Latest / Ready Set Collaborate with Wanda Pearson / The Touch Revolution with Dr. Dominque Carson: How Massage Therapy Transforms Mind, Body, and Spirit

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The Touch Revolution with Dr. Dominque Carson: How Massage Therapy Transforms Mind, Body, and Spirit · Ready Set Collaborate with Wanda Pearson

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Ready Set.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Collaborate with Wanda Pearson.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: This is where ideas spark, connections grow and collaborations fuse success.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Tune in for inspiring stories, expert insights and game-changing conversations.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Let's build, connect and thrive together.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Remember collaboration is the key to success.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Welcome.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Welcome to the Ready Set Collaborate podcast, where we respond like powerful voices making a difference through purpose, passion and connection.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: I'm your host, wanda Pearson, speaker, author and founder of WDD Pearson Associates.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: Today's guest is someone who truly embodies healing physically, mentally and spiritually.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: I'm thrilled to welcome Dr Dominique Carson, a licensed massage practitioner, author and health advocate.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: Dominique's hands have not only brought healing to hundreds of clients, but her voice and story are inspiring change in wellness spaces everywhere.
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: She's been featured in national publications and continues to educate communities on the power of massage therapy for overall wellness.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: Get ready for an empowering conversation about the healing journey, entrepreneurship and the purpose behind the practice.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: So let's dive in.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: Dr Dawn.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: We call her Dr Dawn.
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: It may be dominant, but we call her Dr Dawn.
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: Dr Dawn, say hi to our audience.
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: Hi everybody, Nice to meet you guys.
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: Yes, only certain people say Dr Dom.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: Yes, yes, I'm glad I'm part of that certain piece.
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: I'm reading what I was talking about.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: But I tell you I was just telling Dr Dom I need a massage right now.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: The stress that we go through and you just don't know, but I used to.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: That used to be one of my self-care things.
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: Every month I go get a massage.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: I have to get back into that.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: But see, dr Nam does traveling, but we don't talk about that in a minute.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: So let me read her bio and we're going to dive into some questions I have for her.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: So every rose has its thorns, but the beauty of the flower makes the pain worth it in the end.
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: Yes, it does.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: Dr Dominique M Carson has been remarkable in her current state, virginia, and her hometown, new York City.
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: She has beaten all odds by becoming an award-winning massage practitioner, freelance journalist, author and orator.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: Is that how you say it?
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: Orator?
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I have problems sometimes with my Chicago accent.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: From the time she was eight years old, she used her artistic and writing abilities to inform and inspire others, leading her to greater heights.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: As a result, she received her bachelor's and master's degree before she was 25.
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: All right, girl, after my bachelor's, I'm done, I ain't going to go to school.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: Carson became the first African-American to receive the Brooklyn College Wall of Fame Award in 2011.
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: Carson was interviewed over.
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: She has interviewed over 100 figures in popular culture.
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: As a freelance journalist, she received various awards, including two X Arthur All-Star.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we beat that Arthur All-Star Award, didn't we?
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: Dr Dom?
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: The Global Iconic Changemaker Award and the Global Recognition Award for her editorial and health wellness work.
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: In spring 2024, she was awarded an honorary doctorate in humanitism from the Global International Alliance.
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: Wow, I am so well.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: Listen, we got to start here, girl.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: I'm definitely.
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: That's very impressive, especially by the age of 25, getting your master's.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: So now you're talking about getting your doctorate.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: Tell us about that.
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: Because of the honorary.
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: I was fine with the honorary.
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: I said you could use your doctorate, because that was my hesitation when I got nominated.
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: I got nominated for the honorary on my cousin's birthday.
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: We lost him to gun violence.
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: Going on five years and I got the honorary doctorate.
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: I was fine.
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: I was like, because that's a badge of honor, that's usually you get that from prominent leaders and celebrities.
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: So a colleague was like how was you feel if you get your PhD?
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: I said the only way I'm getting this PhD is somebody pay for it, because I'm done Between all my education.
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: I don't want any more student loans.
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: I don't want to go through that process while I'm still recovering from the massage school's loans.
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: And it was like there's two programs.
