Dina Kimmel
Owner and Founder of WRTS, LLC
Dina Kimmel is the CEO and Founder of We Rock the Spectrum, LLC. An autism mom, she is a passionate advocate for children, and has dedicated her life to developing and growing resources for the special needs population. In 2010, she opened the first We Rock the Spectrum Kid’s Gym in Tarzana, California. Today, there are more than 100 locations worldwide.
During her college years, Dina studied business marketing and accounting. She has always been an entrepreneur and ran her own successful retail stores for more than 17 years. When her son, Gabriel, was diagnosed with autism, she knew she had to change her life dramatically. She began working one-on-one with her son, seeking out the best treatments in speech, occupational, and behavioral therapies. Her extensive research into ASD led to a better understanding of the nutrition needs of children on the spectrum, which led to a discovery that Gabriel was gluten intolerant. To better support Gabriel, her passions, and her entrepreneurial spirit, Dina got to work opening the first sensory-safe gym of its kind.
We Rock the Spectrum Kid’s Gym in Tarzana, California saw instant success with the special needs community. On the wall of her gym, Dina put the motto “Finally a place where you never have to say I’m sorry!” This message continues to resonate with parents of special needs children all over the world. Dina’s aim was to provide a safe, nurturing, and fun environment where children of all abilities could play and grow together. Her mission of full inclusion has now become a global movement.
After receiving overwhelming support, Dina decided to franchise her idea. In the beginning of 2014, Gail Field, an autism mom in Boca Raton, Florida, signed on as the first franchisee. From there, more autism moms, advocates, and therapists reached out to learn how they too could bring We Rock the Spectrum to their home communities. In 2016, Dina’s vision of an international expansion became a reality with the opening of We Rock the Spectrum – Ara Damansara in Malaysia. She also created a franchisee model with a lower cost entry, sensory bus division called “We Rock on Wheels.” This concept allows franchisees to bring sensory play directly to customers.
Dina resides in Los Angeles with her children, Sophia and Gabriel. She has been featured on NBC and CBS news, the Huffington Post, The Franchise Times, LA Parent, and Autism Live. She was the 2014 recipient of The Comerica Bank Women of Entrepreneurship Award, given to her by the Los Angeles Lakers. We Rock the Spectrum was nominated for San Fernando Valley Business Journal’s Business of the Year Award and was the recipient of the United Chambers of Commerce Small Business Award. In 2016, Dina was honored at the San Fernando Business Journal’s Women in Business awards and the Los Angeles Business Journal’s Women’s Summit awards.
Gail Field
Chief Operating Officer for We Rock the Spectrum Worldwide
Gail Nobile Field has been the Chief Operating Officer for We Rock the Spectrum Worldwide for 3 years and has loved being the right hand gal to CEO & Founder, Dina Kimmel. A mother of three, lover of Italian food, and passionate Warrior Mom, Gail’s journey working with special needs families began after her son, Jayson, was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.
Upon Jayson’s diagnosis, Gail began looking for any way in which she could help her son. She searched locally for places where she could take Jayson in to play that would accommodate his sensory diet. Unfortunately, no such place existed in South Florida. One day, Gail’s search led her to a gym in Southern California called We Rock the Spectrum Kid’s Gym.
Through a series of calls and emails with Corporate about franchising opportunities, Gail was able to meet with the Founder and CEO of We Rock the Spectrum, Dina Kimmel, on December 24th, 2013. Two days later, Gail signed the papers that would officially make her the first We Rock the Spectrum franchisee outside of California. Of all the places We Rock the Spectrum could open, South Florida just happened to be where Dina’s husband was from.
Thanks to Gail’s hard work and leadership, We Rock the Spectrum – Boca Raton immediately became popular, especially with the special needs community. Boca’s success helped recruit other passionate owners in the area, and soon there were locations in the Clearwater, Miami and Jupiter areas.
Kimmel recognized that Gail’s passion for the mission was infectious. Owners were going to her for tips on increasing their Facebook following, networking with local Mommy groups, and attending resource fairs. In December 2014, Dina announced We Rock the Spectrum – Boca Raton as the East Coast Regional Training Facility, bringing Gail into the Corporate Office.
The move to Corporate provided Gail with the opportunity to assist with the Project Management needed to open each location. She could do hands-on training with new owners and be the rock they needed as their dream of opening a We Rock the Spectrum transformed into a reality. With more success, her role continued to increase as the East Coast Corporate Office was built next door to her gym to better assist with the company growth.
In 2019, WRTS – Boca Raton opened its doors to a bigger and better location so that Gail could offer more amazing opportunities to the community. Gail has since sold the location to wonderful new owners who will continue to see it thrive. Because the We Rock the Spectrum franchise has grown so exponentially, Gail and her family now work full-time on the Corporate team to support our amazing growth. With a lot of hard work, therapy, and support, Jayson is also thriving along #JaysonsJourney!
