Reality Check for Your Massage or Bodywork Business |

Business and Marketing for Massage and Bodywork Therapists

Episode 12.

REBECCA BRUMFIELD:  We live in an instant gratification society… but at the end of the day, no matter what we do, it takes patience and hard work to achieve our vision.”

Welcome to Do It With Intention, the podcast for massage and bodywork therapists. I'm your host, Mindy Totten, a mentor and coach for bodyworkers who want to turn their passion for the work they do into successful businesses that they love -- all without burning out or selling. 

For the last 15 plus years, I've created a successful six-figure Craniosacral Therapy practice in a small city in coastal North Carolina. Over those years, I've met so many skilled, big-hearted therapists who are struggling to make their bodywork businesses work for them. Not because they weren't terrific therapists, but because they didn't know how to make the business side of their practices work. 

It became my mission to help other massage and bodywork therapists build practices that support not only their soul, but also their bottom line.

On the Do It With Intention podcast, we'll dive deep into what it takes to build and to sustain a profitable massage or bodywork business. We'll have honest conversations about what really works and what doesn't as you create the ideal practice for you. 

After all, you do great work in the world and you deserve to make a great living doing it. But you've got to be intentional about it not only in your modality but in your business too. That's how body workers Do It With Intention.

Before we jump into today's episode, here's a quick shout out to our sponsors. Today's episode is brought to you by my upcoming free online event: the Step Up and Fill Your Practice Challenge.

If you've been wondering how to be a true pro and CEO of your business so that you can serve more people and make a great living doing it, you'll want to join us for this 100% free five-day challenge.

Instead of wasting a ton of time and money trying to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and figure this all out on your own, you get free guidance and support as you take your massage or bodywork business to the next level.

You'll learn the very next steps that you need no matter where you are in your business.

Head over to the show notes for this episode at MindyTotten.com/podcast, where you can sign up for the challenge and share it with your friends and colleagues.

We begin on Monday, January 13th and we'd love to have you join us. It's time to change your passion for the work that you do into a successful business that you love. So sign up now for the Step Up and Fill Your Practice Challenge, and let's get this thing started!

And now onto the episode!

MINDY: Welcome to the Do It With Intention podcast, Rebecca Bromfield. I am so glad you're here today.

REBECCA: Thank you. I'm happy to be here, yet again working with such an amazing, badass blonde powerhouse!

MINDY: It's great to have you here. And I love starting the interviews when I have people on the show by asking, what is something about you that very few people know? I’ll also come up with something that very few people know about me. So what is something about you, Rebecca, that very, very few people know?

REBECCA: It took me a long time to come up with something since I'm pretty much an open book, but you know, I grew up on a small farm in Mississippi and not many people know that.

I grew up on a timber tree farm in Mississippi and had catfish ponds and basslines, and we raised German Shepherds for the local police department. And I love the outdoors. I love camping. I love frolicking around naked and nature. Like if I could just be in nature all the time, I totally would.

MINDY: Oh, that's so great. I didn't know that about you. I knew that you were from the South, but I didn't know about the German Shepherds, and I think that that is so, so cool because I love going by a police car and with the canine unit — I'm always like, Oh, look at them. They're so magnificent.

Well the thing that few people know about me is that I cannot sleep at night without a fan. So it can't be just a white noise machine or something like that. I hear everything unless there's some kind of fan or something noise that lets me fall asleep.

So with those two pieces of information, everybody, we are ready to dive in now with Rebecca!

We are going to talk today about all things mindset. And I’ve got to tell you, I kind of get freaked out a little bit by the word itself, mindset, because I think so many people think, “Oh, you didn't get that or you didn't manifest that or that didn't happen to you because your mindset's off.”

And I think, “Um, I'm not so sure that it's just mindset…” So I'm really excited to talk with you about this today because one of the things that I admire so much about you is that you have this really strong vision. You have really positive mindset and you take action; you take action to make the things that you see or that your mindset actually come to me. So let's start by actually getting your take on this whole mindset idea. So, what is mindset, first of all?

