The Debrief: A Massage Therapist Business

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Welcome to The Debrief. This week we interviewed Rachel, a licensed massage therapist from North Carolina who set up her own business following a career change. If you didn’t catch it, feel free to check it out here before diving into this edition.

In this mid-week newsletter, we are going to investigate what we covered in our interview and breakdown the key takeaways and share some actionable advice for you to work on in your business venture.

Each debrief is designed to give you something to work on each week based off the advice given by our featured entrepreneur.

Let’s get into it!

Massage Therapist

Key takeaways:

1. Successful businesses often come from personal experience
   Rachel’s transition from corporate HR to massage therapy wasn’t just a career move - it was a personal journey. Having experienced chronic pain herself, she turned to massage therapy for relief and found a deeper calling. Her story reminds us that business can emerge from personal transformation, and when your work genuinely aligns with your values, success follows not just in dollars, but in purpose.

2. Boundaries are as important as hustle
   In the early days, Rachel said “yes” to everything: late-night clients, packed days, double bookings. But she quickly learned that burnout helps no one. Today, she runs a sustainable schedule of about 20–25 hours of hands-on work a week while earning $5.5K–$6K/month in revenue. Her focus on setting clear boundaries has allowed her to maintain both financial health and personal wellbeing.

3. Business skills matter just as much as technique
   Massage therapy may be a healing art, but Rachel emphasizes that it’s also a business. She attributes much of her later-stage growth to investing in branding, marketing, and client communication. A professional website, an active Instagram presence, and a newsletter helped her grow faster than word-of-mouth alone. For anyone entering a service-based business, her advice is clear: learn the business side early.

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