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Tumwater WA 98512

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How Valerie Smothers Fulfilled her Dream to Open a Massage School

7 April 2023
Shari Aldrich
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Categories: How do I open a massage school, Open a Massage School

Opening your own massage school is a daunting task. It takes time, money, planning, and a thorough understanding of the subject at hand. But anything worthwhile is worth the sacrifice. When I asked Valerie Smothers, LMT, why she decided to open a massage school, there was a heaviness about her answer – she wanted to give back to the profession that had given her so much and teach others to see massage therapy as a respectful profession. 

Open a Massage School

Val knew she wanted to open a massage school – but had no idea of where or how to start.  She came across Bodymechanics Institute and had a conversation on the phone with owner Shari Aldrich. That followed with an in person meeting at the 2019 AMTA National Convention. Val decided that having a team help her launch her school so she didn’t have to do it alone just made sense.

Bodymechanics Institute walked her through the process – from curriculum to licensure. Her onboarding included a visit to the Tumwater campus of Bodymechanics School of Myotherapy & Massage and seeing the school in action helped her visualize how she wanted her school to operate.

“I made sacrifices to make this dream happen. There is a lot of blood, sweat, and tears that you put into starting a school. I was fortunate to start out with a great foundation and have since blossomed and made it my own.” 

When Valerie decided to take that leap of faith and open a massage school, there was only one other school in the area, and it did not live up to the standards that the massage therapy profession deserved. 

Valerie had been practicing as a massage therapist for 20 years before she decided to open her massage school at the age of 47. 

“I had been told my entire massage career that I should open a massage school. I really did have a love for teaching, so it just made sense.” 

Before Valerie took that leap, she started volunteering at the American Massage Therapy Association, so that she could gain more education about the massage profession. Valerie knew that if she was ever going to make it as a teacher and a massage school owner, she needed to surround herself with people who have a lot of experience and expertise in that area.

Being a part of the AMTA also helped Val understand how massage therapy is taught in other parts of the country, especially in the bigger cities. The more time Valerie spent with others in the massage profession, the more she was called to open a school in her hometown in rural Kentucky. 

“There are still problems with massage therapy having a bad reputation and not being looked at as a respectful profession. The downfall has always started with the schools because they are the foundation of the industry. If I wanted to ensure that the industry continues to produce excellent massage therapists, I had to do something about it.” 

Val’s lightbulb moment to open a massage school

Valerie had been ruminating over opening a massage school for a while now, but her lightbulb moment really happened when she was working on a client. While she was in her massage session, she asked herself “what if someone who was not properly educated wants to open up a massage school, because they see it as a profit-making machine rather than a respectful profession?” Valerie also noticed some red flags going on in the profession in her area. 

“When people in the industry would say that they give a great back rub, I knew something needed to change. How are we going to be respected as a health care professional if we do not use the same terminology as other health care professionals? When we speak the same language as doctors, physical therapist, nurses, and other healthcare professionals and stay current with the profession, we will be seen and given the respect we deserve as a profession worthy of the title. Saying that we give a great back rub is looking down on the profession.” 

Valerie also noticed that the schools in the area were not living up to the standards that should be set by the industry. That is why Valerie decided that she did not want to buy a school from someone but wanted to create her own from scratch.

“I am a one-man band; I teach all the classes and do all the marketing myself. I was 47 when I started the school in August 2019. I felt excitement, stress, anxiety, relief.”

Her school launched with two students in the day class and one student in the evening class, but Val brought ingenuity to the classroom and involved the community by creating her “Palpation Peeps” program. In March 2020 the pandemic started and she had to make some major pivots. Palpation Prep closed to in person education but she was able to continue with classes online.

16 weeks of zoom school ensued until they were able to resume normal classes. Curing the shut-down, Val and her students would meet in person on occasion to review the stuff missed while online. “It was a process, but we made it work.”

Val says: “I was proud of my accomplishments but stressed about all the time and money I had put into it. However, I did not want to give up. It is my goal to have excellent, well-educated massage therapists in every community. They need to be accessible to people when they need them. I want my school to become the hub of the community; a place where people in the industry can come to take CE classes and learn and grow as a profession.”

Three years later, Valerie has expanded her class size and has students interested in becoming teachers. 

Shari Aldrich says this “Val is incredibly determined and resourceful as a massage school owner. During the pandemic, Val and her students joined with Bodymechanics School on a couple of occasions on Zoom for ethics classes to take part in a larger discussion. I’ve seen her attend several national conventions – she’s always interested in growing and learning, which makes her the ideal leader.”

We are beyond proud of Val and what she is building in Kentucky!

