.” Founder and Chief Executive Officer Sandi Lesueur states. “VIRTU truly is a team effort. The exceptional group of individuals I have brought together over the past four years work closely to create sophisticated Sustainable, healthy-lifestyle concepts with ambitious construction and operational standards that the hospitality industry will want to follow through our creative designs, highest measurable efficiency targets and innovation.”
Each executive brings with them decades of experience from innovative sustainable design to exceptional wellness projects where local cultural experiences and heritage add importance to the exceptional hospitality and stakeholder profit VIRTU can create and share.
Each plan we design is unique and requires the “perfect” operations team to consistently remain in the lead. VIRTU combines our team’s knowledge of Sustainable Wellness with established, operational groups to work together in managing stand-out real estate, hotels, leisure, and spa brands.
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Sandi Lesueur
FOUNDER & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
This creative, global brand builder and wellness executive is devoted to sustainable healthy living with a focus on forward-thinking wellness, plant medicine and authentic cultural experiences. She is a board member of various successful medical/wellness companies collaborating with physicians, research scientists, universities, impact investors & developers, legal policy makers and Indigenous healers. Sandi is based in Vancouver.
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Alberto Apostoli
LEAD ARCHITECT & DESIGN
Recipient of 50+ awards including 2022 Health & Spa Awards for Interior Design, Best Destination Spa Award, Big See Interior Design Award, and 2020 & 2021 World Spa Award. With over 25 years of practice the Chief Architect for all VIRTU locations is the founder of Studio Apostoli International, a multi-disciplinary design company which operates within architecture, engineering, interior design, and product design. Alberto and his Studio have designed several products for international brands that have become icons in the wellness sector. He is based in Italy.
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Peter L. J. Finamore
PRE-CONSTRUCTION & OPERATIONS
Canadian-born, this stalwart leader is experienced in global hospitality development and operations for the most notable five-star hotels and resorts including multiple Forbes Travel 5-Star & Conde Nast Awards accreditation from Macau and Manila, across to the Middle East. His consistent professional legacies over a 20+ year career include moving financial and service performance needles well beyond benchmarked goals to delight shareholders and guests alike. Peter resides in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley.
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Lucy Brialey
SUSTAINABILITY LEAD
Founder and Director, the Sustainable Wellness Group. The world’s leading sustainability organization for the spa and wellness sector. With 25 years experience in the hospitality industry, Lucy delivers spa & wellness strategies linked with measured sustainability projects from around the world, connected to wellness. Chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Initiative for the Global Wellness Institute and World Panel Expert for Sustainable Hospitality at HospitalityNet. Lucy is based in London, U.K.
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TImothy J. Dick
REAL ESTATE & ASSET MANAGEMENT LEAD
Cornell University graduate with 30 years experience in hospitality management and hotel administration with executive experience in strategic asset management and market feasibility analysis. Development advisory, management company selection and site evaluation. Researches and identifies new business opportunities across North America.Preparing and allocating budgets, acquisitions and evaluating performance. Tim resides in Atlanta.
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DANIEL LANGER
LUXURY BRAND CREATION & MANAGEMENT
World renowned futurist and luxury brand building expert, the Founder of Equite creates extreme value in a digitally disruptive world. Professor of Luxury Strategy & Disruption at Pepperdine University, he leads an award-winning design and marketing team that consults for admired and iconic luxury, lifestyle, and consumer brands. End to end, his agency has professionally launched and manages top brands with a focus on Millenials and Gen Z consumers. VIRTU’s new brand look will be revealed Fall 2023. Daniel resides in Los Angeles. -
SHEILA MCCANN
EXPERIENTIAL SPA AND WELLNESS
Founder Director of Enflingo Global Limited, Sheila is an accomplished thought leader with over 35+ years experience within the hospitality/wellness/spa sector with international strategic, project and senior roles with iconic industry brands. Her award winning experience combined with a passion for sustainability links health, the environment and business. Sheila is an associate member of the British Society for Lifestyle Medicine, Sustainable Spa Association, Hospitality Think Tank Wellness Pillar, and is the recipient of Global Wellness Institute’s Leading Women in Wellness. Sheila is Canadian-born and currently resides in the U.K.
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Charlene Schumacher
CO-FOUNDER
Charlene is the CEO of an award winning interior design firm Fresco Interiors Design Group Inc. and founder of the sustainable company LUXE Building Corp. that pairs the principles of net-zero energy through Passive House Institute design (PHI). As co-founder of VIRTU her passion for wellness is expressed through integrating wellness, design, and sustainability as the core values for VIRTU’s mission and vision. Charlene is based in Saskatchewan, Canada.
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Joseph Levey
LLP, HOSPITALITY LICENSING LAWYER
Joseph is one of the top rated Government Relations attorneys in New York, NY. A founding partner and Chair of Helbraun & Levey’s Licensing Division, Joseph is in charge of all New York State Liquor Authority and other licensing matters including cannabis for his firm. This NY premier full-service law firm focuses on the legal and licensing needs of the hospitality industry. He is a recipient of "Super Lawyer" designation for the past 4 years. Joseph is based in New York City.
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Cori Derickson
INDIGENOUS LIASON / LAND & WELLNESS
Through experiences gained from her previous career in business development through Bank of Montreal, Cori helps build constructive relationships between VIRTU and Indigenous communities. She advises where Sustainable Wellness developments could be built on sacred and traditional lands and provides information and updates to Indigenous property owners regarding project opportunities and planning. Cori is an academic, an indigenous healer and holistic practitioner, author, performer and culture keeper for the Syilx Okanagan. She has a interdisciplinary Graduate Master’s Degree from UBC and utilizes knowledge passed down from her ancestral line of indigenous elders, herbalists, and medicine women/men. Cori is based in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia.
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Paulette Facca
INDIGENOUS CULTURAL LEAD
Owner of Creative Touch Interiors Inc, she is an award-winning interior designer who is responsible for creating unique, important and welcomed VIRTU cultural experiences through community and stakeholder collaborations. Paulette is based in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. She is a member and Chief’s daughter of Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek First Nation.
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Heather Kirk
COMMUNICATIONS & PR
Founder of Immedia Management Inc., PR and communications expert, Heather has 20 years of global public relations and marketing consulting experience for world tourism and hospitality, real estate, and celebrity culinary. Heather brings clarity to communications challenges and draws on a global network of top working journalists and brand leaders to inspire and execute creative, storytelling strategies. Her successful online platform brings together tourism & hospitality by collaborating with strategic travel agents and luxury consultants for unique experiences. Heather resides in Toronto.