Taking the Last Step off the Diving Board

At a recent continuing education class, I spoke with a recent massage graduate struggling with starting her massage career.

A few months have passed since graduation, and she has had trouble with deciding on a venue for massage. Should she work on her own? Work for a doctor? A spa? Join an established massage practice?

Not sure what would be the right path, she has been holding back.

I offered my advice. “Go to the end of that diving board and jump off. You have to get some experience to know what you want and what fits you well.”

Easy for me to say, but someone has to say it.

Starting a career in massage is not easy. A newbie therapist might find out, after spending a lot of money for training, that he/she does not like massaging people. It happens.

Know, however, that life will go on. If you don’t like something, you can always do something else.

I view massage training like a nurse’s education. Sure, there are plenty of opportunities to work on a hospital floor. But nurses may end up anywhere in a hospital, sub-acute facility, even an insurance company.

One of my good friends found out she didn’t like hands-on, but she is darn good at administration. Turns out that is a gift from God, too, and she runs a large day spa quite well. It is a bonus that she understands what therapists are going through. Empathy has a place outside the therapy room, too.

At the other end of the spectrum, another therapist told me one day how disappointed she was in her training. “I thought I would be setting my own hours and making $60 an hour,” she said.

She was happy to give up on massage and blame her school for misleading her. I went to the same school and never heard any of that talk.

But the time to start your career is when you don’t know where you are going. Experience does not have to be a negative. It can lead you where you need to go. Sometimes you just have to step into the air and have faith.