2 Massage Therapists and a Microphone

Trigger warning. This episode is a personal story from a Massage Therapist who has had a very traumatic experience that we all pray would never happen to us. 2rmtsandamic.com

Nate is a musician turned massage therapist, turned massage therapy educator. He is an upcoming presenter at the Canadian Massage Conference where he will be bringing Myoskeletal Alignment Techniques. Nate traded in touring as a musician to touring as an educator and he truly loves what he does! Mark and Nate have a lot in common. Listen to Amanda being the third wheel with this new bromance. Check out https://erikdalton.com/ for upcoming course dates in a tropical destination or in a city near you! ⁠2rmtsandamic.com

Rebekah is a soon-to-be LMT in New York who has created a community of followers primarily on TikTok through her videos following her through Massage College. She originally set out to be a Phyical Therapist but decided to take the path of Massage Therapy instead. She noticed that the perception of Massage Therapy online, in her own circle, and through the public’s eyes was not what she wanted to portray. Her TikToks educate people on what massage is, what the education and clinicals are really like, and what to expect when you see a therapist. We talked about the positives that have come from her social media, the hate, keeping yourself safe, privacy concerns, and what her goals are. Follow Rebekah @healedbyparis on all social platforms. 2rmtsandamic.com

We did a recording from our basement this week after a wild week that all started at the gym. This is Amanda’s story from finding out that she has endometriosis four months ago, to being told it’s stage four and you will need surgery right now. I’m sharing this because it is still mind blowing how fast this all happened, what signs I saw, what signs I ignored, and just what the human body is capable of. Listen to my story as I recover from surgery and begin a new journey with aggressive endometriosis. 2rmtsandamic.com

Career evolution is a dynamic and ongoing process that varies for each individual based on their aspirations, experiences, and circumstances. Adaptability, resilience, and a willingness to embrace change are essential traits for navigating these complexities. Check out this sit down we had with Cindy. Cindy flipped her career from Banking IT to Massage Therapy. Although still pretty new in the massage world, she has done and is planning on doing some pretty cool things. Listen in a we rap about her move away from a high paying secure job to her decision to enroll in a massage therapy program, how COVID was a catalyst for her work as part of the Canadian Massage Conference team, moving her treatments from the table to the floor, motorcycles, different philosophies behind goal setting, and her secret 3 year plan… We love a cool conversation the blooms from an episode with no real plan. 2rmtsandamic.com

Joanna is a second time guest and a business coach for wellness practitioners. Her goal is for practitioners to get structure and streamline their practice in order to be successful without burnout. Her approach to coaching is unique and we love her concept of offering value to therapists with her free resources and events. From May 6-10th, Joanna will be hosting the Empowered Practitioner Event for the third time. It’s five days of sessions designed to help wellness practitioners create a resilient business that attracts high quality clients and create steady, predictable income in their practice. This is a no brainer for therapists who want to up their game…and it’s FREE! Check out https://joannasapir.com/empowered to register for this event. 2rmtsandamic.com

Jamie is a former Massage Therapist and the owner of Happy Haüs Studios, an interior design studio whose specialty is in wellness spaces. As a former Massage Therapist and wellness coach, Jamie recognizes the role that the environment has on fostering relaxation, soothing the senses, and providing a sanctuary for healing and well being. Jamie has a Masters Degree in design and uses the principles of Biophilic Design to be sustainable and connected to nature. Listen to Jamie’s journey from Cultural Anthropology to Massage Therapy and wellness to design with some twists and turns of course. Jamie also left us with some do’s and don’t’s of treatment room design. Check out Jamie’s tiered services at https://happyhausstudios.com 2rmtsandamic.com

Sara was brought to our couch by Joyce, a former guest, RMT, and friend who thought that we would love to hear Sara’s amazing story. Sara is not a RMT but is involved in the health and wellness realm through her healing yoga retreats that she runs to facilitate people on their healing journey. Sara is a somatic healing and neuroscience specialist who has a cool backstory that starts with her joining the military at a very young age, meeting her partner, going into academics and neuroscience, starting a family, and ultimately tying it all together through yoga. Listen to another amazing story from an amazing human. 2rmtsandamic.com

Liane is the organizer of the Massage Championships here in Canada and wanted to speak to Canadian therapists and educate them on what this event is truly about. For Liane who is a passionate therapist and always looking to be better, it’s about the experience of meeting and learning from therapists from all over the world, and building community and networking with other passionate professionals. This year she is hosting the Massage Therapy Summit in Laval, Quebec, that will include the Championships, a large tradeshow, and lectures for RMTs. We were joined briefly by Luisa Vargas, the 2023 World Champion to speak about her experiences and why we need to forget the word championships and focus on what matters. Check out the 2024 Massage Therapy Summit at https://sommetdelamassotherapie.ca 2rmtsandamic.com

Agyness is a client and a hair stylist that is on the verge of taking the leap to open her own salon. She asked us for some advice on where to get started in this new journey as an entrepreneur and since we have brainstormed with many Massage Therapists about going out on their own and clinic ownership, we invited her to the couch! Listen to a discussion about opening up a business and what needs to happen to get the ball rolling. 2rmtsandamic.com

