Monique Waters, the owner of Massage Amani in the Kansas City metro area, has built her career around holistic wellness: an approach to health that considers mind, body, and spirit in the journey toward healing. She believes that solutions are interconnected. While Waters uses massage therapy to help her clients achieve relaxation and a deeper mind-body connection, she also uses her business as a platform to mentor massage therapy students and help them launch their own ventures.
“By putting other people’s names out there and building that practice into your own success, you can create a supportive community that you all build together and benefit from,” Waters says. “If you support your community, your community is going to support you — and that’s something I’ve been able to learn firsthand with my business.”
As a Black business owner who has overcome struggles with access to capital, Waters knows how expensive it can be to start a career in massage therapy. She’s committed to providing opportunities for her local community, which includes a low-cost rent program so students can operate out of her shop and receive mentoring as they start their careers. Waters is also dedicated to cultivating a diverse workforce at Massage Amani, as Black massage therapists comprise just 5.4% of the industry.
Having earned the title as Kansas City People’s Choice Best Massage Therapist in 2020, Waters is looking to expand Massage Amani — as long as she can bring others with her. In this Q&A, Waters explores how a dedication to uplifting her community has driven her journey toward success.
How have you spent the last nine years building a flourishing small business?
Monique Waters: I’m a go-getter. I’m the daughter of a military man, so when I come up with an idea, I want to execute it. My main motivation in the beginning was wanting to expose my own community to health and wellness because that’s not very big in the Black household. I wanted to teach what I knew. I was in bodybuilding — a personal trainer — and doing massage. As I started bringing in corporate contracts, I expanded and tried to bring other therapists with me. I noticed many other therapists are taken advantage of. They usually worked at massage chains, only making about $15 an hour. I wanted to pay them $45 to $50 an hour, help them be able to promote themselves and show them how to do what I did for myself. This whole process of growth has been about mentorship and bringing other people up with me, not making money off them.
How have you gone about building your team? What talent do you look for in those candidates?
I definitely look for diversity. I try to support male therapists as well; they have the most difficulty finding clients in our industry, because a lot of clients will specifically request female therapists. Most of all, I’m looking for people who are passionate: Those people who are self-driven and motivated to do the job well, but who also care about providing an experience for the client. I don’t want people to come into this field just because they can make $85 an hour. What can you offer the client? What can you give them to keep them coming back? My business is always based on people — that’s what matters to me.
I formed partnerships with massage therapy schools in town, so I give my input on the curriculum. I like to speak to the students coming out of school to see if they’re interested in entrepreneurship. They’re usually a great fit for the program I offer, where I charge them $20 an hour to rent a room in my shop. If you can’t afford to get your own office space, I can mentor you free and you can utilize my space to build your clientele.
I also do a lot of social media. I have a website called the Massage Entrepreneurs, where I help coach new therapists about what kinds of posts to put out, make memes for them to put on their social media pages, create videos with them, and share articles for them to read. These are all basic things to help them get their business started. It’s a way for me to share with them the things that I had to learn on my own.
Why is having a flexible, cost-effective place to get started in massage therapy so important?
It’s much harder than people realize to grow your business, especially in the massage-therapy industry. People have to trust you. You basically have to talk people out of their clothes to get them to lay on a table, be free with you, and not feel judged. It’s not just selling someone a product and they walk away; it takes time to build those relationships.
I believe in stepping stones. I couldn’t afford this nice area when I first came here, so I had to find another therapist to share my room with. This rent program gives me a way to help people get started in an upscale area that they otherwise might not have been able to afford.
A lot of new therapists don’t have $800 a month to go rent a room in a nice location, especially when you’re only utilizing it for 15 to 20 hours a week. I only provide furnished options in my shop, so they don’t have to bring anything but sheets, and their clients can come and go as they please. They have their own door codes too. The studio scheduling is all automated and online, so it’s literally like running your own business but with no contract. If this doesn’t work out for you, it’s fine. It’s a win-win for everyone involved: the client, myself, and the new therapists who are renting and getting mentorship at the same time.
How do you build your commitment to holistic wellness into your business model and practices?
A few years ago, I had a major health care issue that affected me to the point where I couldn’t stand up, I could barely brush my teeth, and I was going to have to sell my house. When I spoke to a chiropractor, he ended up knowing what was wrong with me better than the specialists at the hospital — without even touching me. That’s when I recognized that health and wellness has to be a lifestyle.
We need to work out, be active, eat well. Things like bodywork are super important because you might have referred pain from your head that you feel all the way down in your toe. That’s an easy way to explain to people that you’re one whole being. It’s not always one thing hurting. You could be emotionally hurt but carry it in your body. Your body holds everything, and massage is a way to explain to people.
I build this approach into the relationships with my clients. I’m not a person that separates my business from my personal life much. I’m selling a whole mood and a vibe that has to be me. That’s what people are attracted to when they first come in. The attraction is how I’m showing and living my lifestyle with the peace that you’re looking for. You’d be amazed at how many people come in for more of an emotional appeal, not physical appeal. They want to chit-chat and tell you everything. That’s just as much of a release for them as a physical release.
How has COVID-19 affected your business?
It’s affected us in the complete opposite way than we expected. It’s been a blessing in disguise. This is a business where you’re in a small room and you’re touching people, you would assume nobody would want to come in. But people have been so stressed and tired of being home that they’ve been back as soon as we reopened. We’re booked. People enjoy touch, and I think that with the reputation we have, they know we’re going to properly sanitize and take the necessary precautions.
It’s all about the relationships. I’ve been taught that people will do business with those they know, they love, and can relate to. This means people wanted to see us survive and thrive. Even before we could go back to work, we had clients just sending us money in the mail. We care a lot about building those foundational relationships, which have allowed us to stay in business and will hopefully provide longevity.
Are there any other ways that, as a business leader, you try to uplift and support other local Black-owned businesses?
Yes! I do a lot of speaking and I was recently at a Kansas City Black Entrepreneurs event speaking about my experience as a business owner. I’m the girl that’s constantly putting your business on my Facebook page, or referring you out to others, or putting your name down when people need something done. A lot of people did that for me and I saw how beneficial it was, so this is my way of giving back to the up-and-comers.
That’s one of the best things you can do for your friends: help uplift them and become successful in whatever industry. We can make more money together than if we do it alone.