I graduated from NHI's San Jose campus in 2011, in Group 37, one of their evening classes…read more
NHI has several concurrent groups in their schedules, most of which met during the mornings or afternoons. My Group 37 was scheduled Mon/Wed evenings and all-day Saturdays, which attracted people with full-time jobs during the week.
At that time I was working in a full-time job and wanted to expand my personal skills on the side. I had been getting massages for over 10 years and felt that I could do pretty well myself if I got some formal training and a professional certification, to actually earn some side income while doing something that I enjoyed anyway.
I had researched a few different massage schools in the bay area before choosing NHI. NHI was the most comprehensive school and specialized only in massage. Other schools were broader schools that offered other vocational programs (dental assistant, medical billing, etc.) or had shorter/simpler programs. NHI's tuition wasn't cheap, since it's a vocational school that prepares you for a new career/job with a regular income. But then I noticed all the other schools costed about the same amount too, not cheap.
As I was running marathons regularly at that time, I noticed that there was usually a large massage tent for runners after the finish line. I inquired about how the massage worked, and who worked there, and it was usually National Holistic Institute students that were providing the massage (LA Marathon, Nike Women's Marathon). That helped me understand NHI's reputation in the industry. But the big benefit was seeing how NHI helped place their students into internships and into well known clinics and spas (Massage Envy, Burke Williams, Preston Wynne, Ritz Carlton, etc.) It was this extensive service during and after the education that provided a lot of value.
The school and classes were great. It was a school I looked forward to going to every time. After a long day at work I would come to class at 6pm and we usually begin our session with a 15-min group meditation or yoga mini-session to open our minds and spirits. In learning massage we had lots of practice, and in nearly every session we would get a massage and give a massage to a class partner. Besides practice, we also had our fair share of theory and science - physiology, kinesiology, pathology, learning all the major bones and muscles of the body, learning different modalities (swedish, shiatsu, sports massage, thai massage, reiki/energy work, abdominal work, cold and heat therapy, stretching, deep tissue, myofascial release, etc.) This really prepared us to deal with all types of situations when we meet with real world clients, we we started doing right in the school clinic.
We got our real world experience as students immediately. First in the school clinic, where we worked 3 sessions each week, giving massages to paid clients from the public. It was a great way to practice everything we learned as well as people and business skills. Some regular clinic clients who really liked us even became our regular private clients after graduation!
Besides school clinic, NHI also prepared us to work outside in 2 internships to gain additional experience in different real-world settings. I had extra time, so I did 4 internships myself - at Massage Envy, Destino Spa, Equinox gym, and Stanford Athletics. All were great places which demonstrated the highest level of professionalism and quality of service, and great places to work in and learn from before going on to other places at least as great.
It's been a few years since graduation, and I've worked in a few different places practicing my massage - a couple clinics, a corporate environment, as well as starting and running my own mobile massage massage business where it's been super-rewarding to give the best massages possible to clients directly and receive 5-star Yelp reviews in return. That's the vision I had in mind when I joined NHI to get the background and training to help me get started.
When choosing and entering a massage school, I would advise you to carefully consider what type of job you might get afterwards, and how much you could earn as a massage therapist. While income can be great for single people, the income and environment may be more challenging if you are the primary income for supporting a family. Hopefully you'll do the careful thinking for going into this industry, but then most of us go into this industry because it's a field that we love.
There's a lot to consider in choosing a massage school, or even a job/career in massage therapy, but there are many paths where you can go. Like many other opportunities, a lot of your success depends in your vision and how much effort you put into it yourself.
NHI is a great partner to help you get to your vision, with their structured classes and wide range of opportunities available to you, both during and after enrollment.
