Our Bios & Backgrounds

Amy Stone

Amy Stone is a multi-faceted teacher and a gifted spiritual guide. Her colleagues and clients call her an "inspirational and mystical therapist".

Her talent lies in her ability to focus on the individual's core identity to bring out truth and authenticity, hidden behind the veil of conditioning. She's a student of life and is passionate about studying and exploring the human condition. As she puts simply "A life with no confidence and trust is not worth living. Abundance, satisfaction and success are our birth rights, not dreams that sadly never get realized."

Her passion for identifying the authentic self behind the many masks we wear, began in childhood. It was exponentially transformed in 2002. Amy had a stroke, which totally change the course of her life as she had to rediscover herself newly through unexplored neural pathways to complete her full recovery. It led to countless visions and revelations to surrender to her destiny by stripping away the many layers of accepted dogmas and false beliefs.

She first graduated from Seattle Pacific University with a degree in Communication and Journalism. Writing became an integral part of her journey to this day. She calls it her journey into inner nakedness. Finding her voice and living as herself to "boldly go where no woman has gone before" became the fuel and inspiration to plunge into the therapeutic realms and the many forms of psychology she ended up exploring and using.

In 2002, she immersed herself in a weekly therapy group for ten years with other professional therapists and psychologists in Los Angeles. The group focused specifically on Jungian psychology processes. It was a turning point as she realized that traditional therapy is ultimately extremely limited. She decided to get certified at the LA County's Mental Health School's Jumpstart Program, which led to working with several groups and doctors on the relationship between mental health, food and nutrition.

Her journey in psychotherapy further called her to lead workshops in Non-Violent Communication and graduate from Landmark Education's advanced curriculum in leadership, personal development and large group therapy. Later, to broaden her scope, she investigated and completed A Course in Miracles with Marianne Williamson, studied Shamanism and journeyed in South America. She also explored Buddhism and Kundalini Yoga extensively, as well as Longevitology, which is energy work taught in Chinese.

In addition to practicing the healing arts and psychology, Amy is a businesswoman and entrepreneur; she bought and ran a resort hotel and restaurant, the Inn at Blackbeard's Castle in the Virgin Islands for two years, in addition to working with Jaclyn Smith whom she met in 2013. She also took on another passion for creative cooking and graduated from the North West Culinary Academy in Bellevue, Washington to expand her skills and run her resort more effectively.

Amy is the mother of three grown children. Actively engaged in their own lives and marriage, Eric and Amy combined their respective backgrounds to create Quantum Design Connection, a new approach and methodology dedicated to helping individuals and business professionals awaken to their true potential and self-confidence through self-knowledge, emotional intelligence and intuitive self-awareness. "For me, self-knowledge is the essential prerequisite for choosing the quality of our experiences."

Eric Stone

Eric Stone founded the Eric Stone Studio in 1989, which later was renamed Hollywood Actors Studio, a safe and creative environment for artistic discoveries, growth and talent development.

"Coaching and directing came at a very important time in my life when I was not only searching for new venues to express myself, but needed to redefine myself in relationship to being an actor and performer. The truth is that I never intended to teach acting. It pursued me and revealed to me that I had an enormous commitment to people being self-expressed and reach their potential. It was an extraordinary discovery! I wanted other people to succeed as well."

In the late 90's, parallel to coaching and directing professional actors and performers, I was creatively ignited once again as I began an unexpected journey in art.

Eric also known as Artist Benichou formally studied with well-known art educator and sculptor Francis Coelho in San Francisco, CA. "I graduated from his Mill Valley Art Institute program in 2002."

Exhibitions of his work have taken place worldwide in more than nine countries including those at MOCA Museum of Computer Art in New York and his paintings are found in many public and private collections in the U.S. and around the world. He is the recipient of several awards and mentions for his artistic merit. He continues to study art as it relates to self-knowledge, individual empowerment and the healing potential of color.

In 2003 he founded "Speakers & Artists International, Inc.", a California Corporation delivering training programs and strategic consulting in the arenas of Communication, Public Speaking, Media Appearances, Performance and Personal Growth & Development. The turning point to commit to empowering public speakers and business professionals was the realization early on that business people, public speakers and communicators thrive on performance skills and professional direction.

