We were lucky to catch up with Kayla Stroud-DuSavage recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kayla, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?

I started my owner practice back in 2021 and it was not easy. You never realize all the moving parts that are involved till you are in the thick of it. I started my owner practice because I wanted to control the narrative of how my practice was going to operate and run. Some of my steps getting into my practice were trial by error. Trying different ways to market, but not selling myself short with what I’m worth. The biggest steps were how am I going to get people in the door and advertise a uniqueness with what I do. Another step was also just trying to keep those people I get in the door, being different enough or providing a great service to keep people coming. On top of that letting people know I was just there, because it’s a competitive market. A key challenge when setting up was not worrying about what others are doing. I provide a particular service that may not be the same as others and go with that. Not every therapist is a good fit for all. Focus on what I am good at and people are looking for and go with that. Comparing yourself with others can break confidence and make you questions how things are going, when in reality it usually great. The biggest thing i’d say is to keep your pricing competitive but not extremely low or high that is has people questioning why. I personally don’t offer much for discounts too and I wouldn’t recommend offering any. If people know your worth then they will come, even at the beginning. I thought i needed to discount like crazy and offer discounts for late cancelations to keep my books full and luckily I did, i unrealized that time thinking up other ways to keep my business seems in the community. What i would do different that i know now would be offering less sometimes is more. You don’t need it be good at eveything. Focus on what you enjoy and people what and business will come. I waiting a few years before starting my business right out of school
so i could experience all aspects of the field. It’s a good recommendation but not necessary. I had great mentors and other people in outside fields I could count on when building my practice which helps me bounce ideas off others as an outside source which helped a lot. It’s definitely worth it but you better be able and to put in the work. It may take several months before things get going and you feel stable. You are not only a massage therapist, but you put on so many different hats to help get things moving. Soon enough you’ll be busy in no time and be voted best massage in your area within less then 4 years of being in business.

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 in the industry for about 12 years now and had my own business for about 3.5 years. I started out in many different settings of massage before starting my own practice. I originally went to school to be a doctor and decided it wasn’t the exact avenue i wanted in helping people. Massage was always my backup as i enjoyed providing massages to my family and realized I can do a lot with it business wise. I started my career in a spa because everything was taken care of for me and transitioned out after realizing it wanted a more clinic side of the profession which lead me to a chiropractic office and a few other places after. I provide sports and clinically based massage with our approach integrating functional movement assessments, soft tissue manipulation, rehabilitative techniques, and sports-based therapies like stretching, IATSM, cupping, and kinesiology taping.I specialize in addressing chronic pain, stress, and mobility issues through targeted care. I also specialize in geriatrics and hospice massage which is not a big focus for most. I am most proud of the connections I have made with others and how i grew my business. It felt like it was overnight. How I interact with you in my office is who I actually am. I stay true to who I am and what I do. I truly want to help you and have a laugh or time while in the process. I was voted best place to get a massage in my community with only being in business less then 3 years, that’s a huge accomplishments. I Have people tell me they thought I was more then one person, which says a lot of my brand and how I operate. I want people to think of me as a professionally but feel afraid to ask questions about what we are doing. I love educating others on what I do and providing answers to randoms question they may be curious about. The community has been my biggest support system along side my family which has helped shaped my brand into what it is. A clinic based practice focusing on what is going on and finding solutions to help with that.

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

Networking and trust. I built my business in an area where I knew other partitioners in different fields that I could utilize to get the word out about my business. I had always build trust with them and because of that they knew sending there clients/patients to me they were in good hands. I try and attend as many network events in my community and build relationships with people who may or may not benefit my business but they know I am reliable and trustworthy with what I do. Being seeing and being apart of a community i believe shows you not only care about what you do but about where you are practicing too.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start?

When I initially opened i didn’t throw all my eggs into one basket, I took it slow. My business at the time was my sid gig and i worked a different full time job that funded my lifestyle and my business. As it slowly built a grew i transitioned into the business more and had more capital to put into it and slowly built my brand. I probably didn’t pay myself from the business for over 6 months but i was okay since i had other income too. Those six months is what I used as more capital to continue to build off of and it worked just fine. As i grew after 6-8 months i was able to throw everything i had into one basket, the business and it grew up from there. As it grew i was able to throw more into marketing, branding, advertising and tools to continue to grow.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://specifichealthmassage.com
• Instagram: @specifichealthmassage_llc
• Facebook: Specific Health Massage Therapy LLC
• Linkedin: Kayla Stroud-DuSavage

Image Credits

Colleen Growney Photography