Today, we’d like to introduce you to Libby Sturrus.
Hi Libby, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I didn’t fit in very well in the corporate world I entered when I returned to Grand Rapids, Michigan, from New York City. I had worked for about 4 years “off-off” Broadway directing new plays until the bedbug epidemic, an episode of depression, and my father’s ill health brought me back to Michigan.
I’m what Grand Rapidians call a boomerang, returning to “Gravity” Rapids. Sometimes, you need to leave home to appreciate where you come from. After living in New York, I admittedly became a theater snob and didn’t want to work in regional theater, so instead, I held administrative positions in corporate America for the next 10 years- I call those my lost years.
At around 40, I realized that I was a (self-proclaimed) insubordinate spinster who would never fit the corporate mold, and I needed to be my own boss. I made a list of everything I loved, from the ridiculous to the practical, like a cup of tea on a wintry morning to laughing hysterically at fart jokes, and tried to see if any of those ‘loves” could become a career. I was thankfully fired from my last corporate job (remember that I’m insubordinate?), and through severance and savings, I was able to take a year off to figure out what I was going to do for my twilight career.
That year, I got certified to teach yoga in Costa Rica, I interned at Herb Pharm in Oregon to learn about herbal medicine, and I went to massage school and became a licensed massage therapist. I knew I wanted to work with other people but not be their boss (I was so over the hierarchy of most business structures), so I started a wellness collective, and it finally happened for me; I stopped searching for a place to be and instead created a place where I fit in.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I don’t know anyone who has had a totally smooth path to business ownership, but most other business owners I know (and there are 8 women-owned businesses in the Communitea Wellness building) don’t succeed alone. I was able to purchase and renovate the building because of help from friends and family.
I bought it on a land contract during the pandemic, it was previously a cat shelter, (don’t worry they have a new location) and my friends and I did all of the demo ourselves. We uncovered a beautiful tin ceiling hiding under a drop-down ceiling with florescent lights, we removed 8 layers of flooring (someone put linoleum over a layer of carpet!) and the floor of the building actually lifted 6 inches. I felt like the entire building sighed with relief.
The biggest hurdle was getting permits and working through the red tape of the city development department. And, of course, there’s always the question “What am I even doing?” that looms when learning all the little aspects of starting a business, such as understanding a new booking system, filing for an LLC, and itemizing tax deductions for the first time.
I appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Communitea Wellness?
Communitea Wellness is a collective of business owners who share the values of self-care and community to promote wellness. We believe in collaboration, not competition. Our philosophy is to reach one hand down to help another rise and one hand up to continue to grow.
We support, uplift, and inspire one another! We balance the autonomy of owning our own businesses with the collaboration needed to share a happy space. In our little neighborhood wellness center, you will find 4 massage therapists, 2 Reiki practitioners, a yoga studio, and an organic skincare line. We also offer regular workshops related to wellness, nature, art, and self-care practices.
Our clients are our best advocates, and we’re still working on overcoming the shyness of tooting our own horns, so I’m going to share a few reviews from clients that you can see for yourself on Google or Vagaro (our booking platform). Sarah: “I love Communitea Wellness. This group of practitioners is wonderful and truly care about their clients and the community.”
Erin “Communitea Wellness is the best! The space is calming, spotlessly clean, and has a relaxing spa-like scent. I love the wood floors and quilted blankets on the massage table. It feels cozy yet professional–absolutely a place to access the healing so many of us need.”
We’re so grateful for customer reviews. I think I’m tearing up a bit!
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you.
I believe that I’m lucky and that luck is largely about your perception of what happens to you. I was lucky to be fired from my corporate job so that I could make my own path, even though I felt shame about it at the time. (Nobody likes to be fired, no matter how much they hate their job).
I also believe that as a white woman from an upper-middle-class family, I had the help of privilege that many other people don’t receive, so my success is tempered with that knowledge. I was able to start my business because my family offered both moral and financial support. Without that help, it would have taken me a few more years to open my doors and countless other hurdles I would never know about.
I also believe that the continued success of my business is up to me and the work I do to maintain it, but also, in a collective environment, success is mutually beneficial. I would count myself lucky and feel honored if those who read this article came by to see Communitea Wellness for themselves.
I love meeting new people and helping promote the other businesses in my building, which are drum roll! Gathered Botanicals, Lemuria Yoga Studio, Danielle’s Soul Clinic, Renewal Reiki, Restorative Healing Massage, Mooncloud Massage, A.H. Massage, and, of course, Communitea Wellness Massage.
Pricing:
- $109 for a 1-hour massage
- $35 is the average workshop price
- $100-125 for a 1 hour Reiki session
- $20 average yoga class price
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.communiteawellness.com
- Instagram: @communitea_wellness
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/communiteawellness