REBECCA: Sure, it's such a hype word these days. And for a reason — like you have these amazing authors like Jen Sincero and Denise Duffield-Thomas writing about this topic, making a huge impact. So there's so many different elements to it.

And I believe that everything does start with your thoughts because thoughts turn into beliefs, and beliefs turn into actions, and actions turn into habits, and habits turn into a lifestyle, you know, so there's so many different aspects to the word mindset. It's kinda tough to pick it apart and know where to begin.

MINDY: Let's think about body workers and massage therapists, you know, in particular, so I'll, I'll use myself as an example. Years ago, I'm starting out in my business and this was kind of in the era of the law of attraction. Remember when the secret came out and all of that. And it was like if you just think the right thoughts and just sit back and wait, everything will manifest that you want.

And in my experience, owning a massage and CranioSacral Therapy business, that just wasn't the case. It wasn't like, Oh you just sit there and think really good thoughts and everything will come to pass. Do you see that as well?

REBECCA: I totally agree. It does start with your thoughts. It does, but it's like, it's like driving a new car. You know, you want a new car, the only car you see on the road, that's your tunnel vision. That's your brain zoning. And one thing that you're so hyper focused on and that you care about. And eventually you know, everything you do, like your actions are going to lead up to that point to where eventually have that car. Right. So, you know what I mean? Like I am getting so off topic right now.

MINDY: No, no, you're, you're perfectly on topic. And I think, I think that what you're saying is kind of the missing piece. So you're absolutely right, or at least I agree with you 100% that you've got to start with your thoughts. So what is it that I want?

In my business, and I know in your business as well, I see bodyworkers who either have a really strong vision of what they want and then they're just, you know, creating vision boards and waiting for it to happen, but not taking the steps that you need to do to make it happen.

Or I see the flip side where people are just spinning their wheels, spinning their wheels, they've got Shiny Object Syndrome, doing this, doing that, never really, really letting things unfold and get to what their vision is because they don't really have a vision. They don't really have an over-arching idea for their practice.

REBECCA: We live in an instant gratification society. You know, people want to pop a pill and get instant results. They want to snap their fingers and all their bills be paid and everything be okay. But at the end of the day, no matter what we do, it takes patience and hard work.

And I, I teach mindset for a living online. And I myself just went through the worst possible thing I could have gone through in my business. And it made me rethink a lot of things. And for two or three months, Oh my God, like I'm over here being a complete fucking hypocrite online telling people think happy thoughts, just manifest it. It's all in your mindset, you know, be positive, do affirmations. And I was doing affirmations and they were being a detriment to me because I did not believe the affirmations that I was writing down because I was going through the motions.

And the whole time I'm thinking to myself, I'm a fucking failure and fraud. Why am I teaching this? And it was detrimental to me actually because I did not believe the stuff that I was putting out, I was scratching think for straws and I want it so badly to believe this stuff that I was preaching.

But at that moment I just, I was burnt out and exhausted. And I didn't have it in me and I had to fill my own cup and stop pouring from an empty vessel before I could even start doing any of the mindset work. And recently within the past week I was finally like, you know what? I've had enough of this shit. I had enough of feeling sorry for myself. The worst case scenario already happened.

Now I just have to build myself up from here and suck it up and be an adult because waiting around and waiting for somebody else to fix my problems is not going to happen. Soon I started getting these, you know, big corporate events out of the blue because I decided to stop fucking feeling sorry for myself and actually believe what I was telling other people to do for themselves.

But I also think at each moment in your life, what worked for me, working on my mindset last year. Yeah, that's completely different than what is working for me now because it's a completely new experience and scenario. It's a completely different set of circumstances I'm dealing with.

So the affirmation and the vision board did not work for me this time around. It did the first time, but this time around I had to take a completely different route in order in order to see results. And I'm still seeing results. I'm still struggling. And it's tough whenever you feel like there's no other options, whenever you feel at rock bottom, how are you supposed to dig yourself back out if you truly don't believe it? You know?

