We recently connected with Megan Mendes and have shared our conversation below.

Megan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I had been working as a massage therapist for a busy chiropractic office for about 7.5 years. Over those years, I had worked my way up to being the lead therapist. I filled in for other MT’s, worked the front desk when needed, guided people through therapy and short specific massage sessions in the therapy room, did about 20 hours of massage a week, interviewed new therapists, recommended therapists to be hired, etc.

I was rewarded with raises for my work ethic, and was a fixture of the office. I was booked most all of the time and definitely added value to the overall wellbeing of the patients. I had been a loyal part employee/part contract worker, going above and beyond my pay in order to show my commitment to this office.

The Chiropractors were in the midst of selling their practice and handing out new contracts for the new space down the road. I read my new contract and with much sadness decided that their new offer wasn’t in my best interest, but in theirs. All of that loyalty and commitment to them didn’t mean more than their bottom line, which was a gift to me that was super hard to see at the time.

I decided to stay put with the new Chiropractor who bought the old practice. I was told my current contract would be upheld and I could go on about business, for now.

It was official, the new practice with new signage was open. The new Doctor was lovely and I enjoyed working with her, but little did I know, there was some legal stuff going on between the two offices. I knew I couldn’t stay as both sides were in my ear and I was caught in the middle.

One day I woke up in a panic in the realization that perhaps I hadn’t built a practice, that all of those clients were patients of these two offices, and if I left, I’d be starting over. After 8 years of hard work, what would I have to show for it? I was sure some clients would follow but didn’t know what would actually happen. I was also afraid that if I left, I might also find legal trouble if I announced it to my clients and if they followed me, so I didn’t. I told a handful of regulars, but otherwise stayed quiet.

On a whim, I got dressed, grabbed copies of my resume, and went to look around for office space to rent.
As I was driving around, I saw a Chiropractic office and stopped in to ask if she had a massage room to rent. SHE DID. I handed her my resume to let her know who I was and my experience. Turns out she knew my aunt, a Chiropractor who shadowed her for a bit, years ago. Such a small world.

She said she had her own MT’s who worked for her three days a week for three hours each of those days. I could have the room the rest of the time. The rent was perfect. She asked though, “If I don’t refer people to you, are you going to be able to make it”? I said, “I am willing to do whatever it takes to make this work”, and that’s what I did.

I told the current office I was leaving July 1, 2014, but that I would stay on one day a week until August to help with the transition of finding a new massage therapist. I joined a Business Networking International group, made flyers, went to the businesses in that neighborhood and introduced myself, and worked a LOT of events. I did so much free massage that first year, it makes me cringe. I created a DBA, built a website, got online scheduling, did the social media thing, and met with other successful massage practitioners to learn more about being on my own.

I ended up receiving phone calls within the first year from old clients exclaiming, “I finally found you, why didn’t you tell me you were leaving”? I felt awful, but that fear of getting into legal trouble was real.

I felt like it was the scariest thing I’d done in my life. I was in debt, had moved in with my new boyfriend, now husband, and was extricated from literally all of my old friends from the former office. I couldn’t live life in the same way and had to find myself in this new normal. The old Anais Nin quote says it all…

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”

Fast forward to now. This summer, July 1st, will mark my 10 year anniversary of private practice as Living Anew Therapeutic Massage. The decision to leave felt forced at the time. Looking back, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. It led me to paying off all debt, working from a 500 credit score back up to nearly 800, buying a house, getting married…Taking that risk to go out on my own, which I never thought I’d do. It changed my entire life for the better and I don’t regret a day of it. Being my own boss has been challenging and extremely rewarding and I have so much gratitude for that time in my life that “pushed” me to do the scary thing.

Megan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was an athlete growing up and through college. I went to the University of Oklahoma where I threw the shot put and discus and majored in Health and Sports Sciences. Honestly, I had no idea what I was going to do after college. After my fourth year of competition was over, it took a 5th year to finish up my undergrad. That year was instrumental for me to figure out where I was headed next.

I thought I would go to Chiropractic school. I only needed a handful of other classes on top of my major to complete the prerequisites to get in. I called up my uncle who is a Chiropractor. Through conversation with him, I discovered that I did not want to go to 4 more years of school and was a little nervous about cracking people’s necks. HA! He asked how I felt about soft tissue?