Sandy is back for a third time because once again his career has taken a shift and he wanted to come talk about it. When he was first on the couch we talked about his unique style of treating, he returned to talk about a new way of assessing which levelled up his practice working primarily with golfers, and this time he’s back and working in education and giving back to the profession he’s been a part of for almost 3 decades. We talked about massage curriculum, techniques, debates about the evidence behind massage therapy education, how to be a better public speaker and teacher, and preparing students to be great clinicians. Check out an episode with a whole lotta shop talk! 2rmtsandamic.com

Ryan is a mobile massage therapist who lives with his family on a farm north of the city. Like many others in our profession, he got into the manual therapy world after being a patient himself and going through his own rehabilitation process. He wanted to combine manual therapy with his personal training experience to help people dealing with pain or injury to get back to living. At the same time he needed to make sure he was supporting his family. He recently started a Facebook group called Male Massage Therapist Success Network for men in our profession to share ideas and help each other to do well in their career. Listen to us talk about what male therapists may face at certain jobs in terms of clients feeling uncomfortable being treated by men and some ideas of how to diminish these issues. 2rmtsandamic.com

Jen hung out on our couch years ago to talk to us about having a trauma informed practice and what that means. At the time she was working at a clinic that didn’t necessarily allow her to fully practice in the way she wanted to. Fast forward to 2024 and Jen is back. She has taken the leap and is now running her own practice where she can allow her patients who are dealing with depression, anxiety, PTSD, and any sort of trauma or mental health issues to have a place to feel safe and to get the therapy they need. Jen came to fill us in with how her life, education, career, and mindset have changed over the years and how this has helped shape her new practice. 2rmtsandamic.com

Chris is a Massage Therapist and Clinic owner who talked to us virtually during lockdown about the struggles of clinic owners during that time. He came by in person to sit on our couch and tell us about how his clinic has changed, the stuff he’s been doing to better his own practice and improve his skills for his clients, and of course some good stories and shop talk. Listen to some of Chris’ thoughts on business, continuing education, being a male therapist, and what he would do if he won the lottery. 2rmtsandamic.com

Alison is a RMT in Ontario and a very good friend of 2RMTs and a Mic and Massage Therapy Media. As you can imagine, when we heard that someone we cared about was going through cancer treatment, we felt helpless. Alison is doing well these days and wanted to come speak about her experiences and how her life changed completely following her cancer diagnosis. She’s a force this woman and we were super excited to have her come by for a visit and tell us her story. Listen to a very real and honest conversation about Alison’s journey. 2rmtsandamic.com

Sue was a guest on our podcast way back when we first started and we have watched her go through numerous career shifts which included going inactive as a RMT. She is planning a possible comeback to practice and I’m sure many people would be excited to get her hands in their fascia again! Sue says she is not the same person we interviewed in 2018 so we invited her to give us an update on her life and wow. This turned into an emotional chat about life, death, grief, change, evolution, and all the things. Come on a journey with 3 RMT friends catching up. 2rmtsandamic.com

Robin is a Massage Therapist and Certified Lymphedema Therapist in Alberta. She has dedicated her career to educating patients, practitioners, and even doctors, about the lymphatic system and why we should care about it. She started a conference open to everyone called LymphyCon which will be happening in Calgary on March 9, 2024. Listen to Robin educate us on the difference between swelling and lymphedema, and how incorporating lymphatic work into therapy sessions helps with many other conditions. Check out the details of LymphyCon 2024 at https://lymphbalance.com/lymphycon-2024 2rmtsandamic.com

Nelin and Justin are physiotherapists and the owners of Myofascial Release Mississauga. They are very firm believers in the therapy they offer and have developed courses and training for manual therapists to learn Myofascial Release. Listen to the story of how these two ended up down this path and opening up a practice together. Don’t know what Myofascial release is? They do a great job helping us understand what their treatment approach is and why they have so much success with their patients. Check them out at https://www.myofascialmississauga.com 2rmtsandamic.com

Elle is not your average business coach. She was introduced to us by one of our regular guests, Nicki, and we had to invite her on to talk about how she went from Massage Therapist, to business owner, to business coach. She has taken steps in her career that made sense and helped her to continue to move forward and grow while continuing to use her skills and she wants to help others do the same. Elle’s coaching style really focuses on growth and helping her clients figure out what their next steps are. Listen to her story and meet an awesome human who may just be the person you need to help you get to the next level this year. 2rmtsandamic.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Christina is a Certified Massage Therapist in California who honestly never wanted to be a massage therapist. Not only that, she’s also the author of the book Recovery Culture and has built a successful business working with many post-op clients in the plastic surgery world. We invited Christina to come in and talk about her unique niche and her book but ended up hearing a story like we have not heard before. Christina was guided to where she is today and her faith allowed her to trust a little voice that led to the career path she has taken and got her to where she is now. ⁠2rmtsandamic.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