What was the biggest lesson you learnt as a business owner during Covid-19? (Ask the Muscle Whisperer Series)

We are really excited to share with you the next instalment of our "Ask The Muscle Whisperer" series. This month we have asked the industry's top leaders what was the biggest lesson you learnt as a business owner during Covid-19 and what their words of encouragement for the future would be? 

You can watch the full video with all the specialist's answers compiled together HERE.... or watch each specialist's answer individually in shorter snippets below underneath their name! 

• JING
• SUSAN FINDLAY
• EMMA GILMORE
• EARLE ABRAHAMSON
• KUSH KUMAR

• JING ADVANCED MASSAGE TRAINING 

  
  

  For the lovely team at JING they found the key lesson from the Covid-19 has been to keep showing up, both for yourself and your community! Personally they hosted webinars throughout the week and found just being a presence and keep on keeping on has kept them feeling motivated and looking to the future. 

  For Meghan and Rachel Covid-19 has reinforced how important it is to keep on following your heart. So many people have realised during this time the jobs and activities they do are not really what makes them happy. We are so lucky as therapists to love what we do and that passion is infectious! If you keep saying it and putting that energy out there it is engaging and attractive to clients. Now more than ever.
  
  JING's words of encouragement are to do your best and keep on keeping on!! This is Rachel's personal mantra and is a powerful reminder to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Recognising that you are important part of the medical community is crucial as we all want you to stay in the game because people need you! People you haven't met yet need you and we as an industry and community will miss you! Do your best to never lose sight of the skills you are bringing into the world. 
  
  A final piece of advice from Rachel is that if you feel like giving up, put on Queen's 'Don't stop me now', crank it up and get dancing! 

  Watch Rachel and Megan answer your "Ask the Muscle Whisperer" Question below!

  To see JING's upcoming training courses please click on the image below or follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  

    

  Jing
  Susan Findlay
  Emma Gilmore
  Earle Abrahamson
  Kush Kumar

• SUSAN FINDLAY 

  
  

  What was the biggest lesson you learnt as a business owner during Covid-19? 

  I started off my first draft of this article listing all the things that the school has changed, what we did to meet the needs of our students, what policies we put in place to keep everyone safe but realized this was not relevant… I am itching to tell you all the cool things we have done but I wanted this article to be more about self-development. What have I learnt, personally?

  I can’t say that I came away with a new set of life changing lessons but I have been running a business for decades and any business owner will tell you there are many aspects of running a business that are not listed on the job description, all the challenges I have faced in the past have prepared me for the current situation, so if I were to choose three personal characteristics that helped me through this pandemic they would be: Firstly, exercise common sense, secondly, be flexible and thirdly, remain calm. 

  I usually approach everything with the assumption that every problem has a solution, if change needs to happen so be it. We did have to do a lot of adjustments to make it all work, I watched many people collapse, from a combination of fear and being faced with too many changes for them to cope with, I tried my best to reassure them and point out that you can take a lot of positive things from this situation, you can use it. Don’t let these trying times rob you of the future you want… I wasn’t always successful with the more anxious students but for those that were receptive to the encouragement that goes with this approach, they got on with it. 

  Like most people, I don’t like to change things if they work, and this leads into the third lesson, don’t let the situation overwhelm you, it can happen very easily, but I was determined not to let that happen. I cannot say I was a 100% successful  but it would have been worse to allow it to affect my focus and stop me from moving forward. I have a dream and I am still working on it. 

   

  There was so much information coming out, information would change on a weekly basis, my team and I worked so hard to try and keep up with it all, so much of what we were receiving was not clear, contradicted itself, and was incorrect. I relied on the more proven sources,  those that appeared to have a level headed approach, clear direction, and was relying on good research. 

  Looking to the future, what words of encouragement would you give to therapists?

  So where do I see our future heading, what have we got to look forward to? We’re already working more smartly, we have improved our communication with other professionals, we’re no longer classified as ‘massage parlours’ (just need to filter out those phone calls now, you know the type…), but we have a hard road to travel going forward if we want respect for our work.  It was encouraging to see so many therapists get behind their Professional Associations and the work that GCMT was and is doing, this is vital for our future, they’re our front runners, our voice as a profession, to be taken seriously as an essential service and not a bit of fluff. I would encourage you to lend your support and be a part of change.  

   

  Watch Susan answer your "Ask the Muscle Whisperer" Question below!

  To find out more about Susan's courses and sign up for her great Massage Monday series click on the image below or follow her on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. 