There it was. He brought up Rolfing and other things. At the end of my fifth year of undergrad, we discovered that I was ONE hour short of graduating so I did an hour independent study with one of my favorite professors, Dr. Ratliff. He said, “pick a topic, read a book about it and write a 10 page paper discussing the book, read three journal articles about it and write three papers discussing those articles, and have it to me at the end of the summer”. I picked Rolfing and LOVED IT!

I discovered that if I was already a Massage Therapist, I could begin at a different level at the Rolf Institute so I enrolled in a 14 month Associates Degree program of Therapeutic Massage at Heritage College in Oklahoma City. In Oklahoma, you didn’t need to be licensed to be an MT so I started working immediately on friends and referrals from friends out of my home, and worked for the MT at the USPS training center in Norman, OK.

I soon took off to Austin, TX, number one, because I needed a change and loved Austin, and number two, Texas required a license to practice. That was important to me. I’ve lived and worked in and around Austin now for 18 years. I have clients I’ve seen for ALL of those years.

A big part of what I do is structural, deep tissue, restorative, rehab type massage. Sure, I can do a relaxing massage, which is called for sometimes, but the bulk of my practice is specific work to target problem areas. This work for the last 20 years has proven to be such a gift and has allowed me to work with and meet some of the most amazing humans and watch as they work to heal and reclaim their lives.

What sets me apart from other’s is my ability to listen to the client and then sus out the actual structural issue. It could be a muscle compensation, or antagonist muscle that is the problem instead of where the client actually feels pain. I usually do a quick body read to note how their body holds itself natural. This always tells so much more than they could ever verbally communicate.

I also find that if a client wants to talk while we work, it can sometimes lead to releasing stress and tension in the body. Better out than in, I always say. If we hold in everything, it tends to eat us alive and can cause more stress and tension that leads to all kinds of repetitive injuries or illness. I also believe having other sorts of practitioners to refer to is SO important. I might not be the best MT for someone, or they may need different kind of care. I have zero delusions that I’m the “end all” for them, so I have other MT’s, Acupuncturists, PT’s, Chiropractors, Dietitians, Psychotherapists, Craniosacral Therapists, Somatic Experience Practitioners, etc, who I might refer to. I want my clients to have the tools to accomplish their health goals, if that’s what they desire.

I’m also a Certified Educator of Infant Massage, which means I am certified to teach parents and caregivers how to massage their babies. The deeper lesson here is bonding and attachment through nurturing touch. It’s truly lovely to watch a parent connect with their infant.

There are techniques for colicky babies, digestive issues, growing baby pains, etc, and respect for the infant as a human is always taught through asking permission before massaging. I promise, you’ll know when the sweet little one does not want a massage and you must honor that. I haven’t taught these classes since before the pandemic, but plan to film them to have available online soon. By stimulating oxytocin through nurturing touch, we are working to create more empathetic and compassionate kids, who become more empathetic and compassionate adults. It’s a beautiful thing.

I offer 30 min, 60 min, and 90 min massage or massage/cupping hybrid sessions. Those sessions may be Prenatal, Postnatal, Deep Tissue (includes Myofascial Release, PNF, Trigger Point, Stretching, etc), Cupping Therapy, or Joint Mobilization Stretching.

I had a new client a couple of weeks ago who had a shoulder surgery at the beginning of last year. It failed. She had to have another at the end of the year. For an entire year or longer, they have struggled with shoulder pain and limited range of motion, which has been difficult for their job and life. After the session, they were already happy with being able to lift their arm a little higher to put on their shirt. After they left I received a text that said they were so happy because for the first time in over a year, they could start the car and do simple movements without pain.

THAT is why I do what I do. That is what I’m most proud of. It’s been a lot of hard work to run a successful small business, but having this sort of reaction to soft tissue work from a client just validates that I’m where I’m supposed to be, using the talent and gifts I have.

