My Mindset Shift From Massage Therapist to Entrepreneur

I spent ten years as a Massage Therapist! I started at Massage Envy and Chiropractors at roughly $30 per #massage hour. Next, I graduated to upscale health clubs and spas at $45 after tax and gratuity. Finally, I’d made it to a five-star luxury # spa in posh California, where they charged $240 for my 90-minute bodywork! I took home $2,500 a month for a 16-hour work week in places where women wore five-carat #diamond rings.

Later, I opened my own mobile business complete with a heating pad, silky sheets, and hot packs smelling of clove and orange. I only needed a few clients to support myself, and I had fun doing chair massage at farmers' markets near the beach in Santa Cruz. I enjoyed the flexibility of creating my own hours, building a brand, and continuing to solve muscular tension as my mission. In fact, even though I wasn’t the bubbliest, smiley woman, bodywork kept my heart warm and was my way of channelling my serious streak into my purpose, helping people.

Throughout my career, there was always that pesky #fatigue I was dealing with. I was pretty clueless about the warning signs that my health was changing. My appendix ruptured, hospitalizing me for 8 days, forcing me off work for a month as I healed from a large abdominal scar. I developed food intolerances, then hypoglycemia, followed by adrenal crashes and anxiety. I had life-threatening bowel blockages from abdominal scar tissue. Things progressed until I was too nervous and exhausted to work even for myself.

I had no concept of self-love or the self-care that accompanied it. Even though I was a Massage Therapist, I saw bodywork as a luxury I rarely partook in. I was too busy trying to make enough money to pay my expenses and handle the stress from my less-than-healthy romantic choices. Sometimes I’d pay bills with a credit card. I couldn’t save for peace of mind, let alone retirement, or what I really wanted, my own home. Occasionally, I’d buy something modest from Nordstrom because, besides eating, that’s how I knew how to feel good, and I didn’t want to look like the poor failure I felt like. The more trapped I saw myself #financially, the more my health failed.

No hospital or specialty doctor I visited knew how to address my overwhelming fatigue or digestive distress, so they turned it back on me like I was some kind of nervous wreck. At times, I held walls to walk and lost the ability to drive. Eventually, I just disappeared home to Alaska and left my friends, career, and the warm California sun behind.

Luckily, my devotion to healing paid off, and I came across an article by Medical #Medium. I got tested for the # Epstein-Barr Virus, he claimed caused Chronic Fatigue, along with RA, Fibromyalgia, and MS. It turns out my viral count was off the charts high at 750! My body was in a battle for so many years, and now I had the tools to help it.

I went vegan, then raw #vegan. I even went fruitarian for six months! I continue to detox by eating a highly raw diet, rebounding, dry skin brushing, visualization, and meditation. This way of healing is an investment and is a way of showing myself love instead of eating as a coping mechanism. In a way, getting sick allowed me the opportunity to truly get healthy; without it, I wouldn’t have researched for years or changed my diet for the better.

As I took the dietary side of my healing seriously, I began to give the emotional component more credit. I found a video by #Teal Swan addressing the mindset that makes a person a match to Chronic Fatigue. It was an hour-long interview, and I felt like I was the one sitting on stage. I, too, was a product of conditional love who felt like I needed to do everything perfectly for acceptance. I, too, identified with being an intense, ultra-serious person who inadvertently crowded out fun for the purpose of proving my worth through achievement. I hid my passions and strengths because they were once frowned upon and could be a source of rejection. All this insecurity caused a mental chatter that equaled exhaustion, and fueled the release of cortisol, feeding the virus, keeping me down.

Teal’s answer is to scrap trying to be the person you think you should be in order to be liked. Reach out and connect to people authentically, just the way you are, and ideally without attachment to the outcome. By finding self-acceptance, a person can return to their personal values, as worth isn’t found in another. So, all this became my driving mission. For a year, I wrote publicly every day about my journey toward self-love. I peeled the first couple layers of onion regarding my thought processes, habits, and where they’d come from. My current and past relationships were under raw new filters, and I took responsibility for my interactions. It proved to be quite painful, yet a red pill I’m honored to have taken for the glimpse of empowerment and a stronger backbone.

I experienced so much personal growth in my year of writing that I wanted to surround myself with people who saw potential in their futures and cultivated a generally optimistic attitude. I’d since stopped defining myself as a victim, and said goodbye to the idea of qualifying for disability, which relied on me staying sick. I may not be able to attend a traditional job, but I can hold my attention to a screen for a few hours a day.

With this shift in #mindset, I discovered a group of #entrepreneurs focused on self-improvement. Many are full-time travelers while others live in tropical climates or stay home with their families. They market a business opportunity through social media that promotes not only time and location freedom, but also health. I’ll be honest, the pay structure pulled me in. It seemed so much easier than when I sold Cutco in college. I didn’t have to cold call or convince a stranger to let me into their home. I just had to find other people with the shared goal of working for themselves. Additionally, the company's reputation is simply the best, which is what it takes for me to even consider an opportunity.

My dreams of healing to leave Alaska in a converted Sprinter Van or school bus now felt like a tangible reality versus wishful thinking. After six months of research, I made a sizable investment in myself. It took me three years to pay off the credit card debt I had incurred, but now I was backed with confidence. I didn’t buy a depreciating car or a beautiful short vacation; I bought a career with no earning cap and training that came with support. My life changed literally overnight. My social media feed was full of wins and welcome to the team. After a time, I realized I’d been granted exactly what I wished for: new friends optimistically enjoying life, an amazing income #opportunity, and a bonus, my hope for the future returned.

If you are curious about the community I speak so fondly of, check this link out. There are pictures of the team, testimonial videos, and everything you could ever need to know about how to market a business on social media. Thanks so much for stopping in. I’d love to hear from you. Send me a message.