By Robert Vignoli – Owner: Roman Paradigm Massage, San Jose, CA

When I became interested in massage therapy, I had no idea that I would make a 12 year career of it, nor did I ever think that I would own a small massage business in San Jose, California.

I became a massage therapist while I was working as a PT assistant for a local Physical Therapy clinic, the PT clinic that I worked for offered massage therapy as part of their treatment protocol. One day, I was asked to help out the massage department, when one of their massage therapists did not show for work. I was asked to do a “spot massage” on a patient that had lower back pain, I had done such a good job on him that when it came to his next massage treatment he asked for me.

I was hooked, I thought this is pretty cool, to have someone request you and to top it off, my massage rate for that clinic was more than what I was making as a PT assistant. So I looked into taking more massage classes and found a college that gave me a student loan and a grant for my massage training. I went to massage school part-time and worked 32 hours a week.

The best part of massage school of course, was all the massages that we received on a daily basis, at that time I worked out a lot so the massages kept my muscles flushed and healthy. The most important things that stuck out for me, upon making massage a career, were two things…

1. The freedom that massage therapy had. I loved the freedom that massage therapy had to offer. I did not have to worry about working someone else’s schedule, I knew that as a massage therapist I can work when and where I wanted to. But I have come to learn, that this can work for you or against you.
2. Working as a physical therapist assistant was very frustrating, most of our patients were collecting worker’s compensation, so there was no real motivation for them to do their at home exercises or stretches. And if a patient had Carpal Tunnel Syndrome surgery for instance, we were only allowed to work on the wrist that was affected, that’s it. We could not work the other hand, if they had symptoms there too, nor could we do anything for the neck or shoulders, where in my opinion, most of problems of CTS originated.

The most interesting thing for me as a massage therapist is the human body. I find our bodies fascinating. And because life is so crazy with work, family, and bills we never take the time to listen to our body. Being a massage therapist forced me to “listen” to my body and other people’s bodies as well. Sharing with my clients, what I see and educating them on how to get the most out of life, is very rewarding to me.

I currently do not work as a massage therapist much these days; I own a growing but small massage business in San Jose, called Roman Paradigm Massage. After being a massage therapist for 10 years, I found a partner who had the same dream of opening up a massage business of our own. My partner and I split duties; she handles the “in-house” stuff while I do all the marketing. We built our massage business on two growing trends that we see for our industry.

1. The growing aging problem in our society. The Baby Boomers are the largest demographic population with over 30% of our population. And size is not the only thing that they are the largest in. They are also the wealthiest, spending nearly $2 trillion annually.
2. The spa massage-the spa massage is over rated in my opinion and in most cases a complete waste of time and money. We are the “No Spa Massage Here” facility. We have focused our attention on doing deep therapeutic massages.

Don’t get me wrong, the Spa massage will always be around and will be an important part of the overall growth for the massage industry. What I would suggest for anyone new, or thinking about becoming a massage therapist, is to get as much training as a possible. Do not just go through a 500 hour massage school course, get certified and find a job at some local Spa…do more! Aspire to do more than just becoming a massage therapist. We often call ourselves at Roman Paradigm Massage, “bodyworkers.” Continue to learn as much as you can during your massage career. You can never know enough, nor will you learn everything there is to learn.

Be professional at all times; market yourself to a certain target niche of individuals who need your work. If you want to attract quality clients, you have to match your presentation to this type of clientele. You do this by constantly asking yourself, “is the best that I can do for my clients?”

About the Author: Robert Vignoli is a massage therapist who also owns a small but growing massage business in San Jose, called Roman Paradigm Massage. He also writes a massage blog. This is where Robert shares all his experiences and knowledge about growing a successful massage business.