The Massage Pundit

One week from today, I’ll be turning 50. To me it sounds much more impressive when I say “half a century,” instead of “hitting the big five-OH!.”

I think when most people hit one of those numbers with a zero on the end, they pause and reflect, and I’m no exception. In the previous decade, I married the love of my life, went back to college and attended massage school, and switched careers. In this one, I’ve opened a new business, expanded it twice, had three books published, and gained an entire new family when I met my birth father for the first time.  I’ve crossed a lot of stuff off my bucket list, too.

I counted it as a milestone in my career the first time I got an article published in this magazine, and another one when they asked me to contribute to this blog. In the beginning, I named this blog Massage Collage because I intended to write about anything and everything to do with massage. Over the course of time, as I became more and more interested in the politics of the massage profession, I began to focus on that.

There are plenty of folks writing about how to market massage, and even though I have authored a book on that subject, I have chosen not to write too much about that here because several others are doing it. And there seems to be plenty of advice coming from the bodywork standpoint from John Barnes, Erik Dalton, Ann Caitlin and all the other contributors I admire here, who have probably forgotten more about massage than I’ll ever know, due to their years of experience in this business.Some of these folks have a big head start on me.

In case you haven’t noticed, I have refrained from writing anything political, particularly about the National Certification Board,  for the past month or two. They are a substantial advertiser in Massage Magazine, and I imagine they aren’t too happy to see my criticism of them appearing on these pages.

I have therefore decided to take my political rants to another forum, where that won’t be an issue. www.massageprofessionals.com was started by ABMP (Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals), but you don’t have to be a member of that association to join the network; everyone is welcome.

I belong to both ABMP and AMTA, and I sometimes write about them, as well. I enjoy keeping massage therapists informed about what is going on with legislation and with governance and representation from our professional organizations. And I don’t mind calling any of them on the carpet when I have a beef. As a member of those organizations, I believe that’s my right, and I think they’ll agree with me on that. Remember those “senior superlatives” back in high school: most likely to succeed, etc.? I was voted “the person most likely to tell it like it is.” I don’t think I’ve changed too much since then, in that particular area.

I’ll still be weighing in here with Massage Collage, as long as I’m welcome to stay. I’m grateful to Karen Menehan and the others at this magazine for giving me a start, and I do have something to say other than complaining about the NCB, so I’ll say that here.  In the meantime, if you miss my political diatribes, you’ll know where to find me.

Peace & Prosperity,

Laura Allen

A colleague and I were discussing the importance of documenting massage sessions this morning, so I decided to throw the question out there: How important is documentation?

I can tell you that in my practice, it is extremely important; I have more than a dozen practitioners, and clients may be seen by more than one person. We also file insurance and get a lot of doctor and dentist referrals, and you simply cannot conduct that type of business unless you are willing to keep careful documentation.

On the other hand, I know a lot of lone practitioners who don’t think it’s a big deal at all. I think I’ve mentioned before that I was the administrator at a massage school when licensure came into our state, and there was a grandfather period for people who had documented at least 4 years of practice and 400 documented massages. I couldn’t believe the number of students who called the school to ask, “What do you mean, documented?” My reply was massage that SOAP notes and other pertinenet documents, such as doctor’s prescriptions or other medical information was in the client’s file. I was appalled at the number of people who said, “Oh, that’s all in my head.”

That is totally unprofessional, and in many places, illegal. Most states with a practice act require documentation of sessions, including a statement of informed consent, proof of a privacy notice having been provided, and SOAP notes.

An important thing to remember is that the client file, in many states, belongs to the client. They may walk in the door and request their file, and  you are obligated to give it to them. Wouldn’t you feel silly if a client came in, announced that they were moving away and would like to have their file to give to their new therapist, and you had to say you didn’t do any record-keeping? I believe you would.

Keeping good documentation is one of the hallmarks of a professional. What would you think of your physician if he didn’t keep any notes? If you want to be thought of as a health care professional,  you have to conduct your practice as one.

Peace & Prosperity,

Laura Allen

First off, I would like to apologize to all the people who have made comments on my blog that are not posted. There has been an ongoing problem with this now for several months and for some reason, no comments are being posted. Management is aware of the problem and is working to fix it. It has apparently affected most of us, not just me. The comments are there in line, they’re just not making it into print, and I’m sorry. I don’t withhold any comments, including those from people who disagree with me, so hopefully this will be resolved sooner rather than later. I do appreciate everyone who has commented on my posts.

Now on to the real topic today, and that’s about attitude. My fellow blogger here, Julie Onofrio, directed me to a website the other day that was full of therapists who were all making extremely negative comments about our profession and how they aren’t making a living, whining about their lack of clients and the general decay of the massage profession. Not being one to mince words (and neither is Julie), I was appalled at what I read and think it’s a bunch of claptrap. I firmly believe that your business can be whatever you make it.

I want to state clearly that the county that I live in is the 2nd most economically depressed county in North Carolina, out of the 100 counties in our state. We have the second highest unemployment rate in NC, and of towns our size, the 13th highest unemployment rate in the nation. And in spite of that, my business is rocking to the point that just this week I took over another suite of adjoining offices, adding four more therapy rooms, and hired additional staff to handle the clients.

We aren’t cheap, but neither do we cater to the rich and famous. There aren’t any celebrities that I know of in Rutherfordton, NC. There are just honest working folks, or I should say, they would be working if they hadn’t been laid off when their plant closed down and moved out of the country. I think when people are stressed out, whether that’s over money or some other reason, they need a massage. Maybe the people who can’t afford to take a vacation this year are getting a massage instead. Whatever the reason, we’re booming, and I’m very thankful.

In reality, I attribute the success of my business to one thing, and that’s the positive attitude of my staff. People feel welcome when they come in the door. They receive the best service we know how to give, and they are made to feel appreciated for choosing to spend their money with us.

I just received my first massage this afternoon from a new therapist I hired a couple of days ago. I don’t believe in making therapists “audition” for a job at my place. I hire them based on attitude. I can teach a monkey how to give a good massage. I can’t teach anybody how to have a great attitude. I’m glad it was a great massage, but the bottom line is, it was her personality and great attitude that caused me to give her a job.

I’m a big believer in the law of attraction, that whatever you put out there is exactly what you’ll get back. So if you’re dragging to work every day with the thought that you aren’t going to make the money you need, the universe is going to see to it that you don’t. I choose to go to work every day trusting that my needs are going to be met, and they have been. If I go to work whining that I’m not going to have a good prosperous day, I am virtually assuring myself that I won’t have one.

You can’t sit around waiting for business to come in the door. You have to go out and get it. You have to make it a point to tell at least two new people a day about your business, and give away at least two of your business cards every day. You have to network with other small business owners and others at every opportunity. You have to be prepared to look at every new person you meet as a potential client. You have to see to it that the clients you do get are so thrilled with your services they go out and tell a dozen other people. You have to work at it! And you have to have an attitude of success, even when your success has not yet arrived.

If you set concrete goals, if you’re working toward them and doing the absolute best that you can, and you don’t give up, it will happen for you. On that note, I’ll sign off with a quote from Thomas Edison: Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close to success they were when they gave up.

Peace & Prosperity,

Laura Allen