Some of you may know Karen for her witty and wonderful Massage Therapy cartoons. We have seen them online, and in the Friday File from the RMTAO, and we wanted to speak to the woman behind the animations. Karen had a full and successful career in animation which allowed her to work on some of our most favourite cartoons from our childhood...talk about nostalgia! She eventually realized that the industry wasn’t what she wanted for the rest of her life and decided to try her hands at a new career...see what I did there? As a mature student, Karen enrolled in Massage Therapy college and the rest is history. She has now been in practice for almost two decades and as a creative person, she couldn’t simply stop drawing cartoons! So for our viewing pleasure, we now have adventuresfromkarensclinic.com. Listen to this fascinating story and definitely head to her website to see more from this Massage Therapist, animator, and most recently...stand up comic?!?

Sandy is a Registered Massage Therapist in Vaughan who had reached out to us because he wanted to share his assessments and treatment approach with us. He thought he was coming in to give one of us a demo treatment so we could experience what he does but instead we have him a mic so he could share with you all. Sandy is no stranger to pain having injuries himself, and has found a way of providing manual therapy to his clients that gives him satisfaction and he is getting excellent clinical outcomes. Sandy’s approach is far from traditional Massage Therapy, which is part of the reason he decided to take a leap and start his own practice. Listen as Sandy explains why and how he moved into this direction for himself and his patients, and listen to us create a 5 year plan FOR him which includes bringing on RMTs and becoming a mentor for the next generation of therapists.

We had a repeat guest, Emily, who is one of the owners of Muse Massage Spa; a licensed body rub parlour with locations in Toronto and Vaughan. We initially spoke with Emily back in 2018 when we did a series on body rub parlours to educate the public about what is and isn’t legal and why RMT’s get asked for “Happy Endings”! This time around, we reached out to Emily to see how her industry has been affected by COVID-19 and lockdowns. We talked about the rules they had when given the green light to reopen (yes that includes attendants in masks), how Emily herself and her business partner have survived being shut down, some different parts of the sex industry and how they have been affected, and all of the many possible tangents when speaking to someone as open and honest as Emily.

Ronan Levy, one of the founders of Field Trip Health, and Dr. Michael Verbora, the Medical Director for Canada at Field Trip Health, joined us via zoom to educate us and our listeners on evidence based, legal, psychedelic therapies that have been proven effective when used to treat anxiety, depression, and PTSD. These two both have a background working with medicinal cannabis and have now started using a combination of ketamine and psychotherapy to help their patients. Dr. Mike is a trained family physician who became tired of simply adjusting his patients medications versus finding the root of the problem. Listen to him describe the process in detail and how and why it works. As a “recovering lawyer”, Ronan has a passion for what he’s doing now and even shares some personal experience about how this process has improved his own life.

Christina messaged us a year ago with an idea to record an episode about Massage Therapy and hydrotherapy for babies with the intent to debunk some baby spa myths. Well, being a Mom and Entrepreneur aka Mompreneur, took precedence and a year later we finally had our conversation! We got to hear about Christina’s journey into Massage Therapy, and how her practice has continually evolved through her eagerness to learn and expand her knowledge and technical skills. Christina is the owner of Alternative Healing Wellness Clinic in Vaughan which includes Massage Therapy, Pediatric Massage Therapy, Hydrotherapy, Hypnotherapy, and even Aqua Therapy for infants and children with varying needs.

Check out this 2nd episode of season 4. We had Liz hang out on our couch after receiving a Massage Therapy treatment. She was a bit reluctant to strap on a headset and sit behind a mic, she's a bit shy, but deep down shes really a superhero. Liz does something special for work, something she calls "just being nice to people" but really it's so much more....she does social work in a homeless shelter for men with substance abuse issues. Listen in as we rap about how she got started in the this line of work, leaving University just shy of obtaining her Psychology Degree to pursue a Diploma in Social Service Work, serving wine and beer to addicts, her new found perspective on the male experience, the humor of being called f*ckface, a close call with COVID at her workplace, and how her friends and family feel about her job. She is a true hero, a silent hero who humbly does her thing while making a huge impact on the lives of those around her.

Welcome to Season 4!!! We kick it off with Rachel who is a LMT in New York and has an incredible story about turning a 5 year plan into a 6 month journey to becoming a business owner. Though 2020 was tough for most of us, Rachel took every WTF moment, made decisions, found solutions, and managed to have success and prosperity during a very challenging time. Rachel is the definition of entrepreneur and is now working to help other Massage Therapists who want to level up their businesses. Aside from coaching therapists, Rachel has written a book which will be available soon called Massage MBA. Listen to this episode to learn from a therapist who saw opportunities and continues to crush her goals even when she’s met with obstacles.

ConEd Institute, 2 Massage Therapists and a Microphone, and Conor Collins of the Concast, have teamed up to organize a 2 day virtual conference with an all-star line up of industry giants! The best part of this new project...all of the proceeds will be donated to Food Banks of Canada! During such trying times, we all wanted to do some good both within our industry, and for our communities in general. We are super excited to let you all in on how we are planning to help you develop your brain, brand, and business with 7 of the most incredible speakers who are so graciously donating their time and knowledge to make this event possible- Walt Fritz PT, Dylan Crake MSc, RMT, RKin, Terra Nicolle  RMT, M.OMSc, Whitney Lowe LMT, Robert Libbey RMT, Eric Purves MSc, RMT, Michelle Francis-Smith RMT, Doula. We also have some incredible sponsors who will be donating prizes to this exciting charity event- Noterro, Canadian RMT Conference, and Carbo Medical Supplies, just to name a few. We can’t wait to see you all there!

Rebecca is a RMT in Alberta, Canada who loves to learn and constantly give herself new goals and challenges. Rebecca worked as a bus and LRV operator in Calgary which she ended up loving but needed to go back to school and learn more. She decided on Massage Therapy and loves this career as well! But alas, she needs more. Her next goal is to move to British Columbia which is a regulated province, She decided to go to Newfoundland and write her exams to get licensed there, and ultimately to BC. This is how we came to meet Rebecca! She did some exam prep at ConEd Institute and has successfully completed her first step towards her new goal of becoming registered in a Regulated Province.

Eric is a LMT in Idaho, and also a business coach for Massage Therapists and Bodyworkers. He and Mark had decided that we would record an episode about having an exit strategy or retirement plan from this industry. That was the original plan but as often happens, we took many turns and discussed Eric’s Massage Therapy journey, his family, making home movies with his 10 siblings, going to Massage school in Texas, how his career has evolved, and what soft skills he feels are important for Massage Therapists. We did of course discuss retirement because Eric reinforces the importance of financial planning with his coaching clients and he is very savvy when it comes to money.