Today we’d like to introduce you to Ahrianna.
Hi Ahrianna, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
The first time I considered massage therapy as a career, I was around five years old. A friend complained about her shoulder hurting, and I knew just the trick! After massaging her, she felt better and told me that’s what I should do when I grew up. I remember just how excited and proud I felt when she said that.
As I navigated young adulthood, I explored other career options, but I was always still thinking about massage. My partner encouraged me to trust my intuition and just go for it! So fifteen months and 1,250 hours later, I graduated from the National Holistic Institute, College of Massage Therapy, as a Certified Neuromuscular Massage Therapist, Health Educator, and the owner of Remedy Massage Therapy at twenty-one years old. I had no idea what I was doing!
My mission was to provide financially accessible care for individuals with chronic pain and chronic illness, and to be a helping hand in injury rehabilitation. Eventually, I became certified in cupping therapy, oncology massage, and hospice massage. And In 2023, I co-founded Chronic Cafe, Sacramento’s free monthly support group for chronic pain and chronic illness.
Fast forward to today, and Remedy is now eight and a half years old! I’m so honored to do this work for my community, and hope to grow old with my practice.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I’ll give a very libra-coded massage therapist answer here and say it has been a wonderfully challenging mix of the two!
Smooth in that Remedy has always been my unwavering passion; massage is my most natural form of communication, and so it’s always felt easy to choose this path, even when there are bumps along the way.
And there have been quite a bit of bumps! Between the pandemic happening the year I decided to go full-time into private practice, moving shop three times in one and a half years all due to unforseen circumstances, increasing business permit requirements and zoning laws, on top of struggling with my own chronic pain, it has been a journey to say the least.
But now, I finally feel settled and safe in my current space. And really, I’ve learned so much through those hardships, and grew not just as a business, but as a person too, and I’m really grateful to have learned just how capable and strong I am.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
As a Certified Neuromuscular Massage Therapist, Health Educator, I specialize in chronic pain, chronic illness, and oncology massage. My approach centers around starting slower and softer. This lets the body know I’m here to help at its pace, which in turn allows the nervous system to relax. So many individuals with chronic pain and chronic illness experience a lack of positive touch, especially in medical or pain relief settings (ironically and unfortunately). I work with clients to re-frame their body’s perception of touch, through gentle work that gets progressively deeper while still remaining comfortable.
I’m passionate about working with clients through the biopsychosocial model of pain to find the best treatment plans for their unique wellness journeys, while facilitating loving relationships between them and their bodies.
My proudest achievement has definitely been our local chronic pain support group, Chronic Cafe. It’s been three years since Chronic Cafe was born, and it’s such a lovely monthly gathering. We wanted a space that was zero-judgement, free, and super casual where people with chronic pain and chronic illness could just hang out and chat about life with others in the same boat. Sometimes we laugh, sometimes we cry, oftentimes we do both, and we always leave feeling refreshed and validated. It’s wonderful to have that in-person connection.
These past few months, I’ve also been working with brands via social media for the first time! Working with brands in the wellness industry felt daunting at first – I’m intentional about only working with companies whose products are reasonably priced, used by my clients, loved ones, and/or myself, and help manage symptoms of chronic pain and chronic illness instead of advertising as a cure.
I decided to explore social media and brand deals after reaching my cap on clients and closing Remedy’s waitlist. I’m grateful to be at that point in my career, and love sharing health education to a wider audience on social media!
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Risk-taking is something out of my comfort zone, and simultaneously something I’m constantly doing, just by being a small business owner!
As a child, I was painfully shy, and every single thing felt like a risk. If only she could see me now! When I take risks, I feel motivated to show my inner child, and all the other girls out there, everything they are capable of. Even imperfect practice makes progress! The more leaps I take, the easier they become.
I think the biggest risk was going into a physically labor-intensive career as someone with chronic pain. Headaches and vestibular migraines have haunted me forever, and at times can take a toll (though working in a dark, quiet, and cozy room is probably the best case scenario for that condition). Through that risk, I’ve discovered the importance of taking care of myself with personal-work life balance, boundaries, and pain management.
I’ve learned so much through my experiences; and even though risk-taking can feel scary, I absolutely would not be where I am today if I stayed in my comfort zone.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.remedymt.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/remedy.mt/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahrianna-navarrete-686b8b3b9
