We recently connected with Allison Holloway and have shared our conversation below.

Allison, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you get your first job in the field that you practice in today?

When I was wrapping up my first time in massage school in Florida and taking exit exams I would have conversations with my teacher who was working in a well established local spa. As a military family were were stationed on the gulf coast of Florida. So this spa was the main big spa in town and it was not a franchise. The owner would hire LMT’s to work as independent contractors and it was a great beautiful place to work and paid very well.

So my teacher put in a good word for me at the time when she new the owner was in need of new therapists and I was in need of my first LMT job! I remember the owner of the spa reaching out to me and asking if I would be interested in coming in for an interview. I was so excited! I couldn’t wait to start my new chapter of my career.

At the interview I was incredibly nervous and she showed me around the gorgeous spa building, asked me questions about my financial goals and what I was looking for in number of hours and what massage modalities I was willing to do.
I suddenly felt imposter syndrome and intimidated by this new opportunity. I had never had a job where I wasn’t an employee. But all new things can feel a bit scary at first! It was a change as I had been working in my children’s preschool as a teaching assistant before this.

As a I began working in the spa I really learned SO MUCH from the team of ladies there at the spa who had been doing it for much longer. We did couples massages, body scrubs, and all the other typical enhancements for massage therapy like hot stones, and hot towels and essential oils. When you’re a brand new out of school it’s so great to learn alongside those that have been doing it longer!

I remember thinking it was stressful and also really fun. I was sure where I was going with my future of massage mostly because we were a military family and there’s always the notion we can get orders and have to move, which we did! I would say though even in the beginning with this first job I would dream about my own practice and what that might look like one day.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m Allison Holloway, Licensed Massage Therapist and Owner of Dayton Prenatal Massage! I am a wife and mother of two kiddos. We are a military family and Dayton, Ohio is our last stop for military life! So I decided to establish a practice here.

I got into this industry because I had a friend in Yoga class who was a Massage Therapist and a private practice owner in Pensacola, FL. Shout out to Cindy at Bodyworks of Perdido! I remember her listening to pieces of my life and suggesting I go to massage school. She planted the seed I would say, but my daughter’s struggles with sensory processing and struggles wearing clothes really inspired me to think about massage as a career. I learned that I could have a flexible schedule but also that massage had amazing benefits on the nervous system and could possibly help som of my daughter Gina’s symptoms she would feel.

My massage practice today is centered around nurturing women in motherhood, young and old. I love to work with mommas who are trying to conceive. I provide pain relief for women who are pregnant, and in their postpartum time. I allow mommas to bring their newborn with them in their initial postpartum phase if they want to! I also never fire a client beyond postpartum! I get asked that question all the time. In fact, I encourage mom’s to keep scheduling their massage well beyond their postpartum period and invite women to book with me who are experiencing peri-menopause or menopause.

Massage can continue to have tremendous benefits to a woman’s wellness as she goes through any changes. Reducing stress and fatigue, increase energy and balance blood sugar, and helps calm the nervous system so they can feel good in their skin again.

My menu is SIMPLE! I four types of sessions to choose from: Fertility massage, Prenatal massage, Postpartum massage, and Therapeutic which is completely tailored to what you need! Then I have 6 complimentary enhancements to choose from that are included no extra costs! I also choose for gratuity to be something that is not expected ever. I tell clients to put it towards their next massage. I want simplicity to provide the most stress-free experience when women come to Dayton Prenatal Massage!

It is also my goal to provide a clean product experience. I use simple clean organic cream and jojoba oil with organic essential oils.

I am so proud of where Dayton Prenatal Massage has come from the day I opened, without a single client and I didn’t really know anyone in this city! It will be 2 years in March 2024! I am also just so grateful for all the clients who have trusted me to serve them! My goal is to make a woman’s journey a little bit easier whether they’re pregnant, recovering from birth, or living out the menopause season and everything in between!

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

In the profession of Massage Therapy, training, knowledge, certifications, and even passion can only take you so far! I have heard it said that 80% of a good massage is a great communication and only 20% is great skills! Meaning, it’s much more valuable to know how to talk to people, build rapport, and ultimately sell why clients should work with you.

Nobody who enters such a nurturing service industry like massage therapy and wants to be in sales or marketing or is even much incline to business aspects of making a business run. But the truth is if we fail at doing business aspects we cannot stay in business for very long!

So I would say, hiring a business coach to help teach me how to properly set up and run a business and continue to coach me through the process and pitfalls of business is what has really helped me succeed even this far!

Marketing strategies, money management, and also learning to build rapport and retain clients vs avoiding all these items and just doing anything you want to, is key to moving forward and growing. Massage skills are only a tiny part of the success in any massage practice!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

What really helped me build the reputation of Dayton Prenatal Massage initially was going out and joining networking groups in person at the chamber of commerce and other women’s entrepreneur groups! I would connect with people and introduce myself and my business. I made some great collaborative connections this way and gained some beautiful friendships!

I also would invite select people to my office that I knew I liked and wanted to have a collaboration with and offer them a free session and chat about what that would look like with them! I usually offer them some gift certificates as a gift for their clients.

Lastly, one of the greatest ways to build a positive reputation in this day and age is reviews! I know I live by reviews when choosing a service to go to, so asking my clients to leave reviews really helps build credibility.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.prenatalmassagedayton.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daytonprenatalmassage/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prenatalmassagedayton
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/daytonprenatalmassage
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/DaytonMassage
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVe3ld0EEhopq1TU3kPOwYQ
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/dayton-prenatal-massage-kettering?osq=dayton+prenatal+massage

Image Credits
Carrs Photography – Headshot photo Dorothy Beam Photography -some of the branding Photos of me at work