Fully Booked Without Burnout - The Business Of Massage And Wellness

Amanda Da-Silva is an oncology massage therapist who specialises in breast cancer recovery. She supports people during their treatment and recovery journey by using manual lymphatic drainage and other message techniques. In this innterview Amanda recounts her transition from studying archeology to massage and manual lymphatic drainage, and how she is now giong even one step further into training and public speaking. Networking and building meaningful connections have been vital for Amanda as she's grown her skills and her practice. Listen in as she shares the biggest personal challenges she's had to overcome and the attributes she's developed within herself.

Karen Robertson is an experienced massage therapist as well as a practitioner and trainer in myofunctional manual lymphatic drainage (Myo-MLD). She has a big passion and heart for this technique itself and for the benefits it has for a wide array of clients. Listen to Karen's story of how she started in massage and then began her work with Myo-MLD, and how this technique specifically has impacted her life and practice, and what it can do for practitioners who are looking to learn this modality.

Are you having issues with your booking software?   Do you need new clinic management software? The software that handles your booking calendar and client data is integral for any health business, and when it's working well it makes it easier for you to manage your business AND simpler for clients to book themselves in.   In a recent survey we found a wide spread of software being used, but one of the most popular right now is a new kid on the block named "Splose", which claims to be "the world's most delightful practice management software for Allied Health professionals".   In this interview I speak with the founder of Splose, Nicholas Sanderson. He shares what Splose is, what makes good booking software, and how what he's doing can really help massage therapists and other health professionals make the most of their business.        

Dr. Ash Connell is a chiropractor and martial artist who looks at the way that manual therapy works on the nervous system and how that can support amazing changes and transitions our mind - our mindset, the way we think, and our emotions. With decades of experience in martial arts, sports, and chiropractic and manual therapy, he has created a technique to be able to integrate and change brain neurology so thinking and habits can change really well. Listen in as Ash shares how he discovered the core philosophies and modalities he now teaches to others. Plus keep an ear out for the secret of how he stumbled into his field and still saw 57 patients on his first day on the job!

Paula Nutting is one of Australia's best known massage trainers and practitioners, having been in the industry for over 30 years and also serving as a board member of Massage and Myotherapy Australia. What you might not know is that Paula began as a nurse and a fitness instructor before transitioning to the global trainer we see now. Listen in as she shares her journey right from the beginning and reveals some of her biggest secrets and advice for other therapists.

Christine is known for being an incredible trainer of remedial hot stones and scar tissue work. In this episode, she talks about some of her experiences in her early work life and how she adapted to restarting with a blank slate after moving from across the globe. Listen in as Christine shares stories of how she stumbled on to the beauty of hot stones, the importance of proper scar tissue work, and her humble beginnings working from a CUPBAORD!

Norelle is a HR specialist who also runs a massage clinic with her husband... so she knows the challenges and traps that can be in place people looking to hire in the massage and health industry. Despite many people in our industry knowing more about the dangers of independent contracts, it's still used as a default way of hiring by many small businesses... and some of them are almost certainly "sham contracts". Listen to Norelle as she shares accurate, up to date information so you can grow your team in the easiest way possible, and make sure that you are compliant and continue to be profitable in the process.

Frances Brodie is a fantastic Bowen therapist and Workplace Safety specialist who uses her skills and experience in both arenas to help give people peace of mind. Hear how her passion for treating her bodywork clients has combined with her occupation of 25 years of improving the health and safety of workplaces, to reveal an insight to Frances that many clinic spaces are not as safe as they should be. Although health care might be seen as a "low risk" profession... that is not the same as "no risk". Clients that feel safe and happy are more likely to be confidently connected. As we all focus even more closely on our safety practices in the current time, tune in to hear this Frances share how to reduce risk and retain more clients.

Are you a Massage Therapist or bodyworker wondering how you can SAFELY open your doors again during the current pandemic? Anne Williams is a massage therapist and experienced educator who has written some of the canonical textbooks used in massage schools throughout the world. Given the current situation with COVID-19 and the extra precautions that health and wellness professionals need to take, there is a huge need for up to date and accurate training on how to stay SAFE (and compliant). Which is why Anne Williams and her partner Eric Brown have released for FREE this digital textbook training for "Preventing Disease Transmission in a Massage Practice", especially during COVID. Because, when you have a strong foundation in understanding disease transmission, you’ll be better able to make an appropriate decision. This training includes recommendations to minimise the risk of infection to you and your clients across all aspects of practice, and includes downloadable policies and forms.

