This is the last episode of Season 1. And it felt right to close it out with a story about not having to blow up your whole life to build something new.

Tracy Buikema spent over 20 years as a massage therapist, expert enough that she went on to teach it at the college level for over a decade. But somewhere along the way, her sessions started turning into something more. Clients weren't just talking about sore shoulders. They were talking about their stress, their lives, what was keeping them stuck.

Then one client — someone she'd seen for over a decade — said something that stuck with her: "I would pay double for this session, because I feel like I got so much more out of it."

That was the moment Tracy realized coaching wasn't a departure from what she'd built. It was already happening.

So she went back to school. And found out that starting over, even when you're bringing 20-plus years of expertise with you, is still hard. "It was going from being considered an expert in my field... to then, okay, now I'm going to switch into this coaching aspect," she told me. Even when something comes naturally, learning to be a beginner again is its own kind of hard.

What I love about Tracy's story is what she didn't do. She didn't walk away from massage therapy to become a coach. She built something that holds both — coaching and somatic bodywork, together. She gets to keep what she's always loved, and expand it into something bigger.

If you're sitting with the fear that changing careers means giving up everything you've already built, I want you to hear this one.

Tracy is the owner of Heal(thy) Self Wellness LLC. She's offering a free 30-minute Transition Clarity Session — uncovering what's keeping you stuck, reconnecting with what matters most, and identifying one meaningful next step. She's also offering 20% off a first session for new clients through the end of September 2026 — just mention this podcast.

Website: healthyself-wellness.com

Text: (717) 756-4950

Instagram: @healthy_self_wellness

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracy-buikema/