Community Highlights: Meet Brittany Hughes

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Hughes.

Hi Brittany, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I always wanted to be a physical therapist. So, I thought a good starting point for my career would be massage therapy. I moved from a small town called La Sal, Utah population around 300 people to Phoenix Arizona at age 17. While pregnant with my first daughter.  I attended Arizona School of Massage. 16 months later I had my 2^nd daughter, went through a separation, and had no family here for support. It was very hard, but I stayed mediated. I was still new to massage therapy, so I hadn’t built a steady client base, I wasn’t making much money at all. In fact, I was in a 1-bedroom apartment on 75th and Indian school working 5 jobs. Yes, you read that right 5 jobs. I was really struggling to make ends meet. I had no help from my daughter’s father nor anyone else. Thank God for my amazing friends always feeding me and my kids or taking us in for holidays. I worked in 2 chiropractor offices, worked for a massage franchise, had my own business going to people’s homes carrying a 50lb table, and I was working at a dental office doing dental assisting. There were times I only had $20 to get me through the week to feed my kids. It was hard being a single mom working as many hours as I was and with no help from the father or anyone. I found an amazing babysitter who hardly charged me anything. Which now she is my current husband’s aunt. Funny how things come together. I don’t know what I would have done without her and her kindness. I went through a difficult divorce, and we had a son together. He really broke me of my confidence. He always made me feel like I wasn’t enough. I do believe that is why I had such a hard time leaving a toxic job or accelerating my career.  I really wanted to do something big with my career I just had no confidence in myself. During covid I was laid off after working for the company for 12years, I was able to go back after things started opening again, but I found out they were hiring people with little to no experience making $3.00 more than me. At this point I had 13 years of experience. The company wouldn’t give me a raise until I agreed to work weekends or more hours and get this it was still only $1 raise. 12 years of loyalty and on top of that I was their most booked\requested therapist. I was always 30 minutes early to work and hardly ever called out. That really hurt my confidence. Eventually, I had a client that was a coordinator for a professional sports team, he would tell me that their massage therapist would work on him and would always tell me I was better than the therapist there.

That felt good to hear, but it was just someone’s opinion. In my mind anyways. One day he offered me a job interview at his work. Telling me because of covid they had lost massage therapists and were looking for a backup. The job had tough requirements including travel, so I told him no. He told me you need to go to this interview. He told me it would look bad since he already set it up, but later find out he didn’t and was just saying that to help push me past my fears. I was so stressed trying to find an outfit for this interview. I went to the interview they were impressed with my knowledge of the body, injury, stretching, recovery techniques, etc. Offered me the position along with additional training. I was blown away. I kept telling myself I am not good enough for a professional team.  Way out of my league. I knew that my client did this on purpose, knowing I would decline the job because I have kids and would never travel away from them. He knew I needed a push to see how talented I really was because I was too afraid to see it myself.

He knew I worked hard every day to learn more and improve my skills, at a massage franchise I wasn’t using my talent to my full potential. That was the reassurance I needed to show me that I am enough. I should be using my talents to better my client’s quality of life to better myself, and most importantly better my family. Shortly after that, a friend from work told me she was starting her own business and was looking for someone to rent a room with her. Weird how God works, literally was setting me up step by step to success. At first, I was scared and told my husband I couldn’t, but he was my biggest supporter. He told me that he would have my back and he would take care of me if anything. So, I said what the heck! I absolutely loved doing massage but dreaded going to work every day. It was painful everyone was so negative, and you were not appreciated. Working for a franchise you weren’t allowed to perform certain modalities that I was trained in. So, I started BACK TO BALANCE THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE. The 1st month I opened I made $900 which to me was amazing since I didn’t think I’d have any clients at all. Eventually, word of mouth spread around, I was also targeting athletes and sports so emailed gyms, sporting events, and pretty much anywhere, and using Instagram as a tool to show what type of messages I offered. As far as working more with athletes’ injuries and recovery techniques. My company blew up so fast, so fast that I needed my own spot. So here I am now busy as ever doing what I love and not being tied down to the rules of a corporate world. I absolutely love people and being a massage therapist is by far one of the most rewarding jobs. It’s so much more than a luxury that people assume it is. I see the way it helps people the way it’s helped me. I am so grateful; God had provided all the parts for me to continue to do what I do best. I absolutely love the human body and its amazing abilities to push past the limits and its amazing way it heals itself. I am all about increasing the quality of life.

