Community Highlights: Meet Jenna Choronzy of Revive & Thrive Wellness

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenna Choronzy

Hi Jenna, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
When I was a young adult I would get massages and think to myself, “I could totally do that” I loved how good my body felt and how relaxed I would be afterwards.

Fast forward several years and I was a stay-at-home mom to two boys. My oldest was going into first grade, my youngest was going to start preschool, and I was faced with what life would look like with two kids in school. I knew I didn’t want to stay home all day by myself so I began to look into other options. I even reached out to a college advisor who had me take a test to see what could be a good fit for me. She said, “I don’t know what career path you should pick, but it should definitely involve helping people.”

Within a month of that conversation I was enrolled at Bay College West in a massage therapy program where I met Margo Recla-Juedes DPT, and Molly Uhazie PTA, LMT. The two of them taught me to look at and treat each human body as an individual case and not just a body on my table.

After I graduated I was fortunate enough to rent a room down the hall from their physical therapy clinic and I can consult with them when needed. Over the last couple of years I have been able to grow my business while dedicating my practice to seeking the highest good for each client on my table. I am recently certified in Manual Lymphatic Drainage and my goal is to help ease tension while activating the parasympathetic nervous system to promote healing within your body that will continue long after you leave my office.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I never wanted to start my own business. In fact, I was adamant I never would. However, when your teacher/mentor gives you the opportunity to work down the hall from her, in the exact “in a perfect world” setting you imagined…it’s really hard to say no to that.

So with no experience and freshly out of school, I started Revive & Thrive Wellness. I was a new LMT in a town full of people more experienced than I was. My friends and family made up the majority of my clientele and I was always thankful when Molly and Margo sent a new person my way. Little by little, my tiny business grew.

About one year into the business I never wanted, my husband decided he wanted to go back to school himself and it became our only source of income. It was the first time in our marriage we weren’t living off of guaranteed hours, PTO or a salary. If I didn’t have someone on my table, we weren’t getting paid. I could take off extra time for Christmas but it meant less income.

This time last year I was excited if I was able to give 5+ massages in a week and now I have a cancellation list for the rare times I have an opening in my day.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT). I specialize in Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD) which allows me to work on post operative patients, people with lymphedema, people suffering from sickness and people with swelling to their extremities.

As one of the only LMTs in Iron Mountain that offers MLD it pushes me to offer the level of service you would find in a larger city. I have had clients say they travelled as far as Chicago to receive MLD and the work they received from me was on par, if not better than the other clinic.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I’m not much of a risk-taker. I am more of a research first then decide kind of person.

I always try to figure out all potential outcomes when I am faced with a risk. I think the biggest risk I have taken in my business was when my husband stepped away from his job in order to go back to school and we started to rely only on the income of my business. In my line of work I rely on the client to show up in order to get paid and there are times that it unfortunately doesn’t happen. A friend of mine once said that working for yourself in this line of work is “feast or famine.” You’re either overbooked with a waitlist, or you have big gaps in your schedule and you have to plan accordingly.

Pricing:

• 30 Minute Massage $45
• 60 Minute Massage $70
• 90 Minute Massage $100

Contact Info:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551811243988