Travelling Massage Therapist.

Marwell Zoo
(These guys are Emperor Tamarins. They live at Marwell Zoo.)

It has to be said that I’m not having a great deal of luck with my job hunt. I’ve applied for a few things, but there simply aren’t very many jobs out there at the moment.

So, with the help of Seth Godin, Havi Brooks and Chris Guillebeau I’ve been doing a bit of creative thinking, and trying to work out what measures I could take by myself instead of having to rely on somebody else to provide a job for me.

The answer turned out to be something that I’m perfectly qualified for – massage therapy. However, my chances of finding a job at a local salon are quite slim. (My hair’s pink, I don’t wear make up and I’m not tanned – these things are immediate disqualifications in the beauty industry.) I also don’t want to give full body massages. They’re extremely hard work, and my own body isn’t well enough to manage it at the moment.

But there is something I can do which will suit me, and will also reach out to the kinds of people who might never think to go to a salon – and that’s working as a travelling beauty therapist.

By providing seated massage, I can limit myself to working on smaller areas of the body such as the feet & legs, hands & arms and shoulders & head. It also means that my clients don’t need to get undressed, or clamber onto a couch. The treatments can last as little as 10 minutes for an introductory session, or more in-depth massages can be combined for up to an hour.

I’ll be travelling by bus, bike or train, so my range is fairly local, and I’ll need to keep my equipment to a minimum. But if I travel to people’s homes and offices, all I need them to provide is a chair and possibly a table.

I think this will work really well if I can travel to an office space, or perhaps a local community centre, and offer treatments to a number of people from a single venue. It would also work really well as a pampering session – gather a few friends round on the sofa, and take it in turns to enjoy a relaxing foot massage!

I’ve made a start this morning by making a poster and asking the proprietor of my local shop to put it up in his window. The next step is to design some flyers, have them printed, and then I can use my lovely new bike to deliver them all around the neighbourhood.

I’ve also written a page on the Scents & Stones blog, explaining how it’s all going to work.

If you think your workplace might be interested in hosting something like this, or you fancy signing up for a pampering party, please could you let me know? You can leave a comment below, or send an email to claire@eternalmagpie.com. Thank you!

0 thoughts on “Travelling Massage Therapist.”

  1. Contact your local Sure Start too – see if they could let you do some taster sessions, you might get more offers from that.

Leave a Reply