We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nicole Howe a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Nicole thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

I became a massage therapist at the age of 20. After attempting to move out on my own and pay for college, I found myself back at home, aimless. When my mom asked me what I wanted to do, because she was taking money out of her retirement savings to send me to school (yes, she’s in the free massage for life program), I shrugged and said I thought massage sounded pretty cool.

My Aunt had studied massage when I was in high school. When I hurt my back in cheerleading, she was able to relieve my pain. I was so amazed I would lay on the table and try to figure out what she was doing and then I’d go home and practice on anyone who’d let me. Massage had been so impactful and unexpected for me.

Subconsciously, I realized later that massage was also a way for me to explore the art of touch without the awkwardness or danger of BEING touched. As a child I had experienced sexual abuse, which had the consequence of avoidance of such things. Still, I had a desire to help people the way I had been helped.

THAT worked for me until I became a hospice massage therapist in 2013. Those patients did not behave like my usual massage clients. They didn’t know they weren’t supposed to lay in their hospital bed and watch me massage them. They were happy to have a visitor and wanted to know about me. Some dementia patients would instinctively rub my arm or hand to reciprocate. That job changed me, it taught me that vulnerability could be a gift to others.

There was a lot of driving back in those days. I had a teritory in Orlando, Florida where I would see my patients, but I had also taken on the role of Certified Pediatric Massage Therpist, which took me all over Central Florida. Our office was near the apartments my abuse happened in. When I first took the job, seeing that place had a definte impact on my day. Over the years, it became less- but always had an affect.

After 8 years in hospice, my husband and I were ready to follow our dream of running our own practice and begin traveling together to teach our CE classes, Bodywork for PTSD and Craniosacral Therapy, to name a couple. We planned a move to Cincinnati, OH, where we would have strategic accessibilty to major cities with a few hours drive. I let my boss know we had the house up for sale and would be leaving in a month.

That week I was assigned a new pediatric patient, newborn. This baby had spinal cord damage from birth that cause central nervous system pain. She was uncomfortable 24/7. She also lived in the apartment complex I had avoided for years. My first instinct was panic, I stressed out about it for a week before I told anyone. Then I came to a strange peace that this was no accident that the month I was moving away from the town I was abused in, I had the oppourtunity to go to the source of my pain.

Walking into the unit seemed otherworldly. Everything looked so familiar, yet so much smaller than I remembered it. I took a deep breath and followed the family down the hall to the master bedroom. This was all getting too real. Once in the room, the music therapist joined me. She strummed her guitar gently and hummed a beautiful melody while I took the baby in my hands and began to treat. She fell asleep. I looked up and mom and grandma were in tears of joy to see their sweet baby girl resting comfortably.

Suddenly, I realized that this place had no more power over me. A rush of emotions passed through me, feeling the importance of this beautiful moment. We wrapped up our therapy session, recieved the gratitude of the surrounding family, and walked out the door. I will never forget the feeling of stepping out into the sun toward my car. Totally free. It was about as defining of a moment as you can get. I was forever changed.

We are all in different stages of healing from events in life that hurt us. I spent many years in avoidance in order to feel safe. I accept that phase, that is what I needed at the time. Then came a point when avoidance didn’t serve me anymore. I saw my chance to overcome my obstacle and I took it. I’ve walked though my fire. Now I can turn and reach out my hand for the next person to walk through theirs.

My massage and yoga practice in Cincinnatti, OH is trauma informed and focuses on empowering people to take their next step and offer hope. Our educational offerings, such as Bodywork for PTSD teaches massage therapists how to stay inside their scope of practice and treat trauma, without the story, by helping the nervous system down-regulate and foster resilency. We give agency back to people who have struggled to feel safe in their body. After walking this path for all these years, I can’t think of anything else I am more qualified to do. That’s a beautiful thing.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have been a massage therapist for over 23 years and a yoga instructor for 4. I run a massage therapy practice with my husband, Matthew, whom I met in school in 2000. Our practice focuses on stress, trauma, headaches, and low back pain. We travel and teach our massage industry continuing education courses to have the biggest positive impact on humanity. Through teaching others how to turn the dial down on the nervous system, we’ve been able to impact hundreds of thousands of lives.

I especially love treating children and teens through yoga and healthy touch.

Our company, Touch Education, is in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

We continue to expand our knowledge base and toolkit, and people consider us experts in our field.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I think the best strategy for growing your clientele is education. Educated customers refer their friends and family. We help people understand how their body works and often get the feedback that no one has ever really sat down to explain things to them like that.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.toucheducation.com
• Instagram: @nicoleoftoucheducation
• Facebook: @nicoleoftoucheducation
• Linkedin: @NicoleHowe
• Youtube: @toucheducation