How it all began…
… an origin story.
October 4th marks the anniversary of my very first ‘official’ day in business.
That day back in 2005 was embedded within a host of serendipitous events - much of which I don’t think I’ve ever published. I thought this ‘origin story’ might be of interest to a few folks - especially those who knew me back when.
It begins in 1987:
I was working in a ‘macrobiotic market’ in Philly, just after graduating art school as a graphic designer. It was here I was introduced to shiatsu, by way of a few customers - also shiatsu students - who needed bodies to practice on. Admittedly, at first, I didn’t ‘get it’ … nor why they had to dig into my abdomen so.
November 1989:
Birth of my first son, accompanied by a team of midwives - one of whom was certifying as an infant massage teacher - and, yeah, needed moms to practice with. I often forget this small but profound event: the immense joy and sweetness of learning how to massage my tiny new human, and my first time practicing ‘bodywork’.
1998:
Two more boys later, and, as I wasn’t really doing anything with my graphic design education, I was feeling a pull toward something hands-on-healing related. I found a weekend workshop for Reiki Level 1, geared toward families, and signed up myself and my then 9-year old firstborn. We turned out to be the only ones there, so we got a private class!
1999:
Deciding that Reiki wasn’t quite it for me, I purchased The Book of Shiatsu, written by the fellow who founded the shiatsu school where those first students were attending. The whole thing was still so intimidating - I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to BE a bodyworker, though the idea seemed a little glamorous. I was hoping I could learn a few things from the book - and … I was mistaken.
So, I got on the school’s mailing list (pre-email).
My boys were older - the youngest was a very independent 4 year old, and I felt like I could do adult stuff again. They offered a ‘beginner’s weekend’ four times a year, so I took the leap and signed up for one in August. It was awesome.
The next Level One session was starting the following week - and given the cost, I knew that wouldn’t work at that time. However, I did purchase a small roll-up mat to practice on, and dedicated myself to selling more of my artsy stuff on eBay (which was doing pretty well at that time) - with the idea that I’d save up the money for the next sessions starting in January the following year.
January 2000 :
I got pregnant. :)
2003:
Enrolled in a 9-month ‘homestead herbalism’ course - one Sunday a month, offered by a friend. There, I met the wife of a pharmacist who owned a natural pharmacy in the area. I mention this here because she played a pivotal role in what came later.
Spring 2004:
New baby is now almost 4 years old, so I got back on the school’s mailing list, and saw that a Level One intensive (12 days - 3 days on, 1 day off) was starting in June.
Money and time were still a huge nut to crack. It was close to a grand for tuition, the days were 8 hours long, and the school was an hour away. But - without any expectation, or comment - I stuck the postcard to the fridge.
At this time, my first husband (L) owned a tie-dye business that sometimes included cash customers. One in particular would show up randomly with a huge t-shirt order. Around Mother’s Day, he came home after one such visit, and handed me a wad containing $900 (which he never had the surplus to do), saying, ‘go have some fun!’
I’m still not sure he even knew my hopes for shiatsu school. I quietly tucked the money away, thinking ok, I just need another $100 and a babysitter - both of which I wanted to nail down before I sprung this plan on my husband.
A few weeks later:
My stepmom around this time had been making regular visits to us from NJ to hang out, spend time with the boys and get some peace for herself. At one such visit, she spotted the postcard.
“Are you doing this?”
“Well, I have most of the money. I just need child care.”
“Oh! I’ll come out and babysit!”
Seriously? It’s 12 days… and she lived two hours away, but anyway - she did. And, so I began my shiatsu adventure.
(I should interject here that the ‘foundational’ part of the program was three levels - the second two were stretched out over weekends, and also around a$1000 or more each. And then there was the 18-month ‘practitioner level’….
So, I admit I was a little less-than-forthcoming with L about the full picture, hoping that once I started he, too, would see the logic of seeing it all the way through, even though money nor child care magically appeared for the duration. I’d like to think he agrees now .. as I’m still at it … that it was a good investment.
Back to the story …)
Practicing on one of my littles.
August 2005:
As I was wrapping up level three and getting ready for my final exam, I think L finally saw that I was serious about this shiatsu stuff, and could actually make a career out of it.
