This story begins on a somber note: my father passed away recently — and to be candid, some might say he died when he retired. He was a very passionate cook his entire life and it’s all he loved to do. Shortly after he retired he had a stroke and his health, slowly at times and quickly in others, declined, until he was no longer able to cook or taste things of which he was once a master. I learned a lot from my father; how to be passionate about the work I do, a good work ethic, and not living my life in fear of living. The last one by omission as my father never pursued what he really wanted: to own his own restaurant out of fear it would fail. From watching his trepidation growing up, I worked on building my resistance to fear and the skills for something I was passionate about.
Finding that passion took a lot of twists and turns, but eventually, I landed on the thing I knew I was meant to do. I have always (even as a child) been interested in the human body and anatomy, especially the way the body works.
As condensed as possible, my story:
While living in South Korea in the mid-1990s, I studied to become a group fitness instructor and entrepreneurially began a fitness program for the military children after school as a volunteer, while also teaching aerobics at Yongsan AIN, and conversational English at a nearby university – my education passion was sparked. After we moved (off to Germany that time) the volunteer position I’d created became a paid position, which proved there was demand in the market for what I wanted to teach. When we moved to Frankfort (Rhein-Main AFB), I added personal training to the mix and managed even more after-school programs for kids (this time a paid position, modeled on the one I created in Seoul), with, of course, a focus on physical fitness. More sparks.
The irony of that position was how excited I was to have my own office with a desk (not exactly physical fitness), which I didn’t use much as I was always playing with the kids. While in Germany a friend of mine, an occupational therapist, suggested she thought I would make a good massage therapist and the idea just stayed in the back of my head. Once I returned stateside — we were living in Utah in a small town on the south side of the Great Salt Lake – an hour away, Salt Lake City (at the time) was the capital of massage training (I don’t know if it is any longer) and after a tour of the Utah College of Massage Therapy campus, I was so excited I signed up for the program on a Friday, paid for my parking pass, quit my job and started classes that next Monday. As anyone who has been through massage school can tell you, it’s rigorous training and it changes your life, from the inside out — The very first day, I was hooked. I chose massage because it’s a vast field of change, opportunity, and many modalities to choose from so I knew I would never be bored with this job. That’s right! I’d found what I was passionate about.
I was also right that I would never be bored. My massage career in 21 years has had a lot of twists and turns, but I’m still doing bodywork and have really created my own style, which I introduced with That’s the Rub 12 years ago in our wonderful little burg of Bloomington. For the last five years, I’ve been teaching in the massage program I helped found at Ivy Tech some of my style and now I’m bringing it to our own school with the opening of Keplinger Institute of Massage and Wellness (website coming soon). Not only will be teaching massage professionals continuing education, we will be introducing wellness classes to the community while also working on our trade school curriculum to soon be able to train people for licensure.
Every day I choose to live through my passion for the anatomy of the human body that has followed me since my early childhood. Each time I strayed something brought me back to it. Anatomy, massage, fitness, nutrition, teaching, growing, and wellness, the options are endless, and I am most passionate about sharing them with YOU!
I invite you to join me for our FIST community offering: Ki for Stretch and Relax, and very soon for Guided Couples Massage, or any of the classes my passion leads us to. Sparks are flying, I’m excited about the adventure, I can’t wait to meet you!
Now, I know and you know it’s been a long time since
I’ve posted a blog and I’m really sorry about that, it’s just we’ve had so much
going on that it’s been a real challenge just to sit at the computer, let alone
write and when I do, I want to make sure it’s because I have something to say.
A lot of people have come up to me in the last few weeks and told me how much they love and appreciate coming to That’s the Rub and that they refer their friends. Words cannot describe how wonderful that makes me feel! When I managed destination spas all over the country, I dreamed I would own my own spa one day and that it would have local art on the wall, it would be five-star quality services and hospitality with a comfortable atmosphere that could be enjoyed by everyone, clients and staff alike. I’m so over the moon to say that the feedback we receive says that Jim and I nailed it right on the head! Thank You so much for spending your time with us.
What have we been busy with you ask? Well, I’m so glad
you did, but don’t worry, there is NO way I will remember everything, so I’m
going to start and see how far I get.
In December (2019), just before the holiday, we graduated another cohort of students at Ivy Tech. Never a dull moment, we incorporate the students that would like to do so into The Rub to further their education in daily operations of the spa, expand on their massage techniques and to do more hands-on work with the general public who are unable to make it out to Ivy Tech for our clinics. Our student massages have been a smash hit with clients and students alike, and this semester promises even more with our new batch of senior massage students!
