Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jeni Spring, LMT, MTI. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Jeni, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the story behind how you got your first job in field that you currently practice in.

My first “job” as a Massage Therapist was simultaneously opening my own business near Edmonds, Washington, and picking up a few shifts at a trendy spa near downtown Seattle. I was still working full-time at Washington Mutual bank, as one of the online banking customer service desk jockeys – so I was working weekdays in corporate America about 15 minutes from home, I was working weekends down in the city (which involved a big 45+ minute commute) and I was also squeezing in clients that I’d find or inherit through referrals at my office closer to home, about 10 minutes away.

I told myself that as soon as I had 6 clients at my office all in 1 week consistently for 3 weeks in a row, then I’d quit my computer job with the bank. That happened within 3 months – so I quit the bossman and trusted that it would all continue to work out!

I kept the spa job for a little bit and ended up moon-lighting at a few different spas part-time, just kind of phasing through different opportunities to gain experience and learn from the different environments and management/team dynamics…. experiment with all the expensive lotions and fancy massage tables, you know! All the while, I kept building my local practice, which was completely different than the spa vibe.

My business was fed by doctor referrals, and because I was renting a massage room within a group of other independent LMT’s, we all worked together to massage at events very often, helping us all to recruit more clients and refer them between ourselves based on our specialties.

So in my business, I learned early on that I needed to get out into the community to give people a chance to know my work exists, to experience it, and to watch it in action. I was always thinking about how to stand out, how to make my techniques work with what the referring doctor was asking for out of the sessions, and ultimately, I was always thinking about when did I feel solid enough to quit whatever back-up, frou-frou spa job that I had going on in the background!

At the time, my goals were just to learn as much as I could about different aspects of the industry so that I could bring whatever I thought were the best elements into my own business. I was also taking a lot of continuing education classes that 1st year, so as I was growing professionally, I was still trying to expand my skillset to fit what I thought would heal my own clients effectively.

I am so glad that I had found that massage room to rent at Edmonds Massage Center – an opportunity that I found through my massage schools graduate services department. Without Kelly Koz and the amazing crew there, all of whom I am still in touch with, I wouldn’t have been able to start massaging with my feet so quickly, I wouldn’t have been able to feel so confident working with injury treatment sessions for insurance cases, and I wouldn’t have been able to make such a natural referral network with medical pro’s. If I focused instead on the spa job side and tried to grow that, then I don’t think I would still be in the profession. It definitely wasn’t as challenging or rewarding to work in fancy spa environments… it actually kind of felt just demeaning and disenchanting. I am very happy that I was always drawn to the harder way of doing things, and the more rehabilitative, clinical side of massage therapy.

Jeni, 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?

I am a Licensed Massage Therapist, but mostly I’m a Massage Educator: and I do it all with my feet! I have been massaging professionally with my feet since 2003, teaching others how to massage with their feet since 2009, I was a bosslady between 2012-2021 giving other Barefoot LMT’s a place to grow into the profession, and I’ve been managing a massage continuing education company with a team of other Barefoot Massage educators since 2017 – where we are helping even more of the massage profession learn how to massage with their feet and maintain long, successful careers.

My local business where I massage is Heeling Sole Barefoot Massage, and my continuing education company, (where LMTs can learn how to do what I do) is The Center for Barefoot Massage. Both businesses are built around the skillset that I’ve worked so hard to study and refine over the years – myofascial barefoot massage.

Heeling Sole was the first massage clinic in the nation to ONLY offer Barefoot Massage services from the entire staff. All day every day that we were open, my team and I would massage anyone and (almost) everyone who walked through our doors using some lineage of Barefoot Massage… no hands, only feet! I got us all trained in everything we could get our feet on, and I helped train us all even further through my own insight and experience. That constant action of massaging with our feet, however, shined a bright light on a lot of the potential repetitive strain injuries in the approach of ~only~ using feet, as opposed to just occasionally using them… which since it had never been done on this scale before, my little Heeling Sole business was exposing a big plot hole in the barefoot massage industry! So through the years of refining how my team and I applied techniques to a more diverse population, I started to create a signature service and unique approach to the way we use our feet and bodies in a sustainable way. This new standard of how to provide myofascial barefoot massage techniques effortlessly, is eventually what kickstarted the style we teach at The Center for Barefoot Massage. (And the main game-changer that sets this style apart from the others is “The Strap” – a single piece of equipment that I have intuitively used since way back in 2003 at my 1st massage office in Edmonds – which is now commonly found in any myofascial ashiatsu providers work station.)

