…and everything in between
To massage or not to massage? That was the question for me in a time of professional uncertainty. After four years in a marketing role, quitting my job to move countries made me realise that, despite never having doubted my career path before, I did not, for the life of me, want to get back to it.
Here is the story of how I went from losing sleep over marketing campaigns to taking my job into my own hands, literally, and finally feeling free.
How did that happen, you ask? Well, life happens. One day you’re sipping coffee with your office bestie, thinking you have it all figured out; the next day your life plans fall apart and you make the long-overdue decision of moving to England to be reunited with your family. I’m sure everyone can relate. No one? OK, it might just be me.
Sure, back when I quit my job, changing industries was not something I had been considering. I felt so mentally tired, but I figured I just needed a break. Luckily, I had some savings, and I planned to take a month or two for myself. I wanted to learn a new skill, do some reading, walk, explore and take in as much as I could of the new country that was going to become my home. Once completely recharged and absolutely zen, I would get back to it and conquer the world of marketing. Ok, not quite, but you get my point.
But things didn’t go quite as planned. They rarely do. As the weeks went by, instead of reaching the state of absolute zen that I had dreamt about, I reached a state of absolute panic. Being out of the work coma I used to be in made me realise I did not want to get back to it. Marketing was not my true calling; far from it. It was just what I knew, what I did for the last couple of years. But is that reason enough to stick with something, even though it makes you unhappy? For me, the answer was a resounding NO. And I hope you choose to go with the same one if you ever find yourself in my shoes. Life’s too short.
Anyway, that realisation hit me like a brick. I always thought of myself as a marketing girl. I was good at it; I’ve always felt appreciated for my work. But what made me so good at it was being a perfectionist who lost sleep over the tiniest of details. I was so stressed and unhappy, but that was my kind of normal. It was a stressful job, so being stressed was part of it. Burnout was the word of the day for me.
If you’re in marketing, you know what I mean. So many hats to wear daily. Some may like it and thrive from it, but me? It wore me down. Turns out I don’t like wearing hats. And it took moving to another country for me to find that out. Go big or go home, right?
So, what else was there for me to do? Sure, I loved the writing part of it. I’ve always loved writing; to the extent where I tried to write a book of my own, on my Pentium 1 computer, when I was about twelve years old. Needless to say, that was not a success, but my inability to successfully write and publish a book as a child says nothing about my ability to write nowadays. I promise.
Ok, I’m getting off-topic. What I was trying to say is that I decided to go for the part of my old job that actually suited me. And so, I started applying for copywriting positions. And there were so many job postings! Something had to give. Wrong!
I was a Romanian girl who has only ever worked for Romanian brands before. Therefore, I had nothing to show for it here in England. None of my work samples were in English. Not to mention it’s mostly a remote position; so, between my lack of an English portfolio and the hundreds of other proud portfolio owners applying for every job that I was applying for, I stood no chance. But sometimes, not getting what you want is just a way of getting exactly what you need.
For the title of this article to make sense, let’s go backwards for a bit. Through all of it, I did not push aside the ‘learn a new skill’ part of my career break. And this is where the massage therapy part of the story comes in.
One of the first things that I remember from when I first got here is this extraordinary full-body massage that my mum, the world’s most passionate massage therapist, gave me. She can make you feel her love for this profession. During the massage, I could feel her working on some sort of small bumps on my back and in my shoulders, which she told me were tension knots. They were having a party on my shoulders. And that is how I learned that ''to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders'' is not just an expression. Our body transforms stress, fatigue, tension, and bad posture into muscle knots. You can tell how stressed someone is by massaging his or her body. I’d say that is pretty amazing. Oh, and if you’re properly trained, you can make those tension knots go away. Which is even more amazing, if you ask me.
I would lie if I’d said I fell in love with it right there and then. But it seemed to me like a great skill to have, even if it was only to help your loved ones feel better. And given the fact that I had some free time on my hands, I decided to go for it. But becoming a massage therapist is not an easy task. It might seem easy, but mastering a massage routine can take months. Besides, you have to learn all there is to know about every part of the human body and how it’s all connected. Including every disorder and disease, and how to adjust the massage accordingly.
With my mum’s help, I was able to start learning the techniques; but if I was going to learn a new skill, I needed to do it properly. And so, I enrolled in a course. By the time I was finished with it, I had a completely new understanding of the industry. My mind was still set on a different career path, but I was contemplating going into it part-time, at some point, to make some extra money.
Of course, all of this took a bit longer than a month or two, meaning that my career break had to come to an end due to a lack of financial resources. My backup industry, in case marketing was ever going to fail me, was childcare. It seemed like a good idea, to mold the minds of the youngest and help them develop into outstanding human beings. Since nothing was happening on the copywriting front, I went for a position at a local nursery.
Let me tell you, this was one of my worst ideas to this date. If you’re thinking about having children, don’t ever go into childcare – it will ruin it for you. Nevertheless, it was a decision that led me to where I am today, and for that I am grateful. Hating it so much made me cut my hours in half and start putting my newly acquired skill to good use: I became a part-time massage therapist. And I loved it so much that, not long after, I quit the nursery job and went full time.
As a massage therapist, you still have to wear a few different hats: you’re a massage therapist, a counsellor, a healer, an advocate for health and wellbeing, and I could think of some more. Only these hats, as opposed to the ones I was wearing before, truly suit me. They go with all of my outfits, and I proudly wear them every day.
I’ve come to love reading the human body with my hands; each one different, like some sort of Braille written canvas. I’ve come to love meeting so many new people and helping them feel better, and I’ve come to love hearing worthy-of-a-book kind of life stories. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll write that book, make my twelve-year-old self proud. In the meantime, I’m gathering material, and I’ve never felt more at peace with myself.
This is the story of how I completely changed my career path and went into business with one of my best friends - my mum. And I’ve loved every moment of it since.
P.S.: ''Some beautiful paths can’t be discovered without getting lost.'' – Erol Ozan