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: So the first program I turned down because I still had to pay $8,000 out of pocket and I was like, no, that's not going to work.
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: And then this other one was like is Licks Universities in Hawaii, your tuition is taken care of.
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: If you are part of our academic network, you pay a monthly subscription.
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: So I said, ok, I look into it and I prayed on it and I said God, if you really want me to do this, please just send me some signs Because, like I said, honorary is fine.
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: I heard God said go for it twice.
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: And I just pitched a dissertation topic.
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: They loved it.
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: So it's called PhD by portfolio and what that is.
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: Because I had so much literary work over the years I can.
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: I don't have to go do the prerequisites, I can just go through my dissertation.
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: I said what am I doing?
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: The catch is you have to do it in 24 months.
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: So, starting in December is going to be a very intense 24 months.
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: But that's how it came out yeah.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: And God will get you through that.
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he will do it.
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: He will do it Because everything that you're doing, that I'm doing, god is pushing us, because you know what.
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: That's the plan he has for us, and I love Jeremiah 29, 11.
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: That's my favorite scripture he has the plans for you.
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: You don't know what you're going to do, but he has that plans for you.
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: He plans to prosper you, not to harm you, but to give you hope and a future.
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: Sure, yes, that is something that I love doing.
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: So let's dive into some of these questions, and I'm so proud of you, girl.
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: You keep doing what you're doing here.
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: Thank you, tell us about your journey.
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: What inspired you to become a massage therapist?
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: It fell under my lap, I promise you, I thought I was going to be like Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City, living as a journalist in life, and I was Fresh out of college.
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: I was working a nine-to-five, covering the show, interviewing the artists and doing it all over again.
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: That was my lifestyle for a long time.
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: So I'm going to circle back maybe seven years earlier.
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: I'm still a senior in high school, spending time with my grandparents.
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: As I'm getting older Us teenagers we want to be out everywhere, but I still made a vow that I was going to be spending a lot of time with my grandparents.
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: My grandmother had this aches and pains my mother's mother and I just did like a light touch on her Felt better.
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: She said you're going to do something with your hands.
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: And I'm like grandma, like I use my hands Like as a writer.
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: She said no, you're going to do something else with these hands in addition to what you're doing.
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and I said, and she said you heard what I said and I was like anytime.
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: She said you heard what I said.
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: Fine, all right, I'm gonna listen to this.
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: My grandfather said maybe within a few months, you know, you want to speak on stages, right.
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: I said okay.
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: I said he said you.
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: God has blessed you so much on what you're going through to keep it silent.
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: And as you get older, the stages are going to get bigger.
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: I didn't plan on speaking.
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: I promise you, speaking was a college assignment.
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: I was in an honors program.
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: I had to speak and propose different topics I think that's how it prepared me to go into this PhD lane.
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: And I had to do a presentation in front of Columbia University.
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: Okay, coldest audience.
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: I'm a 20-year-old college student, cold audience.
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: I had to compare some literary concepts for Death of a Salesman and the Great Gatsby.
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: Wow, yeah.
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: And I was the rookie and a lot of my classmates were like, yeah, I'm not doing that.
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: But I took a step and said, all right, I'm going to do it.
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: Represent the half of us.
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: And when my mentor, he did like this, you did a good job.
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: But I didn't know that.
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: Because when I tell you, ms Wanda, their face was so solemn and I'm like, ok, did I screw up?
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: You don't know what they think.
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: I don't know what they think.
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: I don't know what they think, so I step out, they talk to my advisor, my mentor, and he did like that.
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: I was like, oh, now the massages came because my mother wanted to do something different.
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: She treated my brother and I.
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: My brother was a quarterback for high school football.
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: Okay, and I fell in love with it.
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: It it was a euphoria.
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: Adrenaline was high.
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: I was like yo, this is what my mother's been doing for years.
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: But I never thought I was going to be a provider.
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: I knew that I was going to incorporate it, like my mom, like a self-care regimen and all of that.
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: It was my grandmother.
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: And I just played around with the opportunity for years and I'm in my journalism career, like I said, I got my master's and everything is good, but I felt like something was missing, like I need to be doing something else, like something more tangible.
