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Another Tale of Success at Massage Envy
"I work at Massage Envy and also have my own massage practice. I get to work on a lot of clients, a lot of bodies...well over a thousand a year. I like working at Massage Envy because the owners are really nice- Jeff and Christina, and they are also the managers. It makes for an easy workplace....It's like, not working. They send me a lot of clients who need deeper bodywork ... I mostly work with athletes and I enjoy practicing many types of massage.
Clients ask 'What is that style of bodywork called that you do? What do you call the massage I just had?' I explain it's like a Cobb Salad...with all the best ingredients. I grab a little from Reflexology, Deep Tissue, Tui Na, Swedish, Myofascial Release, Sports, Trigger Point, Neuromuscular and Swedish. Like an artist painting a picture, you learn from each style, then you throw it out and make it your own. Well that's exactly what has happened in my practice.
I see about 25 clients at Massage Envy per week and around 5 to 10 additional clients in my private practice. I work on mostly athletes- swimmers, tri-athletes, martial artists, volleyball players, surfers, bikers and runners. At Massage Envy I am making $27-$37/hr with tips. For my private practice, I charge the general rate of $70/hr during the week and $100/hr on weekends.
This career gives me the flexibility to enjoy my hobbies. I just started making fine art again and have completed 2/3rds of a large body of mixed media paintings...some up to eight feet tall, with the theme of water. When I complete them I plans to have my first fine art show at an art gallery in Los Angeles.
I also enjoy reading a lot, and prefer texts that are informative. Some favorites are Travell and Simons Trigger Point Manual (thanks to SBBTI instructor John Harris), Stones - Volumes I and II, Ida Rolf's Volume's and Barnes. I incorporate the material I read into my massage, whatever I find that works. At Massage Envy, it's great practice for this.
Building my clientele has taken about 3 years. Now I have regular clients: they come bi-weekly, weekly, every other week, monthly all depending on their issues. For example, last year I had a middle aged golfer come to see me who wanted to work on his mid-range, and get a better range of motion for his swing. In our first session we just worked on his abductors, another session on the hamstrings- we broke up a lot of adhesions. Next session we worked on quads, next the pelvic region. And then we repeated the process all over again. After eight months, it really helped his golf game quite a bit. Now we are working on the upper body.
I love this work because it's not like working at all. I spend my whole day in a Parasympathetic, relaxed, state of being. Most corporate jobs keep you in the sympathetic state, which is the body's reaction to stress. Feeling relaxed all day is a big benefit of doing this kind work. Another is the social interaction, and being able to help a lot of nice people.
Nicola Bandak, 550 graduate, LMT - Artist
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60 hrs. with John Harris 
tenderness and referred phenomena (pain, tingling, numbness, burning and aching) and are often caused by trauma and stress. Trigger point work is highly beneficial for athletes and often included in Sports Massage and Deep Tissue Massage. 
