Do you advise it? Why or why not?
Looking to finally end my years-long work in a cubicle doing stuff that doesn’t interest me. I’m fascinated with holistic healing and MT. Looking into an accredited school here where I live. It has excellent reviews and does life-long job placement. Job outlook is positive in general (and where I live as well).
Feedback?
Try giving a 60 minute massage to a friend some time. Not just a 10 minute backrub, but an actual head-to-toe massage where you really put your back into it. It’s very hard work. Now try doing that two or three times per day. It can be exhausting. If you’ve got the stamina for it, then it might work for you.
Yeah, I’m not expecting it to be the equivilant of the labor of an accountant. I have stamina for physical activity.
don’t try it in the SF Bay Area. Many folk with the skill set, not enough jobs for them.
The one I sent to school is currently a street vendor… and he does not sell massages!
My mom and some of my friends and acquaintances do this. As said, it’s hard work, so even if you think you’re up for it, you may not really know until you do it. It also seems like really good money with the going rates, but you just can’t do it for 8-hours a day, and you also have to spend money on insurance and continuing education and all that.
As you might expect, the first year or two is really tough because you’ll have to gain a client base. For the most part, the people I know tried starting out working at spas or with chiropractors or whatever to try to build up a client base, and while they got fairly regular clients that way, they got a lot less money and didn’t feel it was worth it and ended up doing it for themselves. So, on top of the physical aspect, building up a network of mutual referals and all is imperative.
I’d probably also recommend looking into something else you can bring to the table. Finding a decent massage therapist isn’t terribly difficult, but if you have one that is knowledgable in deep tissue or reiki or sports medicine or whatever, you can offer something that will help attract and retain clients.
Either way, lots of work, but most of those I know enjoy it a lot, so if you’re inspired, I say give it a shot.
Seems the MT I’ve seen are always in partners of some sort with someone else. Like a chiropractor or doctor. They devote so many hours a day at the doctor’s office and then go.
I wonder what the security is. Would you have benefits? Health insurance? Or are these people just outsourcing massage therapy for doctors, chiropractors, and the like?
In order to be successful you have to really work the business side of it and watch the overhead, especially when just starting out. The critical part of the physical demands of it is to make sure you are working ergonomically to protect your own body from strain. Which means including the cost of your own massage maintenance in your monthly expenses or finding an MT whose work you appreciate to trade with.
I agree with the poster that additional training/specialization will help you gain clientele. I enjoyed having a massage practice but was not able to make a go of it because I would rather work on friends than strangers, and I didn’t really like having to charge my friends. I was able to share an affordable space with other successful MTs but just didn’t have the business drive to last more than a year, even though I had added a few more modalities to my basic Swedish massage education.
It is different now than when I graduated 16 years ago. Massage therapy is viewed more as a valued health service and less as a euphemism, however, it is for the most part a treat rather than a treatment. If insurance coverage became widespread I think it would be easier to make a living at it but in these economic times I would think twice before extending yourself setting up a practice. If you go ahead though, best wishes to you – if you find you have a knack for it it can be quite rewarding.
The pay doesn’t tend to be great if you work through someone else. According to a friend of mine who works for a chiropractor about half her pay is her 9 to 5 job. To turn it into a living wage, she works another 10-20 hours a week doing home calls with her own table for her private client list. But its taken years to develop the private client list.