Being a Massage Therapist has to be the coolest career in the world. We have flexibility in our schedule and work environment, the ability to work with so many different populations, and the opportunity to help people physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually...AND we get paid to do it! We follow a lot of RMTs who do cool stuff and have had many on the podcast. Christine Parker, RMT has been in practice for almost two decades and her life is a perfect example of what this career can off...
Mar 04, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Season 3Ep. 20
It might be an annual episode to have Nicki, RMT and world traveller on our couch when she touches back down in Toronto after another adventure in new countries! This is Nicki’s second visit with us to talk about her fabulous life as a self employed RMT who works 10 months of the year and takes time each year to explore new countries and have massage in those countries! Nicki wants to visit 50 countries by age 50 and has already experienced massage in 13 different countries. She may also be star...
Feb 29, 2020•1 hr 46 min•Season 3Ep. 19
Have you ever had to tell a client that you could no longer be their therapist? We had a RMT reach out to us because of this exact situation. We hadn’t really had much experience in discharging clients for reasons other than they no longer needed treatments from us or issues were beyond our scope of practice, so we wanted to have this discussion. Under what circumstances can you discharge a client and what is the proper way to do so? Our guest shares a story about a client interaction that made ...
Feb 27, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Season 3Ep. 18
Two of our past guests recently took the plunge out of their comfort zones in their clinic jobs to open their own clinic and wellness studio...and we couldn’t be more proud! Ashley and Omar met in Massage school and became fast friends. Over a decade later and they are still BFFs and now business partners! Listen to them talk about how they met, their unique friendship, how Level Wellness was born and what it takes to run a business with your best friend...and how they make sure their relationsh...
Feb 23, 2020•1 hr 26 min•Season 3Ep. 17
We were so fascinated with the work Dr. Kate is doing in her practice that we couldn’t resist having Ryan in to chat about his unique practice. Ryan is the lead practitioner at a clinic here in Toronto, Avenue Acupuncture. He practices Traditional Chinese Medicine and is an acupuncturist and herbalist with a focus on degenerative eye disease. Wait what?! You mean there’s a guy who can naturally slow the process of vision loss and possibly even restore some of your vision?!? This. Is. Epic. Ryan ...
Feb 18, 2020•57 min•Season 3Ep. 16
Check out this update we did with Rico and Mel from the Unprofessional Hour: Student Edition released September 19, 2019. We caught up with them right after they received the news of their success at the licensing exam and were awaiting their registration to becoming RMTs in Ontario. Listen in as they rap about the preparation and nerves that come with doing an OSCE- Observed Structured Clinical Exam, receiving notice of passing the exam, some of the job interviews that they have been attending,...
Feb 16, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Season 3Ep. 15
Check out this phone conversation we had with Rachel. Rachel is a LMT from San Antonio Texas, an Educator, and a small business coach. Rachel reached out to us and wanted to rap about all the things. Listen in as Rachel talks about her back story- leaving a secure job that was lacking fulfillment, starting a clinic using various profit sharing companies and a customer retention strategy to grow her practice and expand it into another location in a short span of time, strategic planning, realisti...
Feb 15, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Season 3Ep. 14
We had a phone chat with Ali Taylor, the co- CEO of Jane App, a practice management software that is so customizable to your own practice that you will feel like you have a personal assistant...and you can...her name is Jane! Ali grew up in clinic environments and had a very good grasp of how a successful clinic functions when she decided to open her own multidisciplinary clinic. The problem quickly became evident to Ali that none of the existing online software had all of the capabilities that ...
Feb 11, 2020•53 min•Season 3Ep. 13
We haven't done one of these in awhile, so when Kurt said he wanted to say back after his treatment and rap with us we jumped at the opportunity. We have made reference to Kurt many times in other episodes, and now you get to hear from man himself. Listen in as we talk about something and nothing all at the same time. We reminisce about past shenanigans, Kurt’s education and career, relive the day Amanda and Kurt met, saving lives on vacation, death of loved ones, and the passing of one of our f...
Feb 08, 2020•1 hr 16 min•Season 3Ep. 12
Dr. Kate Hunter is a Naturopathic Doctor practicing here in Toronto and we were excited to invite her into our space when we saw her unique approach with her patients. Dr. Kate specializes in Auricular and Bioenergetic medicine where she uses a unique system to asses the body using the pulses and energetic field (specifically from the ear) to determine where in the body there are blockages, and what sorts of treatments or remedies the body is asking for. If you’re scratching your head and thinki...
