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

Alright, Joshua thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Often outsiders look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight. Even media and especially movies love to gloss over nitty, gritty details that went into that middle phase of your business – after you started but before you got to where you are today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. Can you talk to us about your scaling up story – what are some of the nitty, gritty details folks should know about?

After about a year of working for another company, (as a massage therapist) I started to do home visits on the side. I was also still bartending part time to help pay the bills while I built up a client base. I was eventually able to quit bartending and turn my full attention to massage therapy. I worked for the other massage therapy business for about 3 years all along the way I was building up my own client base on the side. Everything within me right now is screaming, don’t tell the truth, don’t tell the truth, gloss over it, make it sound magical and wonderful…but it’s not. My first jump off to running my own business was one out of necessity because I got FIRED… that’s right I was “let go”. I won’t get into all the details of that. I will just say over the years I had become jaded and became less than the perfect employee.

So I went full time doing in-home massage visits & I was doing pretty well. It was definitely nerve racking living week to week in the beginning. Eventually I had built up enough business from word of mouth that I was confidently supporting myself. I have to say doing home visits was exciting and fun in the beginning, I was running my own business and I got to call the shots. It was pretty amazing. After a while it too started to become exhausting, never knowing what day you would work or have off, shipping a heavy massage table and linens around, never knowing what the set up will be like, you may have to climb a bunch of stairs with everything. So after about a year of doing this I was approached by an organization that had just purchased a building and were turning the second floor into a wellness community center and wanted to know if I would be interested in renting a room. I was a little resistant at first since my overhead cost was so low and my clients had become used to me just showing up at their homes and setting up. After some serious reflection, I said yes and moved into the Cedar Croft Center.

This was all very exciting. I got to really start building a brand. Here’s the part of the story where you find out it’s not all WOO WOO Rainbows and meditation. There is a lot of behind the scenes work that is involved. I had to teach myself a lot of things I didn’t know about: I had to learn how to create a brand on Instagram, I had to learn how to do my own bookkeeping, I had to constantly try and get new clients in, I had to figure out a booking system for clients to be able to log on and book appointments, I had to keep the space clean & because i was able to see more clients and my book was filling up … I HAD TO DO A LOT OF LAUNDRY… YIKES. Anyone who knows me well knows that it is my least favorite chore in the world lol.

About a year went by, I got my feet under me and things started to even out. I pretty much Knew what to expect week to week. I decided it was time to grow again and made plans to go to the bank and take out a business loan to do it. I had my business plan in place and right before I made my move… COVID19 happened. My plans and dreams had come to a screeching halt. I had to shut down. I slowly watched all my money that I had saved go away while I waited for the government to approve Unemployment for self-employed humans. I was devastated. I didn’t know what was going to happen, I didn’t know if my little business would survive. I was pretty sure I was going to have to close up shop and work for someone else again. That isn’t what happened though. Unemployment kicked in and I wrestled around with depression and then the PPP and EIDL came out and after 3 months of being closed I was able to re-open my business.

The PPP ran out overnight but I was able to get a small EIDL loan, get off unemployment and open my doors again. It was slow going. It was like starting all over again. People were afraid and rightfully so. It took months and months to get going again. Once the COVID19 scar calmed down and things got back to as normal as possible I set my eyes back on expanding the business and that’s what I did. I built out two new therapy rooms and a reception area. I now rent those rooms to other wellness practitioners, Dawn, the owner of Bside Hydration, Leah the owner of TLC Massage & Anita the owner of Healing Water Reiki.

It was important to me to provide a space that other wellness practitioners could grow their own business. By just charging booth rent the wellness practitioners are able to keep a huge portion of the earnings. I wanted people to feel valued and Independent. I do not want anyone to ever feel overworked and underpaid.

I think it is also important to mention in the mix of all of this and during the shut down I decided to start my own product line. This is not as easy as it sounds. You have to make sure everything is FDA approved, you have to play around with ingredients to see what works and what doesn’t … and don’t even get me started on labels…nightmare. This venture has not been a success so far, I don’t have the right location for it and this idea is being put back on the shelf for the time being.

Here is the biggest thing I have learned during this process, Not every idea is going to work and it is definitely not going to be easy. If something doesn’t work, don’t get frustrated and quit, simply say to yourself… well that didn’t work, how can I do it differently next time and keep trying. Eventually you will make it work.

For folks who may not have read about you before, can you please tell our readers about yourself, how you got into your industry / business / discipline / craft etc, what type of products/services/creative works you provide, what problems you solve for your clients and/or what you think sets you apart from others. What are you most proud of and what are the main things you want potential clients/followers/fans to know about you/your brand/your work/ etc.

My first real career was in the restaurant business. I made really good money and I was good at it. I worked every position possible in the front of the house: host, bartender, bus boy, in room dining, server & manager. I worked a lot of hours and eventually it took its toll on my mental and physical health so I decided to go back to school for massage therapy. I had a really strong desire to help other people.

I am most proud of the fact that I provide a space for clients to heal, whether it is from physical pain or emotional pain. I customize each session to fit the clients’ needs. I offer: relaxation, deep tissue, hot stone, cupping, reflexology and prenatal massage. The majority of my client base is deep tissue.

I have expanded my practice to include other wellness practitioners. I provide a space for them to grow their own practice and become their own boss.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Before the shut down I had laid out a business plan that involved a lovely relaxation reception area for guests to relax before their appointment, more wellness rooms and everything had to change once my business was allowed to re-open. I had to change the way I booked appointments, I had to change the amount of people that were allowed in the space at one time, I had to figure out contactless check in and outs.

It was overwhelming and a lot of research and work was involved in implementing this new way of doing things but, it all worked out. I learned that I don’t have to be so rigid in my way of thinking and to be more fluid. You have to kinda “go with the flow”.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Social media is a beast and it is not easy to navigate. It is constantly changing and you have to constantly change with it. I actually had to hire someone to help me. I completely gutted my business instagram and started from scratch around year 2 of being open. I still have by no means mastered it but what I have learned is consistency is a must. You have to decide what your brand is going to look like, color schemes, what content you want to have up and you have to post constantly. I notice a huge drop in follower engagement if I miss posting for a couple days.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.theheartofmassge.com
• Instagram: @anahatamassagetherapy
• Facebook: Anahata Massage Therapy & Apothecary