Hand & Stone is so excited to celebrate the 26th annual National Massage Therapy Week! This week is especially dedicated to showing our appreciation for our amazing massage therapists. They are truly the backbone of our company, and we want to share some of the ways we support them in their personal and professional growth.
At Hand & Stone, we pride ourselves on offering unique opportunities for our massage therapists, including massage upgrades, continued education and training, and showcases. Just last month at our Massage Therapy Showcase in New Jersey, any of our massage therapists who were not current members of the American Massage Therapy Association were given free year-long membership and insurance, which is typically a $235 cost. “At Hand & Stone, we are happy to partner with skilled massage therapists to create a successful practice. The American Massage Therapy Association is the number one nonprofit professional association in the industry, and we are so happy to work nationally and locally with the chapters,” says Nathan Nordstrom, Hand & Stone’s Senior Director of Massage Therapy Training and Industry Relations.
Carrie Wiedemann, our Senior Director of Massage Therapy, appreciates that Hand & Stone offers continued education to our MTs. “Through continuing education, massage therapists can continue to build on their professionalism as well as receive free credits for renewal of their state license.” We offer educational training at our corporate office in Trevose, PA, remotely over Zoom, and have some of our Lead MTs do outreach training at our spas so that all of our employees can receive equal opportunities for education.
Massage therapists get into the industry for different reasons. They may have known someone else who was a massage therapist or decided that it was the best way for them to share their gifts with others. Many of our employees were actually once clients and decided to get licensed after experiencing firsthand the positive effects that massage can have on a person’s life. “I have been a massage therapist for four years,” says Jenny Olszewski, a Lead Massage Therapist in Midlothian, VA. “I got into massage therapy after my husband passed; I had never had a massage before, and I had such an emotional release after my first one. It changed my life, and I’m now able to give that comfort to others. I hope that alone inspires people to become massage therapists.”
​While Hand & Stone is a system of over 500 spas, we try to operate like a small business. We do everything in our power to ensure that our franchise owners, estheticians, and massage therapists are supported and able to thrive with us, from free CE training credits to an in-house advertising team. “I personally love Hand & Stone because they make you feel at home like you're part of a family,” says Jada, a massage therapist at our location in Pompton Lakes, NJ. “They provide so much extended knowledge in the field and are very supportive of everything. I actually left the industry for about a year and decided to come back because I found no other place that was quite like Hand & Stone. I strongly encourage any new massage therapists to come here because there is so much you can learn from and the support is amazing.”
We want to use this week to thank our massage therapists for all that they do for Hand & Stone, and recognize the positive impact that they have on their communities. If you know a massage therapist, be sure to show your appreciation for them this week!