If you are interested in learning more about how you can open a massage school, just reach out and we can discuss our full program. Call 360-350-0015 for more information, or click here to read more.

By Melissa Robbins, LMT

Your Massage School – Gateway To Your Bigger Future

25 November 2019
Shari Aldrich
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Categories: Franchise massage school, How do I open a massage school, Open a Massage School

Every week, I talk to numerous massage therapists who dream of opening a massage school. They want to step up and make a change in their community, but are afraid to take the steps necessary to make it happen. If your dream is to open your massage school – a gateway to your bigger future, read on.

I’ve talked with hundreds of massage therapists and chiropractors over the years, who dream of opening their own massage school. Many talk about a burning desire to open their school; to help their community by educating top massage therapists. Yet, they don’t do it…

Many stop short of reaching for their dreams. They stop for a number of reasons: financial, capabilities, confidence, imposter syndrome, lack of clarity, lack of a plan, fear of failure and fear of success. I’m sure there are more reasons…

But what if there was a way to overcome this and open your massage school and create the gateway to your bigger future?

How to Open a Massage School

Somewhere, someone is waiting for you to be their hero. Seriously, someone is waiting. They’ve researched schools in their area – and maybe they are too far away, have a poor reputation, are too expensive, etc.

They themselves let their dreams die.

Think about it – if you opened a massage school, you’d be their hero because your school would enable them to reach their dreams.
Not all heroes wear capes. You might not think of yourself as a hero, but every time you help someone (by opening your massage school), you’re benefitting people and making their lives better in some way. You’re enabling them to reach their dreams.

Ask yourself: “Who do you want to be a hero to?”

Right now, in your city, county and state, someone is waiting for you to be their hero by opening your massage school.

The “how to open a massage school” begins with you committing to do it – to open your massage school and create your bigger future. From there, it’s creating the roadmap to where you want to go.

Where you want to go starts with thinking about who you want to be a hero to – students, community, family, clients and so on.
From there, there’s a lot of things to consider:

  • Research your state regulations
  • Begin your state application process
  • Create standard operating procedures
  • Create policies and procedures
  • Create your curriculum
  • Research equipment, books, training instructors, branding and marketing
  • Create all school forms, marketing material, and so on
  • Submit application to your state
  • Complete any deficiencies to application
  • Do it all while managing your life / work balance

What is the Bodymechanics System?

That list above is intimidating. It should be. Owning and operating a vocational school is a BIG DEAL. That’s why we created the Bodymechanics business-in-a-box system – to help cut the time drastically to opening a massage school. Our goal is to guide and support others through the process and help them grow their capabilities as a massage school owner.

We look at this from 5 pillars:

  • Confidence – gained while helping others begin their journey as a massage therapist.
  • Growth – gained while understanding the steps necessary for you to step into your dreams and making them a reality
  • Success – their career success is your career success
  • Clarity – gained from knowing that you are enabling other people’s improvement and growth.
  • Achievement – gained through community support by referring students to your school, receiving compliments on the quality of your program and realizing you’ve reached the gateway to your bigger future.

You’re not alone

Your Massage School
Your massage school awaits – imagine helping students learn and help your community.

Our business-in-a-box system is designed to help you launch your massage school with a team, not by yourself. Most are unsure of HOW TO START to open their massage school. We’ve done it now multiple times, and have a system to help and train you so that you’re not alone.

Working on this dream for 1 year, 5 years, or even 10 years is too long. And the people in your community won’t reach their dreams either. Being a hero is going to require you take a leap and just get started. The good news is that you don’t have to do it alone.

Next steps?
Let’s talk and see how we can help you be someone’s hero by creating more excitement, growth opportunities, creativity, and motivation.

You can also check out our school at www.bodymechanics-school.com. Owned at operated by Shari Aldrich, LMT since 2010

Requirements to Open a Massage School

13 November 2019
Shari Aldrich
No comments
Categories: Open a Massage School

Understanding the requirements to open a massage school can be difficult to figure out. I speak with massage therapists weekly who are frustrated with navigating their state licensing boards to figure out all of the requirements to open a massage school.

I think it’s exciting that there are so many massage therapists who are interested in opening a massage school! The way I look at it is that in the years between 2011 and today, hundreds of massage schools have closed – yet still hundreds of massage therapists have reached out in the last year asking for information on how to open a massage school.

We are definitely a profession filled with passionate people who care about improving the quality of massage education!

Anti Franchise Massage School
AMTA National Convention 2019 – Indianapolis

In 2019, my team attended the AMTA National Convention in Indianapolis where we had over 60 people sign up for information on how to open a massage school using our done-for-you system. That is encouraging.