Over the summer (yeah, way back then) I learned how to teach and launched a class called Yomassage. Yomassage combines supported yoga postures with massage and breath and it’s amazing. It’s amazing because you don’t have to be flexible (thank goodness), you wear clothes, there is music, it’s done in a group format, AND it’s VERY relaxing. So it’s a great pick me up in the middle of the day when you need to hit the reset button or at the end of your workday to unwind and get a good night’s sleep. It’s amazing for people who’ve never had a massage (come on and get into some self-care already!), special occasions, or team building workshops. Please see our website for more details or feel free to write to me (lisa@thatstherub.com) if you want more information. This is starting to get a little too sales pitchy for my taste and that’s NOT what this post is about. I just get excited when I talk about it and I really enjoy teaching it.
Of course there were the holidays to prepare for,
which seemed to be a little crazier for me than usual; I hope all of you came
out unscathed.
That’s the Rub is proud to have donated more than
$2,000 in 2019 back to the community in goods and services this year to support
what we love and where we live.
We also want to say THANK YOU for a wonderful year! Your
patronage has sustained many therapists and their families this past year and
we couldn’t be more grateful.
Thank you for being part of The Rub family. Thank you
for your continued support. Thank you for valuing the skills that we bring to
the table. Thank you for choosing The Rub to be your partner in helping to
attain your personal healthcare goals. Thank you for referring your friends and
family. We love what we do and we’re so happy that you share that with us.
It’s Our 10th Anniversary! Join
us this year as we celebrate 10 years of That’s the Rub! In 2019 we rebranded
the business to That’s the Rub the Therapeutic Day Spa because we felt it
would say more of what we do now vs what we did when we first began. Ten years
ago, The Rub started with just me and Jim and we’ve continued to expand and
grow ever since, not just our square footage, but our service menu and our
staff as well.
So stay tuned and look for our save the date
notification (in March) for our anniversary celebration! We hope to see you
there! In the meantime, if you have questions about massage, benefits of
massage, classes we offer, etc please check out our website, www.thatstherub.com
OR you can write me directly at lisa@thatstherub.com
and I can include your question and answers in my blog. I want to ensure you
are getting the information you want about what we do here at That’s the Rub.
May your 2020 bring you light, love, and happiness.
I know that your email boxes are getting slammed right now from New Year well wishes to coupons, sales and other well wishers and in that I guess I’m no different. However, I do have to state that like so many others it is true, we wouldn’t have a business it weren’t for all of you who read this. So for that I thank you. Thank you for being our clients and helping us help you in reaching your health care goals. It truly is a privilege to do massage and bodywork and to help you reach your goals.
Cheers to new goals, ushering out bad habits, and working towards health and prosperity. Thank you for allowing That’s the Rub to be part of your journey. We look forward to supporting you through 2019 and beyond.
This year we’re launching partner massage classes (starting on January 27! Sign up here) so you can do massage on each other at home. We’re going to do shorter classes for those who want to get started right away (only a four hour workshop!), with limited time or budgets, and we will add longer classes in the near future for those who want more detailed information for anatomy and specialized massage strokes for those have more time to donate to learning the art of massage. We hope you will join us in understanding your body better through relaxation techniques that you can provide for each other. Please contact our front desk (812-333-3393) or websitefor more details and to sign up!
We also have THAT:space available for anyone in the community who needs a downtown space for larger gatherings (up to 40 people). Please contact Kara at kara@thatstherub.com for more details and dates available.
We are also launching continuing education classes (CEUs) for already certified massage therapists. March 25th & 26th we will be hosting Bloomington’s own Julie Gudaitis (returning from many years on the West Coast) in Morales Method for 16 CEU’s. If you’re interested in attending check out our Facebook page THAT: space and look for Morales Method for more details. More classes will be added to THAT:spacesoon, so please like, subscribe, and keep checking back.
As we near the beginning of the next semester at Ivy Tech we will have more students giving massage as part of That’s the Rub Bootcamp (a massage student intensive elective), so please put your name on the waiting list at our front desk (still 812-333-3393) and keep your eyes peeled for details on when student massage will be available (at a BIG discount to you!). These messages go fast, and they are essential for helping a student increase their therapeutic and palpation skills.
We at That’s the Rub look forward to an exciting year of community giving, education and collaboration. May your year be full of good cheer, prosperity and love!
