Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nikkole Rodgers. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Nikkole, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the story behind how you got your first job in field that you currently practice in.
Craigslist. I was really lucky, My first job was at a sports medicine clinic in Santa Monica. They only worked with professional athletes and celebrities. I provided mobile massage for about year. It got kinda slow during certain season’s or else I would’ve stayed longer. During that time I was able to work with many celebrities and athletes but my most memorable client was Kevin Garnett. I remember I was going through a really rough time. I even showed up to this mansion in a bucket lol and parked at the end of the driveway because I was so embarassed. At the end of the session ,he wanted to tip me but we weren’t aloud to take tips .This man look me dead in my face and said “Don’t block your blessings” He gave me really good advice that day and told me I was going far in therapy. If I ever saw him again I’d thank him again for that moment. It’s always stuck with me. Shout out KG and his blessing!!!
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 honestly think a lot of people don’t know about me but a lot of people do. It’s interesting. I have a lot of accomplishment and great experiences but I’ve also kept it pretty private. It’s like I just don’t know how to put my full story together yet. You know? lol I also like to give my clients privacy. I’ve massaged all over from million dollar mansions with celebrities to trap houses. Sounds drastic but I’ve found myself in the most random places doing massages but hey, growers need body work too. I do feel like at this current time I’m kind of like a hidden gem and I blame myself. Although I’ve worked my way up to be referral based, I defiantly feel like I haven’t celebrated too many of my major wins publicly & that could’ve pivoted me forward if more people knew about my resume. I’ve been a massage therapist for seven years and I’ve massaged in almost every industry cannabis, casino, sports medicine, day spa, nail salon, medical clinic, Chinese foot spas, corporate chair massage, private mobile massage & even my own private loft. Currently I’m still providing house calls, focusing on Youtube & making massage music. I think I’m most known for my deep tissue skills. “ I’m heavy handed for real”,lol .
I’ll always say what sets me apart from people is just my individual touch because you’ll never find anyone who’s exactly the same. Thats what I love a lot about massage. No touch will EVER be the same. A lot of my clients try and tell me I’m the best and that my work is a spiritual experience. I don’t believe anyone is the best. I believe we were all blessed with the gift of touch and were here to help a certain amount of people. We can’t massage everyone in the world. So whoever I’ve helped, that’s who I was supposed to work with in my time. Many people have been really grateful. I would describe my work now as deep pressure, sinking in and getting in a lot of deep places that you didn’t know existed. I believe massage is mental, emotional and lastly physical. We just assist you to release and maintain that energy trapped or keep you balanced. . It’s an amazing feeling when you find a therapist you connect with.
These days like I said, Im finally acknowledging my wins.I’m proud of a lot of things. I’m proud of myself for landing my first job in sports medicine with professional athletes like Kevin Garnett, experiencing almost every industry and taking risk even when I got fired a lot, having two studios, landing my first big corporate deal with Instagram, currently massaging for Lena Waithe and Cynthia Erivo, starting my YouTube journey and soon to be starting my music journey. I also feel in regards to my work, I worked with a lot of people. I wanna help myself now though. I need to. I think that’s why I love Youtube. It’s like its my turn now. I can travel the world and try different spas and still massage as well but not like before, That part of my journey is slowly fading. I still have so many massage goals. I still want to own a big space later on in my spa girl journey.
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
Taking care of our bodies. The irony of it all is we really do rarely help ourselves, Imagine having a gift to help people and you can’t take your own arms off and help yourself. That used to make me depressed after a long day. People praising you for a craft you’ll never truly understand. It’s really important to find your body workers for self as well. You really will grow resentment and feel stagnant if not. Also when you receive body work it’s helpful to feel what other therapist are doing. Maybe you’ll learn something about your work or a new move. You’ll also need to stay up to date with technology and what modalities are currently trending. You could profit off that. Right now Lymphatic drainage is trending. A therapist could take a class about sculpting & add a sculpting / lymphatic service. It’s many ways now to work less & still massage like using Youtube & Tick Tok. Normal people who don’t know anything about massage are profiting from ASMR on these apps.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Word of mouth!! Referrals make my world go round. Can’t thank my clients enough for spreading the word about Massage by Nikkole.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/MassagebyNikkole
- Instagram: massagebynikkole
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@massagebynikkole
Image Credits
MBN