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

Hi Judith, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.

Right after massage school in 2012, I knew that as a second career I wanted to go into business for myself. Entrepreneurship was always in the cards for me since both of my parents were entrepreneurs and I grew up watching them run businesses. It was important to me that, as a wife and mother of two, I would have the flexibility of planning my work hours and my work load around my family’s needs. I always strive to find a good work-life balance.

And to me, entrepreneurship would provide that.

I first started out as a mobile massage therapist. When the client base started growing in 2018, I devoted more time to work. I knew that it was time to lease a studio to work out of. My clients happily scheduled their appointments, and it felt great to be able to welcome them into the relaxing space that I had furnished and created for them. It was a great two years of providing massage services in that space but 2020 the pandemic hit and I was forced to shut down. The uncertainty of when I would be able to work again face-to-face with my clients forced me to give up my studio space. But I knew that massage therapy was going to be very important to my clients’ physical and mental health during the pandemic, and I needed to find a way to provide services to them. A client of mine offered for me to move into her yoga studio, and as soon as the state of Texas allowed massage services again after being shut down for 3 months, I welcomed clients in the new space. They all followed me to the new space and were grateful that I continued to provide a calm, relaxing space and my services during the time of isolation. Some of my clients are over 60 and were in the high-risk category for COVID. We navigated this time together in a safe way, so everyone was able to receive care and human touch during this unnerving time. My regular clients kept me very busy, and I did not take on new people during the pandemic. I knew my clients well, and they trusted me to keep them safe, so it felt safer to keep the number of people I saw limited.

In November 2020, the yoga studio closed its doors forever. It did not survive the pandemic. A dear friend suggested a new place to move into. It was another yoga studio in town! The owner of the yoga studio had a beautiful cabin for rent on his property, and I immediately fell in love with it and signed a lease.

I felt I had finally arrived at the perfect place to welcome my dear clients in and provide and expand my services. After furnishing yet another studio and picking out art and plants, it felt like home! My clients loved the cabin, and I was able to welcome new people since COVID had slowed down. I am still in the cabin today. The owner of the property decided to sell but I got to stay here! The new owners were so nice and welcoming, I signed a new lease with them.

I am now in the process of hiring my first employee. She will be such a great addition to my business.

As a conclusion, I think it’s always beneficial and important to be plugged into your community. The more people you know, the more you can grow. Connections are worth more than gold.

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

Born and raised in Germany I was set to work in Germany as a kindergarten teacher for the rest of my life. My life plan changed when I met my husband, a USAF service member who was stationed in Germany at the time. Long story short, we fell in love, got married, moved to Texas, and had kids. Now what?  I was forced to rethink my career path because I found out that in the U.S. my early childhood studies did not count—no certificate, no degree. That’s when I took a deep dive into what I want to do with the rest of my life. I was always interested in helping people and making them feel good or better. Massage therapy was introduced to me by a dear friend and fellow massage therapist. She provided her services to me when I most needed them, and I was amazed by the results I got from just one hour of massage therapy (of course, later on, I understood that she is one of the best massage therapists out there!). I thought that’s what I wanted to be able to do for others! This is important!

I signed up for evening classes at a local massage school since my kids were still little and I was with them during the day. 10 months later, I was a licensed massage therapist in the state of Texas.

I now had knowledge about anatomy, kinesiology, physiology, ethics, and hands-on training in massage techniques. I loved massaging people! To see someone come in drained from a stressful day or anxious about their day and leave completely calm and relaxed with no pain in their bodies and a clear mind.

I made that happen for them; that’s what rewarding feels like. After many years of applying the knowledge I acquired in massage school, which was mostly Swedish massage and deep tissue massage, I felt ready to learn more to assist my clients with their physical pain a little better. I took advanced classes and added more complementary services, like cupping therapy and lymphatic drainage, reflexology, infant massage, hot stone therapy, and others.

Then I started noticing that in the post-pandemic world, people needed more. Clients would share more and more with me about their mental health challenges, anxiety, recovery, etc. I understood that the world had changed a little after the pandemic and people needed more. Even more than human touch, and the pain now is beyond physical pain. I started searching for “more” to give. At that time, I found my amazing Reiki master, who stepped into my life at the right moment. I took Reiki 1 and 2 and started practicing Reiki. It was exactly what my clients craved. It provided the “more.” Now about half of my clients come for massage therapy and half for Reiki. Some people alternate between both. I feel fulfilled knowing I can give calm and peace to people in these rather uncertain times. I am grateful to all of my clients for being so loyal to me and my services throughout all the challenges and changes my business went through. I love my city, and I am proud to be able to offer services to the people of San Antonio.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

In my opinion, to succeed in my field, one must really like people! Being open-minded and having a desire to get to know people are important. It is vital to be able to listen and really see people, accept them for who they are, and meet them exactly where they are in life. It creates the trust needed to provide massage therapy services and Reiki. Their willingness to completely surrender to the space, music, and touch is needed in order to heal the body, mind, and spirit. So I am responsible for creating an environment where that’s possible for them.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for me is being fairly good at what I do, loving what I do, and having clients tell others about it. Excellent customer service is a must. Being active in the community is another important aspect. Being visible in the community by going to health fairs to introduce services, etc.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/alamohillsmassagetherapy?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100054368236993&mibextid=LQQJ4d