Today we’d like to introduce you to Shannon Livezey.
Hi Shannon, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started my massage journey in 2017 when I was pregnant with my firstborn and in so much pain and discomfort that my husband graciously gifted me a massage membership at a franchise to help ease my discomfort. After my son’s birth, I continued to go regularly, and one afternoon, after a massage session, an idea popped into my head: ‘What if I used massage therapy to help heal people’s trauma through touch?’ I quickly waved that notion away as a nice thought but not one I should pursue as I was sure God’s path for me was early childhood policy and advocacy. And he laughed. Soon after our family moved to South Carolina and we were expecting our second son, I found doors slamming in my face for every job I wanted. Desperate and stuck in a job I hated, the opportunity to attend school for Massage Therapy presented itself. This time, I leaped and signed up, all to open my practice one day and help transform trauma therapy. Fast forward to the end of 2020, I graduated and quickly went to work for a massage franchise. While I loved using my gifts of intentional touch there, it felt too constraining, and I yearned to have a practice where I could spend the time I wanted to with my clients and give them the time they deserved. Near the end of 2022, I met a client who became my friend and business associate, Georgia of Peche Skin Co. She provided me with the space and help to open up Avodah Massage Therapy, my dream practice, in April of 2023. Now, my goal through this business is to create a compassionate, loving, and safe space for all my clients as we walk through the path of healing and wellness together through massage therapy.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road has been anything but smooth. It started with applying for the wrong business license and then juggling a demanding 40+ hour a week job with starting out on my own to now getting and keeping clients to turn my practice into a thriving one. From April to mid-July, I had to balance my full-time job, building clientele, marketing my practice, moving suddenly while on vacation from my original location to the one I am now permanently at on Millwood & Maple, and finding time to breathe between it all. It was a time of many late-night panic moments of ‘Can I do this?’ and ‘Can my family survive if I do this?’ Thankfully, I’ve had a lot of support from family, friends, business associates, and our life group, who have helped talk me down from the mental breakdown ledge quite a few times. Now that I’ve quit my other job and am in my practice full-time, I have struggled with the summer cycle of the floodgates being open for two weeks to crickets the next two weeks. I don’t think the struggles of an entrepreneur ever truly stop; you get better at managing your emotions and expectations through the highs and lows of each season.
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’m a Licensed Massage Therapist (#12326) specializing in trauma-informed massage therapy. I use aspects of somatic experiencing in my Mind and body services to aid clients in releasing trauma stored in their bodies via emotional or physical trauma. I also perform integrative, perinatal, and infant massage. I am one of the only providers in the Columbia area focusing on trauma-informed massage and who performs infant massage. I believe in taking a whole-body approach to client healing, which can look like outsourcing to other providers for additional help outside of my scope of practice, recommending exercises or lifestyle modifications to increase strength and reduce pain, or working on mom and baby at the same time to increase bonding and decrease effects of generational or birth trauma.
What makes you happy?
Massage makes me happy. This is why I named my business Avodah Massage Therapy because Avodah in Hebrew means work, worship, and service. That is exactly what massage is to me. My meditation is my passion, and I derive joy from serving others. Nothing makes me happier or feel more satisfied when I’m able to help a client connect with their body, release trauma that has been causing them pain, or solve a problem they’ve been dealing with for a long time.
Pricing:
- Mind & Body Intro Massage $139
- Integrative 60 min $99
- Prenatal massage 60 min $109
- Mom & baby 45 min $75
Contact Info:
- Website: avodahmassage.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/avodahmassage/
- Other: vagaro.com/avodahmassagetherapy/services
Image Credits
Chelsie Boyd Photography
