Massage therapy as a new career

[Steve Rogers]

Greetings! I am a rapidly burning out school teacher in fairly desperate need of a new career. I have long been interested in natural health issues, alternative medicine, etc., and so am thinking that becoming a massage therapist might be a good fit for me. From what I've researched so far, it seems like it is a growing industry and so might be a good choice. I'm a 50-year-old male. Any thoughts???

 

[hi-c]

go for it.

patrick

 

[e l i z a ?]

Thanks, but how about a little more comment??? :

 

[Chupacabra_Chic]

Personally, I don't think it is a growing field, but a saturated one ~ YMMV. The curriculumn is fast-paced and demanding, especially on those of us who are "non-traditional" college students. The work itself is very rewarding, but can also be strenuous, particularly if you are working in a spa setting.

There are many threads on this topic, but here are a few to get you started:

http://www.massageplanet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13953
http://www.massageplanet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14622 http://www.massageplanet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7896

Best wishes on your endeavors.

 

[Little Miss Missy]

Sounds like you might already know the answer "I am a rapidly burning out school teacher in fairly desperate need of a new career" you have to do something and you have an interest in massage.

I commend you for taking the time and effort to locate this forum to do some of your research here (great group of people). Now you need to look into the different schools you can attend.

As for the field of massage therapy being saturated, well ....yes & no. I've read figures like 63,000 graduate and 55,000 leave the industry each year. Sounds about right , for a lot of careers.

Out of the ones that continue to practice, how many are part-time or bounce from one spa to another only to quit in their second year ?

The one big question you must ask yourself "before" you decide is "What do you want to happen ?" Are you looking at it as a potential 9-5 job working for someone else ? Or do you see yourself becoming an independent Licensed Massage Therapist with your own practice building a solid client base and being so damn good that people seek you out ?

If you simply want to get a job at a spa or locally owned shop with regular set hours ( still better than being a stressed out teacher) then you need to talk with as many of them as you can.

If you want to be on your own, you need to understand marketing. Wait let me rephrase that, You MUST understand MARKETING. I believe most Massage Therapists really try to learn as much as they can and do the very best with their clients. Having said that, I am also convinced that a great therapist with terrible marketing skills will struggle where as an O.K. Therapist with a great marketing ability will do better.

Good luck with your decision.
Mike

 

[schwendelicious]

Well, this sounds familiar. I too was a 50 year old male looking for a new career, something that would take me in an entirely new direction.

Positive:

I quickly found that I love the work. It was also a huge ego booster to find that could return to school and learn a whole new set of skills (maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks ). A big positive is the caring and healing atmosphere that I and many of my new colleagues work in. Most of the therapists I'm around enjoy this work as much as I do, something that is very uplifting. But the greatest thing about my new career is all the wonderful people I've met a long the way and the new friends I've made.

Negative:

As a male it was more difficult to get started in this business. No generallizations, this was just the way it was for me. I found that it was just a tougher sell to get clients to come for massage. And, I have been turned down for several jobs just because I was male. :irked:

I've heard, "I'm sorry but we were looking for a female therapist for that position." more than once. :roll:

I was warned that it would be harder as a male but it has been even harder than I thought. Fortunately, I didn't have to support myself with this new career. I had time to keep at it and build business one client at a time. I don't know much about spas and massage franchises but some of my male friends tell me that also is a little tougher for them. Other than that I can't think of any big negatives. School wasn't easy but I made it with the help of a lot of great instructors, friends and fellow students. 8)

My advice: Give it a try. If you find you love massage as much as I do, any difficulties will seem worth it. Check your finances before you start though, there won't be any overnight success. At least locally, the field seems fairly crowded but there are clients out there if you are very good at what you do and you can afford the time it will take to build up a business.

Good luck. 8)

 

[soo stoned]

Check out the book The Trigger Point Therapy Book by Claire Davies who started his massage career at age 60. Pretty inspiring I'd say. YMMV of course...

But, I really enjoyed it and it's a wonderful reference for treating trigger points :grin:

 

[Young Guy]

Clueless on the YMMV talk here... so I dont quite know how to respond to a few items above for further help, but here's my take on starting into the field:

In my area, I don't find the field to be staturated, but I do find it to be quite full of (more or less) somewhat incompetent therapists. This forum is not representative of that kind of therapist - so the answers you get here, are going to basically be from people who are pretty dog-gone good at what they do, and may not be similar to the answers you will get from therapists "on the street".

If you have the time and the inclination, massage therapy can be worth the adventure. As a male, I agree that you should probably look deeply at your finances, as it can be difficult starting a practice. In different areas around the country, your practice building may vary, and also from city to city -- but overall, it probably won't grow too terribly fast enough for you to make a living off being an MT in the first few years.

If you have debt, then you'll probably have to supplement this new career with a secondary job for a while.

The work itself is rewarding. And I agree that you should try to consider ahead of time if you plan to work for yourself or for someone.

In my experience, school isn't particularly hard if you lean toward sciences and have a decent curriculum and instructors. If science is a weakness or you don't have time to concentrate on learning the anatomy - you could run into some difficulties. But, if you are already a teacher, I would think you can get through school with moderate effort.

Where are you located? If you are anywhere near the Rolfing Institute or one of it's sattelite schools, I would suggest looking into putting your money there -- especially if you are going to be taking an expensive curriculum anyway. I think as a Rolfer, you may have better ability to build up your clientele as a male, mainly because you generally will build slow anyway, and this will put you in the path of clients specifically looking for your services. This would depend on if you like that particular curriculum and how much you want to go into business for yourself though. If you plan to work in an MT spa, warehouse (like Massage Envy) or other IC/employee job, then I'd probably stay away from Rolfing.

If you see anything that you want clarification on, I'll be happy to respond, but if I miss it in the thread, it is because I am not online very frequently until sometime around mid-February, and may not see it. So, if I don't respond, feel free to PM me.