Massage Therapy

Q. If you were a customer, what do you wish you knew about your trade? Any inside secrets to share?

A. Massage Therapists are all very different. Some have cookie-cut routines and they use the same routine on every client. Others, like myself, prefer to customize the massage according to each clients needs by blending several modalities and techniques.

Q. What questions should a consumer ask to hire the right service professional?

A. Ask if they customize their massage to every client's needs, or if they just perform the same old routine on every client? ( I am not just referring to the pressure.)

You want a therapist that has the skills to customize the massage to your specific needs /condition. You also want a therapists that takes the time to ask and listen to what you are feeling.


Two Things you Never want to Hear from your Massage Therapist:

1) "Relax, you are too tense".

It is "our" job to relax you, not your's. If you could relax on your own, then you would not be paying us to do it for you. A good therapist will know how to relax your mind & body and not ask you to do their work for them.


2) "This is the way it is done." "You have to take the pain."

A good massage therapist will respect your body's response and know how to work accordingly. If they do not, it is simply because they lack the skills and experience to modify their massage. It could also be because they only know how to work mechanically and not intuitively.

Q. If you were advising someone who wanted to get into your profession, what would you suggest?

A. I Love my work. Make sure you will Love it too.

If you are getting into massage because you think you will make a lot of money, you will be deeply dissappointed.


It is very expensive to obtain and maintain all your yearly licenses & continuing education courses.

Be ready to dish out $15,000.00 for your initial Training, Board Exam & initial licenses and insurance.
( this is Not including any equipment and supplies.)

Then be prepared to dish a couple thousand dollars yearly to renew your licenses.

- Health License,
- County Licenses,
- City Licenses,
- Liability Insurance

Work is very Physically Demanding. I graduated 4 years ago and several of my classmates have already left the business. The interesting thing is that the ones that left were the youger ones in the class. They were also the ones that were physically very fit - exercised regularly, ate healthy, etc. And yet these are the ones that could not handle it.

Pay is very low & with NO benefits unless you work for yourself - which means that you have to know how to find clients & spend lots of money & time on advertising.

The market is saturated with massage therapists. THe market supply is higher than the demand. Everybody and their grandmother is opening up a Massage School and spitting out therapists like crazy. You don't even have to speak a word of English to get licensed.

All this means that you have to be very good at what you do in order to get referrals and repeat clients. And even if you are very good, it will cost you a lot of money and and smarts to advertise yourself and be noticed in a sea of thousands of therapists.

No Paid Vacations, No Medical Insurance & No paid sick leave. If you get the flu, you can not work. If you injure yourself, you can not work. And you will not receive any salary or medical expenses during this time. And no paid vacations either.

To give you an idea:
Massage Envy pays their therapists approximately $15.00 for every 1 hr massage. ( They do not pay you by the hour, They only pay you per massage that you perform.)

The most you can do in a week in order to not destroy your body is 20 hours. and 20 hours is a lot. It is super physically demanding even if you are young and muscular. This means that you will make approx. $400.00 /week ( gross before deducting taxes) this is including Tips.

If you were a receptionist getting $15.00 /hr, you could work 40 hours /week You would make $600.00 /week gross and you would have benefits. You would spend the day sitting and not destroying your body.

You can usually make more money & get better benefits as a receptionist or store clerk and without the physical demands that massage makes on your body.

Most massage therapists only last a couple of years due to the wear and tear on their body or because they can not afford to continue in this profession.

So be sure that you LOVE Massage therapy. And Make sure that you can afford to be a massage therapist. Make sure you have a plan, such as a spouse with a good paying job or you live with your parents and do not have to pay rent.

That is my most sincere advise.

And if any school or teacher tells you that they charge and receive $180.00 for an 80 min. Reflexology or deep tissue massage, etc., ask them to show you the proof. And ask them why they are teaching for $17.00 /hr instead of massaging for $180.00 /session