Feb 07, 2020•58 min•Season 3Ep. 11
There’s no denying that being a parent is one of the most rewarding and challenging jobs in the world whether you’re a stay at home parent or a working one. We had Meaghan on our couch who is a RMT and expecting her 3rd baby this year! Her and I talk about the considerations for working while pregnant, being self employed and whether or not to sign up for employment insurance benefits, how long to take off with the baby without losing your practice, and going back to work, schedules, and childca...
Feb 04, 2020•1 hr 16 min•Season 3Ep. 10
Check out this sit down we had with Jenn, a Massage Therapist who got in contact with us (as did many others) after throwing on some headphones as getting sucked into our recent episode on Title Protection for Massage Therapists in Nova Scotia. Jenn, like many other Therapists in east coast province are pro regulation. Listen in as Jenn talks about the struggle she is going through to obtain her license in Ontario after getting her Massage Therapy education out of province and practicing as a Th...
Jan 31, 2020•1 hr 18 min•Season 3Ep. 9
I hope you all love our nonsense as much as we do! We had Amy on our couch to talk about her life as a RMT. What we didn’t anticipate was that Amy is an actor and that’s fascinating! Truth be told this podcast talks much more about life as an actor than life as a RMT but we did throw a little massage talk in here! Listen to us talk about auditions, sitting in a room with a bunch of people who look exactly like you, why Brad Pitt can do no wrong, and a little about dealing with clients who no sho...
Jan 29, 2020•1 hr 46 min•Season 3Ep. 8
We often get asked the question, “How do you guys work together?” Our continuing education company has existed since 2013 and has always been managed by the two of us. We started small and built ConEd Institute to what it is today...AND we’re married! Sounds crazy to some people. But not to our guest, Danny, of Pain Posture Performance. Danny and his girlfriend, Kiki own a continuing education company in Miami Florida and teach courses in the USA, Europe, and Australia. Danny got in touch with u...
Jan 25, 2020•46 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Check out this phone conversation we had with Alicia, a Massage Therapist in Nova Scotia. Alicia is also the President of MTWPAM - the Massage Therapists and Wholistic Practitioners Association of the Maritimes. As of January 1, 2020 Massage Therapists that belong to one of the associations in Nova Scotia has the protection of the title "Massage Therapist" meaning only those in good standing with the associations can use this protected title. This is not to be confused with regulation and self-g...
Jan 21, 2020•59 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Dom is a brand new Massage Therapist in Northern Ontario- like fresh outta school, super green- Mark even said he’s still in pull-ups kinda new! He sent us a message to come on the podcast to talk about his experiences in school, and his decision to go out on his own rather than taking a clinic job fresh out of school because he couldn’t find a place that he felt he fit. This concept intrigued us because we are huge believers in there being a place for us all in the marketplace and if you can’t ...
Jan 17, 2020•50 min•Season 3Ep. 5
Do you work as an employee or as a self-employed contractor? Are you sure about that? We had Chris on our couch to talk about the misclassification of RMTs in the workplace according to CRA guidelines. Often times, it’s easier for both the clinic owner and the therapists to enter into a contractual relationship where the therapists are classified as subcontractors in the business. But that means that the therapists themselves are a business. As it turns out, even when the intention was a busines...
Jan 15, 2020•1 hr 35 min•Season 3Ep. 4
We are due for a light hearted good ol’ Unprofessional Hour aren’t we? Well we gave it the good ol’ college try! We had Teresa come hang out on our couch after meeting her at a ConEd Institute course recently because she was far from shy or filtered and seemed to be the perfect guest for an unprofessional chat. Well...this isn’t your typical unprofessional hour episode. Teresa is going through a college investigation and speaks very openly and candidly about why she’s being investigated, mistake...
Jan 12, 2020•2 hr 8 min•Season 3Ep. 3
We met our guest Jean at the Canadian Massage Conference in the fall and had many interesting talks about what it’s like being a Massage Therapist in a very small town. Jean is the ONLY massage Therapist in his town in Northern Ontario where he works with the only Chiropractor! Listen to him talk about his journey in Massage, moving to a small town, and being THE RMT that everybody knows. In a city where there are therapists in every corner, we enjoyed hearing about Jean’s practice which is full...
Jan 09, 2020•48 min•Season 3Ep. 2
In this episode we hang out with a past student to see where life has taken her. We wanted Cindy to come on because she had a unique situation that may be relatable for some Massage Therapy students or even therapists currently practicing. Cindy had a passion and drive for massage but life really got in her way when trying to complete her diploma. She completed it finally and passed her OSCE on her first attempt! But then again, things happened, and now she’s sitting on our couch, two Massage di...