Sometimes, we need to look INWARDLY to find the source of STRENGTH, RESILIENCE, and COMPASSION for ourselves; to REALLY unearth that HIDDEN POWER that drives us. Nadine Champion – champion in NAME and LIFE – is a professional speaker, high performance mindset coach, and martial arts expert who has WORKED HARD both PHYSCIALLY and MENTALLY to get to a space of success. RIGHT from her childhood, Nadine was DRAWN to martial arts, and as she delved FURTHER into the discipline, she discovered how MUCH MORE there was to learn in the intensity, physicality, beauty, and SELF-REFLECTION it offered. Nadine has been through some INCREDIBLY challenging things from losing her brother to lung cancer, then going through cancer HERSELF. Through these experiences, she learnt to be KIND to herself, stay GROUNDED in reality, and that life is a CONSTANT opportunity to LEARN and GROW. Nadine’s story focuses on the importance of MENTORS, the POWER of self-reflection, and the RIGHT MINDSET to achieve and get through ANYTHING. 

We often take our senses for granted. Our touch, smell, hearing, SIGHT… all working together to form our EXPERIENCE in everyday life and business. How would you run a successful business WITHOUT one of those KEY senses? Lorin Nicholson runs Advanced Remedial Therapy in Brisbane and has enjoyed 30 years of INCREDIBLE success, all while being LEGALLY BLIND from birth. Lorin has 90% vision loss but has NEVER let that stop him from achieving his DREAMS. IN-FACT, he says it’s an ADVANTAGE, with his vision loss AMPLIFYING his other senses and giving him the ability to FEEL the human body’s functionality in a UNIQUE way. Being legally blind and starting out in the massage industry 30 years ago DEFINITELY came with its challenges. Lorin talks about the difficulties of studying, making the SCARY LEAP from a full-time safety net job to running his OWN business, and changing the PERCEPTIONS of massage therapy in the 1980s and 90s. His mindset has been the DRIVING FORCE behind a 30-year successful career in massage,

When it comes to digital marketing, let’s face it – MOST of us look at it like it’s in a foreign language. With STACKS of different software performing different functions and advice coming out your EARS on what the BEST and EASIEST approaches are, it can feel like someone trying to explain how to diffuse a BOMB. What if it didn’t HAVE to be rocket science? What if EVERYTHING you needed to know was all rolled into ONE handy bit of tech? Alec Gorjestani from OfferingTree heard the pleas from health professionals to deliver a service that pretty much does EVERYTHING five or six different programs do on ONE platform. Alec talks tech in SIMPLE terms and maps out the BEST and EASIEST ways you can make the MOST of your website to attract clients and get those BOOKINGS!

The thought of achieving our dreams is what drives our PASSION, gives us strength to be BOLD and make BIG decisions, and allows us to turn our MISTAKES into KNOWLEDGE. Dreaming of your ULTIMATE business is easy. SELLING that dream to the people around you (the BANKS in particular!) and helping them UNDERSTAND your vision is the hard part. Robert De Nardis dreamed big. Making his humble start in a three-cubicle facility in a gym, to becoming the PROUD and SUCCESSFUL owner of a multi-disciplinary clinic with 28 staff, Robert has learnt SO many lessons about business, people, and life.   Listen to Robert’s INSIGHT and EXPERIENCE with staff retention, community engagement, diversifying business, and just simply getting the PHONE to ring, and what the keys to HIS success have been. 

EVERYTHING we do in life has a cause and effect. Your business might be BOOMING, but as a result, you may not be dedicating as much time to your relationships. Your RELATIONSHIP could be having problems which is affecting your BUSINESS performance. Our LIMITATIONS in life or in business can be a DIRECT reflection of our INTERNAL limitations; our blockages, mindset, self-doubt, self-sabotage… ONE limitation in ONE area of your life can throw off your WHOLE equilibrium. Zac Dixon is a peak performance and mindset coach and dedicates his time to working with people to put the skills and knowledge they have into ACTION and gain FREEDOM from their blockages, OWN their mindset, and UNLEASH their potential. Prepare to be SUPER enthused as you listen to his attitude towards business, relationships and LIFE.  

