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

Samantha , appreciate you joining us today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.

How Losing Everything Gave Me Everything

Once upon a time, I was an aerial acrobat—flying high, flipping upside down, and making impossible things look effortless. Until the day my shoulder gave out.

I couldn’t lift my arm past 90 degrees for a year and a half. Try brushing your hair like that. Try doing life like that. My career? Over. My identity? Shattered. I spiraled—physically, emotionally, professionally. Depression hit hard.

So I did what anyone in pain and desperate for answers would do: I went to school for physical therapy and while in school went to actual physical therapy.

Big mistake.

I sat through sessions that felt like bad jokes—generic exercises, zero hands-on care, and a whole lot of “you just have to be patient.” I finally walked out. Not because I was better. Because I couldn’t take the BS anymore. I was also in school for PT and felt defeated. Was this really what I was going to school to become? A person who couldn’t help?

Thank whatever higher power you believe in that I had a background in massage therapy. I found an incredible mentor—someone who actually understood chronic pain, who didn’t just check boxes but got curious about what the body was saying. In three sessions she fixed my shoulder where doctors, chiropractors and physical therapy (the career I was in school for) failed me. I soaked up her continuing ed like my healing depended on it. (Spoiler: it did.)

So there I was- fresh out of school with an education and a license to help people. Thank all my lucky stars for my own injuries that helped me truly understand how to help people. I tried to bring real healing into the clinic. I taught people how to care for their bodies outside the 60-minute window. I touched patients—with purpose, to give them relief.

And you know what I got for it?

Reprimanded.

PTs told me not to use manual therapy. “Don’t make them feel too good on day one, or they won’t come back.”

I wish I were kidding.

That was my breaking point. I was done playing by broken rules. I opened my own space, built my own program, and gave people what I wish someone had given me—tools that actually work, that you can use on your own, to heal and feel better every damn day.

COVID tried to shut me down (literally), but all it really did was move me online and make my mission louder.

Knot Now Therapeutics was born out of pain, rebellion, and a deep desire to say: You deserve better.

And better is exactly what I teach.

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’m the founder of Knot Now Therapeutics, and I help active adults who are sick of chronic pain and tired of getting the runaround from traditional medicine. I specialize in teaching people how to actually fix their own bodies—using a combo of self-massage, movement, and education that puts them back in charge of their health.

How I got here? Long story short: I used to be a professional aerial acrobat until a shoulder injury took me out. I couldn’t lift my arm over 90 degrees for over a year. I went to physical therapy thinking I’d learn how to fix myself, then worked in the PT world for over a decade—only to realize the system is built more around insurance billing than real healing. I got reprimanded for helping people feel better too fast, told not to touch patients (because if they improved too quickly, they might not come back), and watched too many people stay stuck in pain. So I walked out. For good.

What sets me apart? I’ve been the patient. I’ve been the provider. And now I’m the coach who says what no one else will: healing shouldn’t be a mystery, and you don’t need a prescription to get your body back. My 3-month online program teaches people to reduce pain, increase mobility, and take care of themselves for the long haul—without being dependent on endless appointments.

I’m most proud of turning what felt like the worst season of my life—career loss, chronic pain, and complete burnout—into a business that actually helps people feel better. Like, noticeably, permanently better.

If you follow my work, you’ll get real talk, no fluff, and practical tools to help your body feel good again. I’m not here to fix you—I’m here to show you how to fix yourself. Because that’s what real wellness looks like.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I opened my own studio, it felt like the start of everything I’d worked for—finally, a space where I could treat people the right way. No red tape. No insurance drama. Just real healing.

And then… COVID hit.

Like so many small business owners, I had to shut my doors. Just like that. The dream I’d built—gone in a matter of days. No backup plan. No income. No clue what was next. I had a moment (okay, several) where I thought, Well, this is it.

But something in me refused to quit.

I realized if I couldn’t help people in person, I’d have to figure out how to help them online. Only one problem: I knew absolutely nothing about websites, filming, editing, or running a virtual business. I didn’t even know where to start. But I knew I had to start.

So, I got scrappy. I Googled everything. Watched tutorials. Filmed classes on a phone duct-taped to a shelf. Spent hours editing videos I wasn’t sure anyone would ever watch. I failed a lot. I also learned a lot.

Then came the big leap: I sold everything I owned—literally. My furniture, my gear, my apartment full of stuff that didn’t matter anymore. I packed a suitcase, left the country, and doubled down on building this dream from the ground up.

Why? Because I believe in what I do. I believe people deserve to feel good in their bodies. And I refused to let a pandemic stop me from getting that message out into the world.

That mess of a year turned into the most liberating, terrifying, and transformational chapter of my life. Knot Now Therapeutics became a fully online program that now helps people across the globe reduce pain, increase mobility, and finally get the relief they’ve been chasing for years.

Was it scary? Absolutely. Was it worth it? 1000%. Because I didn’t just pivot—I rebuilt. And what came out of that rubble was better, stronger, and way more badass than anything I had before.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Honestly? What’s helped me build a brand in this market is a mix of really good friends and the power of social media—even when I have no idea what I’m doing half the time.

I’ve been lucky to have friends who believed in me from day one. The kind who share my work, hype me up, and remind me why I started when things get hard. That kind of support? You can’t buy it.

And then there’s social media. It’s been a game-changer for connecting with people who need what I offer. I’m not a content wizard, and I definitely don’t post as consistently as I should, but I show up. I keep it real. And that’s what people connect with—real stories, real struggles, real solutions.

It’s not about being perfect. It’s about being useful, authentic, and just brave enough to put yourself out there—even when the algorithm isn’t your best friend.

That’s what’s built this brand. And I’m just getting started.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.knotnowtherapeutics.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knot_now_therapeutics
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samantha.beckton
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KnotNowTherapeutics