By Dar Mikula
The Florida School of Massage has plenty of graduate success stories and our fair share of love stories too. This is a success story and a LOVE story. First comes Love…
Mike Withee and Megan D’Andrea met in Micanopy. Megan was offering couple’s massages at the Herlong Mansion Bed & Breakfast and needed another therapist to work with. Mike offered outcalls and also worked at the Old Florida Cafe across the street and had his cards around town, so Megan called him to see if he’d like to work as a team. He said yes, but when the first opportunity to work together came, the scheduled couple at the Herlong ended up cancelling their session. Since their time was already booked, Mike and Megan decided to trade with each other instead. Megan gave Mike a session first, and then when it was Megan’s turn to receive a few days later, they ended up talking for almost eight hours after the session.
“The fact that we’re both FSM graduates really made a difference in the beginning,” Megan said. “Since we had so many shared experiences in common, we felt instantly connected. We quickly realized that we could no longer trade massages professionally, and started our relationship soon after.” Mike is a graduate of the September 2005 Massage and Hydrotherapy Program, and Megan from May 2010.
Mike and Megan moved to North Carolina for a change of pace, and to explore the mountains and a job opportunity at the Cherokee Casino. The casino didn’t work out well for them, so they created their own business. They also decided to get legally married on New Years Eve 2012 in order to file their taxes jointly, to make it easier for the business.
“We’d felt married in our hearts long before that,” Megan said. “All the communications skills we learned at FSM help us navigate our misunderstandings. And our shared passion for the healing arts keep us focused on what we love and live for each day, and that is service to others and a deeper understanding of ourselves.”
First comes Love…Now comes the Success story! We caught up with Mike and Megan recently in Micanopy. Below is the result of our “Q&A”.
~What were you doing for work before FSM training?
-Mike: I wasn’t working, I was actually laid up with injuries—physical and emotional—and didn’t have the tools to heal them. I was young, and just starting to realize that I needed to support myself, but I felt like I couldn’t because of my body. In an effort to heal, and answer a calling to help others who feel out of balance as well, I attended the Florida School of Massage.
-Megan: I was a full time student at Florida Gulf Coast University. I felt hemmed in by the choices of majors at the University. I felt like I couldn’t choose just one track, they didn’t feel right to me. So, I decided to move back to Gainesville and attend the Florida School of Massage to learn a trade that could carry me through until I could choose something else. But I didn’t realize massage would be exactly what I was searching for.
~How did the FSM experience change you, and/or what was it about your FSM experience that inspired you to do what you do now?
Mike: I quickly realized after starting at FSM that it was exactly what I needed, and I was given the gift of self-empowerment. It was like discovering that everything I ever wanted is already in me and that it has to be set free, not acquired. I found healing for my self and I learned how to share and help facilitate change in others as well. Going to FSM started a domino effect of changes in the quality and direction of my life, and I realized that I wanted to help empower others to seek healing like I did. Learning bodywork gave me a sound foundation for other modalities, and led me to my passion for fitness and movement therapy. My wife Megan and I utilize chair massage to a great extent in order to reach and educate people who normally aren’t comfortable enough to get on the table. We feel that every chair massage gig we do helps bring awareness to the public of what massage really is: a tool for positive change.
Megan: FSM was like educational decompression! A world where the teachers practiced loving kindness, and instead of tests, there were learning experiences! It was a very profound shift for me. I felt like I was finally free to learn without being afraid to make mistakes. After school, I felt as if it was my duty to go out into the world and share what I’d learned, to be the change.
~Did you face any challenges in enrolling at FSM? If so, what were they and how did you overcome them?
Mike: I had very little trouble enrolling, it happened practically by itself. But that was almost nine years ago.
Megan: Even though I was still enrolled at FGCU and living in Fort Myers at the time, deciding to start the enrollment process at FSM was the easiest and simplest decision I’d ever made! Marshall (a former FSM Admissions Facilitator) would call me every two weeks to check in and see if I had any issues or questions. It was very encouraging to have him take the time to call me, like he was telling me, “We’re all here, just waiting for you to arrive!” It was exciting.
~FSM follows a “self-empowerment” model – how did this model effect your learning experience and/or the choices you made after graduation?
