Today we’d like to introduce you to Adrienne Permar.
Hi Adrienne, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I started working in housekeeping when I was 13 at my parents’ small country house hotel on Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada. As I grew up, I spent time working in all departments of the hotel and, after high school, attended the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University. I was unsatisfied with my time at Cornell, which I found very competitive and hectic. I decided to take a break from college and, during my time away I attended the Vancouver School of Bodywork & Massage (now Vancouver School for the Healing Arts). I had planned to use this training to become involved with spa management and development for resort spas internationally. Instead, I fell in love with the manual work of being a massage therapist. I loved being focused on one person at a time and working actively and with my hands throughout the day.
After finishing my degree, I returned to Vancouver and attended a 3000-hour Registered Massage Therapist training, which had a very orthopedic focus. I worked as a massage therapist and completed further training in Manual Lymph Drainage. I opened The Lymphatic & Massage Clinic of Vancouver in 2015 and sold it in 2017 in order to move back to the states. I lived in Washington State for two years, where I was fortunate enough to teach all subjects of a massage therapy program at Northwest Academy for the Healing Arts. In Washington, I met my husband and became pregnant with our first daughter. We moved to Georgia in order to be close to my husband’s family. Here, I decided to embark on the journey of opening a massage school aimed at integrating the holistic bodywork from my first training with my orthopedic training in RMT school. We have had great success so far and have had 24 graduates in our first year and a half in operation.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Opening the school has seemed like it was meant to be. Although the approval process was stressful (we are regulated by three independent agencies, everything went through easily. We found a space that we loved and were happy to have 8 students in our first class. We have been embraced by the community of massage professionals and employers in the Athens area. My biggest struggle has been with the stress and mental health challenges. Before the school, I had anxiety about what I was going to do “when I grew up.” It seemed like I didn’t really have a purpose in life and felt like I had wasted my education, but everything I have done has led me to this point.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Oconee School of Therapeutic Massage?
Oconee School of Therapeutic Massage primarily offers entry-level training for massage students who want to become Licensed Massage Therapists in the state of Georgia. Our 15-week full-time program is designed to ignite students’ passion for the art and science of massage therapy. Our program is student-centered and research-based. We focus on relevant material taught through living literature, which gives students an integrated understanding of the effects that massage has on the body. Students will build a 3-D model of human anatomy, read and analyze research papers, and practice precise clinical and manual skills. We make time for each student to practice on their instructor to ensure good quality of touch. We teach a variety of treatment styles including myofascial, deep tissue, prenatal, sports, and hot stone techniques. Students will be able to effectively treat 14 common conditions so they can leave our program confident in their ability to be effective massage therapists.
I am proud of our integrated program–my goal has been to create a program which respects the client as a whole person and allows time and space for personal growth of students, while also giving students the practical skills to treat orthopedic complaints and client injuries. We also spend a good deal of time on professional boundaries and clinical skills. I think we have done a good job in training our students and the response from employers has been very positive. Many people say their best messages ever have been with our recent grads.
How do you think about luck?
Providence has played a role in terms of connecting us with the right people. My lead instructor and I met in passing at a spa, which I worked at only one week before it was shut down due to COVID-19. She asked me what I did before, which was teaching at Northwest Academy in Washington State. She said that she had been thinking about approaching one of the technical colleges near Athens to create a massage program, After the spa was shut down, I contacted her to discuss the idea of opening a school. She was convinced that there was a market for a school in Athens. I had only been in Georgia for 6 months. If it weren’t for our chance meeting, the school would not have come into being. Since then I don’t think luck has been the deciding factor, but rather my God-given talent, dedication to hard work, and experiences in prior work environments.
Pricing:
- Full-time Tuition $9000
- Additional Student Fees $700
- Payment plans are available
- Student Clinic Massage $35 for 60-min (Thursday afternoons only)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.oconeemassageschool.com
- Instagram: @oconeemassageschool
- Facebook: facebook.com/oconeemassageschool
- Other: oconeemassageschool.janeapp.com