** UPDATE ***

COVID-19 has created a greater burden to the massage industry. Massage schools closed around the country. Those that stayed open saw decreased admissions for several years. This slow-down created an increase in demand for massage therapists in nearly every city in the US.

Quite frankly, we cannot currently keep up with the demand for massage therapists.

Perhaps you have felt the pinch yourself. From franchise owners to small clinics, the demand is there from clients seeking massage yet there aren’t enough LMTs to keep up with the demand. I am talking to LMTs daily who realize their city needs a massage school.

I can certainly understand! After I graduated from massage school in 2006, I began traveling the country helping teach CE classes. I saw firsthand the lack of knowledge by LMTs around pathologies, and how to treat conditions that we commonly face as a massage therapist – such as whiplash and shoulder pain and dysfunction.
These are conditions I learned to treat while still a student in school!

What I saw around the country is precisely why I bought my massage school in 2010 and why I am committed today to help solve this problem by helping passionate massage therapists open their own massage school.

Challenges to opening a massage school

There are challenges to opening a massage school that may stop many therapists from moving forward on their dreams.

  • Financial
  • Obtaining state approval
  • Curriculum
  • Hiring / training instructors
  • Finding a school location
  • Recruiting students
  • Building the schedule
  • Doing it all while working

For many massage therapists, these challenges are enough to have them set their goals aside for years – silently dreaming of opening their own massage school.

I spoke with a massage therapist in Mississippi recently who has dreamt of opening a massage school for more than 10 years! That’s a long time to hold on to a dream…. Her challenges included many of the bullet points above.

Franchise massage school

We are NOT a franchise massage school. In fact, I call us the “anti-franchise massage school.” Many of my entrepreneur friends and mentors have pressured me to create a franchise massage school – but I am 100% against a franchise program.

Primarily, my goal is to HELP massage therapists reach their goals with their own school, that we help them open and then step back into a mentorship role. (See more of my story here –> http://bit.ly/ShariAldrich)

The problem I see with the franchise school model is that it doesn’t allow the owner the flexibility to create a program that they feel is needed in their area. Franchisees are required to “follow the program.” And that is precisely the problem with many massage programs in the US that were designed with a corporate feel and mass producing mediocre massage therapists.

The Bodymechanics System will help with requirements to open a massage school

The Bodymechanics business-in-a-box system is designed to help massage therapists build their program – with a jump start using our system. We start with a base 700-hour program that incorporates the requirements of each state licensing programs. We train owners how to operate their school (see more here), and then over time, owners feel confident to begin tweaking the program as they see fit.

This is NOT a one-size fits all approach.

Take Valerie Smothers, LMT as an example. Val lives in Benton, Kentucky where there is another massage school in her community. Over the years, Val has felt a need to have another school to give her community options. She has also felt that her school would be based on a medical approach to massage, where the other school does not.

This fills a need in her community to meet the needs of interested students.

Val used the Bodymechanics system to do/help with the following:

  • complete the application to the 2 state organizations in Kentucky
  • build school documents (operating manuals, catalogs)
  • recruit students
  • design her school
  • implement school curriculum and schedule
  • purchase school equipment
  • hire and train staff
  • design school marketing material
  • and more

Now that she has opened her doors, our relationship has changed to mentoring. We have weekly check in phone calls. We spent a day together at the AMTA National Convention masterminding growth strategies for her school.

How to afford a massage school

There are certainly expenses to cover when you choose to open a massage school – and it’s not cheap. Yet the rewards are worth every penny spent when you realize the value you are bringing to your community with each class you graduate.

There is a lot to consider financially with opening a massage school, such as purchasing massage equipment; office equipment and supplies; leasing a space; hiring and training staff; state fees; and so on.

The intangible expense is going to come with lost time and earnings while you do everything on your own – creating the curriculum, applying to the state, developing school collateral (such as catalogs, contracts, employee handbook and so on) – all while navigating state requirements.

Our program is designed to ease the burden, and cut the process time exponentially. It’s done for you – and we manage the process which allows you to focus on YOU.

Our fees are all inclusive – and we walk you through the process and mentor you using our 12+ years of experience as owning a massage school.

If you are interested in more information on the requirements to open a massage school, let’s hop on a zoom. My mission is to help you launch your school and I am committed to your goals. Call 360-350-0015 to schedule your zoom call.

Shari Aldrich, LMT
Bodymechanics Institute

WANTED: Dedicated Massage School Owners

30 October 2019
Shari Aldrich
No comments
Categories: Open a Massage School

We are looking for dedicated massage school owners who are ready to bring excellence back to massage school education by opening a massage school.

