What makes a massage clinic thrive in these turbulent times?
Ron Dalton, owner of Massage Addict – Austin Heights believes it’s the company’s core values that have seen them through a crazy first year.
“Our core values focus on the people, patients and staff. We love our patients, and our patients love coming to see us,” he says.
Alana Cotton is a prime example of those dedicated staff that make for a wonderful customer experience.
When Cotton decided to move from Alberta to British Columbia, she knew she would have to get re-licensed as a registered massage therapist (RMT) in B.C.
To become an RMT in B.C., massage therapists must complete extensive training at an educational program recognized by the College of Massage Therapists’ of B.C. and then write registration exams.
While Cotton plans to write the board exams in March 2021, she did have a unique challenge.
“It’s hard to study for the exam if you don’t have hands-on practice,” Cotton says.
“Unless you sign up for an educational program, it’s hard to get that hands-on practice work. I already have a student loan. Retaking a program just isn’t an option for me.”
Fortunately, Cotton found her way to the Austin Heights Massage Addict location where they work to support their employees in their professional endeavours.
Cotton was hired to work the front desk with the option of booking in patients as a bodyworker, allowing her to work in a clinical environment and the flexibility to get hands-on experience.
“This place has been the only one to show me any support for me achieving my goal of becoming an RMT in the province of B.C.,” Cotton says.
“Alana is a wonderful guest service administrator, and I can support her by covering the front desk when she gets a booking as a bodyworker. That way she keeps up her practice while she’s working toward her RMT in B.C. and she gets to work a full-time position while doing so.”
Massage Addict also provides mentoring to massage therapy students.
“As students, taking boards is a very nerve-wracking experience. They go before a panel to be tested on the competencies defined by CMTBC,” Dalton says.
“We have mentors within the clinic that walk the therapists through a simulation of a board exam. It’s been really successful. The therapists who go through it have found that it brings down their anxiety a lot because they’ve already gone through mock exams.”
“We also have RMT roundtables where we can discuss real life scenarios and issues facing the RMTs,” Cotton says.
“It’s a bit of a process to get an RMT license in B.C., but from everywhere I’ve looked, this is hands-down the best place to get ready to take the board exams.”
Massage Addict prides itself on providing a professionally supportive and satisfying workplace where massage therapists can focus entirely on providing care to their patients.
In addition to professional development support, Massage Addict also provides its employees with signing bonuses, competitive rates, a continuing education allowance and full group benefits.
Cotton has found that she’s been able to get many bookings as a bodyworker, which is important in her exam preparation.
“It’s a big deal because there aren’t a lot of places you get consistent work in a clinical environment without your RMT designation.”
Cotton sees landing at Massage Addict as a stroke of luck that helped get her RMT career on track. She urges anyone, especially those who have a massage therapy education but come from an unlicensed province such as Alberta to consider making the move to Massage Addict.
“The staff here and the people here that you work with see potential in you and will do everything they can to help you succeed in getting your licence,” Cotton says.
“As far as people and management goes, it feels like family. They push you to do better and push you to get where you want to be. Massage Addict is the best place for learning and opportunity.”
