Our Story...

What started as a simple career path lead in turned to connections within the community while I was teaching at my Alma Mater; Ashmead College.  This is what started  the journey...

 

On Halloween of 2011, I had been an instructor for 8 years when the evening internship I had created and been teaching was eliminated and I was let go. This led to exploration and developed into new opportunities including:

 

• Growth of my personal business; Elite Massage & Fitness. 

 

• Development of respect from my colleagues, past students, and associates.

 

• The ability to become a Continuing Education Instructor on my own terms.

 

• Co-creating and then becoming the sole owner of Elite Massage Professionals (EMP) Mobile Massage Team.

 

While developing these relationships and my businesses; people began to ask me when I was going to start my own school and share my knowledge and experience with others. 

 

Well, writing curriculum is not an easy task. It takes time (lots of it). It is a journey to attempt to condense your passion, skills, knowledge, and success in a written format that will be understandable and of benefit to others. 

 

Over the past 18 years (since 2003) I have had many along the way with whom I have attempted to start the process of curriculum development. I have tried multiple times to start my own curriculum and start a school without success.  

 

It took until 2021 for me to find colleagues who have similar vision and have partnered with me (and nudged me in the correct direction) to create this educational institution for others to develop passion and skill for our field of massage. 

 

With the help of John and Jeanne, we have formed Elite Massage Education Center in 2019 which provides Continuing Education programs and in 2021 we began development of Elite Massage School. 

 

Rather than completely reinvent the wheel, we acquired a curriculum similar to what we were writing (thanks to Shari) and will be developing this in our own style with the skills and talents in which our instructors bring to the table. 

 

In 2022 we brought Jessica and Cionne onboard to help grow this vision and provide their instructional talents. 

 

With the help of our instructors, staff, supporters, colleagues, associates, family, and friends we are excited to develop and lead a massage school that will produce Elite Massage Therapists that will make any community proud to have them as their Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT). 

 

~ Todd Valentine / Owner & EMS Director

Road To Success

Knowledge -> Confidence -> Respect -> Success

 

As you start your massage journey you will begin by gaining knowledge about the body (others and yourself).  You will learn terminology, functioning, and mechanics. The concepts that you learn will begin to expand into life outside the classroom and clinic setting and into the real world that surrounds you. 

 

With proper knowledge and development of hands-on skills you will gain confidence in both your work and you.  

 

With this increased confidence and knowledge, you will begin earning respect from those surrounding you. Others will begin to look at you as a reliable source of knowledge and a leader. This will reinforce your confidence and encourage the development of new skills and opportunities. 

 

After time has passed and you begin to zero in on your preferred area of the field, you will begin to find what they call a niche (where you discover a comfortable and suitable position in your work and in life). This niche may be related to certain knowledge, techniques, or skills that come to you naturally. Through progress in practicing and developing these, others will begin to recognize you as an expert. 

 

As you develop and nurture and find your niche it will become more recognized and those that surround you will want to understand your knowledge and confidence. As people wish for you to start showing them your skills and techniques (such as mentor or teach others) you will realize you have reached a level of success. 

 

However, success does come in many forms and stages. This is my personal version; it can be defined differently by the individual. Success can be small or large, sometimes the little victories are the most personally important. They can be as simple as making a change within your current life. They can be represented by when a family member recognizes how hard you are working. Even being told how “proud” someone is of you can be a personal success. Perhaps your version is also to achieve the fulfillment of owning your own business.  

 

Success can be measured, whether small or large. No matter what your end target or goal…success starts with knowledge! 

 

Copyright By: Todd Valentine (2006) 

Re-visited and written (2021)