Today we’d like to introduce you to Anita Dunford.
Hi Anita, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I became a massage therapist February of 2015. By January of 2016 I started building my own practice, renting rooms at a few different places in Knoxville over about 6 years. My practice became more therapeutic work with primarily deep tissue, working on clients specific needs, along with building relationships with my clients and offering a safe space for them to share about their life. In 2022 I decided to venture out and open my own studio. I’ve always been a woman of faith and I knew it was time for a change of place I was running my practice out of. I prayed to God one day because I felt this need to do more. That same day I had a client on my table who encouraged me to open my own studio and she had just got her commercial real estate license. I took this as a sign from God and opened Knox Massage and Wellness in October of 2022. God didn’t just encourage me to open a business though. Over the last couple years it has become a place of healing for clients and growth for some very talented massage therapists and wellness practitioners.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Again, I am a woman of faith and most people would assume that means following God will make it easier. But that’s not always the case. From the point I went to massage school I struggled paying for it by myself. I lived alone bartending full time to support myself and put myself through school. But I worked hard from that year forward following what I thought was only a dream. From going back to bartending part time to pay my bills while starting my own practice to building up my own practice working 6 days a week for years. Then just starting to get comfortable renting a space no longer working weekends to then following God and working almost every day again getting Knox Massage and Wellness up and running. It’s definitely not been easy but the reward of the place I’ve created was worth it all.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Knox Massage and Wellness is a studio made for other independent massage therapists and wellness like practices to rent a space to grow and run their own practice out of. What makes us different is I try to help my tenants promote their businesses by going to events with them and sharing their talents with the public. All the people who work in my studio have specific skill sets but most importantly they have passion and love for what they do. Which I feel gives all the public that receives services from my tenants the best care and sets us apart from other businesses like this. I also run my own practice out of the studio and have built a loyal client base that I’ve maintained for years. Knox Massage and Wellness offers a variety of different massage therapists, some specialties are lymphatic drainage, deep tissue, Ashiatsu, and prenatal massage. We also have a hearing aid specialist which attends to any hearing needs.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Don’t doubt God or your abilities. So much more is possible and obtainable through hard work and trusting in God than you could ever imagine.
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