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What Did You Do Before Massage?
I know, I'm nosey. I was a travel writer.
For six years, I got to travel to Bed & Breakfasts and get massages, all for free, and write about it. So my roots are in traveling, meeting people and hearing their stories. Now I travel around and do The World Massage Festival & Massage Therapy Hall of Fame.
I found the adjustment to a single location massage establishment, inside a strip mall, very confining. So I started a way to stay "in the massage world and travel!" But that is another story!
What's your story? What did you do before massage? Tell us of your travels and what massage is like where you are, especially if you massage outside the U.S. We really like pictures, if possible.
If you get bored come see me at my page http://www.massageprofessionals.com/profile/MikeHinkle
Thanks and welcome to Massage Professionals!
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by akemi mckee on
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I was a pastor's wife. Haha! I still am and I love it. I like to call myself a Follower of Christ. I am embarrassed at times of what "Christians" have done to dismantle my Lord's reputation. Sigh...nonetheless, I have always considered myself to be outside the box of traditional or cultural mindsets. I lovvveed massage for years and had so many messages about how "taboo" that profession was to us Christian types. I finally decided they were wrong and here I am. I love using my hands as an extension of His. Okay...so maybe I also finally decided when I went to Hawaii and saw that LMT on the beach with her white tent drapes flapping so enticingly! I saw her prices and got real excited! Hahahaa!!!
My mom taught me from a very tender age as a child. She struggled with fibromyalgia long before it was a legitimized dysfunction. She was a graphic artist and taught me the muscles, movement, and such for art and then it naturally translated into giving her massages to relieve her symptoms. I loved it.
High school was the beginning of finding my love for all things A & P! I love all kinds of science-ologies! Hahaa! Lifetime learner! Student of the Universe! My skills have always been listening to what wasn't being said. I must have skill when listening to the rythyms the body speaks!
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Permalink Reply by Denise Gregory on
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I was an accountant in my former life. After 15 years of making $.50 on the dollar for every male I worked for and being laid off every other year I finallyt received a smack up the head and changed careers. My domestic partner was involved in a near fatal accident and working with him on his rehabilitation helped me decide to go into massage therapy. I might not get financially rich but I am rich in so many better ways.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Hinkle on
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You've got a great story, thank you for sharing!
Jacquelyn Pannullo said:I was a special education teacher for seven years. Special education in public school is 'special'. The teachers spend most of their time doing paperwork and having meetings about what they are going to do with the students. Then when they get time to work with students they can have up to 50 on a caseload. Actually my largest caseload was 52. So, in my seven years I searched everywhere to find something that would actually make a difference in the lives of these students. Having done yoga for a long time, I started doing that with them and actually saw improvements in attention, behavior and school work. I started researching more and learned about developmental movement and started integrating that into my lesson and again saw improvements. I naturally evolved on my search to massage. I went to massage school, got certified as a pediatric massage therapist and now work with children and families combining movement, massage and educational theory to develop plans that actually make a difference. So that is my story.
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So you are good with your hands!
Julia R. Kreider said:I was a carpenter :-)
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Always follow those signs!
Daniel Myers said:I was studying at Temple to become a Landscape Architect. I got a few "signs" that led me to my career of touch therapy. I don't ever look back. I love this profession.
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Hi Liz,
Raul Sr. and Estelitta Izqierdo were dancers with Bob Hope. They, too, choose to enter massage therapy. They were inducted into the 2008 Massage Therapy Hall of Fame! Follow your dreams!
Liz Jeans said:I was a dance educator and professional dancer. One has to adapt as we get older and massage fit like a glove. In addition to massage I am developing an online website for health and fitness.
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It's not boring, anymore is it?
Michele Peterson, BS, CMT said:I did a lot of boring administrative work, mostly payroll and collections, and then worked as a Chiropractic Assistant while working on my BS in Natural Health.
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One class! Love at first sight! Glad you went to class!
Tasha Almazan said:My experience was similar. After 5 years as a recruiter for a staffing agency, I was looking for some part time work and saw a massage therapy school looking for a recruiter and it was a natural fit. After about 3 months, I thought it would be interesting to take a class so that I would have a better understanding of some of the questions I was receiving. After 1 night of class, I was hooked and signed up for a 1,000 hour program! Shorly after I left my position at the staffing agency and joined the school full time. I continue at the school and just recently opened my own practice.
Laura Allen said:I got my first job in a restaurant at the age of 13, washing dishes after school and on weekends. I bought my first restaurant when I was 19 and stupid--and it was a learning experience. During the next 20+ years I owned three more that all made me a good living. I looked at my husband one day and told him I figured I had cooked 875,000 meals, and I was done. Within two weeks I sold the last place and was hired to be a massage school administrator---the owner of the school used to eat in my place and I asked her for a job--and the second day I was there I decided to attend massage school. The rest is history!
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Most of us had numerous jobs before finding our "niche"!
Catharine Fallin said:Then: Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Data Specialist, GIS HR Manager, Transportation Planning Assistant. Fantastic jobs, learned so much, and something more was pulling me forward.
Now: CMT & Reiki Practitioner, business owner, Movement & Body Awareness Instructor. Love what I do, am grateful for all the jobs/experiences I've had that brought me to this amazing profession.
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31 years, wow! You have paid your dues! Get a massage!
Kenneth Gordon Line said:I drove a semi-trailer as a city driver for 31 yrs in St Louis, MO
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I was a cosmetologist back in the early eighties in California. Wish I had found massage back then. Everything for a reason...
Linda Lewis-Weissinger,CMT,NCTMB said:I was a Cosmetologist, Esthetician. I became allergic to chemicals of my industry. I had been doing massage in my salon also but decided to go back to school and get NCTMB instead of be grandfathered in as a LMT. Glad I did.
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Great story Heidi! We are all proud of you!
Heidi Krenzke said:I was an Administrative Assistant, decided to get into massage on the side for some extra cash, as I was going through a divorce. Loved setting my own hours, especially being a single parent of 5, I needed to! Then I decided to go into it full time, start my own business, been 6 1/2 years and still lovin it!
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