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: So I'm revisiting this massage.
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: So my grandfather on my dad's side he gave me a hundred dollars and I'm sitting on this Brooklyn bus and I said what am I really going to do with this $100?
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: I applied to massage school and the rest was history.
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: My family thought I was crazy.
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: I was ridiculed.
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: Now, when I got my license now it's okay, when I'm going to get my son, no, keep that same energy, that big bad wolf energy.
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: Keep the same energy.
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: My mother was just concerned with the timing.
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: Okay, because you just graduated with this master's and now you're telling me that you're going to go back to school and get this.
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: I said, ma, if I don't do it now, I'm not going to do it.
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: That's right, and I did it.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: That's right, and I'm glad the time that I did it, because and look at you now, look how you have progressed, and then doing a traveling one too yes, what a blessing.
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: God is so good, I tell you, because we don't know what we're going to be when we grow up.
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: We know we are just having that faith and the trust to know that he's going to put you in the right place at the right time.
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: So I'm so proud of you.
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: So you hold a doctorate and wear many hats.
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: How have your life experiences?
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: shaped your approach to wellness and healing man, because now, all my years as a journalist, I can educate people on health and wellness and massage therapy through text, whether it's in articles, whether it's through books and now a coloring book, and now an award-winning coloring book.
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: It was something that I always wanted to do.
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: The minute I became a therapist, I said I want to come up with a concept that's going to be fun to a lot of people and still educate people about massage therapy.
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: So I talked to Dr Lena Payton Webb back in 2023 at All the All-Stars and I said Lena, I want to do a coloring book that still represents me and my personality but still gets the message across about massage therapy.
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: So we went from color schemes, concepts and I love acronyms, especially Intensify when I was in massage school.
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: That's how I was able to get through a lot of the coursework and run a lot of acronyms.
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: I want an acronym that relates to massage and touch is such evident.
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: It's an evident base.
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: It's an innate desire that people really want to have, whether people admit it or not.
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: Touch is such an innate desire really want to have, whether people admit it or not.
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: Touches such an innate desire.
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: That's how the T came and I just wrote the acronym down.
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: I told Lena that's how I want to write it and we worked on it for almost a year and I want it to be different.
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: And the people have customized portraits in the coloring book so I was able to take a doctor, a massage a lot of massage therapists have their own customized portrait.
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: And.
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: I'm able to pitch it in a way where they was like okay, I think I want to consider that I want a customized portrait.
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: So the doctor that I met at a conference I pitched it to her and then when she saw herself she was like, oh my God, that woman really looks like me, because I know it sounds crazy to a lot of people.
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: Wow, and I showed 10 people one of my good classmates from elementary school.
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: Her daughters are in the coloring book.
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: Wow, we were able to put her actual daughters in the coloring book.
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: So when she said when her daughters saw them, she was like, oh my God, mommy, we famous, we famous.
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: That's awesome yeah.
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: That's awesome and because it gives them hope.
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: You know, everything that's going on in this world today gives them hope.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: I have four granddaughters, so I may need to be talking to Dr Lena because my grandkids are very active.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: I'm telling you.
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: she kicked the door down and that's when I told I was applying for a couple of book awards with the book, and nomination is one thing, but when you get one, not one, but three categories the international book awards, I got it in three categories body and mind, spirit, self discovery, body and mind and spirit and alternative health, and then to get it in that alternative and the integrated health category.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I was like man, yeah, that is awesome.
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: So that's great.
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: I'll tell you, I'm so excited about everything you did.
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: Let me ask you a few more questions here, because we're getting down.
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: I'm going to have you on again because I want to see what this doctor was.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: How did you progress?
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: I know you're going to progress here.
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: So many people think massage is just about relaxation, but it's so much more.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: Can you explain the deeper benefits of having a massage?
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: Sure.
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: So it's more than relaxation.
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: It's pain management, it's rewiring your nervous system, because think of your body.
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: We have all these body systems that we have.
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: We have 11.
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: And out of the 11, you need your nerves and you need your endocrine.
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: Your endocrine helps you regulate your hormones.
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: You need the nerves to send the signals for your movement and your body to do what it does.
