“A month before, I had no idea I was even interested in massage. I attended the open house, met the instructors, toured the school, and that was it. It was like all my stars just lined up, so I jumped on a magic carpet and never looked back.”
Robbin, 2011 graduate of AIAMs Western Massage Therapy program and valedictorian of her class, now operates ZoloZen, a private referral massage therapy business located in Columbus, Ohio.
Robbin rents rooms in ZoloZen to 7 other practitioners, 5 of whom are massage therapists (4 AIAM alumni), who bring in their own client base. The therapists all have personal clients who see them regularly, and they also pick up referrals from other therapists- each therapist at ZoloZen works independently in a shared space.
“Everyone runs their own show here, that’s one of the best parts about it.”
In the beginning of her career, Robbin was not familiar with massage therapy. She attended college twice and landed a long-term job in corporate sales before finding AIAM. Robbin began to feel trapped at work, she found the strict corporate environment suffocating and began dreading going to work each day.
“I knew I couldn’t continue working in a corporate setting. I had surrendered to the corporate way and felt trapped by it; I didn’t know how to escape. I didn’t feel like I could go backwards on a career path, there wasn’t any place I could go.”
After a referral from a friend Robbin found herself at AIAM, and dove right in. She found herself in love with massage therapy and grateful she had chosen to chase a new dream at AIAM. At AIAM Robbin found the meaningful connections and enthusiasm she had been looking for. She describes her time studying massage therapy at AIAM “magical”.
“I feel like AIAM not only teaches academics, but helps build an amazing healing energy helping you to figure out where you belong in this field.”
Robbin has learned the skills and had the training that makes AIAM massage alumni stand out among other therapists, something she can recognize almost instantly in others.
“Now, when I get a massage, there seems to be a correlation that when I love my massage experience, the massage therapist is coincidentally an AIAM graduate. Something magical happens in that place, everyone loved everyone, the camaraderie we had was amazing. It was special that classmates all had the same classes, and shared our experiences, allowing us to stay bonded as a group.”
As a massage therapist at ZoloZen, Robbin has regular clients who depend on her skills and knowledge to relieve their pain or discomfort. Many people have misconceptions about massage therapy, seeing it as a luxury, but Robbin knows massage can play an important role in a person’s overall wellness both physically and mentally.
I didn’t understand what my pain was before I studied massage, I thought it was just the start of aging, and the new beginning of how I would always feel. Through my work with clients, and having more massage experiences, I learned that most pain doesn’t have to be permanent. We just need to change our perspective and have hope again.
Muscles hold physical and emotional tension, which can start or continue an unbalanced environment in our body. The beneficial process of massage improves circulation and reminds the body how to let go and take a moment to breathe. The massage experience has the ability to lead one to an overall healthier existence.
Many of my clients come to me in such despair. I try to offer hope by a positive experience, and remind them that they are not broken, that this isn’t the beginning of ˜the end’!
Looking for a quality massage from experienced hands near the Dublin area? Call ZoloZen at (614) 947-9147.
Have you been looking for a career that allows you to help others? Call AIAM at (614) 825-6255 to learn more about the Western Massage Therapy Program.