Today we’d like to introduce you to Dara Metcalfe and Abby Ellis.
Dara and Abby, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Abby and I began working together by renting massage studio space inside Urban Body Studios in 2008. We quickly became friends when we realized that we both attended college in Athens, GA and had gone to all of the same rock shows and knew a lot of the same amazing Athens healing artists. Somehow we had never met until Atlanta though! It seemed like we were destined to know and work together. We had both dreamed of having our own healing studio one day, but we knew we had to start small and grow and see what our community wanted and needed. We ended up opening Future Perfect Massage as a collaborative effort when we moved to Inman Park to work alongside Chiropractors in 2014. We strongly believe in the marriage of those healing modalities, but we grew quickly, and when we both became Continuing Education providers, we knew we needed our very own space. That is what led us to Cabbagetown, where we both currently live. It is our first very own Future Perfect Massage store front! We love the neighborhood, the community, the people, so it was a natural and exciting move for us. We were then able to bring on more Healing Artists to our team. We have Reiki practitioners, deep tissue massage therapists, and an aesthetician. The larger space has allowed us to teach more and offer more healing workshops, and we have so many more ideas for our future growth.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It was more of a long road, but it has been a fairly smooth road these last few years. So far anyway! We never jump into anything. We let our growth, or lack of growth sometimes, naturally lead us. It has been a deep practice in patience and service.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We specialize in deep tissue massage, neuromuscular massage, cupping therapy, Reiki, reflexology, Thai massage, innovative vegan skincare, and waxing. One of the things we are most proud of is the fact that we have attracted some of the most talented and inspired therapists we have ever met. We feel such gratitude that they share their gifts with us. Everyone is at least ten years experience or much more, in their field. The other aspect that has really grown is our Reiki-ssage treatment, which is a combination of Reiki energy healing and massage therapy. When we began in 2008, we were literally writing manifestation lists trying to attract Reiki clients, and we had none for the first year. Now, a large portion of our bookings is for this service. We will feel like people, now more than ever, are needing a way to really calm their nervous system before they can even receive deeper, therapeutic bodywork. Everyone is stressed, whether with good or bad stress, and this really helps to deepen the level of relaxation while addressing more than just our physical, but our energetic and auric levels also. Lastly, we offer Reiki classes, Continuing Education classes, and a variety of healing workshops. We love this addition because we feel like we are forming a healing community.
What were you like growing up?
Personally, I grew up in a poor, working-class family, and I watched the people in my family work with so much pain in their bodies, and I watched their hands and bodies become crippled with arthritis, and yet they still pushed on. Often, many couldn’t afford health care or didn’t have access to it, so we all took care of each other. I saw my mom and Aunt and Grandmother rub each other’s hands, shoulders, feet after a long day. I wanted to help them, too. I wanted to know how to heal people in alternative ways. This also led me to Reiki and to eventually teach Reiki also. When I was in pain, either physically or emotionally, I wanted to have tools on hand for myself and for loved ones as well. I wanted to empower other people to have these tools also through teaching.
Contact Info:
- Address: 226 Powell St. SE Atlanta, GA 30316
- Website: www.futureperfectmassage.com
- Phone: 678.304.7687
- Email: futureperfectmassage@gmail.com
- Instagram: @futureperfectmassage
- Facebook: Future Perfect Massage
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
