Today we’d like to introduce you to Mia Shaughnessy.
Hi Mia, 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 backstories with our readers?
When I graduated high school in 2015, I was pressured by all of my peers and counselors, teachers, etc., that college was the only way to have a great career and be what they saw as successful. I was groomed to think that college was the only way for me to be able to have a stable income, and in order to be able to do that, I would be forced to take out tens of thousands of dollars in student loans.
After attending Schoolcraft for half of a semester, I quickly realized that it was not for me. Truthfully, I did not finish the rest of my first semester of college. I hated it. I felt very out of place, and it was not my first school of choice. I definitely felt like I settled. My parents were unable to co-sign any loans for me to be able to attend a four years university so that I could take the courses necessary to hopefully become a Physical Therapist, so I decided to start researching alternative education and trade programs.
I took about a year off of school to work for my family’s small business at Canton Auto Wash and tried to save money while I tried to figure out “the next step.” My grandma Diane mentioned that there was an amazing Massage Therapy school in Southfield called Irene’s Myomassology Institute. I thought massage was a pretty good substitute for Physical Therapy, so I decided to schedule my appointment for a tour of the school. I immediately signed up for the June 2017 – June 2018 school year which I truly think changed the outcome of the next few years of my life.
I was so impressed with the amount of information that was given to me while attending Irene’s. It was so much more than learning how to give your average back massage. It was an entire education program targeted for pain management and prevention. I was able to learn the movement and stretch of every muscle of the body. They taught me the body’s trigger points, lymphatic drainage, myofascial release, kinesiology, and so much more. This school opened up a huge door of endless opportunities for my career and I am so thankful to have gotten the opportunity to attend this amazing school.
After graduation, I was lucky to find a job right after graduation. I had the opportunity to work at a small chiropractic office in West Bloomfield. After receiving my first paycheck at the chiropractor, I joked with my boyfriend’s dad about how I could make more work out of the basement. He didn’t even blink and said, “Well, why not?!” Shortly after this conversation, at the age of 19, I applied for a business license, and Balance and Composure Massage LLC was born.
I was so incredibly lucky for my boyfriend’s parents, Mike and Dottie, to allow me to work out of their home and start my new business. They really are the reason why this all came to be. I don’t think if I didn’t get the encouragement and support from them that I would really even be doing this.
Soon after starting my small at-home massage therapy business, I ended up leaving my job at the chiropractor after eight short months of being there. There were many reasons for me leaving. Mike, my boyfriend’s father, passed away from Esophageal Cancer in early January 2019. I was also getting extremely busy since I had started working from home. I quickly started working six or seven days a week just to take on more clients and it was time for me to end my time there.
Ten months later, I grew to be a full-time LMT and started looking at places to rent. I looked around and could not find anything in South Lyon for under $1500 a month. I was about to give up until I found Olmstead Place. It was an older building built-in 1938. It needed a ton of cosmetic work, but it was perfect.
After two months of renovations, literal blood, sweat, and tears, it became my happy place.
It was now March 1st, 2020, opening day. I was so excited to get started working in my brand new office. I had spent countless hours painting, installing floors, decorating, deep cleaning, and organizing to finally open up our brand new location. It was the end of my first session on my first day at the new location and something felt off. I had extreme sinus pressure and by the time I got home, I had a pounding headache! I figure with the beginning of spring, it may have just been allergies. Later that evening, it progressed and I developed a productive cough, and my headache was now a migraine. I ended up calling my clients and rescheduling appointments for the next 12 days as my symptoms progressed. Three days after going back to work, the entire State of Michigan shut down because of the pandemic.
I only worked in my office for four days before having to close for three months. I was devastated and felt defeated. Yes, I cried on the day of the shutdown. I spent the last year and a half working for this grand opening and there was nothing else I could do but wait to reopen “in two weeks.”
On June 15th, three long months later, I was able to finally start booking appointments again. I was booked solid for a month out. It was a kind of busy that I have never seen before. I knew my next step was to hire some help to take on the influx of new clients that I was seeing.
It took me eight months to find reliable and motivated massage therapists who had the experience that our clients needed to be able to treat them for various conditions. I was fortunate enough to add Sandy and Jami to the Balance and Composure Massage team in February 2021. It was a long hiring process. Lots of flaky interviews, call-offs, and unideal candidates before I found these two. I interviewed them on the same day and had this gut feeling that told me I needed both of them on my team. Since then, we have tripled our sales and they have both been fully booked practically every week since the start of their careers at Balance and Composure Massage.
Because I finally had the help I needed, I am now able to focus on growing the business by working on our plans for expansion. In October of 2021, we will be adding a new branch of services to our menu. We are looking for a Licensed Esthetician for facials, body hair removal, and lashes. We will be featuring product lines from Glymed Plus, Esthemax, and seasonal facials from Skinscript. We will also be researching other product lines to add to our spa in the future.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There are many struggles when it comes to entrepreneurship. One thing that I still struggle with is self-doubt. It seems that whenever I come up with a new idea, I have this “what if” mentality. What if it doesn’t work out? What if I fail? I have always asked myself these types of questions just like any other person would, but they are never positive. Over time, I have learned that the only thing holding me back from my success is myself. My “What If’s” have slowly turned into What if I succeed? What if everything I dreamed of happening, happens? What if everything works out? Of course, I still struggle with this, but it doesn’t hold me back as much as it used to.