And it's difficult because most of us that work on mindset or want to work in mindset, we have something really, really deep, really tough that we're currently dealing with. And it's hard to get yourself out of that negative self-sabotaging thought process being in that mindset.

MINDY: What you're sharing with everyone I think is so important because you said you were in this kind of downward spiral and then you stopped. You were able to stop yourself and say, okay, I've got to make some changes. I've got to do something different.

You're saying that people started to come out of the blue, but actually in my belief system is not out of the blue. You, or any of us, you're taking these baby steps. I call them consistent baby steps. Just keep taking those baby steps in the direction that you want to go.

And then the Universe conspires to help you out. Right? These people come from out of the blue, new clients are there for you. But it's because in your example that you shared, it's because you started taking action in that direction rather than just sitting back and saying — I'm using the example of the vision board. I don't mean to cast aspersions or anything. I love my vision boards too, you know, but it's not enough just to make one and just to sit there and look at it. You've got to say, okay, whatever's on your vision board, an electric massage table, for example. Okay, that's on my vision board. Now. What is going to be the next tiny baby step that I take in that direction to get that electric massage table?

REBECCA: Well, it's a, it's a piece of the puzzle. And by the way, I found an electric massage table on Facebook for 400 bucks, like a $3,000 one. And I'm like, Oh my God. I messaged the lady and it's mine and I've always thought it one, I'm like, I can't afford three or $4,000 for a table right now.

MINDY: That is so great Rebecca. Anybody listening — an electric massage table will change your life. That'll change your back, that will change your lives. I mean that will simply change your practice. So awesome.

REBECCA: But you know, having a vision board or working with crystals are burning incense or meditating — They're all just pieces of the puzzle and you have to kind of find what works right for you.

And, actually I didn't dig myself out of that hole. You know, I didn't make the decision to change my mindset. My friends and my family and my support system forced me to, they basically said, “Rebecca, if you don't stop this shitty mindset, if you don't stop with self-sabotaging, and quite frankly being a hypocrite, you know, everyone else is looking up to you yet you're not practicing what you preach. I'm done. I can't deal with this anymore. I'm not going to enable your bad habits. I'm sick of this shit. And you need to get your stuff together. Like you need to get your shit together and you need to stop and you need to move forward.”

It wasn't me that made this decision, it was my support system that did it for me. Because when you're in that, when you're in that negative self sabotaging mindset, it's so hard to muster up the confidence and the grit and the ambition to do anything, you know?

So I think having a really good support system of people who are helping you and will call you out on your bullshit and really, really love you. It's really integral as well. They called me out on it because I had previously shared my goals with them. I had told them what I was going through. They knew my side, you know, to all the stories of everything I've been through and they were able to help me out because they knew what I was trying to achieve.

If you don't share that accountability with people from the get go, I think it's, it's difficult to really make it happen. I think it's really important to share your goals with people and having an accountability buddy, because at the end of the day, when you help other people reach their goals, it's not going to hinder your own.

MINDY: That's a great point, and I love that you say, none of us can do it by ourselves, no matter what. I mean you had a difficult situation, but even if things are going well and going smoothly, you can't get to the next level, whatever that is in your life — your business, your fitness, your health, without support. This idea that we can all just pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and go charging off into, you know, the horizon or whatever. It's just not like that.

REBECCA: Well I think a lot of us don't even know really what we want to start with. I think we had this preconceived notion of what success is and what our goal should be based on society’s standards and the environment that we grew up in and the five or ten people that we hang around with the most.

And I think a lot of people are actually very confused and unclear about what it is that they really want. I just shared with you before we hit record on this podcast, you know, my big plans for the future, and people think I'm fucking nuts for uprooting everything that I've currently built in order to move forward. And guess what? I don't care because this is what I want and I'm not going to be a slave to my bills anymore. Or to society or living in a town that I'm not perfectly content in.

And for what? Just to be smug and say, “Oh, I'm successful.” But it's really important to let your goals and let your dreams evolve and not base them around what other people want, but what you truly want and need in your current circumstances.

