March 14, 2017

Meet Cara Thurman of Vinings Massage and Wellness in Vinings

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cara Thurman.

Cara, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My path to opening Vinings Massage and Wellness with my husband has been a long one. After working in marine conservation, then owning and running a small organic vegetable farm, I started experiencing some health problems. Seeking a holistic approach, I found myself a massage therapist who helped me manage the anxiety and pain that comes along with illness. Through this relationship, I discovered, first hand, the extraordinary benefits of Massage Therapy. After recovering and regaining strength, I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in holistic healthcare.

In 2012 I opened what is now Vinings Massage and Wellness as a solo-practitioner. Within 6 months, I needed someone to help with the volume of clients. I hired Tori Chancey who has been with us the whole way. She is now our practice manager as well as an amazing massage therapist. We are very careful about who we hire, only the best therapists with the greatest love of their work. We contracted with Chapman Cancer Wellness at Piedmont in 2013. We see oncology clients there 4 days a week, both in the Wellness Center as well as in both infusion centers at Piedmont West. We now have 10 massage therapists on staff at VMW, including a team of 7 specially trained oncology massage therapists, who see clients experiencing cancer both at Piedmont and at our office in Vinings. We are open Tuesday-Sunday.

Providing the space and support for people to create wellness in their lives as well as a place for individual practitioners to thrive has become my passion. I love doing all types of massage, and specialize in working with people experiencing cancer and chronic illness. I also perform Pre- and Post-natal Massage, along with massage for anxiety, stress, and pain relief.

Has it been a smooth road?
My biggest struggle has been learning how to be a leader/manager. Starting out as a solo-practitioner I had no idea this is where we would be. It has taken a long time to cultivate the skills I need to manage a staff of 11 people and grow a business. I am feeling more confidence as both a leader to my staff and a member of the business community. I am extremely excited to be at a place where I can finally start to give back. I have just recently been accepted into the Vinings/Cumberland Rotary and am a member of the Vinings Business Association. One of the biggest parts of my job is educating the public on the benefits of massage in everyone’s life, especially for people experiencing cancer or chronic illness. It’s not a luxury and research has shown that we belong on healthcare teams and we are a vital part of patient care plans.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Vinings Massage and Wellness story. Tell us more about the business.
Whether you seek Relaxation, Stress/Pain Relief, Oncology Massage or Pre/Post-Natal Massage, you have come to the right place.

At Vinings Massage & Wellness, we specialize in therapeutic wellness massage. We help our clients release pain, anxiety and stress, allowing each client to live in comfort and relaxation. As we continue on our journey of helping people reduce suffering and embrace bliss, we are expanding our team at Vinings Massage. In addition to our wide variety of massage therapy services, we also offer acupuncture, cupping and private yoga therapy.

One of the things I am most proud of is the space we provide for both our clients and our practitioners. This is a tough industry for mom and pop shops. Like many industries massage therapy has become very corporate, and while that has helped bring it to the masses, it has also created many places that have forgotten about the practitioner. We believe that providing an awesome place to work, a fair wage and taking care of our practitioners as well as we expect them to take care of our clients is the formula for success.

At Vinings Massage and Wellness every client counts. Every client is special and appreciated, we don’t turn and burn here. We provide both space and time for our clients and our practitioners to do the work they need to do to create wellness and balance in their lives. This is extremely unique in our industry in 2017.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
While the corporate massage chains continue to have success. I am confident that smaller more unique wellness centers will also grow. Clients are becoming more educated and involved in their healthcare plans and they know massage (and other integrative options) will help them get well and/or stay well both mentally and physically. As more studies are published, the healthcare industry is also starting to both accept and seek out highly trained therapists (and other integrative care providers) to be part of their teams. I see massage being incorporated into healthcare more and more.

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