I have often wondered-- Who are THEY? How do THEY know so much? And why should we listen to THEM? Or even care what THEY say?
Over the years my answers to these questions, and many more, have changed. But it seems that (at least for now) THEY may be right.
As you know, my plans to Thru-Hike the Appalachian Trail this summer turned into a Section-Hike. It was not the adventure I was expecting, but it was still an adventure. I took a long overdue vacation. Met a bunch of interesting people. Spent some time in the great outdoors. Took some longer than average hikes. And did a lot of thinking. I highly recommend all of these things.
In between Section-Hikes I would come home for a week or so to rest the leg, resupply and plot my next section. Luckily there are plenty of easy access sections here in New England. And if you have been following along on this Blog, you know that not all of my hikes this summer were on the AT. I also spent time at Mt. Monadnock, Mt. Battie and several other local NH and MA trails.
It was on one of these in-between visits to home when I met a friend of a friend, that is a massage therapist who is moving out of state and there was an opportunity to take over an existing practice. I won't bore you with the details of the negotiations, but the bottom line is, I opted not to take the opportunity.
In the process of negotiations, though, the idea of having an office to work out of really started to grow on me. And in the end, I was inspired to secure a space here in Danvers, not far from home.
The space is not huge, but it's plenty big enough. There is a nice waiting area (with bathrooms) and plenty of free parking. And people can take a nice leisurely walk around the property after their massage. It makes me sad to think that people just cram themselves into their car after their massage and fight their way into traffic. Not to mention the stress of finding a parking ticket on their car because the parking meter ran out while they were on the massage table. It kind of defeats the purpose of getting a massage.
That is one of the things I like about doing outcalls. When I go to people's homes they just roll off the table after their massage and do whatever they want: take a nap, read, lay out on the deck or in the yard, etc. They get to enjoy the massage (at least for a while.)
In the past, this has always worked well for me because my dance rehearsals took me from Boston and Cambridge to Gloucester and Rockport. So I could work on people in all those towns as well as the towns along the way.
The dilemma now is that my travel time in between appointments leaves a lot of unproductive gaps in my day.
Working out of this new space in Danvers will allow me to accommodate more people in a day. Don't worry. For those of you who have been TOO spoiled over the past ten years... I am still planning to carve out time to do home visits. But I may need some help.
For the first time, I will actually have overhead expenses. Until now it was just massage oil, gas and occasionally some new sheets. But now I will have rent and utilities to pay.
So I will be asking you all to send everyone you know to see me. In exchange, I will be offering my best ever Referral Incentive Program.
In about a week, I will send out an e-mail explaining the details of the Referral Incentive Program as well as all the information about the new space.
Included in that e-mail will be information on the new business website. For now, I am using "Massage and Bodywork by Nick" as the name of the business. Boring. I know. But it has all the right keywords for internet searches. I am open to suggestions if you have any.
One of the things that you all need to know, is that I will be forwarding the www.nickrepoli.com domain name to the new business website to make it easier to find.
Right now that domain name is forwarded to this Blog. Once the new site is up and running, you will have two options to locate this "Nick's News" Blog. You can continue to use www.nickrepoli.com , which will bring you to the new business website. Then go to the Links Page and click on the link to "Nick's News."
OR you can come to this site directly by using "nickrepoli.blogspot.com" . If you have any problems with that just give me a call or send an e-mail and I will try to talk you through it.
Of course, I would love for all of you to visit the business website to review it and give me feedback. (The site info will be available soon.)
The new website will have all the usual pages: Home Page, a Bio Page, Directions, info about the work I do and of course the Links Page. But one of the great bonus features will be the On-line Scheduling. So if I have an open appointment, you can just book your appointment on-line 24 hours a day. No more playing phone tag or e-mail tag.
The space will be available to me on September 1st but I will take the first week to set up and move in. I will likely start taking appointments on September 8th.
That is not very far away, is it?
I am hoping to hike one more short section this month before the craziness begins. Over the past few months, I have really come to appreciate my time spent outdoors. I plan to schedule some regular R&R time into my life. Maybe I'll take a weekend here and there to get away. In fact, I am definitely seeing a trip to sunny FL in the near future. I think I'll be ready to take a break from the cold by January.
So the question is: Does everything happen for a reason? Would things have worked out differently if I Thru-Hiked the AT rather than Section-Hiked?
The answer to the second question is: most certainly. First, I never would have been presented with this opportunity. And second, I may have just retreated into the woods. I think it would be very easy for me to make that transition.
As for the answer to the first question: Does everything happen for a reason? Well, I'll need to spend more time in the woods to ponder that...
You will hear from me in about a week. I'll make sure you all have the details on the new space, the new website and of course the amazing Referral Incentive Program. Thank you all for your continued support over the years. Wish me luck.
Peace and Love,
------Nick
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