Because we're allowed to evolve as people, you know, our goals are allowed to, to change, you know, we don't have to be like, “Oh, I had this five year plan and all of a sudden I'm not reaching it. I'm a failure.” And your mindset goes down to shit. No, move forward. You can move forward and you can do that in so many different ways.

MINDY: Yeah, it's very helpful. I totally agree too about your vision for whatever — yourself, your life, your soul, your spirit. It, it has to be authentic. Right?

And I've done the same thing where I think I compare myself to other people — comparisonitis — like, “Oh, I should be further, I should be doing this. I should be doing that.” And then I think, “Well, wait a minute. I don't want to do that. I don't want to be there.”

You know, right now we're thinking about downsizing to 600 square foot place. Oh my gosh, that's really exciting to me. Like to lessen my footprint to just be in a space where we don't have so much stuff. You know? And then people are like you said, people say things like, “Oh, that's crazy man. She can't do that. That's ridiculous.” It's so, so important to do what your heart is calling you to do.

And you inspire me to do what’s really in heart, what's calling to you from your heart. I think you do that really, really well.

REBECCA: Thank you. And my boyfriend's like, “Rebecca, just, just get started. Just start checking one thing off at a time. You can only eat an elephant one piece at a time, you know? Who are you doing this for? For you, for your staff? For us? Like, who were you doing this for? Why are you doing this?” And that's such a simple question and I, you know, spent hours and hours journaling about it.

And I also think it's important and not to overwhelm yourself. Like, Oh, I need to do yoga and meditate and make a vision board and carry crystals and write affirmations and journal. Don't overwhelm yourself. Really just keep it simple. Keep it simple. Because I think a lot of mindset work is definitely about simplicity because we are already too overwhelmed as a society. You know, we already have too much stuff to digest and things being thrown in our face every day. We really need to keep things simple for time's sake. And for sanity's sake as well.

MINDY: I think that's great. And I, when you were talking, I'm thinking, “Yeah, I've done that. Yeah, I've done that…” And sometimes I think I just need to get up at three in the morning so I can journal and meditate and do my yoga. And then I thought, “Okay, I would just never sleep then and it's not serving me then cause it's just something that I'm doing just to be doing rather than doing it to fill my cup.”

Like you said, I think that's so freaking important, for bodyworkers especially, because we're these big-hearted people who like to give, give, give, serve, serve, serve. And if we don't come from a full cup, we can't do that, you know? And then burnout and all kinds of garbage piles up there. So I think that's really important.

REBECCA: There are so many things relating to mindset like just setting boundaries, learning how to say no to things that aren't serving you and getting closer to your goals and saying yes to the things that make you happy and joyful, apart from paying bills.

Nobody really likes doing that. But you know, just say yes to the things that make you happy and joyful and that fill your cup and just don't overwhelm you. Things will get better. And if you're having trouble, what's your mindset? Just talk to somebody. Because at the end of the day, we only know what we're exposed to. You know, there are always different methods, always different things to try, which is why I think we all love this field of being bodyworkers. We can never stop learning.

MINDY: That's so, so true. Well, thank you so much for talking with us today. I said this before, but I really appreciate your honesty and your insights, and I know that everyone listening to the podcast will really get so much out of it. If people want to reach out to you and find out more about you and your work, how can they do that?

REBECCA: Uh, you can go to hotmess.com. Not really. BadassBodyworkers.com, and I'm all over, you know, Facebook, Facebook messenger. You could just reach out to me, send me a message. I'm a very chatty person, and I love helping people reach their goals. So just look me up on Facebook.

MINDY: Thank you so, so much for being here today.

REBECCA: Thank you Mindy.  

MINDY: Thanks for coming on this journey with me today. I know what it takes to make time for something like this in your busy day and I so appreciate that you tuned in and listened all the way to the end. 

We've got all the links from today's episode in the show notes that you can find over at MindyTotten.com/podcast.

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Okay, that's it for today. It's my pleasure and my privilege to be with you on this journey. I'll see you next week, same place, same time. Until then, get out there and Do It With Intention.