Shane Stahl
Chief Marketing Officer
Shane was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley. He attended Van Nuys High School and received his degree in Business Economics from UC Irvine. Shane has always had a knack for technology. In college, he developed a love for marketing and refined his passion during his internship with a digital marketing agency. Upon graduating from UC Irvine, he decided to combine his passions of technology and marketing by taking the role as the in-house Tech Specialist at the We Rock the Spectrum Corporate Office. He has become an integral part in assisting owners in accomplishing their marketing goals — so much so that in the summer of 2019, Shane was promoted to Chief Strategy Officer. He is now the Chief Marketing Officer for We Rock the Spectrum Kid’s Gym Corporate.
Shane has experienced firsthand the benefits of inclusion while attending CHIME Charter Elementary School, a model inclusion school in Southern California. During his time at CHIME Charter, he made many life-long friends some of which were bound to a wheelchair or had different learning disabilities. This was a humbling experience for Shane as he learned valuable lessons in both understanding and looking past people’s disabilities.
The nephew of Dina Kimmel, Owner and Founder of We Rock the Spectrum, Shane has been around the We Rock community since its humble beginnings. He attended many of his cousin’s birthday parties at the Tarzana location as well as other WRTS sponsored events. With his mom and both of his younger sisters working for We Rock the Spectrum before him, the only thing he was asking himself was “Why not join the We Rock Family too?!”
John Canaday
Franchise Development Director
John is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Americas Franchising Group in Miami, Florida, a leading provider of franchise consulting services throughout the Americas. John has over 20 years of executive experience both domestically and internationally within sales, marketing, operations, business development and finance with leaders in the franchise, technology and medical industries.
John and his team at Americas Franchising Group provide franchise and consulting services at no cost to prospective individuals and investment groups. He found Dina Kimmel, the Founder of the We Rock the Spectrum franchise, through client work. After learning about We Rock, he knew he wanted his company to become its first and only franchise team. His experience and personal commitment to improving the lives of children with Spectrum Disorders is at the very heart of his company’s business relationship with We Rock the Spectrum.
Prior to founding Americas Franchising Group, John worked with many of the world’s largest and most respected brands throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America and Caribbean. His experience spans many market segments including Service Providers, Financial Services, Manufacturing, Retail and Public Sector. Throughout his career John held senior leadership positions at industry leading companies such as Cisco Systems, Akamai Technologies, Lithium Technologies and Physician Sales and Service. In these positions John was responsible for developing go to market strategies and execution plans while relentlessly focusing on team building and culture to drive results.
In addition to his role as Managing Director of Americas Franchising Group, John serves as the Chairman of the International Franchise Committee for The Global Trade Chamber based in Miami, Florida. He actively consults with business leaders from Chambers of Commerce around the world, advising them on opportunities for franchise ownership within their respective countries.
Outside of work, John and Veronica are active in their local church and enjoy travelling and spending quality time with the family. He is an Alumni of Washington State University where he served as Mortar Board President and held various offices within Honor Societies and The Intra Fraternal Council. He is actively engaged in philanthropic efforts supporting Autism Awareness and Haiti reconstruction.
Dana Aghassi
Marketing Director of My Brother Rocks the Spectrum Foundation
Dana Aghassi was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley. During her young teenage years Dana loved to babysit and was happiest when she was surrounded by her family and friends.
Upon completion of her senior year at Taft High School, Dana decided to pursue her love of teaching. In 1995, after completing her child development hours at Pierce College, Dana started working as a teacher’s assistant at The Blvd School.
After a few years at The Blvd School, Dana was reunited with her longtime friend Henry Aghassi. Dana & Henry decided to tie the knot in 2000 and start building their own family, four years later their daughter Breanna was born. Dana started attending Everest College in 2008; graduating 12 months later with her Degree as a Medical Assistant. She loves working in the Medical field and helping people.
Two years later, Dana had another baby girl named Bailey. At this time she decided to take some time off of work and dedicate all her time to their two beautiful girls. Dana started taking Breanna to WRTS Tarzana for the Fun Fitness classes where she was first introduced to the dynamic nature of the gym.
Soon after the class session is when she met the founder of WRTS, Dina Kimmel, and asked her if she was hiring. Because of Dana’s “gift for gab” and strong selling skills, she was hired on a part time basis for the summer. Dana was amazed by the flexibility this opportunity afforded her. She was able to bring her children to the gym to play while she worked. Since that time, Dana has become the Manger Director of My Brother Rocks the Spectrum Foundation. She loves We Rock the Spectrum Kids’ Gym brand and her children call it their home away from home.
Melisa Weiss Stahl
Director of Audit and Compliance
Melisa is a mother of three to Shane, Sara, and Skyler. Two of her children are in college and Skyler is currently attending high school. Melisa has been married to her husband and entrepreneur, Bruce Stahl, for 23 years.