Jan 05, 2020•39 min•Season 3Ep. 1
In part 2 of our mini series on dealing with negative reviews, we had Melanie come into our space who is a clinic owner here in Toronto. Melanie’s story is quite personal as the negative review personally attacked her, the clinic owner, and was so bad that google actually flagged it as hate. Melanie is used to dealing with some criticism, which is part of the job, but this review hurt her and she wanted to make sure her staff were protected as well. Listen to Melanie’s story and how she handles ...
Dec 31, 2019•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 102
Being a clinic owner means you have to have thick skin sometimes. Not everyone is going to share your vision and love the image and atmosphere you have created. But what do you do when someone leaves a fake review online and slanders you, your clinic, or your staff? In part 1 of our mini series on dealing with negative reviews, we speak to Dana, who owns a Massage Therapy clinic in a small town in Ontario and had someone leave a one star review of her clinic. The review spoke about services not ...
Dec 30, 2019•46 min•Season 2Ep. 101
One of the best things about our profession is all of the different paths practitioners can take and the flexibility to create a career that suits your lifestyle and not the other way around. Joyce is sailing proof of that. Although she is not treating clients at this moment in her career (only because the logistics of having a practice on her boat are quite tricky), she has built an online community of Massage Therapists who offer help, support, and advice to one another. Now if that doesn’t ma...
Dec 24, 2019•38 min•Season 2Ep. 100
We are always grateful when we get positive listener feedback. A few months ago we received a very nice message about the podcast and it turned out to be from a Massage Therapy educator, author, and clinician with more than 30 years experience. We were thrilled to know that Whitney Lowe, Massage Therapist in Oregon who is the author of Orthopedic Massage textbooks and founder of the Academy of Clinical Massage was one of our listeners! He has decided to start his own podcast to bring more educat...
Dec 20, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 99
A question we ask many of our guests and many of our participants in our courses at ConEd Institute is “why did you want to get into Massage Therapy?” There’s a few typical answers but an overwhelming response is the flexibility and ability to be self employed. We meet a lot of therapists who say “I would like to own my own clinic one day”. But how many actually do? It’s a huge risk, it’s expensive, and it’s a LOT of work. Melissa never really wanted to own and operate her own business. She was ...
Dec 16, 2019•1 hr 7 min•Season 2Ep. 98
Do you play music while you do treatments? There’s so much diversity in our profession but we know that many therapists still use the tried and true ambient relaxation music that we all became accustomed to during Massage School. It’s calming, sets the tone for the treatment, and allows a person to clear their mind with its soft, rhythmic sounds. But have you ever thought about who makes this music? Well we found him! Steve, aka Luiniss had an injury in marching band which inspired him to become...
Dec 12, 2019•34 min•Season 2Ep. 97
The Massage Therapists Association of Alberta contacted us to discuss what they described as "the frustrating landscape that makes up the Massage Therapy profession in Alberta". Alberta is one of the unregulated provinces in Canada and has 4 main Massage Therapy Associations. The MTAA has concerns about public safety, especially when it comes to sexual assault cases involving Massage Therapists and feels that there has to be a a complaints and disciplinary process which could only really be achi...
Dec 07, 2019•41 min•Season 2Ep. 96
What do you know about concussions? Do you feel confident when working with a client who has had confirmed concussions, multiple concussions, or possible concussions? Do you know signs, symptoms, and how to test for the various neurological effects of a concussion? Do you know if you have/ what your role is as a Massage Therapist in managing concussions? If you work with athletes (or any human for that matter) it may be worth your while to listen to Conor clear up some misconceptions about concu...
Dec 04, 2019•1 hr 21 min•Season 2Ep. 95
Jason contacted us because he wanted to speak about a type of therapy he has been learning about, offering to his clients, and now teaching to other Massage Therapists. Does Lomi Lomi ring a bell? We had another Massage Therapist and educator from Arizona on the podcast teaching us about this sacred Hawaiian practice and Jason wanted to expand on what she had to say. As a white man practicing in Texas, Jason wanted to be sure he stayed true to the Hawaiian way of practicing this therapy and keep...
Nov 30, 2019•44 min•Season 2Ep. 94
We love a good rant don’t we? Clarence is fed up with the double standard that exists when posting job ads that blatantly ignore the law when it comes to gender discrimination. How is it that in our beloved profession it is acceptable to post a job ad for a “female massage therapist” only when it would NEVER be tolerated in any other profession especially if it were the other way around and excluding women. Clarence has been in this field for over a decade and he is well aware of some client pre...
Nov 27, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 93