I’m most proud of my strap, honestly, and how much that changed the Barefoot Massage for the better. It changed how I can easily do the work, and how it continues to help other Massage Therapists work smarter, not harder. The enormous boom of Barefoot Massage since 2017 when the Center for Barefoot Massage opened is what I’m second-most proud of. This used to be such an unheard of, rare, elusive, weird massage thing. But now, Barefoot Massage is getting more normal every year! Not only has the public become more aware of what the work is, they are seeking it out and expecting it to be available across the nation! Additionally, the massage profession now has so many options to train in the work, and providers can continue to grow throughout a long career as Barefoot Massage therapists. It’s amazing, and I’m so glad to be such a big part of its growth.

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

I think training is definitely the first and most important thing for a Barefoot Massage Therapist – but the most helpful to their success is definitely just getting experience in the work.

Feel something 1,000 times to soak it in.
Do something 1,000 times and then you might know it.
Do the same thing in 1,000 different ways, in 1,000 different places, and then you might understand its best uses.
Have 1,000 different experienced Barefoot Massage Therapists each do that thing on 1,000 different clients, and then we might find better ways to do it.

I’ve tried to use my 20 years of experience, combined with the years of experience of those who work with me, to better know the uses and the potential of Barefoot Massage. Considering the average massage career is 3-7 years long, and every Barefoot Massage Therapist that I hang out with is at least doubling that statistic, there is something to massaging with your feet that is keeping people in the profession longer. I think that giving yourself time to gain experience in this work, and actively seeking out training from those who have well above average experience using Barefoot Massage, THAT kind of focus and patience is a big key to succeeding in this field.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

“You must unlearn what you have learned” is something Yoda said. I continually have to relearn new ways of doing the same thing so that I can unlearn my habits and either soften or firm up my stance on a subject. There isn’t always only one way to do that one thing, whatever it is. (Even if you are super stubborn like me and pretty sure your way is definitely the right way!)

The back story to that is simply just life. I am an equal part rule follower and rule breaker type of person. I usually don’t break the rules until I know the rules really, really well. So it’s a conscious decision to rebel on my part… usually. I’m also the kind of person who will follow the GPS directions to get from point A to point B easily, as I am supposed to, but I will also purposely get lost in a new part of town and try to figure out my way back, only turning on the directions if I can’t do it out on my own. I like some blend of loyalty and self-sufficiency.

When I first learned Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage, it was the light, the truth and the way. Then I learned Fijian Barefoot Massage, and it changed a bit. Then I learned Barefoot Sports Massage, and about 5 different versions of Thai Massage, and Shiatsu, and Rossiter, and Breema, and Yoga, and Roll Model Method, and the Trager Method, and Myoskeletal Alignment and Structural Integration …and all the new things echoed ways of doing my previous things in different ways. I keep getting better and more confident at the original thing because of the light that all the different new ones shed back onto it.

I think you should learn all the rules and all the ways to get to the same point, only so that you can bend some rules that need to help you get to “point b” more efficiently.

Unlearning what I have previously learned, as if every continuing education class I step into is the next wave of my Jedi Training, has continually helped me grow into a better Barefoot Massage provider, practitioner, and educator – I’m even better at receiving the work as a client!

(For the record, I’m still usually right, though… because I’ve already tried to break the rule and have already refined how to do the thing, so I’m usually teaching you the most awesome version, LOL!)

Contact Info:

• Website: www.CenterForBarefootMassage.com
• Instagram: @CenterForBarefootMassage
• Facebook: @CenterForBarefootMassage
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/jenispring
• Youtube: www.Youtube.com/CenterForBarefootMassage

Image Credits
Heeling Sole Barefoot Massage