Implementing new services has also been a struggle for me. We have plans to add an esthetician into our office originally in August. I assumed that it would only take a couple of months to get this going and so far it’s been four months. I never realized the range of services that estheticians offer, and how much effort would go into product testing and ordering everything needed to have these services! We assume that by the time we are ready, it will have been half of a year since the start of planning. The lesson I’ve learned with this is that sometimes things don’t always go as planned. Some things take longer than others, but it’s worth it.
A more obvious struggle was opening a new brick-and-mortar business in the middle of a pandemic. I never said my timing was perfect, but man I really dropped the ball with this one. It was really hard to keep up with all the new information about the pandemic. The stress of reopening and rebooking hundreds of clients after being closed for three months. It was hard to obtain proper PPE in the beginning because everywhere was out of literally everything. I was so worried about social distancing that I would never be able to fully reopen, but it turned out to be the opposite and we were extremely busy after opening up.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
When you book your first session at Balance and Composure Massage + Spa, you will notice that we capture all of the senses. Massage, of course, captures the sense of touch. The Aromatherapy included in every massage is the sense of smell. The sound of the soft spa music playing in the background is the sense of hearing. The taste is the Lindor Truffle we leave for you on your massage table, and the sight is the beautiful atmosphere we created to make it feel fresh, calming, and relaxing.
Balance and Composure Massage + Spa is known for making your average massage or facial more of an experience than just an appointment. We strive to provide our clients with the industry’s highest quality products and services, and highest standards for cleanliness and communication. We are known for providing a safe place for healing and tailoring our services specific to each and every one of our clients.
I am most proud of how far we have come in the last three years and how quickly my new massage therapists have developed reoccurring clientele so quickly. We offer so many amazing services and there will be so much more to come. Currently, as of October 1st, we should be adding an esthetician into our practice and we will be adding facials, body waxing, and dermasound treatments to our menu! We will likely be featuring products from Eminence and Glymed Plus. Keep an eye out for the promotion going out on October 1st! We will be offering $25 off for any of our facial services.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
I really had only one mentor during my entire career as an entrepreneur. My Grandpa Odell has given me so much insight and help since I started my business back in 2018. He has taught me a few of his marketing tactics, bookkeeping, how to maintain good relationships with clients, and so much more. Working for him has also helped me learn how to track daily revenue and payroll. He also helped me and gave me a loan when I first opened up to take care of construction expenses. I was able to pay that back to him at the end of the 3rd quarter of 2020.
Networking for me started off as trial and error. I was eager to find tactics that were proven to work and that got me retaining clients. The first thing that I tried was Thumbtack. It is a website designed to bring clients in your area directly to you. You do pay a percentage of your rate to get in contact with these clients, but it was worth it to me. Starting out with absolutely no clientele, it was hard to be able to get referrals and it was definitely an investment. After I worked with them consistently for a month, I started to see more and more clients each week. At one point, I was seeing ten to fifteen new people every week from Thumbtack.
After I started to gain more repeating clients, I started to ask for referrals. It wasn’t until three years later that I found a real referral program that actually brought in new customers consistently! When I first started the program, we would offer a 20% discount for any referral. This was a great offer, but I just wasn’t seeing an influx of referrals with it. When I changed the referral program to 50% off when you refer someone within 30 days of your first appointment, that is when I started seeing more people come in. We offered a higher incentive and a time period in which they had to bring someone to us in order to receive the discount. Once you start to get referrals, it turns into a “snowball effect.” This worked extremely well, and we plan on keeping it around for a long time.
Another way I have networked is by getting in contact with the local fundraisers. Fundraisers and sponsorships are a great opportunity to give back to your biggest supporters (your community) and a great marketing opportunity as well. I have sponsored and donated to so many different fundraisers that it’s hard to keep track of where we’ve been! We have donated to St. Baldwick’s Foundation, local fraternity St. Jude’s Fundraisers, Witch’s Hat’s St. Jude Fundraiser, fundraisers for multiple sports teams, and equestrian teams in the South Lyon area, and we have been a sponsor of Pumpkin Fest for the 2019 and 2021 year.
It is extremely important to give back to your local community. The only reason why events such as PumpkinFest can go on is because of the businesses that sponsor it. Sponsorships for local events can be expensive, but it is worth it to support your community and give back to them. After all, the business may not be as successful if it wasn’t for the community supporting it.
Pricing:
- Massages $80+
- Reiki $80+
- Signature Facial $80
- Upgraded Facials $100+
- Spray Tanning $35+
Contact Info:
- Email: mshaughnessy.mt@gmail.com
- Website: BalanceComposureMassage.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/balancecomposuremassage
- Facebook: Facebook.com/balancecomposuremassage
- Other: BalanceComposureMassage.com/reservations
Image Credits
Raechel Marie Photography
