Happy Wednesday, BG! I’ve started writing for my MassageFIX blog again, catering to our Bowling Green massage clients. I took a break from this in 2023 when I started competing and winning massage competitions nationally and internationally. I also started a company (now retired) that helped 47 state massage competitions get off the ground. I traveled to numerous state championships and worked seven days a week for two years to build the structure for that business. I was inducted into the Massage Hall of Fame and became an International Massage Association Ambassador and Teacher. All of that was very exciting, but also expensive and highly time-consuming. I learned many lessons about business, people, and politics. Some good and some bad. I’m just not cut out for paganistic-cut-throat politics, and believe you me, when money and fame are involved, it gets as wicked as you can imagine. So, I’m back where I belong – here in beautiful BG!
People always ask, “Will you ever compete again?” I don’t know. It took me two years to prepare to hit that circuit with gold as my absolute goal. It’s a lot, but never say never.
However, I haven’t given up one of my original missions when I entered the competition world, which was to reintroduce the lost art of Clinical European Swedish Massage back to the massage industry. I was fortunate to learn this modality in New York in the late 90s from second- and third-generation massage artisans from around the globe who had kept the art form pure. I now accept a limited number of private and group students from all over the world who audition for my training program here in BG. I have trained the last three World Massage Championship Swedish Champions (including me). It is so weird to see massage competitors from all over the world trying to copy my techniques at competitions. It makes me cringe and laugh. Still, it is a great honor to be a part of this artistic revival. One of my former instructors will soon be writing a book on this, and I hope to assist her.
At home, I’m now the new General Manager of MassageFIX, learning from Michael how to be the boss. Whew, if I’d known there were so many details – taxes, taxes, taxes! “Boss” still sounds funny to me because I always see the therapists who work here as “our team.” We all prepare for the clients of the day together, with a critical eye on what they are coming in for. We ask each other for thoughts and advice on the best treatments and protocols for our clients. We share our successes and our failures. We are serious about helping all of our clients. It’s what jazzes us. We have a gifted and caring team, and it’s soon to grow with at least two new therapists in August.
We are also proud to announce that not only has our newest therapist, Noe, learned and excelled in MediCupping™, but he will also be traveling next month to North Carolina to study Tok Sen (myofascial vibrational nerve tapping) under the guidance of my former teacher, a world-renowned Thai Medical Massage Practitioner. Noe has shown such enthusiasm and growth in such a short time with us here at MassageFIX. His future as an outstanding therapist looks very bright.
I hope you’re as excited for this new journey as I am. If you have topics you wish to learn more about or have any “kind” critique, please email me at melissa@massagefix.net. I’m looking forward to connecting with you.
Finally, I’ve decided to scale back my working massage hours in 2026. I will only be available from 8:00 a.m. to approximately 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. This will free me up for many things that I’m currently struggling to find time for, including paperwork, marketing, social media, employee relations, church activities, family time, and writing. I’ve dedicated over twenty-six years to hands-on massage, and it’s time to scale back and be more effective in other areas while new talent emerges. I’m not sad. I’m super excited. MassageFIX is, and will continue to be, the best place to come for solving clients’ soft tissue pain.
