Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sasha Quattrocci . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sasha, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, what do you think about family businesses? Would you want your children or other family members to one day join your business?

As a new small family business, we are learning! We are learning new ways to relate to each other and where boundaries need to be set around work and relationship.

No, talking about work at 9 pm in bed is not healthy! As a small business owner, it is easy to get caught up in the work. You are passionate about your offering and that passion drives you to want to succeed and share your gifts. We wear all the hats — scheduling and working with clients, cleaning the space, writing client visit notes, purchasing products, making community connections, marketing, advertising, producing social media content, and more. There is a lot tied in!

What has been really helpful for the two of us, as life and business partners, is to continually check in with each other and to set work meetings so that we aren’t passively always talking about work.

It is so beautiful to create with your life partner — you get to learn so much about each other. It’s true that as a whole many of us spend much of our time working, and the most important people in our lives (friends + family), rarely get to know that side of us or maybe can’t even explain what the other person does. For Cody and I, we understand when the other is tired from a full workday and what that feels like on a physical and mental level.

We also have learned so much about each other’s skills and strengths. You get to know and appreciate how the other works and this helps you understand each other in various contexts and situations.

Sasha, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Sasha Quattrocci is the creator and owner of Homebody Massage + Yoga. She is a massage therapist and yoga teacher, with her journey beginning in the holistic wellness field of yoga. After feeling the small shifts in her own life as she practiced yoga, she decided to complete a yoga teacher training as a means of deepening awareness and connection with mind, body, and (unbeknownst to her at the time) soul. In particular, the slow and reflective practices of yin and restorative yoga helped her ease some anxieties and the ideal of perfectionism. We live in a fast-paced world — learning to slow down is a daily practice.

Her desire to guide people in gentle, restorative practices grew when Sasha stepped into massage therapy. Folks deserve to receive the care they need and massage can be a lovely part of that plan — massage is not simply a luxury.

Homebody Massage + Yoga is made up of Sasha and life partner, Cody. Their two-person team is here to help facilitate healing through a range of therapeutic massage techniques, yoga, meditations, breathwork, and visualization techniques. We hope to help folks find a sense of ease + calm and feel at home in their body.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

A lesson that I have been unlearning in my adult life is about the corporate ladder climb and that you don’t have to follow other people’s expectations. In fact, the first aligned action I took was serving up blueberry pie at my last corporate job.

26 year old me was working a soul draining office job. Everything was great I thought — I was making the highest hourly wage I had ever made. I’ve always been a high achiever and I performed well at my job, but I felt there was no heart or color in my work, and on top of that was a toxic workplace environment. Up for a review, I handed my manager my resignation instead. When she said she was about to give me a BIG raise, I said don’t tell me how much. On my last day I served them blueberry pie at our staff meeting.

On I went to work at a bakery for about five months. I was a…subpar baker I will admit now. At least on that scale. (Home baking I can still knock your socks off!) What this work gave me back was my creativity, my soul, and my freedom. My parents were quite confused why I would leave my 9-5 job, with benefits, 401k, etc, to, as it appeared to them, make donuts. I wasn’t making much financially, but creatively I was making lots.

Next I went back to healthcare, this time working for a well known non-profit. It was a pretty great work environment, but again came the time where I felt I had achieved the most that I could in my role and the places for advancement were not of interest to me. I felt stagnant, stuck, and uninspired.

Concurrently, I was completing a 200hr yoga teacher training in Burlington, Vermont. There is a yogic principle known as Ishvara Pranidana. It roughly translates to “faith in the divine”. Cody (my now life and business partner) and I took an amazing trip to Arizona where we had time and space away from our work and where we could really feel that the work we were doing was not fulfilling for us. It was time for a change. Upon return, we both quit our jobs! This was huge for me as it was the first time I had ever quit a job without a plan lined up. Yes, I had savings which helped carry me through, but it felt like a huge leap. Folks, don’t wait until conditions are perfect to make a change, the universe has grand plans for all of us.

A position opened to work as the Office Manager of the Physical Therapy and Yoga studio where I had completed my initial yoga training, and I took it. I learned so much in my time there about how to run a business, marketing, and relationships with community and coworkers.

When this business unfortunately had to close due to illness of the owner, I decided that I just could not work for anyone else or go back to what I had known before. I continued teaching yoga, I started a small business where I sold crochet goods, I baked mini pies (these were actually really good but inefficient), and I worked a couple part time gigs with businesses I really respected. All of these relatively small gigs helped me get through massage school financially (and mentally).

I finally felt so much alignment in work and life that when it was time to start working with clients the business plan right down to its name shown right through, almost like a universal download. I feel so much clarity in our work to serve others, and it comes as a feeling of deep calm and peace. To help other people slow down and get clear on whatever it is they need to get clear on is close to my heart.

I have seen so many clients in just the first two years of business that have found clarity around an injury, work, a relationship, you name it. All by slowing down and discerning what feels nourishing to the soul versus draining. What shifts, small or large, are you ready to incorporate to bring yourself in to alignment with your goals?

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

1. Community Connection
I have been working in the wellness community for about 7 years now and I have been living in this area for about 15 years. In this time, I have made sure to connect with others. One thing I do — I really like to remember people’s names and folks are often surprised when I do. This small act of remembering someone’s name and face helps them feel seen.

2. Word of Mouth
We do excellent work! The work really speaks for us. We prioritize listening to our clients’ needs and helping them attain that during our massage or yoga sessions together. When you can help someone let go of pain, tension, and to feel at home within themselves, they tend to want to share that profound experience with others.

3. Partnering with Other Aligned Businesses
We are all stronger together. We try to support other local businesses when we are able. Sometimes that looks like using their products, featuring their art, or partnering for social media features and giveaways. All of this work makes our community stronger and favors collaboration over competition.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://homebodyvt.com
• Instagram: @homebodyvt

Image Credits

Isora Lithgow Creations LLC