Today we’d like to introduce you to Stacy Maag.
Hi Stacy, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I have a bachelors degree welding engineering from Ohio State, 2002 grad. Completely relevant to massage therapy. Ha! The job I took out of college, was not going to be conducive to raising a family. So, in mid 2004, I started school for massage therapy while working full-time in a sales/customer service/customer support role for an industrial gas company, and shortly after starting massage therapy school found out that I was pregnant with my son. My schooling was an 18 month program so I started while I was pregnant with my son, finished, and took my state boards when I was 8 1/2 months pregnant with my daughter. Studying while raising a baby, and being pregnant is a time I look back on and wonder how the heck I did that! I worked at a clinic in Ohio once my kids were about one and two, enough to have some adult conversation and get my hands on some people to hone my craft. In 2010, we moved to Texas. I decided I didn’t like bosses all that much so maybe I would try going out on my own. It has been really amazing! Now that I’m heading into my 21st year looking back, I wouldn’t have changed a thing. I was able to raise my kids, go to all the school functions, sports games, field trips, and don’t feel like I missed any part of their lives. Of course they’re now 20 and 21 and doing well. My business is thriving and as they got older I was able to work more, take on more clients, take more specialized classes, and it’s been truly wonderful.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s not an easy thing to start your own business in a new place where you know almost no one. I started networking with the kids sports team‘s parents first off, that got me an invitation to a few networking groups where I met more people. Corporations found me and I expanded my business from there. I did a lot of corporate client work for several years, and the referrals from the people that I have met and worked on have been the biggest blessing. When I applied for my massage therapy license in Texas, they denied me at first, even though there is reciprocity and I had been licensed in Ohio for a few years already. I did much of my bookwork online (the word online flagged the original denial) while I was working full-time we learned all of our hands-on in intensive on the weekends. Texas does not accept online education for hands-on learning, but after I wrote a very informing letter about my work experience, my schooling, the accreditations all of my certifications and classes I got my license in the mail a couple of weeks later. I built my business slowly while the kids were young and in elementary school.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I tell people, “I reduce road rage in Houston one person at a time.” I think if everybody got regular massages, we would all be a little less stressed out and ragey on the roads. Most of the work I do is stress relief, postural work, injury recovery, athletes, and many detailed or specific issues. I do my best to get people out of pain without inflicting more and spend a lot of time educating people that deep tissue should not be painful. If it is painful the superficial layers of tissue are likely not warmed up enough to get to the deep work. I’ve taken quite a few classes on techniques to be able to help me to problem solve when someone has something they can’t quite figure out. My engineering background helps with looking at the body as a structure, in which muscles might be pulling which way, and how people move through space. The most fun for me: I’ve had several clients now that have told me I have saved them from surgery. There were things they couldn’t quite figure out and the doctors will prescribe pain meds or surgery, and they don’t want to do that. Sometimes working together we can figure out what’s going on and loosen up the muscles just enough to avoid that situation. Really my hands and intuition do the work. When I’m able to feel a tight tissue and figure out what’s going on, work a specific muscle and feel it let go, that’s the most fun for me. I know we are making progress.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I think my biggest advice is just talk to as many people as possible about what you do. When people see the passion that you have for your line of work, they get excited about your work. Find local networking groups, business networking groups, mom‘s groups have been great, and other parents of kids who are in the same activities. Make sure there are as many people as possible who know what you do. No one can hire you unless they know your business, so I think that’s my biggest advice. Get involved in different things, foster genuine connections. Sometimes I’ve found networking to be very transactional where people are just meeting you for five minutes, throwing a business card at you, and then adding you to their mailing list. That’s not how I operate. I really want to get to know people and figure out how can we best help each other. I think also finding opportunities to help other people in their businesses makes you more memorable.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://stacymaaglmt.com
- Instagram: @stacymaaglmt
- Facebook: @stacymaaglmt
