Betsy McClellan Bio

I have an engineering degree from DeVry University, Atlanta, GA class of 1988. I began working for CNN at corporate headquarters in Atlanta. There I worked in commercial playback and dubbing, video and equipment repair for headline news, sports network, Spanish network, and publishing houses related to Turner Broadcasting.

After 12 years of engineering with this infamous company, including a $50,000-salary complete with all media perks and benefits, in 2000, I thought I'd had enough.

This high-stress job, combined with a divorce, caused me to make serious life changes. I began by getting massages. I felt renewed, re-energized, and ready for a revamp on life. I no longer wanted the snarling traffic only to report to a job in a man's world. I needed personal satisfaction. I researched massage schools and was taken by the charm of Asheville, North Carolina. I valued the small-town atmosphere filled with non-corporate mores and the pace of Appalachia. I chose the Center for Massage and Natural Health, then located downtown. I would be in school for two days a week, graduating in six months.

Upon graduation in June 2001 I realized that making a living as a massage therapist would be a complete challenge. First, I would have to pay to work. I was not used to working for myself and had to learn the way of contract work. Maybe I would open my own office. But how would I get clients? How would I advertise, handle a bad situation in an office alone with a threatening client? I began working for Relax & Rejuvenate - a group setting. There were ten massage therapists, each a contractor. This provided me contacts and other massage therapists from whom to learn. We traded massages with each other, giving me more techniques and experience. It all provided me a great sense of security.

R&R owner Jody Held-Salm started the company in July 2001. I came to work for her in October 2001. At that time I worked two part-time jobs, one in massage, and one in engineering. Within a year, Jody talked about needing a partner, so I came to her. A few months later she was ready to sell the business. This prompted me to buy it. I had already been working there for some time, and I new it was a great concept and a good opportunity for me.

I began my research by getting the profit and loss statement and income expense report, which I took to an accountant. I spoke with a lawyer and a group in town known as SCORE. SCORE counsels small business owners. Each person that I talked to told me not to do it - including my father, who owns his own small business. I really didn't care what anybody said. I already saw this as a great opportunity. I was ready to take it.

The next three-four years have been a whirlwind. I bought into Relax & Rejuvenate in January of 2003. I spent most of the first year straightening out the financial side of the business. We hired a good accountant. The better part of that first year and the second was spent stream-lining the business to make it profitable. We had to get real about what was and was not working. We came to the realization that massage was the one thing we were doing well. We got rid of the retail items and the classroom and just set up massage rooms and got to the business of doing massage. We put the business up for sale in July of 2005 and sold it December 2006. This was a long and trying process in and of itself.

We have started a new company called Massage Business Experts. We are coaching massage therapists who want to start or expand their existing business. We are in the process of writing a how-to book for new massage therapists looking for help expanding their existing business. Massage Business Experts provides consulting and workshops helping new entrepreneurs to see and build success.