Recently we caught up with Licensed Massage Therapist Messina Kerr to talk to us about her rewarding career in massage therapy. If you’re thinking about going into massage therapy, check out this video to learn more about the industry, the benefits of massage, and the job options available after graduation. You can also read the transcription below.
My massage education is the only reason I am where I am. It taught me all the necessary tools that I needed to be able to go out, perform my art, and be able to be successful and work in a professional industry. I am able to massage and do what I love because of my education.
A regular day as a massage therapist in the office is answering phone calls and scheduling, of course your massages and bodywork, refilling your supplies and restocking things, and then also putting the word out about your business and your name and getting to know the general public to bring in the clientele.
You have to be able to reach out to the client and make them feel comfortable in a very vulnerable situation and make them feel at home. And so that might not be always your comfort level, it’s changed to theirs. So as long as you can do that, you’ll really benefit in being a massage therapist.
Anyone who actually feels they have the skills and the natural ability to become a massage therapist I think should just go and sign up for school. It’s a 12-month program or shorter, depending on where you go and on what your state requirements are. There’s so many options, there’s no reason not to go.
You have three different paths you can take. There’s one: becoming an employee, where you don’t have to worry about bringing in your clientele, it’s there when you walk in the door. Two: you can be a independent contractor which is where you’re more based by yourself, and you bring some of your clientele, but the main aspects are taken care of by someone over you. And then there’s also owning your own business is where you control who comes in and out of your business, you control how busy or un-busy you are, and what hours you have.
I feel that massage has such a big impact on our overall well-being, not just the muscles and our structure, but also just the mental and the whole aspect of our bodies and our well-being. I know that it can really help heal the heart and the soul and there are so many people who don’t need massage for the muscles or for the knots in your body, but for that human contact, that human touch that so many people lack. And massage therapy can do that. It’s not just for the athletes, it’s not just for the people in car accidents, it’s for everybody. Everybody can benefit from massage.
I’m a professional, I’m a massage therapist and I love what I do, helping people one hour, one day at a time and if I never see them again, I know I made that difference, just if it was for that hour. Being a massage therapist is seriously the best thing that ever happened to me.
To learn more about a massage therapist career, check out My Colleges and Careers!