We used to start every day by hanging a new “Rub” on the door: a quote by a famous person to inspire thought, allow us to embrace gratitude, or to just have a good laugh on the way in and out our door. It was kind of our way at The Rub to send you on your way thinking, but also more relaxed and grounded with yourself, since you, of course, had also had a massage. Over time we’ve gotten away from this practice, either due to changing of front-desk management or perhaps as we got busier due to our wonderful clients sending out the good word that we exist. Either way, I feel that it’s necessary to get back to our Rub of the Day, but maybe to take the pressure off a little bit, to change it to the Rub of the Month, but be choosier and more thoughtful about what those rubs are and we as a team reflect on them as much as anyone else does when they come and go. You see, we at The Rub, have always tried to cultivate a relaxed atmosphere that was inclusive of everyone while maintaining professional relationships and cultivating education opportunities for knowing more about how our bodies work and how we can help ourselves and others through pain, dysfunction, and disease.
Recently, we expanded our space to include a classroom, we call it THAT:space (which is currently represented online at it’s Facebook page). We decided it was time to offer massage classes to anyone who would like to learn how to feel better in their own skin, take back control of their own body, help themselves and others ease pain and discomfort of friends and family, or maybe find a hobby or possibly a new profession (as you know, we also helped found the new Ivy Tech Bloomington massage program). THAT:space is a private classroom within That’s the Rub, dedicated to learning objectives of all kinds. Since opening our massage program at Ivy Tech, it’s become very clear to me that teaching is one of my fundamental joys in life and I wanted to expand my teaching range to anyone who wanted to learn massage, not just to those that wanted to be in the profession. Our goal at That’s the Rub is to open THAT:space to the public for massage classes within the next few months. We will also be offering classes to certified and licensed massage therapists to fulfill their CEU requirements, expand their professional skills, and help them in their businesses. THAT:space is also available to rent for private events, small plays (stay tuned for an announcement VERY soon about our first one!), and group meetings, etc., by the hour. Contact Kara THAT:space manager at Kara@ThatsTheRub.com for more information. In conclusion, I will leave you with one of my favorite rubs from “back in the day”:
“Do in your heart what you know to be right for you will be criticized anyway.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
May you always have the courage to do what your heart knows to be right. That’s the Rub, Lisa
I want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts here at That’s the Rub Massage Therapy Center and Body Boutique. It’s been a wonderful year of growth and opportunity, for you the client, our staff, our community, and our business. Affectionately known as The Rub to all of us who work here, we do our best every day make you the client proud to say you go to The Rub to take care of your body, to give back to our community and to support our staff.We’re very proud to say that 2016 has been our best year ever and we’re so happy that we got to share it with each and every one of you. You, the client, entrust us at The Rub to teach you how to understand your body better, to help you unwind and destress, to trigger a healing response from within for old and new aches and pains. We take that job seriously, while providing a safe, relaxed and happy atmosphere that we at The Rub have come to cherish. We at The Rub enjoy being here because It’s a cozy place to work. While our jobs may be busy, we are encouraged by your support and your loyalty, that gives us a sense of fulfillment and joy that can only be met with much gratitude. We truly love what we do and it shows.
All of our staff have a voice in how The Rub operations needs are met and each member of our staff is supported and honored for the work that they accomplish with us. The Rub wouldn’t be what it is today without our team of the finest front desk staff and bodyworkers in town and I love them all.
Here at The Rub, we take our community to heart. As busy multi-business owners / operators, we don’t always have the time to spend at functions and parties that support our fellow entrepreneurs, but we always give back to the community at large because we understand that it’s our backbone. When our community thrives, The Rub thrives, and all of the individuals who belong to our elite staff thrive. We’ve done seated chair events, most recently at Lucky’s for their health and wellness day, all proceeds from the event were donated to Stepping Stones; a local nonprofit supporting our community children in safe housing, education, and lifestyle coaching. We’ve donated to WFIU to support public radio: the family and I enjoy all forms of public radio while we’re on much-anticipated road trips. We also donate to the Mauer Women’s Law Caucus events because it’s important to support women as they continue to learn, and for anyone that knows me, I’m all about girl power. The Rub also donated to many silent auctions around the community throughout the year of which I’m sure some of you benefited. This list is just a brief description of the many donations we’ve done in 2016, with your continued patronage these donations and more will continue to support our community because while we may not always be in attendance, we do care about giving our support.
