We recently connected with Damien Baez and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Damien thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

The biggest risk I’ve taken didn’t start with confidence—it started with uncertainty.
For several years, I was building my career in the movement and recovery industry. I worked as a trainer at a gym, studied under a mentor who taught me hands-on techniques I still use today, and eventually began working at StretchLab. I was learning, growing, and gaining experience—but I was also trying to figure out where I truly fit.
At one point, I left the gym to work more closely with my mentor, believing it would accelerate my growth. But the situation wasn’t financially sustainable, and the partnership didn’t end the way either of us hoped. I needed stability and a clearer path forward. I returned to working full-time at a stretching facility and told myself that one day I would build something of my own.
I even opened my business name and took the first steps—but I treated it like a backup plan. It stayed on the back burner while I focused on steady employment.
Then everything changed.
In April 2025, management announced that all five locations where I worked would be shutting down the following month. At the same time, I was already preparing to start massage school—a goal I had been working toward for years. Suddenly, I was facing a difficult reality:
Take an overnight job just to survive
Go through school with little to no income
Or take a risk I hadn’t fully committed to yet—reopen my business and try to build it for real
There was no safety net anymore. So I bet on myself.
I reopened my practice and began taking clients while attending massage school. It was one of the most challenging periods of my life. Income was inconsistent. My schedule was packed. There were moments of real doubt about whether I had made the right decision.
But this time, I approached it differently. I didn’t treat my business like a side project—I treated it like my future.
After graduating, I obtained my massage establishment license and my personal massage license. Then I doubled down. I joined networking groups, attended community events, ran pop-ups, and introduced my services anywhere I could. Slowly, people started coming back. Then they started referring others.
The growth happened faster than I expected.
Between November 2025 and February 2026, my income tripled. My client base tripled. I went from being available only on weekends to operating seven days a week. What had once been a backup plan became my primary career—and a growing business I’m now preparing to expand.
Looking back, the real risk wasn’t opening the business. The real risk was committing to it fully when there were no guarantees.
If the closures hadn’t forced my hand, I might have continued waiting for the “right time.” There wasn’t one. The turning point came when I stopped treating my goal as an option and started treating it as a responsibility.
Taking that risk didn’t just change my income—it changed my mindset. It taught me that growth doesn’t come from having a safety net. It comes from deciding you’re ready to build one yourself

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?

My name is Damien Joseph Baez, founder of Coach Damien’s Wellness. I’m a licensed massage therapist and performance recovery coach who helps people get out of chronic pain and move with confidence again.
I entered this field after seeing how many people cycle through temporary fixes—physical therapy, chiropractic care, or pain management—without ever addressing the root cause of their discomfort. My work focuses on correcting movement dysfunction and improving how the body actually functions in daily life.
At Coach Damien’s Wellness, I combine clinical massage, assisted stretching, and corrective exercise to restore mobility, reduce pain, and build long-term strength and stability. I also use tools like cupping, instrument-assisted soft tissue work, and heat therapy to enhance recovery. What sets my approach apart is that I don’t just treat the body—I teach clients how to maintain their results and prevent the problem from coming back.
Most of my clients come to me dealing with ongoing aches, movement limitations, or trying to avoid more invasive options like surgery. I’m most proud of helping people realize their body isn’t broken—it just needs the right strategy and consistency.
The main thing I want people to know is that this isn’t just massage. It’s a results-driven system designed to reduce pain, restore movement, and help people build a body that can handle real life.

Can you open up about how you managed the initial funding?

For me it was $2,000 in a dream. I gave myself a deposit of $2,000 through my personal savings account at the time and it was just enough to start up. It was enough to pay for rent for a few months and to get basic equipment. I spent roughly $1,500 in startup costs for just 1 to 3 months it was rough but it is what fed the dream and with proper planning and care. I was able to turn that $2,000 of debt into several thousand dollars of profit

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The best strategy for me has been networking with other business owners, creating friendships, partnerships, and finding referrals. In the service industry, especially and in most industries referrals are your primary source of income. The way I look at it is I can Target one person or I can Target a group of people. If I make one person feel good that’s it. I make them feel good. They love my service and that’s where it ends. But if I service one person that knows a lot of people, business owners or someone who works with a bunch of people and I show them what I’m capable of that one person will then evolve into three and then if those three people know anyone then let’s say those three people then tell three more people. Eventually it’s a cascading effect. I’ve built my clientele off of referrals and occasional pop-ups

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.Coachdamienswellness.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachdamienwellness?igsh=MjFweThhMHU4dmRo
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/18Kj1v1noK/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/me?trk=p_mwlite_feed-secondary_nav
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@coachdamienbaez?si=j8i5Mwe13OWLXvzg

Image Credits

Credits to Rose Shupe from petal and Post for taking these photos of me