That is what I would want people to know…That in my business, I receive currency in exchange for providing a service, just like all businesses, except the service I provide sometimes makes the difference in whether you sleep through the night, or raise your arm over your head, or stand up straighter, or are able to run without foot pain. I would say, it’s more like currency in exchange for a better quality of life and I thank my clients daily for choosing me to be a part of their healthcare team. It’s truly an honor.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

Understanding business. In the massage industry as a whole, (including me for a long time), I notice certain phrases popping up all the time. They might include…

“I don’t do it for the money”
“I just want to help people”
“I help heal people”

But in the end, running a business costs money, and we also have to pay our own bills. This mentality that a lot of folks in the industry have, sort of like martyrs for the good of humanity, typically doesn’t end well in regards to keeping the business running. When we don’t charge enough for our services, or do it for free, or even believe that we are healing people for no value on the service, we are not only hurting ourselves by getting into debt, not paying our own bills, and creating a client who depends on what we do for them for little compensation, but we are also hurting the massage industry as a whole. We are teaching people that our time, talent, skills, work, etc, is not valuable, or not as valuable as the clients time, or needs, or even their own finances in some respects.

I remember when I was debating on discontinuing discounted packages years ago. I was concerned that my older clients who were retired would not be able to continue to come in since they were on a fixed income and had told me as much. My officemate and supportive friend said to me, “what about your retirement”? I had worked to pay off so much debt from college and my 20’s, and had now began saving for retirement. If I continued to allow my clients to dictate the value of my service and how I ran my business, I’d definitely not be here still doing what I’m doing.

I learned that the business is mine and is a service I offer to others. There is no guilt in making money in a healing/therapeutic profession.

Have you ever had to pivot?

After working in the same job for the same people for 7 years, in the same apartment for 7 years, seeing the same people, doing the same things, not meeting anyone, I felt SO stagnate in my life. I started thinking about what I could do in addition to Massage. I wrote down all the things I loved…People, the outdoors, hiking, biking, music, connecting people, helping people…I asked, “How can I make that a job”?

I went to work one day and had a new client who was a friend of another MT I worked with. I knew she was a bicycle mechanic, but I began asking her questions about posture, repetitive motions, etc, like I do all my clients. In the midst of answering, she said, “I’m also a Wilderness EMT”. I asked what that was. She explained that basically you are an EMT and can get hired to go on hiking expeditions, trail running events, music festivals, kids summer camps, and other type events of the outdoor nature. I got cold chills.

I immediately went home and researched a bit online. I found a place in Wyoming where I could go to train. It would be day and night for a month, so I couldn’t work and would have to have money saved to accomplish this. A couple of months later I moved out of my apartment and rented a room from a friend so I could cut my living expenses in half. I had a plan. I started telling people and it was starting to get real. I was seeing this guy that wasn’t really going to work out at this point (but in the end he introduced me to my husband, so, it was a necessary evil, so to speak). I walked away from him and soon after everything changed.

One day, on my way home from work I was rear-ended and my paid off car was totaled and was only worth about 4k. I had to have a car to get to work, so the good news was I had cut my living expenses and had room for a new car payment. The bad news was this was going to set me back in terms of saving for my training. I went and purchased my Xterra, and moved on. I was motivated. I was happily single and in a new car, a new living space, and soon would work for different people after nearly 8 years. It was a whole new life already. Fast forward from the beginning of October to January of 2014, I ran into a guy I met through the last guy I dated.

He asked where that guy was? Probably with his girlfriend, he got back together with his ex. Are you single? I am. Can I have your phone number? Um, ok. I gave him my phone number and that was it. After the first month we knew this was it. It was The end of February of that same year that I left the Chiropractors I had worked for for nearly 8 years and by June Brian and I had moved in together.

I don’t know if this was a massive “pivot” but it certainly was taking action to create movement in the stagnate life that wasn’t serving me. With in a few months I had a new home, a new job, a new partner, a new car, and I was on my way to starting my private practice. I never went to Wyoming. One thing that I just couldn’t manage was the swift water rescue stuff. I would have cried and absolutely not been able to hang out of a helicopter to manage all that. I’m really glad I read that later instead of in the beginning. I might not have put everything into motion.

That chance meeting with that new client changed my life.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.livinganewmassage.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/livinganewmassage
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/livinganewtherapeuticmassage
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/megancrystal

Image Credits
Brian Mendes, Clear Lens Media