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The
owner, John Wayne Cosby, served
in the U.S. Navy as a Hospital Corpsman during the
Vietnam War and as an Emergency Medically Technician for 2 years after leaving the Navy.
John has always cared
about people's health and well-being
Over eleven years ago John was diagnosed with herniated and
degenerative disc in the lumbar area. His Orthopedic doctor recommended him to
a Neurosurgeon, who recommended surgery.
A family member recommended he try the massage therapist
at
the spa where she worked. John had never had a professional
massage before and was very skeptical, but he decided to try massage
anyway.
John was amazed by the
immediate relief and the knowledge of the massage therapist after just one session. After several
sessions, John was completely pain-free and to this day has not had surgery.
John, wondered why his doctors had not recommended massage
therapy instead of surgery and prescribed the regiment of pain and muscle relaxing
drugs? John went on sort of a crusade, he told anybody
and everybody he talked to about massage and his
story.
Less than a year, John left the Postal Service to go to school to study massage therapy.
He believed in it and wanted to promote the benefits and the power of massage.
He said he wanted
people to find out what he found out, massage therapy as another alternative and how it
changed his life, literally.
John
graduated at
the top of his basic and advanced massage therapy classes, he took the
Florida State Boards to become licensed under the Florida Department of Health.
He then went on to become
Nationally Certified and fast became a massage therapist's therapist. Sharing his knowledge and spreading the word of massage therapy and its' benefits.
Then
coming out of
massage school, John found the job market for male massage therapists were slim to
none. The spas wanted females, the clinics and doctors wanted females and
sports facilities wanted experience. John had no one to massage but his fellow therapists, family, and friends, who didn't want to pay. :>)
So with no paying clients, John figured
if he gave away free massages to the public, he could spread the word about massage
and meet prospective clients
to hopefully start building his private practice.
John joined the American Diabetes Association
as a volunteer, because his father is a diabetic. John became
very active and went
to health food stores, shopping malls, supermarkets, department stores,
even coffee shops, convincing many of the
managers and owners to let him setup and
do free massages with any contributions made would go to the ADA.
John did
this religiously for several hours per week for a little over a year
while delivering newspaper from 3-7am most morning to help pay the bills. John
saw how popular free massage was and that people didn't mind getting a massage
in public as long as they did not have to get undressed.
It
was also a great opportunity for those who were interested in private massages to meet the massage therapist first in a non-threatening environment and get a
feel for their knowledge and technique.
John massaged a lot of people and built an impressive
list of clientele during his time volunteering for the ADA. One
was a
local business owner who
gave him his first convention massage job. The owner paid John to give free massages at
his exhibit booth during the trade show. It was a hit.
That was John's introduction to the
trade show industry. John knows God lead him down this pass, because the reason he
got into massage was to let people know the benefits of massage therapy. The trade show
industry would give him that opportunity.
John started marketing to show managers
and exhibitors for incoming local shows. He got a team of massage therapists, trained them on chair massage techniques.
They started to work several trade shows and events and continued to add
more each month. They felt good, because we were educating more and more people
about massage.
In 2001, Orlando's Orange
County Convention Center, the second largest convention center in
the country, realized a need and desire for chair massage at different events held at it's
facility. They selected us to start in January 2002 to provide massage services at their facility. The service quickly become one of
the
most appreciated services at the
center.
With
our team of massage therapists, in 2002 we gave over 16,000 massages; in 2003 over 20,000; in 2004 over 27,000 and
over 30,000 in 2005. Helping these thousands of
people from all over the world and from all walks of life.
Touching their lives through massage therapy. John says "this is my Blessing,
because over 45% of them were just like John was 10 yrs ago, they had never experienced a
professional massage.
John
firmly believes in educating the public on stress management and
the benefits derived from massage therapy. They have a staff of caring
massage therapists that share their desires and love of helping people feel
better.
The company has donated massage
services to over 50 charities and non-profit organizations in Central
Florida
communities since it started. This helps get the word out on the benefits of massage therapy while giving back and helping people from all walks of life with the magic of touch.
John
learned that people are more apt to try
the chair
massage first. because it’s normally free and it's out in the open where people feel
less threatened than getting a massage in a private setting.
Chair
Massage is better than one thinks and much better than no massage. Get one when
you can, as often as you can.
We
will keep in "Touch", we hope you will too!
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