Today we’d like to introduce you to Erica Stephenson-Jackson.
Hi Erica, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Hello, my name is Erica, I have been a massage therapist for 12 years and a cosmetologist for 23 years, as of 2025. I had worked for a well known massage company for almost 11 years.
I started out working off and on in different beauty salons between the years 2003 through 2012. In 2009, I went into business with a friend, but it did not work out, and I decided that I would wait until I could do it on my own. In 2012, I decided to try it again, but this time without a partner. One day, I sat and had a conversation with a cousin, that stated, that she could do the massages. She later moved out of town, and since the option was presented and I had added it to my business plan, I acted on it and decided to enroll into school for massage therapy.
After visiting about 5 schools in 2013, I enrolled into college to become a massage therapist. A year later, I was now a cosmetologist and a massage therapist. I started out traveling doing home visits for massage, then worked at Massage Luxe, from 2014 until I recently resigned in March 2025.
The whole time I worked at that company, I was looking into renting my own space. Originally, I was searching for a space to do both hair and massage, but trying to find a building large enough and not costly was a bit of a challenge. Being that I was new to renting I did not want to do too much, I started looking for buildings for just the massage therapy. Between 2014 and 2022, I did a lot of unnecessary things thinking I was receiving helpful information, funding, and grants, it was hard. It seemed like everytime I found a space, something stopped me from proceeding. I had a No, for the first space I found. The second space, someone else beat me to the contract. The third, the owner wanted to sell me their company, that I wasn’t interested in buying. The fourth, I was losing confidence, so I didn’t actually pursue the property. The fifth, Covid hit, right after I was approved for the space and on the day I was about to pay my deposit and receive the keys. After 2020, I thought about just giving it up, but I woke up one day a year later and my desires continued. By April 2022, I found a location and July 2022, signed a lease. March of 2023, I opened my first brick and mortar location for, Vursatyle Massage and Spa.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It was not a smooth road at all. I wasted thousands of dollars, trying to receive funding, I paid a company to do my LLC, and to get my EIN. These are things that you can go straight to the source and do yourself without a middle person. I paid for funding that was in the form of credit cards with high interest rates and the higher the amount of credit they got me, they received 10% of that amount and they did not enclose that information until after.
They wanted me to get as much credit as I could. The more money I received in credit, the more money I owed them as a fee. So after I learned of that information and after about 7 credit cards in, I stopped them from proceeding further. That’s when they added their fee onto one of the credit cards. So I had a high credit balance before I even had the business or business revenue flowing in.
I paid money into grants to either put me into drawings or to receive a list of people giving away grants, and none of the people on the list of grants concerned my business type. Besides all the unnecessary spending of money trying to get to my goal. I also had to deal with a lot of misguided realtors and property managers. It was all shareable situations, now I am able to share my experience with others and stop them from making the same mistakes I did, because I had no one to guide me in the correct direction.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a licensed massage therapist, and A licensed cosmetologist at Vursatyle Massage and Spa, I provide full body massages from a variety of modalities including: swedish, deep tissue, prenatal, sports, trigger point, hot stone, and reflexology massages. Also, manicures, pedicures and will soon add lashes, some facial modalities and waxing to our spa.
I will say, that I am known for doing deep tissue massages, but I also give a very nice relaxing swedish massage. I specialize in getting deep under the scapula, and I have an unique style, so that sets me apart from others. My goal is to try to fix the problem while also providing comfort and relaxation.
My spa is not set up with shampoo bowls and dryers, but I will provide some hair services that do not require harsh chemicals.
Not only am I a cosmetologist and a massage therapist, but I also have a event planning business. Over the years, I had not focused on that business so much, but every now a again, I might plan a party for someone.
I am most proud, that I am able to incorporate all of my talents into my business by providing Spa parties, and events for adults and children.
We are here to provide professional and great customer service. We aim to nurture and relax each of our guest with individualized and innovative therapeutic techniques.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
In the next 5 years, I see my business expanding to not just a bigger space with more services but I see myself owning my own property and not renting a space.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://vursatylemassagespa.com
- Instagram: Vursatylemassageandspa
- Facebook: Erica Stephenson-Jackson LMT
- Yelp: Vursatyle Massage and Spa
- Other: Vursatyle Massage and Spa
