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

Hi Jennifer, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I worked at a psychiatric hospital for almost a decade rehabilitaing patients dealing with mental illnesses. Some patients would have poor impusle control when they were upset and angry. During those meltdowns, patients would destroy hospital property such as breaking phones, throwing computers across the nurse’s station or putting holes in the wall etc. Some consequences for those behaviors included administration of emergency medications, the patient may be arrested or potentially have to pay repair bills upon discharge. These events would happen so often that it made me feel like everyday people needed a space to break things. And that’s how Smash Therapy was born. A therapeutic space “For Everyday People Who Need a Break”.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am mental health professional and a professional boxer. With the combination of these two life aspects, I created Smash Therapy because I know that people could benefit from having a private physical, mental and emotional outlet. People can book a room full of items that they can literally break with weapons of their choice. It seems a bit a weird at first because we’ve always been conditioned that breaking things is forbidden but after the first break, its starts to feel a bit normal, fun even. Smash Therapy is amongst other similar business categorized as “Rage Rooms”; however Smash Therapy doesn’t subscribe to being a Rage facility. Smash Therapy focuses on therapeutic aspects and healing from whatever the reason a customer may be visiting for. About 80% of customers are referred/recommended by mental health professionals and for those who are in need of referrals for mental health professionals or aide, we have information on hand. Each month we highlight awareness pertaining to mental health such as “Bullying Prevention Awareness”, “Suicide Prevention Awareness”, “Adoption Awareness Month” etc. All staff working at Smash Therapy are either trained mental health professionals or advocates in some manner. Smash Therpay offers the best deals for this activity because we honestly want to changes lives one break at a time.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When I first opened Smash Therapy there was little to no support from the community. It was difficult to sustain the business because when I would participate in vendor events and chamber of commerce meetings, the responses I would get would be “that is hilarious” or “this is crazy”. There were times I would sit in Smash Therapy waiting for the phone to ring or for someone to walk in for an appointment. Even some of my close friends told me I was wasting my time and to reconsider the type of business I opened. One doctor at the hospital I was working at told me that I was encouraging sociopathic tendencies for allowing people to engage in Smash Therapy activities. Long story short, 5 years later Smash Therapy is a household name and has served as a pioneer for many similar businesses.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I am a firm believer in having an online presence. When I first opened Smash Therapy, I sent out tons of press releases to multiple media outlets and only one company honored Smash Therapy as worthy content. After the first story released on Smash Therapy, other media outlets began to follow the trend and were willing to learn more about it. The momentum for Smash Therapy was really strong after being featured in several TV shows and a 2019 Super Bowl commercial. All of this exposure allowed for a strong online presence. It gave tons of content for social media accounts and raised awarenss for future visitors if they ever felt a need to use this type of activity as an outlet. My advice to new business owners is to always insert yourself in the public eye; people don’t know what they need until they are aware that what they need actually exists. So reach out to anyone who can help raise awareness, especially if what you are doing is for the greater good.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.smashtherapyllc.com
• Instagram: smashtherapyllc
• Facebook: smashtherapyllc