What do you need to know to become a massage therapist? This is one of the most essential questions that people fail to do their research on before they decide to go to massage school. I know I just went to massage school in 1987 after 2 weeks of asking simple questions like – how much can you make, can you make a good living, what do you need to learn. It is one of the reasons why I started my websites – no one told me it was going to be hard and not be the pretty picture that is painted all over the school brochure.
Most often when you are just thinking about the idea that you might want to become a massage therapist you often don’t even know what questions to ask. The wrong people end up in massage school. Here are some things that I have seen that massage therapists often find themselves in without really thinking first. These are some things that people don’t think about when thinking about a career in massage. Some are silly but all are real.
- You have to touch people! Skin to skin contact! Hairy people, overweight people, people with weird skin conditions, people with ugly scars, people who are sick, in pain and injured.
- Most massage therapists start their own business. Even most jobs are actually sub-contractor jobs so that really means that you are starting your own business. Even jobs require that you do sales of products and promote your services.
- Clients will magically appear at my doorstep waiting to be massaged because after all I have good hands! Every day you have to do something to get a steady flow of new clients – write pages for your website, start a marketing campaign, network with doctors and other professionals. Even if you have a full day of massage clients you have to do something to keep clients coming in the door.
- I don’t want to cut my nails. They make me feel so feminine. – Ok then scratch people to death and see how many clients come back!
- I didn’t know I would have to deal with men getting erections on the table. I didn’t know that I might also have to deal with men asking for extra favors! Erections are a reality. Some are innocent. Some want the extra happy ending. Some never get them. You have to be prepared and know how to deal with them and get support in dealing with them. There isn’t any one simple answer. They just are.
- I don’t want to have to cover up my tattoo or remove my lip/eye/nose piercings. Will I be able to get a job in massage? Well maybe in a tattoo/piercing shop but your chances of working in a high end salon or professional clinic are slim to none.
- The physical and mental strain of working on people all day in a dark room, alone, not talking for the most part is isolating. Taking care of yourself so that you can handle the demands is the first step in being a successful massage therapist.
What did you wish you knew about becoming a massage therapist or before you went to massage school that no one told you about?
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Things I wish I’d known – other than what you mentioned.
If you give friends free massage when you are learning, they want it all the time.
People have a perception that Massage Therapists are slender and beautiful- TV!!
For the first year at least, you need another income.
People smell. Some really expensive perfumes stink!
Toenails are really sharp.
It’s hard to find good massage music that you don’t get sick of.
It’s very hard to network, except online.
Nice article, very entertaining but very real!
I think you have just about covered all the obvious questions we didn’t think about when we started and then found out didn’t we?!
Don