  

  Jing
  Susan Findlay
  Emma Gilmore
  Earle Abrahamson
  Kush Kumar

• EMMA GILMORE 

  
  
  

  For Emma and the School of Bodywork Covid-19 brought some surprising positive changes. Whilst Emma believes wholeheartedly that there are elements of learning when it comes to massage therapy that need to be hands on and in person, the situation called for some teaching remotely to be installed, so that those elements that can be taught online could continue.

  Emma found that coming together to find new strategies and test ourselves can bring really surprising outcomes. For the School of Bodywork they found that they were no longer restricted geographically and found that actually they were attracting and interacting with people on a global scale. They also found this was true for their students who also were able to continue supporting their existing clients online but were also attracting new clients a lot further afield with their online offerings.

  The lesson for Emma and so many students at the School of Bodywork was that thinking outside the box, past your previous notions of what you should be doing, can bring unexpected and fantastic results! Emma found this wonderful to witness and is so pleased for her students that have seized the opportunity to step into this new world bravely. The incredible level of support within the industry has also been heartwarming for Emma as well as the reaction of clients. Emma has found after a forced separation from us clients realise our skills as massage therapists more than ever! The importance of nurturing touch is clear, people have missed it so much during lockdown that we can see it as a potentially exciting time for our industry!

  Watch Emma answer your "Ask the Muscle Whisperer" Question below!

   

  You can see the latest courses on offer at School of Bodywork by clicking the image below! You can also follow on Facebook and Instagram.

  

  Jing
  Susan Findlay
  Emma Gilmore
  Earle Abrahamson
  Kush Kumar

• EARLE ABRAHAMSON 

  
  For Earle the biggest question during Covid-19 was how to adjust to the new normal. How to do things better, to look to improve but also more importantly transform the way we work to make the most of the lessons we have learnt. 
  At first as it was for everyone this was extremely daunting. Earle found he had a lot of questions - about working from home, different ways of consulting and how to earn money in this new landscape. 
  
  But for Earle this time allowed him to reflect on his professional and personal journey so far and contemplate how to continuing challenging himself to do things in new ways. He spent time pondering what his expectations were for returning to work and then what the expectations of his clients might be? 
  
  After analysing those expectations he focused on the skills he would need to develop, mainly in terms of moving work online and how this would compare to real life experiences for his clients. Focusing on how to blend these two modes of working has been a huge lesson, figuring out how to retain the quality in a new and different way has been key. 
  
  The positive outcome of this work is that Earle has been able to reach more people by being creative and innovative. Looking ahead for the sector, for Earle the most important question is how do we risk assess ourselves for the challenges that lie ahead?

   

  Watch Earle answer your "Ask the Muscle Whisperer" Question below!  

  You can find more details on Earle's latest book 'Muscle Testing – A Concise Manual' by clicking the images below or find out more details on the next Hands On Training courses by clicking here.

  

   

  Publications:

  • Making Sense of Human Anatomy and Physiology - Lotus Publishers 2016

   

  • Concise Manual of Muscle Testing - Handspring Publishers. Due out October 2019 
  Jing
  Susan Findlay
  Emma Gilmore
  Earle Abrahamson
  Kush Kumar

• KUSH KUMAR 

                                                        For Kush his first response to the Covid-19 situation was like many of us! The overwhelming pressure to react and react fast was his initial thought but after some reflection and stepping back to assess the wider picture it was much easier to see what was really necessary. 

  As part of the professional association Think Tree Hub, Kush began analysing the needs of the industry and from there was able to make a much clearer plan. Initially Think Tree initiated a campaign to lobby the industry's interests to the government before switching to longer term strategies to support their students and members. 

  During Covid-19 Think Tree Hub developed 2 FREE Courses to help massage therapy professionals at this unprecedented time which you can find at the links below; 

  1. “Preparing to return to work in a Covid-19 World”.
  2. “Risk assessment: The essential step for re-opening”  

   For Kush the top 3 takeaways from this time were; 

  • Do not panic and avoid reacting in the moment
  • Your life is the most precious thing as is everyone else’s
  • Consider each day as it comes (remember there are only 24 hours in one day, then it is on to another!)

  Watch Kush answer your "Ask the Muscle Whisperer" Question below! 

  To take advantage of the special offer and join ThinkTree Hub click on the image below and be sure to give them a follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

  

  Jing
  Susan Findlay
  Emma Gilmore
  Earle Abrahamson
  Kush Kumar