Today we’d like to introduce you to Tyffani C. Jackson.
Hi Tyffani, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
As a young girl, around 7 years old, I was often able to recognize when another person near me was experiencing pain. I would ask the person if a specific area of their body hurt (neck, arm, calf, foot, and hand) and I’d be correct! Somehow I also knew how to make the discomfort go away. Looking back, this was really weird! But also the beginning of my story.
Skip forward to 12 years old, while spending all of my after-school time hanging out at a cool new spot just a block away from my house, I was offered a small job by the owners of Uncle Sam’s Army Navy Outdoor where I later would have an opportunity to be mentored by Sam Mannos in managing a business. At the young age of 15, I was learning how to use QuickBooks, process inventory, manage a retail floor, input purchase orders, and process payroll checks. Again, looking back it was an incredible experience for such a young person, but it truly felt normal. Every day was just a normal day in my life!
At 17, I was assistant manager at Greenbacks All-a-Dollar where I learned how to implement all of the same processes in a different way and on a larger scale. Again, another great opportunity! At 18, I enlisted in the U.S. Army, where I learned how to follow orders, and be a “Battle” to several other soldiers from all different backgrounds (essentially your ride or die/ best friend/ you’ve got their back and they have yours no matter what), and eventually how to lead.
These few years before, I committed fully to massage therapy as a career, were some of the most challenging and key in preparing me for what comes next.
Basic Training is pretty tough, and the females were pretty smart, so we would line up on the floor to dig out the knots in our shoulders after a rough day in training. There were two female soldiers who would race to sit in front of me. I told them they were absolutely ridiculous, and it doesn’t matter who sits where because it’s all the same! They both agreed that I should work in a spa, and I thought that was even more ridiculous because I was a rough tough soldier, not a “Fru Fru Spa massage girl!” Boy, did I misunderstand what massage therapists do back then!
After training, while serving for a short period in a full-time position at an Army unit located in Provo, I flipped through the yellow pages (in a real-life phone book) looking for inspiration for what I would do the following week when my schedule would shift to part-time and it was “time to grow up” and get a real job. I was flipping through pretty mindlessly when it landed on the page with an advert for the local massage school at the time, UCMT in Lindon.
So, a lightbulb moment happened and I called the school! They had me come in that same day, a Thursday, and I was starting class with the next cohort the following Monday. The timing here is incredible, and I don’t question that sort of thing anymore since my life journey is sprinkled with pretty epic timing and opportunities to act or let it pass by.
I graduated with various recognitions and a job offer in North Carolina at the Pinehurst Resort Spa where the US Open for Golf would take place just months later. That opportunity is where I learned what type of work really brought me the most joy; injury, recovery, functional style therapeutic massage.
After being deployed, I returned to North Carolina. But I knew my time there was up, and I was ready to continue my education and advance my career. So, I moved back to Utah. Along the way, I entertained several job opportunities along the coast in California, and in the mountain resort spa areas between the west coast and Utah. Nothing quite fit or felt right, so I paused for a bit and took on a couple of jobs near UVU while starting the semester. I was a waitress at Papa’s Southern Smoked BBQ, and a cashier at Target. But I loved doing massage so much! So, I kept looking for opportunities to work as one.
This was during a time when massage therapy jobs weren’t abundantly available. As a massage therapist, you either worked for a resort, or on a cruise ship, or you did a private practice which was risky and often unreliable as a “real job.” After looking for a while, I found a room for rent inside another business, and it fits like a glove! For about 5 years, I stayed in that location. I found my life partner and got married, did all sorts of grown-up things like buying a house and a new shiny car, and worked my butt off. Then it happened… during year 6, I got that uncomfortable feeling again that told me to inventory myself and my position and make a move accordingly. This inventory triggered a leap I never thought I would make.
Pregnant, and nauseous from the anticipation more than the pregnancy, I hired a commercial realtor and moved into a much larger commercial space where I would begin to expand my practice. This culmination of experiences is what Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork was born from. Especially the lack of available jobs for massage therapists, where we often heard the phrase, “I can’t afford to do this any longer, so I guess I’ll go get a real job.” This really got under my skin! The reality that massage therapists had to support their hobby with a real job was unacceptable and I knew there was a better way!
Over these past 12 years, I have jumped at every opportunity for intensive business and leadership training, mentoring, responding with change to client feedback, and even employee feedback. I experienced PTSD and did extensive work on my mental health to bring my brain back to a state of calm. My favorite, albeit most scary jump, was 6 years ago when given the opportunity to move into a building right on Main Street in Pleasant Grove, my favorite part of town, and call it our forever home.
