Hey there!

I'm Mary-Claire.

My mission is simple: to help clients feel better through comfortable, deep tissue barefoot massage and to teach other massage therapists to transform their careers.

I bet you're wondering why I decided to become a massage therapist with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Film, right? Well, I love to eat (most actors don't get paid much), and I wanted to help people... it's that simple!

When I'm working my massage magic, I don't just use my skills, but I also listen to my clients.

Sometimes, that's all they need to feel better - someone who really hears them out. And of course, let's not forget my wicked ninja barefoot massage skills...

One day, about a year after I learned Ashiatsu (back in 2002), I had a major realization.

I was working at both a day spa (hands-only massages) and a chiropractor's office (primarily Ashiatsu massages), when I realized that I hadn't done any hands-on massage in about a week.

Shockingly, my first hands-on massage at the day spa left my wrists feeling sore... but this wasn't something I had experienced during the week prior when I was doing mostly Ashiatsu.

That moment was a game-changer for me. I knew I had to teach other massage therapists who had the same problem that there were other options, and that Ashiatsu was an excellent one!

Ashiatsu barefoot massage even enabled me to work through 3 pregnancies, one of which was with twins.

(That's our massage class on our last day, October 1998.)

Since 2004, I've been on a mission to help other massage therapists like myself - those who suffer from pain, burnout, or who just want to work deeper.

Way back (Doc's time Delorean here). I worked as the Senior Training Instructor for an Ashiatsu company, where I passed these skills on to other instructors in training. In 2017, I co-founded the Center for Barefoot Massage, which is all about teaching continuing education for - you guessed it! - barefoot massage.

Oh, and did I mention my latest project? It's called Massage Momentum, and it's all about teaching massage therapists how to create successful massage memberships online!

I'm so grateful to have been featured on some awesome podcasts like  🎤It's a Tribe Thing Podcast (episode 48), 🎤MindBody Radio, and the 🎤Massage Business Blueprint (episode 147). But that's not all - I've trained hundreds of therapists all over the US and even in Canada!

My most recent venture is Massage Momentum, where I teach massage therapists online how to design successful massage memberships. Oh yeah, here's a more recent podcast too: 🎤 Become Famous with Torund.

But my home base is right here in Cincinnati, where I run my own training studio called Affinity Massage Studio. This is where I teach other therapists and work with my own clients on a regular basis.

And of course, I couldn't do all this without my amazing husband Paul and our 8 children. We're always filled with love and laughter (even on the crazy days!).  In my spare time, I am getting certified in copywriting and sneak veggies into food when I cook.

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Random and probably unrelated info:

In July 2021, I earned my certification as a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, working to help others live their lives more healthfully.

In the past, I've also worked part time as a professional photography blogger who specializes in conceptual photography and thematic portraits.

(Who needs sleep?)

Affinity Massage Studio is on Facebook and Instagram.

Massage Momentum is on Instagram. 
 

In case you're wondering, I graduated from massage school in 1999 and am licensed by the State of Ohio Medical Board for massage (license # 33-008321). The first modality I got certified in was TouchPro chair massage (1998), then Nurturing the Mother pregnancy massage (1999) followed by Ashiatsu barefoot massage (2002), Bamboo-fusion (2006), Ashi-Thai (2009), ACE Massage Cupping (2013), and finally, Rossiter (barefoot pin-and-stretch) (2017), Fijian barefoot mat massage (2018). I've also taken sports massage, insurance billing, ethics courses, the science of fascia,  and lots more barefoot massage training.

Most recently, I co-created the Center for Barefoot Massage training classes (2017) as well as our first "Relax Track" class, Hot Ashi (2018).