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: So with massage therapy we reduce your fight or your flight response and make it more in a rest and digest state.
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: It helps you with anxiety, it helps you with depression, it helps people with muscle relaxation a lot of conditions and then we come up with a treatment plan based on the medical condition or diseases that you have, versus somebody with diabetes or somebody with osteosporosis.
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: This is not a one-size-fits-all type of modality, for it depends on where they're at in their life.
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: You may have to tone it down for people that never got a massage before.
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah.
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: So it helps with.
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: We tell people to hydrate before massage and hydrate after, and I said that to a client one day.
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: She was like I've never had a client, I've never had a therapist tell me to hydrate before.
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: I said because it's going to help with your muscle recovery.
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: The best way I can describe massage therapy is muscle awareness, soothing stress and generating endurance in your muscles.
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: We deal with this is a muscle-based profession.
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: That's what we take here.
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: We take care of your muscle tissue tendons, everything to help you relax and feel recharged and, like I said, mainly rewiring your nervous system.
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I can see all of that because, like I was telling you, I used to get one once a month and I really need to get back into that because it really does, especially when you're in pain, stress that you're under so many things, especially now today.
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: You need to get this done more often and I tell people.
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: If you can't get it once a month, I understand circumstances, finances, whatever.
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: You need to get it three to four times a year.
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: Think of how we go and get our car maintenance and all that good stuff.
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: Think of your body as a tune-up.
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: You want to get it three to four times a year, if you can't get it every month.
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and.
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: I'm saying circumstances where you're at in your life, you want to, especially elderly, unfortunately.
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: You want to fix income whatever, but incorporate it where you can get it, three to four times a year.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, just for maintenance.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: I like that and I'm going to start doing that.
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: I actually get reflexology.
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: That's good too.
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: Reflexology and reflexology.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: My girlfriend she tells me exactly what's going on inside my body.
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: I'm not drinking enough water.
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: Is your pancreas everything they can tell from?
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: you.
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: But I'm telling you, you got the intestines, you got the pancreas, it's kidneys, all of that.
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, she was telling me that and I didn't even lie.
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: I was like, yeah, I ain't been drinking a lot of water.
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I know I should do this, so having that is so important.
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: So what's it like building a business in the wellness space?
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: It's such a blessing to give back to people through your touch.
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: It has a challenge, especially when you're starting out, because you're still trying to figure out your niche.
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: You're still trying to figure out how you're going to be different from your other competitors.
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: Yet at the same time, you want to collaborate.
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: And the best thing about travel is that I get to collaborate with a lot of other massage therapists, whether it's events and we break down the logistics financially.
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: But you get to collaborate with other therapists.
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: Who has the same autistic vision and same drive.
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: Two different companies but same purpose are a people service profession.
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: This is a service industry and yet we are able to give impact, especially mobily and like I don't take that for granted that people open their doors for me to enter their homes, because I know for me, my home is my sanctuary, that's my piece, that's where I get to wrestle.
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: Somebody is trusting me and my capabilities to help them with their improvement, their health and wellness.
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: That's something you don't want to take for granted.
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: And it's funny because I was going to answer that with my next question what qualities do you look for in other wellness professionals when building a collaborative care team?
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: I think passion for massage therapy, your level of awareness, your skill, your drive, your professionalism.
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: My Uncle Rodney said this when I was a kid and it came back to me as an adult the way that a person utilizes their tools, it helps determine their professionalism.
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: And when I said that to him now as an adult he said you were listening.
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: I'm like I sure was, because my uncle was a carpenter.
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: He was a carpenter for the state before he retired and I just saw like when he said that to me it makes sense.
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: My mother's a teacher for the city.
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: She may not have a direct tool, but her tool as an educator made me realize that and you utilize your tool or your instrument determines your professionalism.
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: Yes, I know they are so proud of you girl.
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: So how did, growing up in East New York Brooklyn that's where you grew up right Take your passion for healing through massage therapy and storytelling through journalism?
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: Now you're an does that and you're talking about your clothing book like I said, my mom, purpose-driven, she was in a career.
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: My mother is the first person in our family, one of the first people in our family, to have a career that she's passionate in.
