Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Stacy.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Kimberly. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I knew from an early age that I wanted to help people feel better. As a teenager I didn’t really know what that meant, everyone was pushing for nursing but that didn’t fit, I thought Physical Therapy until I looked more into that, but that didn’t really fit what I wanted either. It wasn’t physical enough, but that meeting with the PT introduced me to the first massage therapist I’d ever met. We were not a ‘massage’ family, I’d only ever seen that on TV, but it was right then that I knew, that was it. I could you my physical being to affect change and wellness in another person. But I still didn’t know you could actually do that for a living, I mean not really and I didn’t have a lot of support about it either. So I went on to community college until I could figure out what to do as a career, but I started reading every massage book I could get and practiced on friends. I knew this was what I wanted, but life was rolling by then, I had a job and had finished my associate’s degree so I guessed this was it. Then my grandmother died and her sister came to the funeral and challenged me to do what it was I wanted to do, not to wait until people around me were comfortable with my life choices. Things, as so often happen when you make the right decision, started to fall into place. My mom worked with someone who has gone to massage school, and was going to move to London to a degreed program that had started there for Massage and other alternative therapies, I still didn’t have my BSc so I looked into it too, turns out you had to have an associate’s degree to even apply there as an American, so that worked out. I applied in June and started my training in London England in September 1999.
I graduated with my BSc; Therapeutic Bodywork in 2002, but hit a stumbling block upon returning home so couldn’t start right away doing massage. I got a job and did massage on the side, but in 2006, I left that job on a Thursday, had an interview on Friday and changed everything in my life. I started at a spa that was up and coming but I still had bills so I worked overnight in a tile plant while working every day at the spa. I worked 18 hours a day 7 days a week for 2 years until I was finally established enough doing massage. In 2010 I found a room to share with another therapist and started taking clients on my off days, and in 2011 it was time to go it alone, I jumped.
I’d found the perfect spot in the Museum District; an area that is close to all the things that Houstonians love about Houston, in a house that had been converted into office space, with space to grow, and great people working there. I moved in here to 2 Chelsea 6 years ago this August. I’ve had dedicated clients that have been with me for more than 10 years now, followed me through several moves, lost me and then found me again, supported me in the things that happened in my life as much as I ever supported them, and respected what I do enough to recommend me to their friends and family.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I’ve found the road smoother when I’m not trying to force the square peg into the round hole. I really do believe that the universe paves the way when the right choices (not the easy choices) are made.
Trying to convince my family that I really could do this as a career, and that ‘No, I didn’t want to work for someone else’, and the ‘Yes, I can be self-employed’, was hard and sometimes still is, but, I’d had good teachers along the way that taught me what I wanted my business to look like and those that showed me what I didn’t want, and I had to just trust myself. Here I am working for myself and so very happy.
Working 18 hours a day for those 2 years was unlike anything I’d ever challenged myself to do, but I didn’t want to fail, I wanted this to work, and in the end it set a pattern that makes my current life much easier. My friends think I’m crazy and that I work too much, because I still work 7 days a week, this industry requires hustle and drive, and I love what I do.
Please tell us about Integrated Massage Services.
Integrated Massage Services, is a direct reflection of all of my ‘tools’ at my disposal. The spa I worked for, as most spa’s do, charged for different types of massage, but I had a client call one day to book and when asked what massage she wanted she responded “I don’t know, I just want the Kim Massage”. This is what I do. I now have 18 years of official ‘training’ but really I’ve been doing this for about 25 years now. In that time I’ve complied a tool box of massage styles; Swedish (which is foundational), deep tissue, Muscle Energy, Positional Release, Neuromuscular Treatment, Sports, Prenatal, Lomi Lomi, Hot Stone, Thai Yoga, fascia work, Kinesio Taping, and a scatter of things that don’t officially fall into those categories but all work, and I also offer full spectrum infrared sauna. I found that everyone wants something different, and even the same person can want something different every time.
This is what sets me apart, you choose your length of time and what we come up with can and usually will be different every time you come in because you are different every time. I want the freedom to use some deep tissue in your neck but not your leg, to stretch you, to provide trigger point therapy, to listen to your body as I go and stop where it wants me to. I want to challenge you to sometimes let me do the thing that may be uncomfortable because it’s going to make the most difference it your body.
I think the thing I am most proud of is getting people to make a commitment to their own wellness. “How often should I come back?” is a question we all get, and I answer “I’d love to see you as often as you can, but really that is a deal you make with yourself. If you commit to yourself to getting a massage every 4 weeks, at 4 weeks and 3 days your body will start to ache. You made a deal and you aren’t honoring it, and your body will tell you, it held up its end, now you do the same.’ It’s the truth, I’ve seen the proof.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Oh that rearview mirror. I’d like to say that I’d have gone to school right out of high school and started at 19 like I wanted. But, massage therapy has about a 5 year burn out rate because most people aren’t ready for the amount of physical work it takes, the emotional and spiritual stress it takes on you, and how long it takes to establish a practice and client base.
The real answer, if I had it all to do over, the thing I would do differently wouldn’t be the timeline, I would have asked for help and to prepare myself mentally, physically, spiritually and increased my general knowledge around owning and running a small business. I thought I had to figure it out on my own, but I have learned over that time that asking for help isn’t weakness, its strength.
Pricing:
- 60 min-$80
- increasing in $40 increments per 30 minute block
- Packages available for both massage and sauna sessions
- Infrared Sauna $30-45 minutes
Contact Info:
- Address: Kim Stacy
Integrated Massage Service
2 Chelsea Blvd
Houston, Tx 77006 - Website: www.kimstacymassage.co
- Phone: 713.501.1328
- Email: kimstacymassage@gmail.com
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/kim-stacy-integrated-massage-services-houston
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