[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”3px|||||” da_disable_devices=”off|off|off” global_colors_info=”{}” max_height__hover_enabled=”on|desktop” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”1px|auto||auto||” custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https://self-transformations.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/jordan-scaled-1.webp” title_text=”jordan” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” module_alignment=”center” height=”400px” global_colors_info=”{}”][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https://self-transformations.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Professional_headshot_2_July2018-resized.jpg” alt=”profile picture of Charuta AhMaiua, LMT” title_text=”Charuta Ahmaiua, LMT” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” module_alignment=”center” max_height=”400px” global_colors_info=”{}”][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”1px|auto||auto||” custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.25.2″ _module_preset=”default” text_line_height=”1.8em” ul_line_height=”1.8em” header_2_font_size=”20px” header_2_line_height=”1.8em” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]Full Disclosure: I asked Jordan, one of my employees to share her experience working and training with me.
When I met Jordan 8 or so months ago, she looked tired. When I learned she was so tired after only 1 year of full time work, I felt sad for her. An opportunity arose to come on board here at Self-Transformations and I hired her.
I knew I would need to train her up (being only one year into her career) but it was important to me to train her up in a way that would benefit both her and her clients. Afterall, what is the point of making money and helping clients if we are only on a road to being burned out?
The reason I asked her to share her story was because she isn’t tired anymore and looks so much happier. I can book her solid sometimes without even a single break in a 6-hour shift and she doesn’t complain (and absolutely could). I’ve been an employed LMT so I know how hard we work and allow my employee’s to set their schedules within reason and certainly their breaks if they need.
Here are Jordan’s words:
“Starting out as a massage student I was bright-eyed and eager to learn. While I do feel that I received a useful and thorough education, the work took a toll on my body from early on. My instructors in school helped me to correct glaring body mechanics mistakes and told me I simply needed to build strength, that my body was adjusting to something new. I experienced some improvements in my aches and pains during school, but as I graduated and moved into my career issues tended to creep up every now and then, some becoming more persistent problems over time.
I quickly realized that some of the methods that my instructors employed would not be functional for me, such as constant use of my thumbs, which caused ever-increasing pain in my joints and wrists. I experimented and made adjustments to how I worked, with some improvement, but the aches and pains popped up in other places. A fully booked week of massages began to elicit dread and exhaustion rather than excitement, and I wasn’t even a year into my career as a massage therapist. I’d often think that such a physical job must simply take a toll, that’s just the way it is. It’s just how it has to be, right?
About seven months into my career, my boss sent me to training for a new modality and I met Charuta. As a therapist with twenty years’ experience she was a wealth of wisdom, and over time I ended up accepting a position with her. Through our first six months together, with much training and education, I drastically changed the way I work. I stopped using my thumbs, fixed my posture, stopped looking down, and opened my chest, just to name a few issues of mine. I began to notice that there were more good weeks, more days where I wouldn’t feel exhausted or go home hurting.
The good weeks stretched into good months. I went from being physically unable to do more than four hours of massage in a day to successfully doing five or six and not feeling exhausted. All the while I had Charuta as a resource when a new ache would pop up, always ready with knowledge and adjustments to fix the problem. While I still have to be mindful of how I use my body to work and diligent in policing my bad habits, I can work with far more ease now than I used to. Over six months my aches and pains have decreased by well over sixty percent. A career with longevity feels possible, whereas a year ago I was unsure how long I’d last.”
Now, some of you skeptics could say, “You are her boss, she has to say these things.” In a world of so much fakery, maybe. Consider instead that I have a mission, not just to help grow my female-family owned business so I can retire someday, but that I genuinely like helping people and now that I’m 20 years in, the people I truly want to help are massage therapists.
It breaks my heart that people like Jordan are everywhere, breaking their bodies to earn a very modest living. I feel sad when therapists think hurting or being exhausted “is just part of the job” and I feel especially irritated when I hear of teachers in massage school saying things like, “You simply need to build strength.” I’m not especially strong. I’m not especially athletic and I certainly don’t have the super thumbs to use them for deep downward pressure (which they were never meant for). Yet, I can still give 20-25 hours of massage per week and have since I started in 2005 and now, because Jordan and my paths have crossed, maybe she can too![/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,2_3″ admin_label=”Author Bio Row” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” saved_tabs=”all” collapsed=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https://self-transformations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Copy-of-ST_InstaProfile.png” alt=”Profile Picture of Charuta Ahmaiua, LMT” title_text=”Copy of ST_InstaProfile” admin_label=”Profile Image” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” max_width=”200px” module_alignment=”center” max_height=”200px” global_colors_info=”{}”][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Signature Text” _builder_version=”4.24.2″ _module_preset=”default” ul_font_size=”20px” module_alignment=”left” global_colors_info=”{}”]
Chārutā AhMaiua, Licensed Massage Therapist
Owner of Self-Transformations Massage
Specializing in Therapeutic Barefoot, Myofascial Release, Deep Tissue & Trigger Point Therapy
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