All Blog Posts Tagged 'LauraAllenMT' (26)

What do chicken wings, magnetic signs, garbage collection, pet food and massage all have in common? They are all products or services offered by franchises that are owned by Roark Capital Group of Atlanta, Georgia. This company has invested $3 Billion Dollars in collections of franchises across the US and around the world. Their latest acquisiiton is the chain of more than 800 Massage Envylocations, which has brought massage to…

It’s all about me, so here’s my wishlist for the profession. It’s difficult to place these in order of importance, because some of them depend on each other, and in my little corner of massage, they’re all important. It’s election time–aren’t we all just about sick of hearing about it–candidates mudslinging and making campaign promises? If I was the President of Massage Land, here’s what I’d do:

The Federation of State Massage Therapy…

If at first you don’t succeed…

Try, try again. That’s what the regulatory board in my home state of North Carolina is recommending when it comes to getting the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards to do something about the confusing status of continuing education approvals.

Two years ago, the NC Board of Massage & Bodywork Therapy introduced a resolution…

There’s nothing earth-shaking in the world of massage politics on my radar this week, so I’m just going to make a few observations. I know that I am about to step on more than a few toes here, but it must be said.

I’ve got a few thousand massage therapists in my social networks (FB, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google +). In the mornings, when I’m drinking my coffee, I visit those sites and scroll through to see what people are up to. I like to read that people are having success with their…

I just got home from doing a site review from COMTA. It was my third trip as a peer reviewer, and once again, an enlightening experience. COMTA is the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation. Gaining accreditation is a strictly voluntary process. It’s estimated that there are about 1500 massage schools/programs in the US, and less than 100 of them possess the accreditation. Obtaining COMTA accreditation for a massage school is not cheap, and it’s a lot of hard work, so you might wonder…

Florida SB 1860, introduced on January 17 by Senator Negron, will remove the right of massage therapists and acupuncturists to bill PIP (Personal Injury Protection) insurance for those who have been injured in auto accidents. I don’t have any statistics regarding how many FL therapists currently file these types of claims, but based on my interactions on social networks, I would estimate that it’s quite a few. I suggest a mass protest is in order. You can find your legislators here. Contact…

This year I wrapped up five years of service on the North Carolina Board of Massage & Bodywork Therapy. Anyone who has ever sat on a board will probably agree with me that disciplinary hearings involving massage therapists are one of the most stressful parts of that job. It was for me. I estimate that during my time on the Board, I had to sit through approximately fifty of them. It was very distressing to see my fellow massage therapists trying to defend themselves–and in a few cases,…

I started to take the day off from doing my usual Sunday blogging…it is, after all, Christmas, and no one expects me to work on Christmas, do they? I don’t really consider it work–maybe because I don’t get paid for it :) and anyway, it’s therapeutic. I need a little therapy today. This blog isn’t about massage, so consider yourself warned.

Each year when Christmas draws near, I find myself remembering a lot of Christmases past. Some of those memories are sweet, and some are upsetting.…

Every day, I get emails and calls from therapists who want some advice on problems in their practice. I usually can’t give an answer off the top of my head without questioning the therapist for further details, and visiting their website if they have one (and by the way, not having one is a problem in itself.) Even though two therapists may be having the same problem, there are a lot of factors that are different from one practice to another, that potentially have a bearing on my…

Rick Rosen, MA, LMBT, Founder and Executive Director of the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education, announced last week that he will be stepping down from that position effective November 30.

In his letter to Alliance members, Rosen stated that he is returning to his full-time duties at the Body Therapy Institute in Siler City, NC. He founded the school in 1983 and has co-owned and co-directed it his wife, Carey…

This is my third year of doing an annual report on the financial status of the major non-profit organizations of the massage therapy profession. I am not an accountant or a financial expert. This information was taken directly from FORM 990, the Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, which is published on Guidestar.

COMTA is the Commission…

I was at the annual reunion of my mother’s family today. Any Sunday afternoon in the South, when you drive by a church fellowship hall or community clubhouse and you see cars in the parking lot, you can almost take it to the bank that a family reunion is going on. Just stop on in. The chances are really…

It’s no secret that I’m a FB addict. Well, maybe that’s a strong word. I couldn’t run my business, write my blogs, teach my classes, take care of my home and husband and dog, and everything I do if I spent all day on FB. I usually sign on around 5 am every morning while I’m having my coffee and the house is quiet, and read what everybody’s been up to and make a few posts of my own. Then I check in for a minute whenever I need a break from paperwork or laundry throughout the day, and since I…

Author’s note: This is the third year that I have reported on the financial state of the non-profit organizations of the massage therapy profession. The information I use to write these is obtained from www.guidestar.org, which is a clearinghouse of information on non-profits. If a non-profit does not provide their own Form 990 filing to Guidestar, it will be provided by the IRS, providing the organization meets the obligation of public disclosure.…

Anytime I reach a milestone, whether it’s one of those birthdays that ends in zero or some other momentous occasion, it causes me to stop and reflect on the things I’ve done. I see what worked and what didn’t….what I coulda, shoulda, woulda done given another chance. And I pat myself on the back for those things that turned out well.

Next Monday is the 8th anniversary of my clinic. In 2003, I had been working for five years in the massage school I attended. I loved my job. I loved the…

Have you ever been a victim of professional jealousy? Even worse, have you been one to perpetuate it? I personally can’t think of any motivation to be so jealous of a fellow massage therapist that I would do something to try and sabotage their business, or repeat rumors or outright untruths about someone in the hope of ruining his/her reputation. And yet, I hear about this every day.

Someone wrote me recently that some current students from the massage school that she had attended had…

I often hear from massage therapists who have made the jump from lone practitioner to entrepreneur, and the biggest struggle they seem to face is staffing problems. One of my favorite bloggers, Steph Lasch Lmt, wrote about some of her issues earlier this week. She’s hardly the lone ranger. And I know from my interactions with her that she’s like me–a workaholic and a…

This isn’t one of my rants about massage research–although that’s definitely a sermon I plan to keep on preaching. It’s about the basic things that we all ought to know, if we’re calling ourselves massage therapists.

I love anatomy and physiology, and the study of pathology is fascinating to me. The human body is an amazing thing, and the more I know about the way it works, the more competent and empowered I feel to do a good job as a massage therapist. Sadly, that sentiment isn’t…

Substance: what something is made of.  Sustenance: support, maintenance, nourishment.

On a personal level, I have a tendency to think that whatever your character traits, your qualities–your personal substance–is all about, has a lot to do with what you do to sustain that. I don’t intend the word sustenance just in the context of what you’re having for dinner…rather, in the context of what is it you do that sustains not only your body, but…