The Rub’s business this year grew in all directions as we’ve added to our staff, and expanded our menu of services. Carla is our new esthetician who provides waxing services, amazing facials, and body treatments. While she’s only been with us a few months, she and her husband recently expanded their family with Ava joining the team, we’ve missed Carla while she spends time with the new baby, and we look forward to seeing her around again in February. Lynnsie, our oldest daughter, joined our team in January 2015 and in July gave us our first grandbaby, Oliver, who I’m sure many of you have met as Oliver comes to the office with Lynnsie when she works. The staff and clients alike enjoy having Oliver with us, and he certainly enjoys all of the attention. Elizabeth will also be giving birth to our 2017 edition of babies born into The Rub. Due in January, she will be missed while on maternity leave, but we look forward to welcoming daughter Lexi into the team.
But it hasn’t all been about babies. We also welcomed new massage therapist Chris, he does great hot stone massage and Reiki, massage therapist Bri who is awesome at Deep Tissue and Therapeutic massage but is sadly leaving us for Austin, Texas in a few short days, and Kara who is a real dynamo working at the front desk and later becoming a massage intern to earn her hours towards state certification which happening this month. We’re so excited for Kara as she begins her new career as a massage therapist! As anyone who’s been on her table can attest she is an awesome massage therapist and we look forward to working with her in treatment. Beth has expanded her offerings to include acupuncture, a clinic for acupuncture and a massage that also includes acupuncture. Theresa has expanded her offerings to include cupping. Tonya Faye continues her education with IU for occupational therapy, let’s celebrate her smartness. If I’ve missed out on anyone’s accomplishments this year, I apologize, there are just so many that it’s hard to keep up and that’s just the personal side of the business.
For me and Jim, it’s been a real whirlwind of opportunity. We’ve expanded the product lines of The Body Boutique, offering more options for all natural, organic skin care that feels good, smells good, and supports local as well as USA made products. In May we were faced with our own mortality in the business because we were running short on space to launder the sheets, no small task I assure you. We’d been putting it off for a few months, but the need became so great that we could no longer ignore it, when we fell into a wonderful opportunity to buy a laundromat and to have business partners (other than each other) Purchasing a laundromat would prove to be a handful of challenges that we didn’t see coming, giving the word perseverance a whole new meaning. To keep a long story short, we welcomed Flip Laundry into the fold (see what I did there?) opening in August of this year. Flip Laundry is a commercial and residential pick-up, drop off, and delivery service for all your laundry needs, in this case it helped us greatly in providing a safe, clean environment to keep The Rub’s sheets going strong, while you guessed it supporting the community with what it needed…an easier way to do laundry, drop off or delivery style. The Launderette is the coin-op do-it-yourself laundry and provides a bright, clean, safe space for everyone to get their laundry on.
We’ve partnered with Ivy Tech Bloomington to create a massage therapy school for the southern region of the state because we all agreed that driving to Indy was quite the haul for anyone in the Bloomington and south to travel. Classes start January 17th (TODAY!). Please check the Ivy Tech website and register for class. If you’ve ever considered massage as a career for you, now is the time. We need more massage therapists in this town! We were already considering opening our own school (a dream of mine) when the opportunity presented itself to partner with Ivy Tech and we jumped at it. After all what better way to support our community than being part of community education for the profession that I love and have been a part of for 17 years….yikes!
Jim has graduated this fall with his Masters of Information Science, completing his third degree, the man is a real brainiac. We in the family joke that he is The Master, which you will only understand if you are a Whovian. If you have to ask what a Whovian is, you are not one of them.
Last but not least on the lines of the business, The Rub will be expanding and remodeling in 2017 to be all on the first floor (we had some upstairs rooms), this will give us handicap access (much needed) and more space. It will also allow our neighbors on the second floor to expand as well, bringing us full circle in our community support. I’m so proud to have created something that brings so much joy, wellness and opportunity to so many lives. Thank you so much for taking the time to be a part of The Rub and the lives of our team. Your loyalty really means a lot to me personally, but also Jim, our family, and all of Team Rub.
Cheers to you as we ring out 2016 and ring in 2017!
That’s the Rub,
Lisa
Terence Maloney, Licensed Massage Therapist, LMT
Tanya Gick, Licensed Massage Therapist, LMT
Conner Weir, Licensed Massage Therapist, LMT
Heath Roush, Personal Trainer
Karol Hovis, Licensed Massage Therapist, LMT
Lisa Keplinger, Licensed Massage Therapist, LMT, NCBTMB
