We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kristin Burnett (underwood) a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Kristin , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Who is your hero and why? What lessons have you learned from them and how have they influenced your journey?
My Hero would 100% be my aunt Terry. Sadly, we lost her earlier this summer. She worked hard all her life and fought very hard through Illness until the very end.
I told her I was thinking of going to school to be a massage therapist. She always believed in me and helped me in any way possible. She would always check in with me and see how things were going. When I told her I was going to open my own business she was elated! I would I always go to her for advice or to vent. When I would tell her I had too busy of a week she would remind me how hard I worked to get here and “this is what I wanted.”
Basically kind of tough love, but always more than proud of me.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I was a bartender for a long time and realized I needed to do something else. I started lifting weights and learning what muscles I was working always interested me. One day I just decided to go tour a local massage school (Cayce Reilly) and signed up that day.
I loved the building and the feeling I got when I saw it. It just all felt right and I knew that was where I was supposed to be.
I decided to just start my own business when I graduated opposed to working at a spa. I wanted to take my time and go at my own pace and build a solid client base with people who were a good fit. Not everyone is going to like my style and that’s okay. I was okay with building slow and steady.
Fast forward to a few years later and I’m a full time massage therapist with a solid client base. I pride myself on providing a therapeutic, but also relaxing session. I’m more than proud that clients are comfortable with me and feel safe in my presence. Massage can be quite vulnerable and I want to make sure everyone can fully relax and unplug.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
One word. Covid!
When I graduated school I was still bartending part time while I built up my client base. I was finally on the path to full time massage. I had my busiest week ever booked. I was so excited! Boom…March 17th 2020. I had to cancel all my clients and also couldn’t bartend. It was rough. I was working multiple jobs and couldn’t work either. I work hard to build relationships with clients and fill my schedule.
A lot of therapists I know retired or scaled back a-lot after things opened back up. I again was just patient and got back to what I knew. Providing a safe space for clients.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
Referrals! Referrals have been my main source of a client stream. I’ve done events and anything I could think of. I dropped off Easter baskets at schools with eggs full of coupons and got ZERO responses. You just have to learn what works.
I have a few friends who started telling people about me and then that really got the ball rolling. The best part of referrals is that if I get along well with a client and they refer a friend or family member, we are more than likely to get a long too. When I love a place or a service I will tell anyone I can, because I know that’s what works!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Balance and Bliss LMT
- Facebook: Balance and Bliss LMT