Today we’d like to introduce you to Amarina Kubiak.
Hi Amarina, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
MI Wellness Center was born out of a need for personal growth.
I didn’t originally set out to build a wellness collective, but sometimes life hands us an opportunity to realign our values. What began as a necessary transition from a simple medical massage practice became a powerful invitation to build something that felt more fulfilling and collaborative. The shift has been such an amazing learning experience!
First, I’ve always been drawn to the clinical side of massage therapy. My work in medical massage and lymphedema care has shaped so much of who I am as a practitioner. Supporting individuals navigating post-surgical recovery, cancer-related lymphedema, and chronic swelling conditions has deepened my respect for the body’s resilience. Lymphatic work, especially, requires patience, precision, and trust, and I love educating patients so they feel empowered in their own healing process.
I realized early in my career I never wanted to build just a treatment room. I wanted to build a space for more. More patient care, and more professionals. I was ready to provide a space where clinical excellence and holistic health could coexist and also where other passionate practitioners could grow sustainable businesses of their own. My long-term vision is to bring together massage therapists and other holistic health professionals who care deeply about their craft and want to collaborate while maintaining their individuality. I believe there’s room for autonomy and teamwork in the same environment. This month, we’re bringing in an esthetician and in April we’ll be including energy healing! Our new providers for these are also small businesses just getting started with expanding out on their own so I’m looking forward to helping them build under our small wellness hub! We’re already looking forward to the energy we can bring for each other and how we can get involved with a bigger wellness community here in GR!
Community outreach is so important, I think, for ANY business, but especially small ones. I truly believe our success comes from our community support and I love looking for ways to give back. I want MI Wellness Center to feel approachable, not intimidating. This also means having affordable healthcare. Yes, it’s still an investment, but it doesn’t have to break the bank. Hosting educational workshops, free events, and connecting with local organizations are all part of what makes us reachable.
Mentorship is another piece that feels personal. I remember what it felt like stepping into this field and trying to bridge the gap between textbook knowledge and real-life patient care, and especially building my own business. I hope to work with interns and new business owners in medical massage therapy, especially those interested in clinical and lymphatic specialties. Maybe they’ll find interest in our other services offered by partners too! Overall, it will be important to create a supportive environment where they can build confidence and competence.
MI Wellness Center is still unfolding with new practitioners and amazing services. I’m so grateful for all of our community partners who have been with me since the beginning and who we continue to add on! We’re building something rooted in integrity, collaboration, and a genuine desire to help!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Owning a small business is a rocky road from start up to challenges along the way as you expand. One of the biggest challenges was clarifying what I wanted out of the space.
For instance, I learned that alignment with other people in the field goes deeper than skill set.
It’s about integrity. It’s about communication. It’s about accountability. It’s about how someone handles feedback, growth, and shared responsibility. It’s about whether we’re building something from ego or from service. For me, service will always come first – it always has in any job I’ve had.
As someone who genuinely wants to see others succeed, it was difficult at first to acknowledge when something didn’t align. I tend to see potential in people. I want collaboration to work. But protecting the culture and energy of the space has required me to step fully into leadership, even when that means having uncomfortable conversations or saying no.
Another quiet struggle in building MI Wellness Center has been learning to truly listen to my own heart when making decisions.
As a small business owner, you are constantly being marketed to by other small businesses trying to grow, by larger companies offering tools, software, consulting, branding, add-ons, upgrades. And the truth is, so many of them are good. So many of them could be helpful. I genuinely want to support other entrepreneurs and also be able to afford the tools they carry. I wish I could say yes to every collaboration, every service, every opportunity that lands in my inbox. But I can’t and learning that has been humbling. Everything always in due time.
The last struggle, and maybe the most personal one, has been protecting time for home life.
When you care deeply about your work, it’s easy for it to spill into everything. There is always one more email to send. One more idea to refine. One more system to improve. As a business owner, the mental load doesn’t automatically shut off at 5 p.m., if at all.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I want people to know that MI Wellness Center is built intentionally.
Healing looks different for everyone. Even when someone comes in simply for stress relief or energy work there is thoughtfulness behind what we do. We care about outcomes, education, and helping people understand their own physiology. And if we can’t figure it out, we want great practitioners to refer out to who we trust!
I also want people to know that we value professionalism and accountability. The wellness industry can sometimes feel unstructured or trend-driven, but my goal is to bridge holistic care with clinical standards. We operate with clear boundaries, ethical practices, and a commitment to growth, both personally and professionally.
From massage and manual therapies, esthetics, and energy work, I want clients to know that MI Wellness Center exists for them.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
That everyone, my team included, feels safe in the space and that our providers continue to bring energy, movement and hope to our community members!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://miwellness.center
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miwellness.center
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553248329724
