We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Denise Leslie a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Denise , thanks for joining us today. Day to day the world can seem like a tough place, but there’s also so much kindness in the world and we think talking about that kindness helps spread it and make the world a nicer, kinder place. Can you share a story of a time when someone did something really kind for you?

I was scaling up my business moving from a small office with 3 rooms 975 square feet into a retail space in downtown Sandy Springs. 1700 square feet. Complete buildout required. The owner of the strip mall for his reasons did not want to rent to me even though my business and personal credit was great, the required deposits where made, my business plan was forwarded to him, the working capital and bank statements where all in alignment with what wax required for the space- my broker wanted me to move on abs look at other opportunities in the community but I wax firm that the space he owned was the space for me, so I went to his office and met with him. He shared with me that over 50 years he has seen multiple small businesses fail when not prepared. I asked his with all my heart should I be scared- instead of answering my sincere question he looked at me and said young lady I will lease you this space. ThT was the end of that. I am now signing my second lease with him, and he is very proud of me to this day.

Denise , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Denise Leslie- I was born with the desire to help people, my soul has always been compassionate, and empathetic for people. Once my children where in high school I decided to enroll into massage therapy school at Atlanta School of Massage. At that time in 2010 Letisha Allyn owned the school, because of her story, passion, and live for healing I enrolled in her program. Once I graduated I was given a opportunity to work on medical studies which I did, after my studies where complete I decided I wanted to open a private practice that works only with clinical massage patients, & Sports massage rehabilitation and performance.I wanted to work with people to help them- I had no idea I would have such a thriving practice with employees. I am so grateful that other therapist want to work with me because they align with my vision, & mission. The most valuable asset is our time, & talents being able to lead coach abs development therapist is a honor.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

In 2017 I received a call from a referring physician- the doctor just diagnosed a 12 year old with cancer-The request was that I treat the patients mother for stress, & anxiety so that she could support her daughter through the treatment that needed to happen. Once I consulted with the mother she could not afford my services, so I moved on with my day and went home that evening and could not sleep, although I was very tired. I decided to meditate & pray which lead me to treat the mother of the young patients no charge. I had to convince the mom that it was ok- after over a month I started the paper work for my non profit healing hands- I am so grateful to be able to help people that are underinsured and financially disadvantaged.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When Covid-19 hit our community in 2020 of March I really thought we would be home for 2weeks. It came to be that we had to stay home abs could not work. I became so overwhelmed with keeping my staff paid, calm, and productive during the days- owning a massage business that meant thinking outside the box. My accountant brought me all the documents I needed to apply for PPP but my bank was not responding to my application- weeks turned into a month a month went into two- funds where very low- I stopped sleeping at night which means I was stressed out. I ended up emailing every single director in the SBA personal messages telling my story. The director of the SBA from Washington DC called me back the very next morning- within 12 hours I had all the PPP, & IEIDL funds into my account. I kept my team busy by calling all our patients and offering them links to support, keeping them in the loop of how our business was planning to open once all the political restrictions where lifted. I am very proud of the emails I sent because had I not done that I would not be in business today.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.livelifepainfree.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/medicalsportsmassage/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/livelifepainfree911
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denise-leslie-77975893/

Image Credits
Lauren Liz Photo