Eventually, once my youngest daughter is in school, I plan to hire and train other massage therapists and develop a recovery center for athletes/everyday workers/moms/the elderly everyone. Also change my name from Back to Balance Therapeutic Massage to Back to Balance Recovery Massage.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Absolutely not a smooth road, some days felt like there was nothing worse that could happen and there would be something I struggled with immensely. From being broke and the government not helping me saying I made $60 too much when I was working 5 jobs, being a single mom, and sometimes struggling to find a babysitter, going through a horrible divorce, losing a baby, having a new baby, waiting for permits, filling wrong paperwork. We lived off food banks for a while. It’s so hard to talk about that time because I felt like such a failure. Working with a Chiropractor, where he sometimes wouldn’t pay me on time. Hardly any massage job offers benefits or insurance. Many things. Bosses held me back. Starting over at a new massage job is extremely hard because you don’t get paid hourly you get paid per client which new people will have very open schedules until they build up a regular clientele which takes some time. Doing home massages where guys would answer the door in their underwear or wouldn’t be professional. Which is why I wouldn’t do male clients as far as home visits. For my safety purposes. I would do couples massage and men that I knew. It was just easier to say I don’t massage men for home clients. I’d refer them to the business I was working at.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I choose the name back to balance because in life we must find a balance. Balancing our health with our everyday life is very challenging at times. Massage not only helps people improve their quality of life but helps them be aware of their bodies, and their bodies abilities to heal. I specialize in myofascial release techniques, injury, therapeutic, recovery, sports. I’m known for my quality work effectiveness. Empathy for my clients. I never make anyone feel like a number. I want my clients to have the best experience possible from the moment they walk through my doors to the moment they leave. I do Graston and cupping techniques and many people love that I put both those in what I call a sports massage and it’s only $10 more. Unlike many places. So that sometimes makes people skeptical. Like you get what you pay for. I am not the most expensive massage company out there I am lower than most. But my quality of work speaks for itself. I rely on word of mouth. I have not had to advertise much. I could raise my prices and will if I must, but I want my clients to be able to afford multiple massages, not just one. Therefore, I have a membership that allows them to save $30 for each massage. I am huge on client appreciation. I believe healing from massage starts from feeling important. My massage is specially tailored to each client. Every client has a different goal and different treatment protocol. I have had hundreds of massages with hundreds of therapists, and some were great, and others had potential to be great if the therapist listened to my wants. I make it my entire priority to make sure clients feel like I have addressed their concerns and issues.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Absolutely. Right now I have 5 kids 4 at home and one is 3. Until she goes to school, I try not to work more than 3 days a week. But once she goes to school, I am planning to open a recovery center for not only athletes but for everyone. Open my own place instead of renting a room from an establishment.

I plan to have my own office and have several employees. Where loyalty is rewarded. I am huge on giving back to my clients because they are so generous and are the reason why I keep thriving. I want to be different from a franchise or a corporation I want my clients to feel important and to feel more than a number because they are.

Pricing:

• Therapeutic massage: therapeutic massage is a type of complementary and alternative medicine practice that is often used to treat muscle pain, injury, stiffness, also known to help with mental emotional problems, including stress and anxiety and depression.
  $70 1-hour session members/new clients.
  $105 90-minute session
  $140 2-hour session
• Sports massage: Sports is tailored to clients to live a physical lifestyle and demanding hobbies. I incorporate graston, and cupping in my sports massage assisted stretching.
  $80 1-hour sports
  $120 90-minute session
  $160 2-hour session

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.massagebook.com/backtobalancetherapeuticmassage
• Instagram: @Back2balancelmt