Sunday, June 28, 2015
Friday, June 19, 2015
Saturday, June 6, 2015
Open Letter to Elements Massage by Eileen Violet
Elements Massage, Various Wisconsin locations
June 5, 2015
Dear (names redacted):
RE: Your letter and ‘free” 30 minute massage.
Thank you for your letter. Can you take a minute for some advice from a person who has been in the industry, and worked in many facets thereof, including running my own business?
I have been a massage therapist for 17 years. I graduated from a program in the Chicago area that was, in my opinion, much better than most of the current massage programs. I have spent thousands on Continuing Education and logged thousands of hands on hours. Clients often tell me that the service they received from me was the most effective and best massage they’ve ever received. Savvier clients say “you didn’t go to massage around here, did you?”
One great service that my school provided me was the sound knowledge on how to sustain my bodywork career. To last one must practice self-care, and balance. One must also earn enough per session so that one can practice self-care and balance. I lasted 17 years because of this advice. Industry average is 3-5 years.
For example, a therapist should never do more than 20 hours of massage per week, less if it is deep tissue, sessions should be paced so that deep work isn’t done in succession, and shifts should be short. If a therapist earns enough per session, this is easily done. Working for an organization such as yours makes this balance impossible, therefore therapists cannot earn enough to live on and still work a schedule that allows for balance.
If a therapist works at a franchise such as yours and earns an average of $22 per session ($15 plus an average tip of $7), at 20 sessions per week that is only $440. Take taxes out, license and cont. ed costs, gas to get to work, uniforms and you are left with NOTHING. Have you priced groceries lately? Car Insurance? Health Insurance? Child care? It’s not sustainable. Working more brings on injury and burnout. Your business model is for therapists who don’t need to work, or newbies out of school until they find something better—or better yet start their own business. Few and far between.
Franchises never seem to want to sell stores to massage therapists themselves…and therapists know that after basic office setup (I ran a small practice in Grayslake, IL for over 7 years) massage can be a very low overhead business….but franchisees, who do not know the industry first hand, nor the grueling physical nature of this work, most likely do not realize that the cheaply paid, over booked massage therapist model is NOT SUSTAINABLE.
“Is focus on helping people improve their quality of life important to you?” YES, but my quality of life is also important. YOUR THERAPISTS ARE IMPORTANT. It’s not all about the client; it must be a fair exchange of energy, not all take on one side, and give on the part of the therapist.
“Is community important to you?” One of your therapists has been with you over 2 years? I worked for a well known Spa in the Wisconsin Dells for over 3 years when I first relocated to WI…many had been there over 7 years…that is until they kept cutting wages…then it became a revolving door.
(FYI when I left I was earning approximately $51.90 per 50 minute session, both a percentage and their automatic 15% gratuity—that wage was after a 7% commission cut— the part time job I just left in Madison paid $32 per hour session, and it is an upscale place, so tips averaged an additional $15-20 per hour—why would I come earn $15 as session with you? Newsflash, clients who come for cheap massage, are cheap tippers, so I’ll bet your therapist tip average is $10 or less).
“Is education important to you?” After 17 years in this industry, respectfully, I’ll bet I could teach your team leaders a few things.
“Is career longevity important to you?” Your business model is not sustainable for long term massage careers. The pay is too low, the hours too long, appointments booked too tight, and the conditions just short of a sweat shop. Furthermore if I came to work for you, with 17 years under my belt…you’d pay me the same low wage as someone fresh out of school… Longevity? Going nowhere.
Massage school enrollment is decreasing, most skilled therapists work for themselves; many are leaving the industry in droves. I LOVE massage, I am so passionate about massage, I have received as must joy as I have given, and the state of the current industry breaks my heart. I believe the franchises and Groupons have driven down wages, and with good people leaving the industry, the over-all skill level of the industry as a whole is much lower than it should be. It’s very sad to those of us who sincerely care about bodywork; a bitter pill for those of us who actually made a living at one time.
I feel organizations such as ABMP and AMTA, in their zeal to bring massage to the mainstream, catered to franchises, and left the therapists out in the cold. My hope for the industry lies in the decreased amount of therapists…hopefully, economics 101, as this decreases, wages will go back up to where they were 15 years ago…otherwise who in their right mind would enter, and stay; working their butts off, injuring themselves, earning nothing, with crappy or no benefits. Again industry average 3-5 years.
The only way your business model will ever continue is if you pay your staff better. Massage is physically demanding work, and sadly franchises are the McDonalds/Walmarts of massage. It’s not fair that the client gets a bargain, the owners receive more per session than the therapists, and the therapists just get used up. The person giving the most, is getting the least. How long can that last? Seriously. People aren’t going to stick around for long with the heavy lifting on their backs, for low pay.
As for myself I went back to school. I have actual benefits, and my body doesn’t ache when I come home. I’m not expected to sit ‘on-call’ without pay, nor freedom to do as I please with that time.
Do the right thing, pay your people. You bought into a business model that is not sustainable as it was sold to you. Thanks but no thanks on that 30 minutes. I couldn’t relax knowing what that person was(n’t) being paid.