Ann Ross, Seattle

I got my start in the field of massage therapy at the age of 24 after feeling empty and unmotivated with my career path up until that point.  I found myself depressed when I went to work and felt like my life was a constant treadmill.  I was losing my spark and I knew something had to change.  Another 30 years of that and I knew life would be miserable!

During that time I naturally started to think “what else is out there for me?”  I literally woke from a dream one morning and I just knew that I was supposed to become a massage therapist.  It was like someone had visited me while I was sleeping and had a conversation with me telling me to become a massage therapist.  It was that strong of an intuition!  A week later I was enrolled in school and started my program just a few months later.

My path of self employment started when, after graduating I began going on job interviews.  I kept feeling a strong sense of loss of control over my future each and every time I talked to someone about working for their company, scheduling, pay, uniform etc. The thought of working for someone else and having to give up my freedom was so unappealing to me.  I didn’t want to be back in that position yet again.  I listened to my intuition again and it was then that I decided to become a self employed massage therapist.

The crazy thing though is that I knew NOTHING about business whatsoever.  My school didn’t exactly prepare us for all of the hard work and energy that goes into starting your own business.  I didn’t even know where to start.  I only knew that I wanted to be a self employed massage therapist.  That was the one thing I consistently held onto as I started my journey.

Once I made that final decision, I spent about a year fumbling around without direction or knowledge.  I spent a lot of time just doing a lot of nothing, waiting for people to come to me.  I just didn’t get it!  I had no idea that I had to actually start from scratch and create an actual business centered around ME as a massage therapist.

So after a year of that nonsense I was officially fed up.  My main motivation at that point was to earn enough doing part time massage to leave my daytime desk job.  Something clicked in me at that point and I realized I HAD to take accountability for my success and future if this was ever going to happen.  I had to become my own boss!

I got my hands, eyes and ears on every ounce of education I could regarding how to create a successful business.  I took the knowledge that I was learning and combined it with my own personal life knowledge and created a system that I began implementing.  During this time I was renting a room from a chiropractor and within 6 months of taking charge and accountability for my business, I was consistently booked with massage clients on a part time basis.  I left my daytime desk job that I had worked at for 7 years after only 6 months of REALLY hard work.  I am so grateful to have had my day job during this time, as I was able to put myself through school at night and build up my business during evenings and weekends.  Having that job took the pressure off of me financially while I built up my business.  My main focus while I built up my business was being able to support myself financially.  I was so thrilled that it happened so soon once I figured out.

About 14 months after leaving my secure daytime desk job I opened up my very own massage practice…Urban Healing Arts Studio in Seattle, WA.  Since the day I opened my studio I have been booked consistently and earn a great living.  However, I have begun to feel the demands of trying to keep up with so much work and so little time.  I now have 2 massage therapist that work with me, renting the space while I am not utilizing it.  They have been wonderful in assisting me in my overflow, at the same time working diligently to build their own business.

In addition to subcontracting massage therapists, I earn passive income in others ways that I have become very passionate about through my journey of self employment.  Around the same time I opened up my own massage studio, I began researching ways to earn passive income through my business.  The toll of doing massage full time was beginning to wear on me and I was realizing the importance of planning for your future and earning residual income.  Through my research I found a great business model for myself and became involved in network marketing through the health and wellness industry.

I am also extremely passionate about empowering massage therapists to take action and begin creating their own successful practices, as well as earning long term passive income while doing so.  It’s important that we secure our futures first and foremost, while doing the work our heart desires.  If we work smart, not hard we are able to secure ourselves financially.  In turn we have the power to spread love and light throughout the world one massage at a time!

I want every massage therapist that doubts themselves to know that we all go through fear and frustrations when creating our own businesses.  It’s in those fears and frustrations that a new you will emerge, stronger and more empowered than ever.  You will be amazed at what you are truly capable of.  If a small town girl with no college education can do it…ANYONE CAN!

About this author: : Ann Ross currently owns her own massage practice in Seattle, WA. She is also the founder of www.massagemarketingmentor.com, a valuable, free resource for self employed massage therapists looking for help in creating their own successful massage business.