I graduated from a school of massage in Sacramento area about 7 years ago. Since I was doing it to get a break from nurse burnout, I never really checked out the requirements to work as a therapist after graduation. My school offered a very short course (less than 200 hours) so I went for it. Now, living in Palm Springs, I would not be able to practice massage unless I accrued another 300 plus hours. I think the requirements vary from city to city and county to county, depending on your state. Here in PS
massage therapy is lumped into the “entertainment” field, so they are very careful who they give a license to, because - this may shock you all - some people don’t just stop at the massage.
I’m working as a nurse again, and my beautiful green massage table is tucked away in the closet. Sigh. I had a great experience
with school, though - just imagine getting a massage everyday, even from the not so adept students, it was still awesome.
Best of luck to you. Be sure to learn how to do those “chair” massages. That always seemed like a great way to make good money and not hassle with all the laundry, oils, etc. - the street fair here in PS has several chair massage therapists, and they charge a dollar a minute with a 15 minute minimum. I would consider getting a massage chair, do some advertising and then go out from about 10 AM to 3 PM to big office complexes, giving mini-massages on people’s coffee breaks and lunches.