Last week, my team was at the AMTA National Convention in Indianapolis and we met with countless massage therapists who all had the SAME concerns: the quality of education for massage therapists has slipped over the years and their city is in desperate need of a quality massage school. The need is so high that we are putting out the call to find dedicated massage school owners who are ready to get started and improve the quality of massage education in their city.

In fact, there were so many concerns that we were approached my twice as many people as the convention last year in Washington DC.

Our done-for-you massage school system makes opening a massage school easy. Nearly everything is completely done for those who move forward, and it’s provided by a massage therapist with 10 years of experience owning not just 1 but 2 massage school campuses.

I’ve been a massage therapist since 2006, graduating from Bodymechanics School of Myotherapy & Massage in Olympia Washington.

I didn’t know it at the time, but Washington State is considered a leader in the massage industry. What I did know was that I needed to make a change in my life, that I never wanted another boss and I needed a salary that would allow my family to continue living at the level we were accustomed to…
I trusted Bodymechanics School to provide me with the tools I needed to meet my goals.

I’ve experienced a lot of difficulties over the years, and making a change to massage therapy was the BEST thing I could have ever done. I graduated in 2006 and bought Bodymechanics School in 2010 when the owner closed the school due to the economy.

Today, students enrolled in massage schools have been let down on the same promise for excellence I received in 2006. They feel unprepared for the demands of the career and dissatisfaction with the profession has grown.

It’s time to change the system. My done-for-you program is designed to help LMTs succeed as massage school owners and raise the quality of education.

Shari Aldrich, LMT –
President Bodymechanics School of Myotherapy & Massage

Shari has experienced moments where she HAD to push through some very hard stuff and grow personally and professionally.

This program was created by a massage therapist, for massage therapists to help them open their own massage school to bring excellence back to massage education.

Demand for high-quality massage therapists has never been higher in this country. Massage school owners have an opportunity to be part of one of the fastest growing professions, year after year, in the US. As the need grows, the demand for qualified massage therapists will continue to grow. At Bodymechanics Institute, we recognize this important need – and we’ve developed a done-for-you system that will help you quickly open your own massage school using a tried and true program offering full support through the process with our team of experts.

This is NOT a franchise

In fact, I call it the “anti-franchise” program. It’s a program for you to utilize that will help you quickly start your own massage school. Why is this important? The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the growing need for massage therapists:

Bureau of Labor Statistics says:
Employment of massage therapists is projected to grow 22 percent from 2018 to 2028, much faster than the average for all occupations. Continued growth in the demand for massage services will lead to new opportunities for school ownership.

Bureau of Labor Statistics: Massage Therapist

Additionally, there has been a significant decrease in the number of massage schools over the past decade.  Many small, proprietary schools closed during the recession in the US between 2008-2011 unable to finance student tuition payments.  Larger for-profit schools swooped in and began offering financial aid programs, further contributing to the smaller school closures who couldn’t offer the same programs due to high cost.  

Most massage therapists know the challenges that the large for-profit schools brought to the massage industry.  

Relationships were built with the larger massage chains due to the demands of the federal financial aid programs that demanded schools show job placement.  This scenario created a massage school mill, graduating therapists who were not well prepared for the demands of the career.  Further complicating the problem was the promise of salary earnings fell short.  LMTs were working many hours and not earning a livable wage.

Dissatisfaction over the past few years has grown.

This model has further proven to be a challenge as the larger, for-profit schools has largely fallen on the promise to graduate therapists who could pass national certification exams and who then defaulted on student loans.  Today, we are witnessing the Department of Education closing several of the large, for-profit schools for these reasons.

But…. there has been a positive outcome in that the public is asking (demanding) massage therapy to be included in their healthcare.  They are beginning to understand the benefits.

According to the AMTA, approximately 18% of the US population has discussed massage therapy with their physicians, and of those nearly 60% were referred out to a massage therapist.  

This has led to the perfect scenario for YOU to share your passion for massage by opening your massage school.  A decrease in the number of massage schools, large for-profit schools folding and an increasing amount of the US population asking their healthcare provider for massage therapy.  
Frankly put, we cannot keep up with demand.

WANTED: Dedicated Massage School Owners

We want to work with dedicated massage therapists who are ready to fill a need in their community by opening a massage school.

Is this you?

Let’s hop on a call and discuss options and see if our program is a good fit for you. Simply fill out this form and include your phone number to get started.

    Shari Aldrich, LMT
    President
    Bodymechanics
    360-350-0015

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