Melisa has a very impressive background in sales and advertising. In her early twenties, she began selling ad space in military base newspapers. Her career expanded to merchandising and management in her thirties and forties.
Melisa has seen firsthand the benefits of inclusion with all three of her children attending CHIME Charter, a model inclusion school in SoCal. When her little sister, Dina Kimmel, started We Rock the Spectrum Kids Gym, she was excited to be a part of a mission that she was able to see work at CHIME Charter. Melisa began running all of the camp programs at the flagship gym in Tarzana, CA and has recently become the new Director of Audit and Compliance where she conducts periodic internal audits to ensure compliance and procedures are followed. She also works with owners on developing risk management strategies. Melisa also helps launch new gyms all the way through to their Grand Openings and loves meeting and assisting new owners across the states with sales and productivity.
Trey Wooton
Audit and Compliance Assistant
Trey was born in Louisiana but calls Mississippi his home since he moved there when he was in preschool. He graduated with a degree in Early Childhood Development from Mississippi College in 1996 followed by a Masters of Divinity in 2006 from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He met his wife in the jungles of Bolivia even though they are from the same hometown in Mississippi. Trey married Nikki in 2002. They have lived in several states but Maryland has been their home for 15 years. They are now parents to two awesome teens who are quickly becoming young adults. His oldest has autism.
Trey and his wife discovered the We Rock the Spectrum Kid’s Gym franchise in the summer of 2016 during a vacation out of state. As a family directly and indirectly touched by autism, the concept peaked their interest and tugged at their hearts. They wished that they had had a WRTS for their children when they were younger and now want to bring the “We Rock way” to their community. Trey and Nikki opened We Rock the Spectrum – Forest Hill in June 2020. Trey was a full-time children’s and youth pastor at a local church. In October 2021, Trey left his church position and began working full-time at the gym.
Even while Trey was still working his full-time pastor position, he began assisting corporate with grand openings. Trey has always been drawn to any tasks that allow him to support others. Trey working full-time at his family’s gym has freed him up to do more with the We Rock franchise and spread the mission of inclusion. Trey is now assisting in the Audit and Compliance department of We Rock the Spectrum Corporate Offices. Through this position, Trey is able to use his own experiences of opening and running a gym to support other owners.
Janelle Giacalone
Community Manager
Janelle was born in Long Island, NY. She moved to Boca Raton, FL when she was very young with her family. When Janelle was a sophomore in high school, her parents, Gail and John Field, decided to open up the first We Rock the Spectrum out of the state of California, in South Florida. Her younger brother Jayson, who is on the Autism Spectrum, had a very similar story to the founder’s, Dina Kimmel. There was simply nowhere to go as a family that was not overstimulating for Jayson (then 2 years old).
Before opening up We Rock in Boca, Janelle wanted to be a Cosmetologist but soon realized shortly after graduating, that working in the gym full time with her family, was where her heart and passion resided. She decided to devote her life to We Rock Boca and managed the gym full time for 8 years working side by side with her parents and creating unforgettable relationships and memories with the community.
Now almost 9 years later, her mother Gail Field, is the Chief Operating Officer of We Rock the Spectrum Corporate. In 2021, she and her family decided to sell their gym and commit full-time to the franchises worldwide mission. She is now the Community Manager for Corporate and assists owners worldwide with all of their social media platforms. Janelle also travels to different locations and assists owners with Grand Openings and Anniversary parties. She most recently began traveling and working in the West Coast Corporate office and simply loves it! She and the family will soon be bicoastal.
Joceline Olague
Creative Director
Before We Rock, Joceline worked as a respite caregiver for three years. Her younger brother is on the spectrum, and she spent a majority of her lifetime observing his therapies and gaining knowledge on how to better help him day to day. This is what led her into taking a position as a 1:1 and respite caregiver.
Now, Joceline is a mother of two; her oldest son was diagnosed Autistic at the age of 2. She already knew the steps to take to immediately get him all the help and support he needed. Joceline began her creative journey shortly after, doing social media management for small businesses, as well as taking courses in digital marketing and project management.
Fast forward, she is now part of our We Rock team and has space for both of her sons to enjoy and be their true selves!
Taylor Singleton
Project Management / Audit & Compliance
Taylor Singleton is from Cincinnati, Ohio, and pursued her passion for helping others by attending the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Recreation Therapy. She furthered her education with a master’s degree in Nonprofit Management and Special Education from Northern Kentucky University.
In 2019, Taylor and her parents became the proud owners of WRTS Cincinnati, marking the beginning of her journey with the franchise. Her dedication and commitment to the mission of We Rock the Spectrum Kid’s Gym led her to join the Corporate team in the Audit and Compliance department and, recently, Project Management.