Mike: The atmosphere and learning environment at FSM is vastly different than what most people encounter in academia. The pressure was off, because the fear of failure was effectively dismissed in the wake of that lovely phrase, “learning experience”. It left me free to actually learn, and the key element in all of it was compassion. When you have that kind of experience you don’t forget it, and it has helped me learn other skills along the way.
Megan: You know how they say, “Life’s a journey, not a destination”? Well, in massage school, I felt like I could finally sit back, relax, and enjoy the journey. I didn’t want it to end! In fact, after graduation, I wanted to turn around and go right back! But I realized that I had a responsibility to share what I learned with the world… and my life since graduation has reflected that responsibility. I realized that there is plenty of negativity out there in the world – even in the massage industry – negativity that I really didn’t like and found almost scary. But I learned to recognize that there is so much good too. And, as FSM alumni, we each have the unique background of empowered education in the industry, and it’s so important that we stand by what we know is right, and do the most positive good for the profession.
~Do you have any advice for alumni or prospective students?
Mike: Cultivate correct posture while you give massage. Doing so will enable you to give work almost indefinitely—don’t believe people when they tell you that you can only do massage for so many years before it takes its toll on you. How you use your body to give work has a much more profound effect on your longevity than anything else. If you do it right, your body will only get stronger as the years pass. Be a massage athlete!
Megan: Please realize that there are so many options and niches out there just waiting to be filled by you – there are lives waiting to be changed with your help. Don’t be discouraged if you are just starting out and you can’t afford to lease your own clinical space, or if your schedule isn’t filling up like you’d hoped. If the standard massage clinic space works for you, then great, but don’t limit yourself to a standard model of how your business ‘should’ be run – get creative! I am constantly asking myself, “What more can I do, right now, for my business? What are the people around me needing these days? How can I use the tools in my unique toolbox, so that I may reach people more effectively?” I have found, time and time again, that the most effective tool to grow your business is networking. Staying home and just googling stuff for hours can be tempting at times, especially when you’re short on spending money, but I would like to encourage you to take the time to get social. Go out to the local coffee shop, strike up a conversation with somebody – anybody! – and leave a few business cards around while you’re at it.
~Is there anything more you’d like us to know about your work specifically with “Mike and Megan’s Mobile Massage Service”?
Megan and Mike: Our mobile massage business got started as a result of a few experiences we each had in the industry. Before we decided to take a leap of faith with our own business, we had done massage in outcall practice, medical environments, a privately owned clinic, and franchised spas. We offered massage in a casino and even brought massage right to the poker tables. We felt as if we saw both the best, and the very worst that the massage industry had to offer, and we realized that it was a moral obligation to find our own niche – regardless if it made enough money to pay the bills – we just had to try. So…we decided to get some business cards printed, and we offered outcalls to the community. We had just moved to a small town in North Carolina at the time, and we knew almost nobody, so we realized quickly that chair massage was our greatest asset. It was a tool that we could use to get out there and meet people, to show people who we are, what we do, and how awesome you will feel if you would just hand over your $5 dollars for five minutes of your time with us (not to mention how they’d feel after a session on the table!) J. It was so rewarding to be out there carving our own way, and leaving a trail of people behind us – blissed out, feeling empowered about their back issues, and maybe a little unsure about their footwear or their eating habits, or whatever health topic we may have discussed with them during the five minutes we had together. Chair massage was our bread and butter – and our passion – for the year or so we lived in NC. Now that we are back in Florida, in our hometown of Micanopy, offering our services to the community together, we’re feeling like after everything we’ve learned and gone through, we have the strength and know-how to carry us through the hardest of times. We’re excited at what the future holds for “Mike and Megan’s Mobile Massage Service.”
One of the loveliest things Mike and Megan offer are couple’s massages. Since they are a couple themselves, they really enjoy creating a loving, healing space for couples to share. Mike and Megan still offer couple’s sessions at the Herlong Mansion and through their outcall service in and around Micanopy. For more information, call Megan L. D’Andrea, LMT, at Mike & Megan’s Mobile Massage Service, (828) 342-5644 or see more at www.facebook.com/mikeandmeg.
