We recently connected with Amber Jacobson and have shared our conversation below.

Amber , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I’ve never been a big risk taker, I’ve always aired on the side of caution especially when it comes to my career. At the end of December 2020 I started my business, Mountain Meadow Therapeutics. At the time I was working for an employer and started to realize that I had something unique to offer and wanted to run a wellness practice in my own way. I had to take a pretty big risk starting a business on my own at a young age of 25 and especially at the end of 2020 when covid19 was impacting many wellness businesses. I continued to work two days a week at my job, while building my practice. I can’t thank my previous employer enough for the opportunity to allow me to expand on my own, while having in other words, job security. I was so nervous that I wouldn’t succeed, that I would end up having to add more days back into my schedule or get another part-time job. I ended up diving in with so much commitment and drive, working and marketing myself during my off time, I’m thankful to say I’ve experienced my fair amount of success since then. It’s funny how the universe will support you in that way. I hope this shows people that if you’re on the fence about a big career change, move or something that you have fears around…just go for it, I promise.

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 was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. Growing up, the mountains were my playground. I became a licensed Massage Therapist in October 2014 at the age of 19. I randomly fell into massage school I like to joke, because it was never on my radar, nor have I ever spoke about it. A friend of mine asked if I wanted to tour the Denver School of Massage Therapy with her in 2013 and later that week I signed up for their program. Originally, I wanted to go into forensics at the University of Tennessee, but tuition was pretty steep. After getting licensed, I spent the next few years working for different types of offices, from day spas, to chiropractic clinics, massage chains, and independent businesses. I think if I hadn’t done this route, I’d be a totally different massage therapist. I like to think that over the years I was adding valuable tools to my toolbox to be able to work with a variety of people wanting many different types of bodywork.
Mountain Meadow Therapeutics became my side project to make some extra money while working for another massage company. I didn’t think it would blow up into what it is just two years later. My goal has always been to help people feel better, but as cliché as that sounds, it’s really the end goal and I strive to provide clients with the tools they need in order to accomplish this goal.
Working as a Massage Therapist for the past 8 years I’ve seen a lot of different client/therapist interactions. I got tired of seeing practitioners treat their clients like dollar signs, never establish any connection and send them on their way with no advice or recommendations other than to “drink water”. Mountain Meadow Therapeutics is the exact opposite. I aim to give clients the recommendations I would want post massage, and feel like my practitioner has been authentic and real with me. There’s so much fluffy crap in this industry and I think people struggle to find good, solid wellness providers who care beyond the service itself.
Every service at MMT has been intentionally curated. We don’t charge extra for deep tissue, we don’t try to sell you on memberships and add-ons. Every service and add on I offer is solely for the benefit to you and not to create extra money in my pocket or add unnecessary time to a treatment. With that being said, I also respect and value the time, commitment, knowledge and energy I put into each and every situation, so therefore my prices do tend to be higher than the average wellness space. I feel my intentional work reflects that.
One of the most unique services I offer are outdoor mountain massages. These services are a luxury treatment within the semi-remote rocky mountains offered roughly May-September. Taking all risks into consideration, these sessions are designed for the ones in tune and in touch with nature, the mountains, and the healing that happens while receiving a session surrounded by trees. Please view our website or reach out to [email protected] for more information.
MMT has an office located in downtown Golden year round as well.
My massage focus is a combination of therapeutic, functional work, but also working with the nervous system to slow down and reset. We don’t get time away from the stressors of life. We have to essentially force ourselves that time away from phones, kids, jobs, and to-dos. Each massage starts with a thorough intake to figure out your lifestyle, hobbies, movement routines, life and job stressors, injuries, etc. We want to know it all. From there, I customize how your massage will “flow”. Each session is a blend of several modalities I’ve learned over the years in my career. These include swedish, deep tissue, myofascial, DNM(dermoneuromodulation), sports massage, stretching techniques, and energy work. Cupping is a big part of my practice as well. Many clients have found relief integrating regular cupping to their massages.
Post session, I will send you recommendations based on what I noticed as well as other therapies, stretches and ideas to help you take control of any pain, stress and body aches.
I see too many people in Colorado live these incredible lives exploring and being active in our state, but yet so many people are left with minimal knowledge of how to recover properly and prolong their movement and their bodies from being pain free. Please don’t do that to yourself and know there are practitioners out there that want to help you do these things. You don’t have to be an athlete to want to move better. It should be every humans desire to accomplish even the most simple of tasks without restriction, aches and pains.

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

Wellness is a tricky field. There’s so many people offering the same type of work, but in such individual ways which makes us so unique at the same time. It makes it hard to find really devoted practitioners sometimes. Luckily, Colorado has such variety and our wellness industry is saturated. The last 8 years I’ve witnessed and experienced myself a variety of wellness practitioners. the one thing that remains true on both sides of being a client and a practitioner is authenticity and compassion. Remaining authentic and being real with clients goes a long way. I feel like much of my retention is obviously the work they’re receiving, but also how much effort, time and attention I give every client. I tend to go out of my way to keep track of the littlest details, such as the name of a clients dog or keeping track of their hobbies. Whether you agree or not, knowing these little details make a huge difference to someone and also plays a major role in how their bodies feel tension which is helpful information for a session. I think ultimately in the end, it has made me a better massage therapist and yoga instructor. As a client, those are the practitioners I tend to give my business to and gravitate towards. Kindness and compassion go a long way especially now.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

The biggest pivot I’ve taken in my business to date would have to be re-locating my office from Nurture located in the highlands neighborhood to my office in downtown Golden early last year. When I re-located in April of 2022 to my current office in Golden, it was an abrupt change. Abrupt scenarios happened during my time at Nuture, which lead to my location change. I felt like it was really unexpected, everything happened within a week or so. I was already living in Golden and knew I wanted to have my practice in Golden as well. That was my long time goal and I basically jumped off a cliff blind and had the biggest pivot of my career.
From a business standpoint, it took a lot of work and a lot of money, neither of which I really had. I had my fears and doubts with such a big change. People advised me against it, but I knew where I would be happiest and I ultimately went with that gut instinct. Personally, my mental health has never been better which reminds me, I made the right decision.
I’ve always thought that if you don’t put yourself in uncomfortable situations, you will never grow and you’ll tend to stay in your “comfort bubble”.
I feel extremely grateful that Golden has fully supported both myself and my business since my office relocation. I think sometimes you just have to go for it, just like taking risks.

Contact Info:

• Website: mountainmeadowtherapeutics.com
• Instagram: @mountainmeadowtherapeutics
• Facebook: Mountain Meadow Therapeutics

Image Credits
Liz Torres Anetta Odnoralova Francesca Chiamulera Richard Edens