Published: Monday, October 6, 2008

New career: from grocer to massage therapist

Kevin Warner has moved from the stress of the grocery business to relieving the stress of his clients as a licensed massage therapist.

By Eric Fetters
Herald Writer

EVERETT -- Kevin Warner started working in the grocery business when he was just a 14-year-old in small-town Idaho.

After more than 20 years in and out of it, he had become a deli manager for Safeway.

"Basically, grocery's what I knew," he said.

But he also knew he wanted to do something else. In fact, he already knew what exactly he wanted to do.

And now, after a year of training and earning his license, Warner is out of groceries and into massage therapy.

His transition to a new career, in which he's started his own business, went well, thanks to the homework he did ahead of time. That approach becomes even more important at times like these, when some people use slower economic times, including periods of unemployment, to learn and launch into a new work track.

Having always worked in retail settings, Warner said inspiration for doing something new came accidentally.

"Massage came to me while I was living in Idaho," the 43-year-old Everett resident said.

After his wife was injured in a car accident years ago, she saw a reflexologist and massage therapist for rehabilitation. The expert taught Warner techniques that he could use at home to relieve his wife's pain.

So he tried it.

"My wife said I should do it professionally," Warner said. At first, he dismissed the idea. But then it grew on him.

He began researching the industry and what type of training was offered. After moving to Everett with his family in 2002, in part to be closer to his wife's relatives, he considered training at Ashmead College in Everett. But it wasn't the right time financially for his family, which includes a grown son and daughter. So he continued in the grocery business.

About two years ago, however, the time finally was right. With support from his wife, Warner enrolled at Ashmead's now-closed Everett facility to learn the art and practice of massage therapy. To make ends meet, he delivered pizzas at night. He also interned locally, and by the end of 2007, he was licensed.

He now works for Massage Envy at the Everett Mall.

"Kevin is an awesome therapist," said Edna Christianson, owner of the mall's Massage Envy location. "He's definitely talented, so I think he picked the right industry for himself."

Warner also operates his own mobile massage service called Gentle Giant Massage. Between the two, he works seven days a week, but he's still putting in fewer hours than he did in retail, he's doing at least the same financially and he's much happier, he said.

"When I decided this is what I wanted to do, it became a passion for me," he said, adding he works about 24 hours a week, plus his mobile massage appointments, compared to 40 to 60 hours a week when he was in retail.

The obstacle that stops many from taking a big career leap -- fear of going out on their own in business -- wasn't a problem for Warner.

"It was OK for me, because earlier in my life I had gone out on my own a bit," he said, explaining that in the early 1990s, he had a car window-tinting enterprise. It struggled in the recession of that period, but it gave Warner experience in handling his own small business.

He adds that the support of his wife, to whom he's been married 23 years, also was crucial for making the successful switch.

So far, besides the more humane working hours and the happiness factor, Warner seems to be making headway after less than a year on his new career path. He's specialized in accident treatment massage, the first thing he learned all those years ago, in addition to doing general relaxation massage. Through word of mouth and referrals, he's building his Gentle Giant Massage business enough that he's almost ready to rent his own office space.

And, at the end of the day, there's a good feeling about his work that wasn't as easy to come by when he worked for supermarkets, he added.

"This is all about making people feel better," he said.

Original Source - The Everett Herald - http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20081006/BIZ/710069947&SearchID=73332353983833 - All Rights Reserved

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