This is an update to a post I wrote in 2012, when I was just a couple years into my LMT career. So, you googled “massage Kalispell” and the list seems endless! How is it possible that in our area there seems to be more massage therapists per capita than there are Mormons in Salt Lake City? Within 5 square blocks of the mall here in Kalispell I can think of at least 17 massage therapists actively doing business. And the same goes for chiropractors in Kalispell, they’re on every street corner here.
The first reason, in my opinion, is the fact that at 1 point in the last 10 years, there were 2 massage schools in Kalispell cranking out new therapists, and glutting the market! I am a product of one such school, there were 6 grads in my class. I feel that 60-75% of the grads from both schools either started their own local businesses, or started working for a spa or chiropractor as soon as they finished. Taking into account the local economy, and what FVCC has to offer, going to school for 8 months (when I was there, and now available mostly online with 1 hands on weekend a month) and being able to gross $60-$95 bucks an hour is pretty attractive.
We’ve all seen the craziness that began with the pandemic in 2020; with many large employers foolishly requiring, or coercing their staff to get the covid MRNA clot shot, it’s obviously now a really good thing to be self employed!
Another possible answer could lie in the artsy, touristy, holistic kinda place we live in. Folks here seem to gravitate to self employment, being their own boss, and more and more seeking answers outside of traditional Western medicine. What’s a Whitefish ski bum to do for work to maximize their hill time? Until licensing came into effect for our state in 2011, anyone could open up shop, call themselves a massage therapist, put an ad in the Mountain Trader, and charge 80 bucks an hour.
Maybe gratitude is in order; having so many possibilities of therapists to choose from, and creating healthy competition. Like chiropractors, every massage therapist is a little different, and may offer something the person next door doesn’t, like Cranial-Sacral therapy, Reflexology, or Cupping. Just like any business climate, the more similar stores there are on any given street, the smaller the piece of pie is for each. Only the strong survive, AND I AM STRONG. I’ve been in the same location for 16 years as of this writing, and don’t see moving anytime soon. Visit my website https://www.johnnycmassage.com/ to schedule your session! Cheers,
Johnny C.