Today we’d like to introduce you to Erica Watkins.
Hi Erica, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
Although I had gone to massage school in 2009, my life took a different path. I did not professionally begin to massage until losing my job of 8 years in 2018. It was devastating but simultaneously the biggest blessing in disguise. It required me to dig deep and dive head-first into a new career of officially becoming a massage therapist. It has changed my life forever! In the summer of 2019, I took a leap of faith and moved from Las Vegas, Nevada to Herriman, Utah.
As a single mom, this was an incredibly difficult decision to leave my support system and existing clients. However, this was the catalyst to starting my practice, “Watkins Muscle Therapy,” in the summer of 2020. I wanted the name of my business to convey the type of massage therapist I am. I am not a spa or relaxation-focused massage therapist. My clients are people in chronic/acute pain or some form of injury or surgery recovery. Although “relaxation” is not my focus, I can tell you that most of my clients are completely relaxed at the end of their sessions.
Because your body is no longer firing off pain signals to your nervous system, you can finally go into a rest and recovery mode. One school of thought some massage therapists follow is the “No pain- no gain,” style. This entails pushing and digging to force the muscle to relax. This often leaves the client muscle-guarding and pushing the practitioner out of the muscle. Resulting in the client walking away sore and inflamed and the therapist worn out and overworked. My style of massage is what I like to call a “gentle deep tissue.” I work with the body to release the muscle. In working with my client’s pain tolerance, they can breathe through the work, and we can accomplish more in fewer sessions.
Along with this, my number one rule as a massage therapist is that where the pain is located, is rarely where the pain is originating from. My clients have a running joke that if they come in with neck pain, I will work on their big toe and their pain will disappear. So when they refer loved ones they tell them too, “trust the process,” haha! This kind of trust and rapport with my clients is important to the work!
I believe in putting myself out of business! By this, I mean I want to see clients back to living their lives and doing what they love. Not that I don’t love seeing my clients, but if I can help it I want to see them when you need me not every two weeks for the rest of their lives. I think the best advertisement is a pain-free happy body. I believe in a whole-body approach to pain relief that incorporates the mind and the body.
To achieve this, I work with my former mother-in-law Lora Watkins, in a tag team effort to help our clients. She is a mental health therapist that uses a form of mind-body work called the N.E.T. Neuro Emotional Technique. Many understand that some chronic pain can be emotions or trauma manifesting in the body. Mind-body work targets the muscles to clear what emotion may be manifesting in the body. I tell my clients it is like 10 years of therapy done in five minutes. N.E.T. gets to the root of the issue and process it quickly! We have had incredible stories of healing and lives changed for the better!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It certainly was not an easy road and required a shocking amount of healing to get through. Losing my job in 2018, I was unemployed for about 6 months while I navigated the massage licensure process. For the first six months in Utah, I worked two part-time jobs, massaging six days a week before starting my business. It wasn’t until my body started screaming at me that I knew I had to go into private practice. On this journey, I have learned I am capable of far more than I have ever imagined. And not to be cliche, but truly, the only way out is through and you can’t spell through without, “rough.” Doing hard things certainly paid off, and it was with the help of my village!
Balancing work, single-mom life, and school has been challenging, and I am grateful to have a great support system!
Educating my clients on their bodies and how to care for themselves in between massages is a great passion of mine. Rarely, will my clients walk away without, “Homework.” These are things they should or need to be doing to stay off my table, haha! A few months after starting my practice I decided that I needed to go back to school. I was accepted into the University of Utah in the summer of 2022 and I am working towards my bachelor’s in kinesiology. I have come to understand that my growing role is as teacher for both my clients and other massage therapist. I am currently working on a website and designing continuing education courses.
This passion for education allows me to build rapport and trust with my clients. I am proud of the brand that I have built in the style of massage I focus on. I get to do what I love every day!
Networking and finding a mentor can have a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Pricing:
- 60 min massage is $110
- 90min massage is $150
- 120min massage is $190
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/watkinsmuscletherapy/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WatkinsMuscleTherapy
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@watkinsmuscletherapy
