We recently connected with Dominic Richards and have shared our conversation below.
Dominic, appreciate you joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?
My parents instilled in me the value of hard work and not just doing a job, but doing it right. They taught me to follow through on what I say because dependability is what keeps people in my life I choose to be in my life. They showed me how to love myself for whom I am and not try to be someone I’m not. In summary, my parents showed me the way to be successful and happy.
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 background and context?
I learned a long time ago that I am at my best when working for myself. After the trauma of the 2008 recession, I realized I would be happier focusing on a skill or trade that I can take with me wherever I go, as opposed to focusing on money. I moved to San Diego where I met many holistic oriented people who helped me in my healing. I realized that is who I am as well. A healer. I’ve always played a role as a counselor in my real estate career and realized that’s who I am—not a salesman, but a counselor. What better way to guide and help others than through holistic practice? I trained for 18 months in all realms of holistic practice, but have settled on therapeutic and sport massage. The skill that sets me apart from others is my intuitive style of getting deep into the muscle tissue that need release. I’ve had countless clients with chronic neck, shoulder pain, sciatica, planter fasciitis, tennis elbow, etc who we’re suffering for years before meeting me. Im also skilled in sports stretching to increase range of motion, I’ve had a client as old as 90 who finally is able to reach into the kitchen cabinet again.. These are the kind of results I seek in all of my clients and what keeps me satisfied in this profession. I never knew that focused therapeutic massage can make such an impact on the quality of someone’s life. Yet, it does! Neither did I think I would be doing this for 7.5 years and still going strong!
Have you ever had to pivot?
If there is one that is constant in life, it’s change. Luckily, I’ve been pretty adaptable to change for the most part. I was in the airline industry in the early 90s when the entire industry crashed (maybe not the best choice of words); I worked for Motorola while it sold off its assets and dissolved into history; I was married with a one year old daughter when I realized I was gay. None of this prepared me for the devastation I experienced in the 2008 recession in which I lost everything I ever accumulated, as well as my real estate brokerage firm and my career. After moving to New Zealand for a year to work for a friend, I returned with a plan. File for bankruptcy, abandon my worthless assets and start over in San Diego. I thought I was a salesman and tried several starting positions including home improvement products and furniture. I surprised myself as to how bad I was at trying to convince people to buy a product that may or may not be what they wanted. I finally realized, I work best with clients—not customers. I was never a successful salesperson. I found success in consultation. I had made several friends in the field of holistics and had a growing interest in it. It was helping me heal. It was a no brainer. Upon advice from a friend, I visited the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine (PCOM) and immediately at had purpose again. I’ve never looked back and have never regretted this decision. It’s been awesome journey of self discovery and helping others heal.
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
In the field of holistics, training and knowledge is, of course, important. But, what really matters is a strong desire to help your client. Understanding your client’s needs better than they do should be the goal in holistic health. They come for our help because we are trained and knowledgeable, but if we’re not asking the right questions we won’t have the necessary information to know how to help. We can’t alway expect the client to tell us everything our right. It is our responsibility to delve further. This is where intuition can be very helpful. Does the client flinch or react when you touch a spot on the body? How is the client standing? which areas feel tight? Is the range of motion limited?