As he was suggesting approaching people like chiropractors, I happened to make a trip to a farm and feed store that agreed to take our pet gerbils who had recently taken to cannibalizing each other. This store was next to the pharmacy, and as my youngest son and I were heading over there to get him a soda, the aforementioned woman whom I hadn’t seen since the herb course was also heading into the store.
She asked me if I was doing anything with all of that.
“Actually, not really. But I have been going to shiatsu school.”
“Really? Do you need somewhere to practice?”
Because my head was so far from ‘starting a business’ a that point, but aware that I still needed LOTS of practice, I assumed that’s what she was offering.
She led me into the store, around the back, through some hallways, and opened a door into a suite of a few rooms - one of which was being painted.
“This would be your room. It was going to be for a massage therapist, but they backed out.”
It didn’t hit me till I got back out into the driveway - after being assured that my still-student status wasn’t an issue, and that they’d only charge me $10 a client because they wanted to support my growth, but of course, she’s have to run it by her husband, but anyway, I gotta go but I’ll call you - that she was offering me my own office for a Practice (not just practice).
I proceeded for the next couple of days to talk myself out of getting excited, because why would these professional people want a newbie student as part of their ‘holistic center’, right?
And yet, a few days later she did indeed call, left a voice mail that this whole thing seemed too serendipitous to pass by, and I could start in October if I wanted.
Okay, then!
September 2005:
Passed my exam, went right to work creating a brochure, getting a website (and a hastily thought name: TouchLifeSpirit. Anyone remember that?), coordinated a regular schedule with L, and headed to Ikea to buy furniture. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I do believe that left to my own devices - to wait until I completed school, to be really ‘ready’, whatever that meant - I doubt I would have pushed myself to get out there and start my own thing.
I then emailed all my friends and family that I had been practicing on for months, inviting them to my new office , absolutely sure all these folks would be lining up at my door to give me money NOT to work on them in my bedroom. :)
October 2005:
As the week began before my intended grand opening, Tuesday, October 4th …. I had nothing. Nobody.
Not a single person scheduled.
No worries. It’ll take some time, I told myself.
On Friday of that week, however, I got a phone call from a young woman who actually picked up my card three months prior from a local natural foods store. (I was still looking for just ‘practice bodies’ then).
She finally decided to call me, and wanted to schedule for her husband, which she did for the following Tuesday, October 4th. And for herself the day after.
A month or two later, 2005:
The suite of rooms next door also became part of the holistic center, even though it would be another 5 years before we had a connecting door. A friendly, very encouraging (and somewhat persistent :) massage therapist named Bill moved in, paying me lots of visits, and eventually becoming a regular client.
Some years later, ever after we had known each other for a while as close friends , co-workers and co-directors of the center, it was only after a few months into the more romantic phase of our relationship that I first shared with him the story of how I ended up in that room.
He laughed.
“Yeah. I was that massage therapist who ‘backed out.’”
All that time, I never knew who that person was that opened up space to be offered just at the coincidental moment I would run into my herbal course friend.
Bill had been friends with the pharmacist for a few years, who had offered him that room first. But without direct access to a bathroom, unless one went out of the building and back in, or brought a key to the other bathroom located elsewhere in the maze-like halls of the building, it wasn’t going to be practical for him or his clients. (Clearly, that hadn’t even occurred to me…)
The rest is … well, more history. And, whatever comes next.
We were at that location for 10 years, moving to our own place across the street in 2015, and then, after 7 years there, found ourselves back in the original building.
A lot happened in both of our lives over that time (including getting hitched in 2019), and through it all, it still seemed like God’s thumbprints was over it all.
Is there a takeaway? Maybe … stuff to do with faith, intention, alignment .. but that seems a little arrogant.
Most of the time, I had no idea what I really wanted or what I was looking for.
But, it always showed up.
Thank you for being a part of this adventure. I look forward to the continued unfolding …
(Please share your memories below, if you have ‘em!)
I’m Gina Loree Bryan, bodyworker, movement & meditation teacher, human.
I hope you enjoyed reading my blog. Feel free to forward along, and thank you for respecting the thought and time I put into these writings by sharing them with all credit due to the author. :)
You can find my free movement and meditations videos on YouTube, and some of my rambly-er extrapolations on Substack.
© 2022 - gina loree bryan
