We were lucky to catch up with Jessica /Andrew Backman recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jessica /Andrew, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

When my husband and I first opened our business, we thought our business name was a no brainer. As, licensed massage therapists we believed our last name was very fitting for a massage business (Backman). We first opened our mobile massage business as Backman Mobile Massage. We quickly decided our business name needed to change. This time we decided on Backman Massage & Bodywork. After moving and setting some roots in a new state, we reopened our business in Raleigh, NC. Once again, we decided to change our name. We not only wanted our name to stand out we wanted our name and logo to represent how you feel after receiving a massage therapy session with us. After a few weeks of brainstorming, we decided on Refresh Massage & Bodywork. For us Refresh Massage & Bodywork represents strength and relaxation. This is one of the many reasons we chose an ocean wave for our logo. We wanted our business name and logo to symbolize that you can receive a relaxing escape or therapeutic bodywork.

Jessica /Andrew, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Before my husband and I decided to become massage therapists we had never even had a massage! After having our third child in 2018, I started looking into new career possibilities. My goal was to find a new career with flexible hours and something that made me feel like I was making a difference. Thats when I discovered massage therapy. I became a licensed massage therapist first. I graduated from massage school in Arizona in 2019. While in massage school I started giving Andy regular massages. He quickly noticed he was feeling a lot of pain relief after every massage. After suffering from chronic back pain from a recent injury at work, Andy was amazed by the therapeutic benefits of massage therapy. He then decided that after I graduated from massage school, he wanted to go to school to become a massage therapist as well. With 3 kids, crazy work and school schedules, we made it work and Andy was able to become a licensed massage therapist, just a year after I became licensed. Once we were both licensed, we dove right into our new massage therapy careers.
As newly licensed massage therapists we decided to start our own mobile massage business while working at chain spas to gain experience. It didn’t take long for us to notice that most of the big chain spas had a huge problem retaining therapists. Most of these chains overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated their therapists. Not only did they not value their staff, most of the owners of these huge chain spas had NO previous spa or massage experience. Witnessing this made us work even harder to grow our mobile massage business so eventually we could get our own space and work for ourselves fulltime. We spent the first two years of our massage career in Phoenix, Az, working our mobile massage business and for a few big massage chains. In 2021 we decided to relocate to Raleigh, Nc. As soon as we got to Raleigh, we wasted no time reopening our mobile massage business. Once again, we were working for a big chain and had our own side business. It didn’t take long for us to experience the same underappreciation at this big chain like we did at all the others in the past. After six months in Raleigh, we decided to ditch the chains and open our own office. Andy and I provided mobile massage and worked in our one room office for about six months, until we outgrew it. We then found ourselves breaking our lease early to move into a five-room office. This huge move to a bigger office was terrifying and exciting all at the same time. We were excited to have the space to grow and possibly offer other service providers a great place to work with owner’s that respect, value, and appreciate them. We are proud to say we have been in our five-room office for over a year now and are lucky enough to have some of the best massage therapists and estheticians in Raleigh working for Refresh massage and Bodywork.

You won’t receive an average service at Refresh. At Refresh Massage and Bodywork, we want to be known for customizing your session to your specific relaxation and wellness goals. You can gladly request deep tissue massage, prenatal massage, or couples massage with no extra cost. Most spas will charge extra just for a deep pressure massage or to put you in the couple’s room. At Refresh we offer affordable rates and monthly deals to encourage the community to start putting their self-first. We want to encourage everyone to ditch the poorly run corporate chains and start supporting local business owners that treat their team with respect and put their heart and soul into everything they do.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Word of mouth and Instagram have been huge for us. We have some really amazing service providers at Refresh. Word gets around fast when you have a team that is passionate about what they do. Keeping up on our social media pages has definitely helped bring in a lot of new clients as well. Instagram especially has brought in a majority of our new clientele. We really ramped up our social media the last year by keeping up on posting, stories, and reels. It is a lot of work, but we have had tremendous growth by staying consistent with our social media posting.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Personally, we feel assembling the right team for success is very important. That is going to require building a team of providers that all have the same core values and work ethic. As new business owners we quickly learned that for your business to run smoothly you need to be open and honest about your expectations. Fostering a culture of mutual respect and communication in the workplace is going to be essential to your business’s growth.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.refreshmassageandbodywork.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/refreshmassageandbodywork/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/refreshmassageandbodywork/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/refresh-massage-and-bodywork-raleigh

Image Credits
Refresh Massage and Bodywork