If you have been to the office recently, you may know that things are starting to shift a bit around here. I’m still the same helpful and friendly face, but I am starting to shift my therapeutic massage practice more towards my passion–>helping people with chronic and ongoing aches, tension, and postural dysfunction. That means that there will be some changes to how appointments are structured, the amount charged, and how often we get to see each other.
These changes have been months in the making and will help me continue to provide the high level of care you are all used to while providing a decent income (more on that later) for myself and protect me from burnout and working for years to come. Let’s start with the why. Whenever things change, we all want to know WHY, and I have no issues sharing my why with all of you.
MY ‘Why’
experience level
My goal with each and every massage is to provide lasting results for my clients. Not just for a day or two, but to make real progress on underlying causes of frequent aches and tension. On top of being a licensed massage therapist for over 10 years, I have a degree in Kinesiology, I am a certified Exercise Physiologist, and now add to that a Corrective Exercise Specialist. When you come in for a therapeutic massage, it is more than “just a relaxing massage”. I have learned and trained for thousands of hours to give you an individualized experience that will help you overcome a multitude of physical complaints. There is no doubt about it, I absolutely love the work I do and the people I get to meet and build relationships with doing it.
Goals
As with many of you, work is not the only aspect of my life. I have two young children and a house here in DeWitt. As the head of the household, I am responsible for many things. These things, of course, cost either time or money. I became self-employed just over a year ago and started Optimize You in January 2021. My goal was to work hard helping people and provide for myself and my children. I have successfully done the first part of that goal over the last year. My schedule is booked out for months. I am busier than I have ever been before. I love it. Yet, I am working a side-job and was putting in applications for a third job. The rates I have been charging have not been enough to be financially secure. So I haven’t been as successful on the second part of my goal.
Financial stability
I am no stranger to struggle as I grew up in a very low income family. I got through college with grants, loans, and working basically full time. As an entrepreneur, I sometimes fall into the trap of not charging my worth. Something along the lines of “impostor syndrome” with a mix of “the payoff of helping people is worth the struggle”. After much back and forth, I decided that I do not need to struggle financially any longer AND I can provide the highest quality therapeutic massage and corrective exercise training to my clients at the same time. The changes described below will help me do just that. These changes help me meet both parts of my goal: help people with persistent aches and tension and provide for myself and my children.
The changes
1. Rates
You may have guessed it already, but my rates will be going up. You can see the full rate information here. I will still be offering packages that can be purchased in full up front and offer a decent discount per session. With the new rates, tips will no longer be accepted, as my new rates are adequate payment for my services.
2. appointment type and frequency
My goal is to get you results. Sometimes that means seeing you more frequently over a shorter amount of time to address your areas of concern and sometimes that means switching you to more of a maintenance phase of care. These will be the conversations we will be having with each of my clients individually as I transition my practice.
3. Adding more assessments and Corrective Exercise
In order for me to create treatment plans focused on your specific needs, I will be conducting more movement and mobility assessments. If you choose to become a Corrective Exercise client, we will schedule a session solely for assessments. Then, our next session we will get to work using massage, stretching, foam rolling, and focused exercises to help relax overactive muscles and strengthen underactive muscles that are the cause of your ongoing aches and tension.
when changes start
New rates will go into effect immediately for new clients. For all current clients or past clients, I will phase in rate changes over the next month. I will begin having discussions with current clients as to where we take their treatment from here. Please reach out if you have any questions or need clarification on anything.
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