Today we’d like to introduce you to Christine Ryan.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Christine. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Since the age of 16 I knew a hands on career in the health and wellness field was my calling.
Promoting health and wellness comes naturally being an athlete. Throughout my athletic career I relied on physical therapy to aid various injuries. However, in 2002 after a car accident, a massage therapist was able to help me recover faster. Not only was the pain gone but my performance improved. I began researching modalities that would help athletes improve their performance and aid in recover.
I graduated from Career Network Institute (CNI) with a 720 hour certificate of training for massage therapy in 2005. Immediately after graduating from CNI I became a certified massage therapist in the City of Orange. After practicing massage therapy for two years I decided to begin my education to become a physical therapist. After graduating from California State University Long Beach with a Bachelors in Science in Kinesiology I began to realize my true calling was to be a massage therapist. I felt the industry needed quality and educated therapists to be able to understand how the body works and be able to apply that to better help athletes recover and improve their performance. So I spent the past 10 years learning applicable techniques and modalities which can be used to assist in endurance athletic injury recovery and to help improve endurance athletic performances.
Has it been a smooth road?
I wish I could say that it has been a smooth road, however if building your own practice was easy everyone would be doing it!
One of the struggles I’ve had to overcome has been learning how to become a business owner as a solo therapist. There are many roles that have to be filled. From scheduling clients, to accounting, to marketing and branding. For the first year I was in practice for myself I was able to stay afloat, however growth didn’t seem possible competing with larger chains. It wasn’t able to get past that obstacle until I hired a business coach who has been in my shoes.
I was able to learn how to market myself and how to make myself standout from my competition.
The second problem was learning how to educate my clients on why having a specialized therapist that takes a holistic approach to heal the body was better than a quick standardize massage. It is important to understand using multiple types of techniques and modalities on the target muscle group and the other related muscle groups is critical to speeding up recovery and increasing athletic performance.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I’m not the standard massage therapist. My services are structured to focus and assist with endurance athlete training recovery, pre event preparation, post event recovery, injury prevention, and injury recovery.
What sets me apart are my services. Not only do I work with the larger muscle groups one would expect a massage therapist to work on. I also work on the other muscle groups that rarely get attention, but can assist in recovery and improve athletic performance such as the diaphragm or intercostals. Breathing plays an important role during athletic performance and those muscles can become just as stressed and overworked as any other.
I’m also starting to utilize other therapy’s such as a cold sheet wrap. The benefits this treatment has on the body are incredible. Cold sheet wraps induce a short duration temperature stress to the body. The hormones released during stress can decrease inflammation, increase metabolism, reduce chronic pain, and reduce fatigue.
While this is what sets me apart technically I’m most proud of being able to connect with my clients. Gaining their trust and listening to their needs helps me deliver the experience they NEED. Clients are able to relax in an environment that might feel uncomfortable and vulnerable.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Massage Therapy is one of those careers you can work on the side to earn extra income.
I encourage everyone to take a few classes and learn the basics. My hope is that creates a shift in this industry where massage is seen as more than just a luxury and more as a powerful tool to promote healing.
When it comes to opening up your own studio, you’ll need a solid plan in place just like any other business in order to make yourself stand out from the crowed. There are so many niches to serve a demographic.
Pricing:
- 60 minutes $100
- 90 minutes $150
- Normatec Leg Compressions $25 for 30 minutes
Contact Info:
- Address: 17985 Sky Park, Cir E Irvine, CA 92614
- Website: ocathleticmassage.com
- Phone: 949-533-8403
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: ocathleticmassage
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ocathleticmassage/
Image Credit:
Nicole Anderson @topepperwithlove
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