Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Marie Moreau. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Marie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Folks often look at a successful business and imagine it was an overnight success, but from what we’ve seen this is often far from the truth. We’d love to hear your scaling up story – walk us through how you grew over time – what were some of the big things you had to do to grow and what was that scaling up journey like?
Prestige Massage had a few predecessors. I did not know what I wanted to call my business. One name I came up with was, “Deep Forest Escape.” After being ridiculed and mocked by family I quickly let that name go. Another idea was “Pain Relief and Solutions.” That name was so plain and boring. I wanted the name to have life. Something unique that wasn’t a tongue twister.
Many therapists include words like, touch, angelic, therapeutic, pain, or knead in their business name. I wanted something different from the masses.
I went to the local flea market and gave the visual directive to the graphic designer to create my logo and BAM in February 2016 for $180 dollars, Prestige Massage was born.
I got 1,000 thousand business cards for $40 bucks and I rented a business suite to get my private practice up and running. I was so excited, I couldn’t wait to quit my spa job.
After my grand opening, I got a call from an employee at Groupon who said being on their platform would get me “exposure,” and would fill my appointment schedule. Groupon indeed sent a plethora of clients. I thought it was great, they would come receive my amazing massage and they would become regular clients.
Groupon took my regular rate of $70 slashed it in half on their site and split the proceeds with them receiving the lions share of the money. I thought, that’s ok they have a large platform, they will help me get my name out there and when I have a steady base of clients I’ll leave.
I quickly learned that the people of Groupon were bargain hunters always looking for the next best deal. They came, got their massage and were never seen or heard from again. Others who really did like my massage wanted to continue paying the Groupon rate which I was adamant against. Others would continue coming with multiple Groupon vouchers. I told Groupon to add a term and condition that people had to wait 3 months before they could come back with another voucher. So one guy buys a Groupon under his wife’s name! I never even met his wife. Other people would use a voucher then wait a couple of months and send their friends to get a massage using the same voucher.
It was a terrible time. I finally understood what therapist burnout was. I had a full schedule everyday but the clientele were draining. I decided to get off of Groupon because it made no sense to quit the spa only to continue making the same amount with greater expenses.
I put out a couple of adds in a local magazine and waited for the people to come. As the Grouponers began to phase out, no one came to replace them.
Soon I started paying rent and all my bills with my credit cards. That lasted for 3 months. Then all my cards maxed out. I owed more than the credit available on the cards.
Luckily, both the lease for my business and apartment were up around the same time. I let the business go and moved in with family. It was time to get a job.
Prestige Massage hibernated for a few years and now we’re BACK!
I Love what Prestige Massage has turned into. We now specialize in hosting Massage Parties and this time around we are mobile only, exclusively traveling out to our clients.
Mobile massage is very rewarding. My massage table has taken me places I otherwise would have never been and I’ve met people I would have never met if it wasn’t for massage.
Before I opened my suite I did all the research in the world, took classes and met with mentors from the small business administration. I watched YouTube videos, crossed all the tees and dotted the eyes. But when I started my business I heard things that didn’t come up in my research. Things like W-9, 1099, Gross Profit, Net Income. People were asking me to produce :documents” I had never heard of. I realized I had no idea what I was doing. Which was a large contributing factor in my downfall.
But in hindsight and what I tell everyone, it’s okay. It’s okay if you don’t know what you’re doing. Learn along the way. If you never start things until you “have all the information,” nothing in this world would ever be accomplished.
The quest for perfection can sometimes leave us in paralysis. You don’t have to halt everything you’re doing because you’re presented with something unfamiliar.
Just roll with the punches and learn along the way.
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
We are Your Massage Party Experts!
Book the Ultimate In-home Spa Day with us for your next Bridal Party, Corporate Retreat, Girl’s Trip, or Family Vacation. Or as we like to call it, “The Prestige Experience.”
We provide a variety of specialized massage modalities including Swedish, Hot Stones, Cupping, Deep Tissue, and Lymphatic Drainage Massage.
Now we’ve branched out to include event chair massage. You can invite Us to your work place for an Employee Appreciation Day or an event hosted by any Organization.
You can also book a Couples or Individual Massage.
Getting in-home or mobile massages is a concept that is still new to mass consumers. Our objective is to let the world know it’s a thing!
You don’t have to “go” anywhere to find your zen. We are dedicated to bringing comfort, convenience, and relaxation to You!
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Using social media is like perpetually pulling at flower petals. “They love my content, they love it not.” As everyone always says “consistency is key.”
Consistency and vision. You have to know what you want to talk about. You will have good days and bad days. Good feedback and no feedback. Sometimes your hair will be fleekin and other times not. Just get your content out there. You might not like your hair or make-up on that day but no one sees that. They don’t nit pick at your features like you do. They are watching to learn something or to be entertained.
Even if you decide not to show your face, the content you post should be valuable. How will it help, teach, or change your audience?
Sometimes we loose motivation due to lack of results or feedback. There were times I wondered if I should continue posting on tiktok untill I had multiple clients booking me and telling me they found me on tiktok! Even though your following might be small. Even though feedback is unresponsive people are watching. You can’t get your content in front of the right set of eyes if you let the dust settle on it.
Keep pushing and never give up. Take breaks, analyze, take a rest, but get back to it. If we all quit at the first sign of failure none of us would be walking.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
The benevolence of complete strangers is astounding. People I have seen once and never again even people I have never met are the largest supporters of my business. They send me referals, they like my posts and, share my content.
I call them the people of the internet.
Dr. Myles Monroe said there are people in this world who are destined to propell you forward in life. They are out there ready to help you, ready to support your business, ready and waiting to guide you. But they can’t do that if they can’t find you, they can’t help your business if it doesn’t exist.
Contact Info:
- Website: Prestigemassagefl.com
- Instagram: prestige_massage
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prestigemassagefl
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prestigemassage
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/prestigemassag3
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgs4cCzKOnQGIP_4zvw4obw
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/QfxG3hIqb105izeReLPSDA