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: My uncle carpentry was environment, surroundings.
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: But my mother knew that she wanted to be a teacher from the time she was three.
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: That was like her calling, that was her purpose.
• 18:56
  Speaker 3: And to see it manifest and even helping older cousins learn how to read with comprehension, like it was crazy.
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: Like my grandmother has seven kids and she used to say to me my mother was her prodigy.
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: So there's a price to that, there's a pro and a con to that.
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: So I already knew that early on.
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: And then my uncle Ricky, who we unfortunately passed in May.
• 19:20
  Speaker 3: He was the storyteller.
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: Like he was another one that utilized that didn't utilize his gifts efficiently, but I was able to learn his storytelling.
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: It was the way he captivated when he told stories, it was the way with his words and he was like a plant whisperer.
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: Like he knew how to garden, he knew herbs, he knew all that.
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: So that passion was already there.
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: So I saw it from him.
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: And then when I told him that I wanted to go back to school and massage.
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: I said, uncle, I'm doing it.
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: He said this is what you need to know.
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: This is how you will be more advanced, even as a student, and this is what you need to do once you get settled in as a massage therapist.
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: I've really followed what he told me in addition, so it was just my surroundings and the type of people, but it was my mom that really sparked the brain and was two of her brothers, and then her other brother, my Uncle Robin, who passed.
• 20:12
  Speaker 3: He was an advocate for education.
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: You got to get education Like there's no if there's no ands, there's no buts, and my grandparents was like that, reinforced.
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: So they was like, okay, she want to be a journalist.
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: We got to get her all the magazines so she can subscribe.
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: My grandfather told me the high school to go to.
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: It was just a family affair and that's a blessing.
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: That's a blessing when you have that.
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: So I tell you.
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: But you know what I have to say that your uncles are looking down from heaven and say well done.
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: Dr Dom, yes, and I have one now alive.
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: He get the one that told me the professionalism lesson.
• 20:48
  Speaker 3: He is so like proud now.
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: That was my favorite uncle growing up.
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: That was one of the ones that said it to me.
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: But I look at all my mother's brothers that played a role professionally and personally in my career and, to get it from a male's perspective, it was life-changing, even down to my pops.
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: How you handle life, that's another skill.
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: Because I was so book driven and career, you got to still be aware because people would still take advantage of that.
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: That's the reality of life too.
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: But it was.
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: My mom was like you could have a career.
• 21:26
  Speaker 3: You don't have to have a job, you could have a career.
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: My mother did that like she showed that to me.
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, now what is the name?
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: I see you're blaming me.
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: What is the name of your book behind you?
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: It's called Tribe, so Tribe means touch requires integrity and beauty.
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: No touch requires integrity and boldness effortlessly.
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: And that's what massage therapy is.
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: You want to be bold, you want to be sure, even if you don't know what the client has medically, you want to show your professionalism, you want to show that you're confident.
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: You want to show that you're aware, you want to make sure that whatever is going on with you, it doesn't interfere with your session with the client.
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: And I've been hit with a lot of personal stuff that was not great sometimes before a session and I just knew how to block it because it's not fair, it's not fair to the client.
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: And that was a vow that I said once I got licensed.
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: I said whatever personal circumstances that are not great, I don't bring it to my treatment room.
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: That's awesome.
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: That's awesome.
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: So we are winding down and I want to talk to you more, but I'm going to have you back on here.
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: So what advice would you give to other massage therapists or entrepreneurs looking to collaborate on public health initiatives or wellness programs?
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: I would just say do your research, figure out who you want in your company network For massage therapists.
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: We have conferences, we have events.
• 22:52
  Speaker 3: You have to get involved.
• 22:53
  Speaker 3: You can't do this by yourself.
• 22:55
  Speaker 3: This is massage therapy, I promise you.
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: Ms Wanda, a lot of the gigs I had was collaboration being in the right place, right time.
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: For example, we went to a Black massage therapist conference last year in North Carolina.
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: I met a colleague and we connected and he said hey, I got an event coming up in Virginia Beach.
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: I need a therapist to do it.
• 23:17
  Speaker 3: That was just networking and staying in touch and not looking for something right away.
