What's in a name? And other massage therapy student adventures

The Good news is if I ever want to become a hooker, I have FABULOUS names for my business. The bad news? I was trying to come up with a name for a therapeutic massage company. Apparently I’m not very good at that game. Every idea I have come up with in the last 6 months has been tossed out for one reason or another. It’s getting a little frustrating. I actively/passively look for a name. I’ll actively search for an extended period of time…get really frustrated…and return to my passive searching. The fact I’m graduating in only a few months pumps me up, I get really excited and start actively searching…only to return to my passive searching only a short time later. After throwing out close to a hundred ideas…I’m tempted to just work for another person…just so I don’t have to pick a darn name.

Picking a name isn't my biggest problem. If things don't start looking up, I’ll end up working for someone else anyways. I can’t legally work out of my apartment, so I’d have to cough out rent money for some shop—who knows how good it’ll be—without the guarantee of clients. That’s really scary. Plus, even if I could work from home, without the guarantee of clients, I'd be chancing a lot. Could we afford to live?

If I work for a company full time, I might get benefits. And only 40% of every massage. Companies rarely even pay 50%. Typical spas have you work 5-6 massages a day, 5 days a week. It would be decent money even at 40%, but I also would rarely see the same customers again. One of the reasons I picked massage therapy is so I could really help people. How can I really help someone I only work on once? And I’d have to sell things. I hate selling things to people unless I really believe in them. I don’t want to sell a particular lotion brand just because a company says so….

Sometimes I get discouraged. I’m working my tail off to get through school. I put in approx 7 hrs a day 3-4 days a week in classes. I work a 5 1/2 hour shift every Saturday, massaging 5 people for $0--and can't legally accept tips. I went in debt to pay the $11,000 tuition. What if I don’t make it? There are at least 50 people graduating the same day I am just from the Lindon and Salt Lake Campuses. Another 50+ will graduate 10 weeks later. 50+ more graduated 10 weeks before us. And that’s just local branches of UCMT. Are there really that many jobs out there for us? Particularly for those of us who are planning on staying local for a while? Do I have what it takes even to go into business? Maybe I should throw out my dream of running my own business. I’m not very cutthroat. I care a lot about people and might let them take advantage of me sometimes. That would = a doomed business. Even if I have what it takes, could I succeed now? Will I be able to keep food in our fridge for the next couple years? Most businesses fail in their first year. I’m only planning on being here for 2. Maybe 5. I won’t be able to build a large clientele base during that time.

Yet when it all comes down to it, I’ll be ok. One way or another, it will work out. Even if I have to work for someone else for a price that seems too low, if I can pay off my loans and keep my new family fed and sheltered, then it’s ok. And maybe someday I’ll be able to open my own practice. But first, I have to come up with a name…