There should be one word that comes to mind after reading the following job description: “You can work outdoors, year round with your hands, never get dirty or worry about developing chronic back pain.”
That word: Lie.
Unless, of course, that statement was written about a massage therapist.
In addition to offering a form of pain-free manual labour, massage therapy offers plenty of financial incentive — the average price for a 60-minute massage is about a dollar a minute — and the option to choose your own hours. Not a bad start. From providing spa-powered relaxation to treating sports injuries, massage therapy can be a good career choice for nearly anyone interested in health. Plus, who doesn’t like a person who gives a great massage?
David Lamy, instructor and admissions councillor at Toronto’s Elmcrest College, says a career in massage therapy offers people a rewarding lifestyle that can begin almost instantly upon graduating from their two-year program.
“Right now, there are more jobs available than there are people to do them,” says Lamy, who has been a massage therapist for 11 years. He says this is because the various benefits of massage therapy have become more exposed in recent years and are increasingly recognized by many insurance plans as an essential health service.
In terms of career options, Lamy says there really isn’t any avenue you can’t pursue as a certified massage therapist.
Take 28 year-old Craig Knight for example. A certified massage therapist, entrepreneur and golf enthusiast, Knight started up a small business called Hands at Work almost immediately following graduation. The business focussed specifically on providing massage services in corporate environments.
Basically, he would show up at your office with his massage chair and work his magic on employees.
However, as his business grew, he began to get more and more inquiries about appearing at corporate golf tournaments. Considering he knew quite a bit about the intricacies of golf, he figured he would switch gears and start focusing on a specific niche: Golfers.
“While in school I always believed that it was important to specialize and work within a particular niche market,” says Knight. “There are thousands of practising massage therapists and I wanted to find a way to stand out.”
He says his “ah-ha!” moment came to him while working a golf tournament and at least one golfer in every foursome he encountered was complaining of some type of golf-related pain. From that experience, he created a new business called TournamentTouch (tournamenttouch.com) that specializes in on-site massage therapy for golfers.
Of course, the golf season in Canada is only a few short months. This winter Knight took a position with Back9Fitness (back9fitness.com) in Fort Worth, Texas. Working with professional PGA Tour golfers like Rory Sabbatini, Jason Bohn and Jason Day, he helped these players in removing the physical barriers that were impacting their play.
With his help, these pros are now able to practise longer, move more freely and improve nearly every physical aspect of their game.