"Speaking as a committed empowerment coach and talent developer, helping and encouraging individuals to get in touch with their true potential has become a passion and an essential part of my life. It has led me onto transformational paths and journeys unimaginable had I not stayed focused in that direction."

Eric began his journey in France. His mother, Arlette Oger, was an artist and Beaux-Arts professor who influenced him greatly; so did his uncle, André Benichou, who was a stage actor and director running a national theatre company. "Watching my uncle direct and perform in countless classical and contemporary French, English and American plays was one of my favorite pastimes and completely revolutionized my childhood. He was my first role model."

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now!" Goethe

Eric moved to New York City in 1978 at the age of 20. "I became a student of Herbert Berghof and Uta Hagen and I was made an honorary member of the famous Actors Studio in 1981, which gave me the opportunity to observe and work with Lee Strasberg and other studio members. I was accepted by Arthur Penn and Shelley Winters, it was an amazing experience for me at the time." "During that period and later in Hollywood, I also studied the Meisner Technique, Michael Chekhov and other important 20th century techniques and with exceptional teachers and actors such as William Hickey, Judith Unland, Tony Allen, Gary Patterson, and Bob McAndrew. Their impact on my growth and development was extraordinary and I am deeply grateful for their generosity."

Eric began to work in the New York theater and television. In 1980, he became the national and regular "on-the-air" host for TELEFRANCE USA, a national cable network show devoted to French cultural programming. It had close to 10 million viewers, which at the time was a big deal. It paved the way to doing commercial and voice-over work for Disney and joining Screen Actors Guild. He also attended New York University film school and started coaching and directing. He also studied Shakespeare with dialect coach Alice Hermes to master the English language, which landed him several roles on Broadway and Off-Broadway for the Public Theater, run by producer Joseph Papp. He moved to California in the late 80's after landing a role on PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ, a pilot for CBS. It opened the way to various starring roles in soaps, series, and he made a few appearances in movies like No Man's Land with Charlie Sheen. "I enjoyed TV work and movies but it never was my medium of choice; live theater and voice work on cartoons is so much more satisfying to me."

My favorite quote: "Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too."

"There's an actor and an artist in each and every human being; hence, through self-knowledge and self-discovery, every person can design and create who they are meant to be no matter what the current environment allows or seems to dictate. By focusing primarily on design and creative issues and through self-knowledge, we can literally generate for ourselves a new freedom to be and gracefully claim both our power and vision. Emotional and intuitive awareness have been at the core of my development as an artist and a teacher. It is a privilege to be able to share it!"

"We offer a step by step tangible and thorough approach which helps develop not only gifted and creative professionals but happier and freer individuals."

"Meeting my wife, Amy, marked the pinnacle of my creative and personal odyssey. As our journeys harmoniously intertwined, the birth of Quantum Design Connection symbolized a quantum leap into an uncharted horizon. Amy and I share an unwavering passion for innovation and transcending self-imposed limitations. Our mission is akin to the alchemical process of turning lead into gold. We empower individuals' action on the court of life and help them to navigate complexities with emotional intelligence, grace, and a touch of humor."

Bridging the Gap to an Extraordinary Life!

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A Soldier's Tale Stravinsky

See on Youtube or Listen on Spotify

Eric Stone, also known as Artist Benichou, performs Stravinsky. The St. Bart's Music Festival invited several international artists to Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society to re-enact Stravinsky’s masterpiece entitled: L’ Histoire du Soldat (A Soldier's Tale). The story is a gripping Faustian fable about a deserting soldier desperate to return home only to meet the Devil, who swaps the soldier's fiddle for a book that foretells the future and turns the Soldier into a rich man. The Soldier's violin becomes a symbol of both the soldier's soul and the Devil's artful deceit to steal the Soldier’s soul.

Eric Stone performs the Soldier, the Devil, the Narrator and all characters. Long-time professional stage, film, television actor and voice artist, with credits from the New York Shakespeare Festival to General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, Rug Rats and the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Eric Stone with London Symphony Orchestra Violinist Brian Lewis   

Eric Stone stars in Stravinsky's A Soldier's Tale Pittsburgh Symphony Players  

Eric Stone stars in Stravinsky's Histoire Du Soldat""

A Soldier's Tale Program