This text is a reader-friendly, yet comprehensive, guide to developing business skills for massage therapy students and practitioners, written by a longtime successful massage entrepreneur who is also the author of One Year to a Successful Massage Therapy Practice. The book is written to be enjoyable and practical, with an encouraging, casual style. It includes checklists and forms that readers can use to build their own practices in a variety of settings, either as entrepreneurs or as employees.
Laura Allen is the author of the Plain & Simple Guide to Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork Examinations (2nd ed, LWW, 2009) and One Year to a Successful Massage Therapy Practice (LWW, 2008. Her latest book, A Massage Therapist's Guide to Business, was published in January 2011.
She has although authored a romance novel, Affair of the Heart, that's available as an e-book through Amazon and affiliated sites. Before coming to the massage therapy profession, Allen was a chef and restaurant owner for more than 20 years, and she has also authored a cookbook, Nothin' Fancy, Good Food and a Few Funny Stories, that is also available on Amazon.
Allen is an Approved Provider of Continuing Education under the NCBTMB, a a regular contributor to Massage Magazine, Massage & Bodywork Magazine, and Massage News. Her blog appears on the Massage Magazine website, the Massage Today website, and www.massageprofessionals.com
In 2011, Laura Allen was honored at the American Massage Conference as the 2011 National Massage Therapist of the Year, and was inducted into the Massage Therapy Hall of Fame during the World Massage Festival.
Allen is an accomplished musician, singer and songwriter who has made appearances on public radio, public television, and has appeared as a guest on 5 CDs--including the Rise and Shine CD released in 2011 as a fundraiser for the Massage Therapy Foundation, as well as recording one of her own with the band Hogwild. She is the owner of THERA-SSAGE, an alternative wellness clinic located in Rutherfordton NC employing over a dozen practitioners of different disciplines. Visit her websites at www.lauraallenmt.com, www.thera-ssage.com, and www.educatedheart.com
