Download SPCC's Career Focus Magazine - Summer

CareerFocusFeatureMassage… Both parties feel goodafter an appointment!Before MichelleKarman decided toenroll in the massagetherapy program, shedecided she wouldmake a career choiceto please herself.She often thought ofhow much she enjoyed her veryfirst massage, an indulgenceshe allowed herself in Nashville,Tennessee, when she was just 20.As the years passed, Karman hadcome to understand that she wouldenjoy a career that allowed her tomake people feel good. Throughyears of waiting tables, 10 years inan administrative job, the birthsof three children and a divorce,Karman held on to the idea of acareer as a massage therapist.She began to explore schools, andinitially felt that she would haveto go to an expensive proprietaryschool. Karman hesitated aboutenrolling because she knew therewould be a strong emphasis onspa techniques, and she wantedto be able to do healing massages.Then she happened to strikeup a conversation with a SouthPiedmont Community Collegeemployee who told her aboutSPCC’s therapeutic massageprogram and its emphasis onmedical massage techniques. OnceKarman made contact with MaryBerger, director of the therapeuticmassage program at SPCC, thedecision was made.“At South Piedmont,I was taught todeal with differentissues, and I don’tget thrown off guardtoo much now. Thesmall classes weregreat, and I got alot of individualattention!”Karman enrolled in the year-longdiploma program and graduatedin August 2009. She passed herstate licensing exam, the MBLEX,and was licensed on Oct. 1. Sheimmediately began work atCuratio Rehabilitation and Spaacross from Stonecrest at PiperGlen, and she has been workingtwo to three days per week doingmostly medical massage.Karman joined Fuzion Salonand Spa this spring to build aclientele in relaxation massage.The downtown Waxhaw salonwas expanding, and Karmanfound the opportunity to be theirmassage therapist as she pickedup some work as a waitress at aMichelle Karman readies the room for a hot-stone, full-body massage.Michelle KarmanMassage therapist Michelle Karman treats Erica Brasington to a seated massageat Fuzion Salon and Spa in Waxhaw.neighboring café. It was a simple,spontaneous exchange at the caféthat led Karman to her second jobwhere she offers Swedish, deeptissue and hot stone massages.As an ice-breaker, Karmanoften gives clients of the salon acomplimentary chair massage.Building up a clientele can takea new massage therapist a fewmonths, Karman says. “You haveto teach the benefits of regularmassage and encourage yourclients to have massages on anongoing basis,” she adds. To makecertain that no opportunity forwork is missed, Karman generallyhas a portable massage table inher car. She says it pays dividendsto travel equipped!Karman says the SPCC massageschool prepared her well for hernew career. “I really believe inthat program, and I felt like I wastaught well,” Karman said. “AtSouth Piedmont, I was taught todeal with different issues, andI don’t get thrown off guard toomuch now. The small classes weregreat, and I got a lot of individualattention! Our clinics reallyprepared us well because we wereexpected to treat it like it waswork. I still do documentation justlike I was taught.”Karman said that as an olderstudent, she found that she reallyenjoyed taking general educationclasses such as English and math.“It was like exercise for my brain,and I enjoyed that,” said Karman,a graduate of Parkwood HighSchool.To learn more about theTherapeutic Massage program atSPCC, contact Mary Berger at 704-290-5865 or mberger@spcc.edu.8I Summer 2010 I CareerFocus South Piedmont Community College I www.spcc.edu I 704-290-5100 or 704-272-5300