I have received the gift of employing many massage therapists, several chiropractic physicians, and a bunch of administrative staff from the front lobby to behind the scenes. Being an employer is like a major trust fall, for both myself and for the employee. It’s an opportunity to become a better person and develop healthy relationships with others.
Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork is a part of our community now, and I love that so much! I have a great appreciation for every person on our team who played a part in the development and growth of the company we see today. The best part of my life so far is that I get to do something I genuinely love and that every day it helps myself and others to live a better life.
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?
I don’t believe that life is meant to be a smoothly paved road. We are here to grow as beings; human, spiritual, emotional, and physical. I’m really curious to know how many people you interviewed have journeyed a smooth road!
I come from a divorced family during a time when there was only one divorced family per neighborhood and only a few within an elementary school. That was certainly bumpy, but it is a major part of becoming this version of myself. Without that experience, I don’t know what that would even look like!
Business requires money, risk, time, and all sorts of investments along the way. A friend of mine says that business is “unsexy.” It’s easy to think that it’s luxurious and exciting when watching from the outside. But really, there are many moving parts, and not particularly exciting aspects.
It was a struggle to learn how to piece all of these moving parts together so they actually work. But, much like building an epic lego castle with a moving moat, it is especially fulfilling when things come together. Relationships are often bumpy as they develop, and life is full of relationships! A business owner and employer have many relationships and quite a variety at that. My son, who is now 10, is diagnosed with Autism and ADHD. Many challenges go along with parenting, and I would describe the challenge as just a bit deeper with diagnoses like these.
Experiencing PTSD for a few years was definitely rough. If you know, you know. If you don’t, it’s best explained by having you imagine a 24/7 adrenaline rush from another car spinning out right in front of you on an I15 mid-snowstorm. It’s rough. And, it is how I came to know myself, and appreciate life experience as much as I do!
2020 was most definitely not a smooth road for the service industry. Not really for any industry! Rough times like these are when our true character is exposed. When things are going smoothly, it’s easy to be kind, and generous, and look great! It’s when times like 2020 occur that we have the opportunity to let our character shine.
My favorite parts of this particular struggle have been seeing the character of those closest to me refocus, adjust, and shine in the most beautiful ways.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Our team’s primary focus is to change the way you experience life, for the better of course! We accomplish this through providing therapeutic massage, chiropractic care, Floatation REST, and working with other types of healthcare providers to provide integrative care for our client’s best possible outcomes.
We have committed to providing the best possible care at the most affordable price. It is our goal to provide a safe space for our staff to utilize their gifts and skillset, and for clients to heal and recover.
Consistent continuing education and training for our LMTs and Physicians is a key part of how we provide the best possible care for our clients and patients. Utah does not require additional/ continuing education for massage therapists, and it makes a huge difference in the experience for a client. We do training each month, and we do formal continuing education courses 1-2 times each year.
One place our team really shines is in auto collision injury recovery. This is an area where it is especially important to have integrative care. In our clinic, we offer a wide scope of therapies to support your body in recovery from an automobile collision injury: Therapeutic Massage, Chiropractic Care, Floatation REST, Functional Exercises and Stretching, Ice, and Heat Therapy.
Every year our staff does additional training on optimal treatment practices, efficiency strategies, and management of auto accident patient care. Every person in our clinic plays a role in your injury recovery, and we all commit to supporting our clients and patients within those roles.
All of our providers enjoy helping our clients to reduce back, neck, shoulder, leg, and arm pain, TMJ pain; migraines, tension headaches, anxiety, and stress, and to improve functional movements for the best results from your exercise routines. Our more advanced LMTs enjoy working with clients prior to surgery, and for post-operative care; manual lymphatic drainage treatments are an important part of this.
And our Floatation REST Attendants enjoy providing clients an environment of respite from the outside world; in our spacious and comfortable float tank where you can spend some uninterrupted quiet time with physical relief that only zero-gravity can offer.
What matters most to you?
Experience. My experience, client experience, our team’s experience, a stranger’s experience, your experience. We are all here to experience life! There are so many different ways to go about this experience, and I find that to be the most wonderful thing!
There is curiosity, joy, sadness, love, chaos, and peace inexperience. And all experiences hold value.
Pricing:
- 2022: 1-hour Therapeutic Massage $69
- 2022 1-hour Therapeutic Massage Follow-up Visits $57
- 2022 Chiropractic Care $35-50
- 2022 Floatation REST $40-80-110
- 2022 Lymphatic Home Care Kit TMB Exclusive $61
Contact Info:
- Website: www.UtahTherapeuticMassage.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/utahtherapeuticmassage/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/utah.therapeutic.massage
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/UTmassage
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjyXAFp4YWo
