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While the global recession has caused consumers to exercise greater caution when it comes to their discretionary spending, some areas of the service economy in particular are poised not only for rapid recovery, but also for rapid growth. Specifically, careers in massage therapy offer practitioners the opportunity to get in at the ground floor of huge demographic and political shifts that will effect greater spending on preventative and alternative medicine like massage. While the last couple of years have seen damage to done to the top lines of massage therapists’ biggest employer – the hospitality industry – economic recovery, combined with an aging population and a political regime that is inclined to be more generous with entitlements, all lay the foundation for serious growth in the industry. In a word, as demand for massage therapy as an alternative and preventative medicine grows and the discretionary economy recovers, pricing power will return to in-demand providers of massage therapy.
A career as an LMT begins with learning in a massage school that consists of classroom learning and school massage for practice. The programs, which span anywhere from 9 months to 2 years, culminate in a certification exam in the practitioners’ state (many states reciprocally acknowledge other states’ certifications.) Making the switch to a career in massage is therefore a less significant investment in time and money when compared with other potential career changes, especially with schools like Cortiva in the business. Beyond that, school consists of lots of of that enjoyable school massage from fellow pupils. Upon graduation, massage therapists typically earn wages upwards of $25/hour, and it is not uncommon for licensed massage therapists to earn upwards of $75/hour, working independently, just a few years out of school.
Beyond being a certification that is relatively easy to obtain and is the ticket to work in a growing industry that actually helps people, the LMT certificate also provides its holders with the flexibility that comes with a career as licensed massage therapist: the freedom to set hours, the freedom to work pretty much anywhere in the world, and, thus, the freedom to make work secondary to life.