Imagine this – you’re starting to kick-off your business journey or you might be well on your way to success, then suddenly, you fall ill or sustain an injury and BAM… you can’t work. What would you DO??? How would your business and finances SURVIVE??? Drew Browne, owner of Sapience Financial and Investment Services, learnt that lesson the HARD way. With a BOOMING career in the legal profession, a family and a mortgage, Drew’s life was FLIPPED upside down by a tumour that SNATCHED away his ability to work and left him unable to even SPEAK for two years! He lost his career, income, voice, and COUNTLESS other important things in one fell swoop. Thankfully, he recovered, but learnt a HARSH lesson about the VALUE of income protection insurance and decided to dedicate his career to helping OTHERS avoid the same potential fate. Listen to his FASCINATING story and get some of the best FREE general advice about all things insurance and finance. 

Healthy competition in business can be a great PUSH that owners need to STRIVE for excellence and look to for industry standards and best practice. BUT what happens TOO often is that COMPETITION turns into PARANOIA and all of a sudden, there are DOZENS of businesses operating on their own islands out of FEAR that their knowledge could be used AGAINST them by their fellow practitioners. Tamara Shaw saw the NEED for a central support hub for professionals in the beauty industry to BREAK DOWN those barriers in order to SUPPORT each other, get ADVICE from people living the SAME daily reality, and compare notes in order to BETTER their own businesses and standards. It was at THAT MOMENT Beaute Industrie was born. Listen to how Tamara has brought hundreds of business owners TOGETHER to COLLABORATE ideas, SHARE experiences, and act as a beauty industry SOUNDBOARD for practitioners, and the CHALLENGES that come along with facilitating an ENTIRE online community!

When we think of the TYPICAL uniform seen in the massage and beauty world, the words ‘FASHIONABLE’ and ‘STYLISH’ don’t exactly come to mind! Leesa Dawson is CHANGING the GAME with her business, The Uniform Stylist, bringing FASHION, COMFORT, and PRACTICALITY into the industry’s workwear. Backed by 20 years in the fashion industry and armed with a PASSION for helping the wellness and beauty fields ENHANCE their business aesthetics, Leesa’s 12-month young business is BOOMING with demand. Born of a NEED expressed by industry professionals for a more DYNAMIC and APPEALING uniform choice, Leesa spent COUNTLESS hours working hand-in-hand with people in the biz to trial and test what worked and what DIDN’T work for them until they perfected the prototype. Listen to how Leesa marries fashion and FUNCTIONALITY in her custom uniform designs that offer a much-needed ALTERNATIVE to the traditional tunic. 

We could ALL talk for HOURS on the BAZILLION different ways massage therapy can help people. From relaxation to remedial, increasing someone’s range of movement and helping to restore BALANCE to the body can have a STRONG and LASTING impact. Nowhere is this MORE evident than in the disability community. Tim Nelson comes from a HEART-WARMING journey of specialising in the field of disability massage therapy with a career spanning 20 years in treating clients with intellectual, physical, and acquired disabilities. Starting out as a jack of ALL trades in cattle boning, gym instructing, and an Aussie rules footy career cut short by injury, Tim gave it all up for a career in massage therapy. His first four clients ALL had disabilities, and he made the decision THEN AND THERE that disability massage was his calling. Tim takes us through how TRUST and UNDERSTANDING underpin his business model, and the UPS and DOWNS of specialising in such a niche field of massage.

As a massage therapist, the strive to get more clients can be painstaking and seemingly ENDLESS. With such a QUICK turnover of 30-60-minute massages, it can feel like you’re constantly churning out treatments and seeing SO many clients to build your business. Charlie Wilkinson, owner of Sylvania Massage Clinic in Sydney, learnt the power of niche treatment styles VERY early in his business journey and discovered that less can DEFINITELY be more. Specialising in post-op cosmetic surgery treatment, neck and back remedial, and long format massages, Charlie owes his success to his focus on TABLE TIME rather than the VOLUME of his client base. Charlie’s ‘long format’ massages won him the title of ‘Sydney’s Best Massage’ in 2011, but his success is NOT without its HURDLES along the way. Listen to how Charlie had to make some TOUGH and DEFINING business decisions, going from a fully staffed clinic to a ONE MAN show in niche areas in order to achieve his success.