We were lucky to catch up with Elena Caicedo recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Elena, thanks for joining us today. Is there a heartwarming story from your career that you look back on?

My practice is intentionally body positive. I am very aware that, even with my conservative draping techniques, being undressed on the massage table is a vulnerable place to be. Massage can be beneficial to anyone, regardless of weight, stretch marks or body hair. I have been seeing one of my wonderful clients for about four years. When she first started coming to see me, her weight wasn’t where she wanted it to be. She would even go as far as to apologize to me for her body.
She decided to get weight loss surgery and has totally changed her lifestyle.
I told her I’m happy that she is feeling happier in her own skin, but her body and her person were always valued by me. She recently told me that I was a huge part of her journey to loving herself and her body before and after her weight loss surgery.
Let me tell you—I ugly cried when I heard that. My goal is to make people feel good in their own bodies, no matter how they may look! To hear that I had played a positive role in her journey absolutely reaffirmed my work in body positivity.
Of course I believe it is important for us all to eat healthy foods, exercise regularly, and drink plenty of water. However, I am aware that you can do all of those things and be many different sizes. Even if you’re not doing all of those things, I am not here to judge you; I’m here to support you. I intentionally invested in a massage table that holds anyone’s body weight, so bring me your stretch marks, cellulite, rolls, and body hair! All bodies deserve access to quality therapeutic massage.

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

After trying a few different career paths in my early twenties, I realized I wanted to pursue something where I could help people on an individual level. Massage therapy appealed to me the most, because I had previous personal experience with the power of therapeutic touch. When I was young, my step-dad suffered from chronic back pain. He would help me figure out where his “knots” were, and I would massage them. This was beneficial and helped with his pain management. Seeing how this positively impacted someone I loved always stuck with me, and I believe played a role in leading me to therapeutic massage.

I now practice therapeutic massage techniques, where I focus primarily on pain management and injury recovery. My favorite modality is ashiatsu oriental bar therapy, where I use my feet as the massage tool. This helps deliver even deeper pressure. I am incredibly proud of my ability to make people feel comfortable on the massage table. It can feel vulnerable to be undressed in front of someone, even with my conservative draping techniques. My goal is to help as many people as possible feel comfortable in their bodies, both emotionally and physically.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

My business partner, Daniel Musser LMT, is an incredibly talented massage therapist and just so happens to also be my husband. He and I met in 2011 working at a pizza place in Johnson City, TN. I started my massage career around the time we got married. He ended up getting so interested in my job that he decided to attend massage school, too. We worked at a couple of the same places, and soon after I opened Amethyst Massage we decided to join forces and make it a “mom and pop.” He joined me about two months after I opened. His talent and passion for massage and business sense has been one of the best assets to our studio.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

One of the best qualities I believe I possess that helps me thrive at what I do, aside from my direct massage training, is my strength in emotional communication. Although physically, my focus is on soft tissue manipulation, people often experience emotional releases during massage or just have big feelings from life in general come out. Being able to hold space for people to experience their emotions is important for me as a massage therapist, because I believe mental and emotional health is just as important as physical health.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://amethystmassageknoxville.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amethystmassageknoxville/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/amethystmassageknoxville

Image Credits
Ellie Royce photography