We recently connected with Christina Acosta and have shared our conversation below.
Christina, 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?
My story of how I established my practice over 10 years ago is a faith journey, which is available on one of my YouTube channels. The short version of this story basically starts with me being in a vulnerable, broke, and truly broken place where I was almost homeless, with no prospects, and in a very delicate place in my life. I was pounding the pavement with resumes in hand, and I came across a room for rent for a massage therapist. I had no plans of starting a business, but I called the number, signed a lease the next day, and spent the next 30 days listening to what I realized later was the voice of God telling me what to do and how to set up business operations for a massage therapy studio. Within 6 months I had 40 5/5 star reviews on Yelp, and full time with 20-25 appointments a week. I have been an MT for 20 years now, but I have been in business since 2012 as Jungle + Grace Massage Studio in Sacramento, CA. In the beginning, the key challenge for me was to leverage anything and everything that I could that did not cost me money to build my reputation, establish my protocols and methods, get myself seen, and whether paid or not, get my hands on as many people as possible. I believed as long as I was doing something whether I was working for free, at discounted rates, etc, it would pay off by means of building reviews on Google and Yelp. If I had to start over in 2023, as opposed to 2012, there are so many things available to us that I had no idea about or had access to back then, because times were different. Now, you have TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Blogs, DIY websites that can easily look amazing, Canva, and now we are in the AI era. I would say it is much easier now to start a private practice in any type of “wellnesspreneur” category than ever. I teach my coaching students how to leverage this the way I did it, but better, within 30 days to launch from scratch and with little assets. I would not change a thing, except maybe how I managed my money and spending habits in the beginning, and maybe trying to find a mentor or business coach right away to invest in.
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 studied Dance Ethnology and Theatre Arts and Graduated from Loyola Marymount University in 2006. The year prior I was at the British American Drama Academy at Oxford University, UK. I also competed in Swing Dancing and similar war-time era American dances. However, I had a major injury that made it nearly impossible to dance again for a long time and had to have hip surgery. Although I was pursuing a colorful acting career, by mere chance, I had the strange idea to go to massage school, due to the suggestion of a classmate. I finished my massage certification in the state of California a month after I graduated with my Bachelor’s degree. The best thing I ever did in my life was get a trade as well as finish my degree. I worked in Napa Valley in the luxury and hospitality industry there, at other hometown spas, and in the corporate spa environment. I also taught business workshops for massage therapists. Over time, by mere chance, again, I ended up being a focal point for local plastic surgery patients. I had prayed to God one day “Lord, I’m bored, please give me new direction as a massage therapist, or get me out of this industry, because I don’t love it anymore.” See, massage was never my passion, it was just something I could leverage. Every time I tried to leave it, I would get thrown back in. So, soon after I prayed that prayer, I began receiving requests for lymphatic drainage and scar tissue support for plastic surgery cases. I never considered or intended to work with that type of demographic. It never slowed down. I have been doing this kind of work for several years now, and am very active in the post-op community. My services not only include lymphatic drainage and scar tissue release but I also perform integrated bodywork and therapeutic massage, amongst other somatic services for women’s wellness. Currently, I am the admin of a 10,000+ member group called Lipo + BBL Recovery Culture to help this same demographic with their Q+A needs to prepare for their recovery season from plastic surgery. I am most proud of writing my first book I recently launched, “Recovery Culture: Juicy Secrets and Strategies for Liposuction, Tummy Tuck, and Brazilian Butt Lift Recovery” which is the most detailed and thorough book out there on the market for plastic surgery consumers to help them help themselves on their recovery journey. To catch my work and my content I can be found at www.jungleandgrace.com or on Instagram at @jungleandgrace
Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?
You have got to be willing to think outside the box. I don’t think like most massage therapists do. I have always been rebellious. Although, in that brief stint I bought into the whole woo-woo new agism witchcraft undertone that most massage therapists start to fall into starting in massage school itself, I found my whole world tumbling out of control. I was no longer focused on my clients, but focused on me being powerful and it began to isolate me. My business suffered too. I found it to be harmful not just to me personally, but to others around me, so I abandoned those practices and followed Jesus. That was the number one most impactful thing I could have done. After that, I was blessed with ideas, creativity, and a sense of being truly able to listen to my clients and find creative ways to help them with their issues that other therapists were not addressing: for example, the relationship between fascia, fat, and lymphatic fluid. I found that with trigger point therapy, visualization exercises, and a vacuum machine I could help this demographic be able to move in their body again. I found that addressing lymphatic drainage alone for tummy tucks, body lifts, c-sections, and mastectomies was not enough, but finding gentle and deliberate ways to touch the client could bring tremendous relief without causing pain. NOTHING is a modality until someone creates it, calls it by whatever name they want, markets it, and teaches it. I had come to find what was standing between me, and the idea I had was my fear of judgment from other therapists. The best advice I can give another MT is to learn everything you can and want, but don’t be afraid to use your critical mind to come up with something new. Further don’t worry about what other people think, because your nay-sayers don’t lift you, or pay your bills.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
Getting those Reviews! During the first year of business I knew that if I could just get 40 reviews, I would match the same amount as another local massage therapist that I looked up to. The first thing I did within a month of opening my doors was I went through every facebook friend I had and looked for their birthday. I would invite them in for a massage for their birthday and as they left I would ask for a review. I would then follow up to make sure they did leave a review. I shared the reviews one by one on facebook and Instagram (it was very new then). I also used Groupon. Now, most massage therapists spit at Groupon. But, I learned quickly that I could use it to build relationships, upsell, and then ask those clients for return business, reviews, and referrals. within a few months, I realized one day that every booking I had for a specific week was all repeat business. I did not go to networking events or offer chair massage. I did not use flyers, or pay a dime for any of my efforts.
Contact Info:
- Website: htt://www.jungleandgrace.com
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/jungleandgrace
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/recoveryculture1
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinaacostaofficial/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClmG6NIMbpzGIjH_O0Yur8g
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/jungle-grace-massage-studio-sacramento
- Other: linktr.ee/jungleandgrace http://www.jungleandgrace.com/recoveryculture
Image Credits
These are my images, I own the rights to them.