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: You can't do that.
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: How about let's link up and have a coffee.
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: Let's link up and have a chat Are you good, are you okay?
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: And maybe that person can't give you the opportunity, but maybe a person that they know can give you the opportunity.
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: I've seen that too, and the same rule applies to BPC.
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: I met Dr Deshonda at the All-Stars and now we're two hours away from each other.
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: She lives in the Richmond area, I'm in Virginia Beach.
• 23:48
  Speaker 3: She's a massage therapist.
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: I'd rather keep it home.
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: I'm going to hire you.
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: I'm like a therapist now, when it's time to do stuff in.
• 23:59
  Speaker 3: Virginia.
• 23:59
  Speaker 3: But I have to build a repertoire and build a relationship before that even apply and I think people too and I'm going to be very transparent when I say this keep your feelings and your money separated.
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: Got to keep both separated.
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: Gotta keep both separated.
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, absolutely.
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: I love it Cause I actually I was what I've been for 36 years and when I got into I did I business is illegal, chill.
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: I learned how to network, networking you got to network.
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: You got to network people and trust and building that relationship, as you said.
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: So that is so important, but I am so excited about you being on this.
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: Oh my God, I had fun.
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: I learned a lot of things from you girl.
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: A lot of things I think you're going to have a part two.
• 24:41
  Speaker 3: That's what it sounded like.
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: Oh, we're going to have a part two.
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: I know that's right Cause I said okay, what you up to now, dr Dom.
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: So listen, I want you to share what people had, but I see you got eight things considered before massage.
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: You got a free giveaway.
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: Tell us what that free giveaway is?
• 24:54
  Speaker 3: 60% of people don't know what to do before getting a massage.
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: Whether you are a veteran, whether you are a first timer, you'd be surprised People still don't know what to consider before getting a massage.
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: Like I said, I had a client who's been getting massages for 10 years and was like I didn't know I needed to hydrate before going to a massage.
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: I always thought always hydrate after.
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: I'm like you need to hydrate before because massage is a detox, so you don't know how your body is going to respond after that massage.
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: I tell diabetics the same thing I said massage can lower the blood sugar, so you may need to nibble on something after the massage because you're going to feel fatigued.
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: It's going to be a lot of different things, so, just like that alone, it's called eight tips to consider before getting a massage.
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: So you go on to tipsmassagecom, that is, tips with an S massagecom, and you'd be surprised on the eight tips.
• 25:52
  Speaker 3: Some you may know, some you may don't know.
• 25:55
  Speaker 3: Some of them you're like, but I didn't really consider that.
• 25:57
  Speaker 3: So eight tips, yeah.
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: Well, I'm going to have that in the show notes as well.
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: What this is for your free giveaway, but tell people how to get in touch with you as well.
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: I'm going to have that in the show notes as well.
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: Okay, once they click on the giveaway tipsmassagecom you're going to see all my information.
• 26:11
  Speaker 3: It's going to give you an option if you want the coloring book, now that we are on an award winning coloring book.
• 26:17
  Speaker 3: I was just telling Dr Lena we're going to have to put that seal on there, so it's going to be a whole.
• 26:22
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, get in touch and I know the links that I show you.
• 26:29
  Speaker 3: Going to have them on there as well.
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: Okay, okay, great.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: I am so excited.
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: I really enjoyed this conversation.
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: So, dominic, dr Dom, thank you for sharing your incredible journey and reminding us of the deep power of touch, healing and purpose-driven care.
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: Your voice and your hands are transforming lives and I'm so grateful you joined us today.
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: Thank you To our listeners.
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: If you've been inspired by today's episode, be sure to follow Ready Set, collaborate and connect with Dr Dominic.
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: Say goodbye, dr Dawn.
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: See y'all, thank you, thank you.
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: Thank you for being on the podcast that wraps up another episode of Ready Set.
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: Collaborate with Wanda Pearson.
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: I hope you found inspiration and valuable insights to help you build meaningful connections and successful collaborations.
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: If you enjoyed today's conversation, be sure to subscribe, share and stay tuned for more great discussions.
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: Until next time, keep collaborating and making an impact.