Today we’d like to introduce you to Arlena Bessard.
Hi Arlena, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
In 2000, I took a church trip with my actual family and my church family to Atlanta Georgia. We enjoyed soul food sightseeing and experiencing new things together. My mother’s best friend who is like another mother to me had very swollen ankles and feet and I began to work on her by instinct and pure love having no formal training. To my amazement and her astonishment, she stated that she had no more pain or swelling and that I had a gift above and beyond just massaging someone and that I should utilize it. I kind of flung it off at first but when we landed back in in our hometown she bought me my very first ever massage book that I still have, I book on reflexology. It took me a while to go full-fledged in my gifting regarding massage therapy but once I got started and I got a taste of being able to truly help people I knew that I was where I needed to be.
Fast forward 20 plus years down the line I started working on my own Health and Wellness in new ways and began to have conversations with my female clients based on what I was experiencing and the results that I was receiving. I began to “armchair coach” them, sharing research and education that I had received and I watched many of them begin to have the same results that I did as they tried the things that I tried. A whole new level was born! As I began to pray and ask God to show me how to improve my own situation he began to show me new things I never knew (Jeremiah 33:3 in full effect!) and from this help many women began to search things out for themselves and have better outcomes as result. The coaching side of my business was unofficially born from this and through processing, spending time with God, and giving Him my yes, it was officially launched in 2023.
I’ve learned so much in the realm and genre of health, wellness, and spirituality including inner healing that I’ve relaunched Heavenly Hands Massage And Bodywork as a women’s health company. With this new launch came be services weaving inner healing and deliverance into my practice on both the massage side and the coaching side. It absolutely pays my soul to see the women who had been previously bound by things for a great number of years to become free and just moments with the power of The Holy Spirit in prayer.
My own struggles, in life, business, and body have become the springboard for other women’s transformations and I’m grateful that God would allow me to help others to be set free.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s actually been a bumpy but transformative road. Different obstacles took me through a metamorphosis and a different version of myself that has led me to be where I am now. I’ve made plenty of mistakes in both life and business that have taught me and helped me to become a better version of myself. My professional and personal life have benefited from this work and transformation, which have served not only me but the women that God has given me to work with.
A key area I’vethat I’ve seen growth in is to stop taking on other people’s issues (past what it takes to actually help them), what to do and what not to do when it comes to running the business itself, and how to leave margin for caring for Arlena and not just clients or family.
One vitally important thing that stands out is finding my voice and utilizing it when I need to. When I look back, it’s something that I’d struggled with most of my life going back to childhood, following me into adulthood.
Going down the path of inner healing showed me why it was there and how to even begin to overcome it. These have all been learning lessons that have taught me well and because of this I am able to teach others.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I started off in massage therapy which I still operate in which is in the name of my business but I don’t just offer massage therapy. What I mean by that is when clients come in we talk about their life we talk about sleep positioning, hydration, and many other factors that can affect what people typically come in to see me for.
From these conversations and common complaints of clients I have begun to put books together for the betterment of clients no matter where they are whether they move away from the area, if they’re traveling, or no matter what they are doing and where they are in able to still help and serve them. In addition to this, I utilize microcurrent therapy which is akin to a tens unit but in my professional opinion even better. This electromagnetic, biofeedback therapy accomplishes pain relief and other results quickly and very effectively. This has become a passion of mind to not only utilize on clients as a therapy in my office but also to educate and inform about.
On the coaching side I am not only interested in where you want to go, but also in what has held you back that hasn’t allowed you to be able to take forward steps where you know God wants you to be–all within the identity that God has anointed for you to embody. The assignments that follow all of this for each season of your life is what will bring you fulfillment as you build God’s kingdom with your assignment — your book, business, ministry, and so on and so forth.
For women who know that they are playing small or that it is time for the next level and it’s finally time to birth that book, class, promotion, business, or other idea from God, I’m here to help those who are ready to face and pluck up any blocks and utilize them as stepping stones to get where you need to be. If that’s you, you are my why.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
What’s funny is that I used to be definitely afraid of taking risks and doing anything that meant stepping out. Now, I understand that taking risks are necessary within good reasoning. The old Arlena would never dream of attempting to write a book, call myself a coach teach anyone anything (especially in an open manner), or put myself out there for people to see and hear in certain manners of speaking. This version of me that God’s helped me to be processed to be now embraces this very thing. If you do not take certain risks you may never know what it is that God is able to do through you and what He has actually placed in you to accomplish and get done in this world. What if Steve Jobs had never set out to make a difference and keep fighting for his dream? What if others who have made an impact on the world stayed stuck under the weight or “foot” of negative and limiting beliefs placed upon them by they themselves or others? We may have all struggled with this and truly need partnerships that can bring us forward out of it. That’s the way I have to think of taking risks and putting myself out there while having a faith to expect to win in whatever way God has preordained for me. This is what helps me to not stay stuck, stagnant, or small. This is also why I take the attitude of what Dan Sullivan’s book: “Who Not How” in the sense that not only do I look for coaches and those who can come alongside to partner with me in my own growth, but I proudly stand as the coach and partner for those whom I am assigned to assist in this way. I give God all of the glory for every bit of it, it’s not about me, it’s all about Him.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/heavenlyhandsmassage_bodywork
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coacharlena
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1AAjUNMUk4/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arlena-bessard-42943514b
- Twitter: https://x.com/arlenabessard
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@arlenabessard
- Other: https://heavenlyhandsmassageandbodywork.as.me/
Image Credits
Lauren Bethany Ferrel of Lauren Bethany Photography
