Sometimes your calling doesn’t feel like a calling when it arrives. Sometimes it looks like a random conversation, a practical decision, or even a detour. You only recognize it as a calling when you look backward.

Sometimes it finds you in a pub.

In this episode, I’m sharing the unlikely story of how I found massage—or maybe how massage found me—from a random conversation in England to building a career that has now spanned more than two decades.

But this episode isn’t really about my story.

It’s about remembering yours.

Whether you’re a brand-new massage student wondering what you’ve gotten yourself into, a continuing education student stretching beyond what you already know, or a seasoned professional who has been doing this work for decades, there will be moments when this career gets hard.

You’ll question yourself. You’ll get tired. You’ll encounter clients you don’t know how to help. You may even wonder whether you chose the right path.

Those are the moments when your origin story matters.

Why did you start?

What did you see in this work—or what did someone else see in you—that made you take that first step?

Your “why” will grow and change as you do. But staying connected to where you began can remind you why you keep going.

For me, it started with one person looking at my hands and seeing something I couldn’t see yet.

Twenty-four years later, I’m still learning, still curious, and still asking:

“What’s that?”

Welcome to Armed and Ready to Heal.