Conversations with Jodi Estell

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jodi Estell.

Hi Jodi, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I am the youngest of three children. Born in Colorado, and raised in Albuquerque. We moved to Omaha in the middle of my 7th-grade year. And back to Denver for my high school career. Along the way, I was hit by a car when I was six. My siblings still see me as the broken little girl who needs help. I broke my femur, and both sides of my pelvis cracked my hip and were hemorrhaging uncontrollably when we reached the hospital. I was in traction for 6 weeks, half pika cast for 6 weeks, a walking cast for 6 weeks, and a leg brace for 6 weeks. My first grade year was not exactly typical, and my doctor told me I would never be able to compete in professional sports. But if you talk to my mom, I’m a fighter and I am an optimist. I would not allow anyone to cry in my hospital room.

I played soccer starting at age 4. I also started swimming in summer leagues then too. We rode our bikes everywhere! I had a great friend living across the street. We played a lot, but never went to school together. Her parents put her and her brother in private school. The ditches were the best place to be. The park down the street was fun. When street lights came on, it was time to be home. I used to walk along the fence lines between our house and the neighbors all the way down the street. We had a pool in the backyard. I got a trampoline when I turned 7. We were crazy kids jumping from the 2nd story deck to the trampoline to the pool. Or the tree to the trampoline to the pool. My mom stayed home with us. She volunteered at our schools. I remember riding bikes holding onto her back to go downtown. I also held onto her legs as she walked around the school before I was old enough to attend. My best friend, to this day, is my extreme opposite in appearance. I am a tiny little white girl, with blond hair, and blue eyes. She is a very black, very big (in every way) girl. She looked out for me growing up. I was always shy, and it doesn’t sound right, but I was less than 2% of the population growing up in my neighborhood, so I was discriminated against a lot.

In middle school, I was teased a lot. In ABQ, I was tiny and shy, and white. In Omaha, I had an accent and liked the ‘bad’ (black) kids. In eighth grade, my mom told me she was going to leave my dad. I was relieved, I hated my dad. He was never present, but worse for me, he never wanted a third child (and still doesn’t, just ask him). We all moved back to Denver and my parents divorced, mainly because my mom realized she was a lesbian. High school was fun. I was a four-sport athlete (volleyball, swimming, diving, soccer) and joined the IB program. I made friends in various parts of the school. Learned to drive, got a job, and moved out of my dad’s house. I played roller hockey and made lots of guy friends and started dating. Junior year, I lost my virginity. Six months later got raped, and had an abortion. Senior year was great because I was only there for half day, and I took a MedPrep internship program. I graduated high school with high honors and the MedPrep program with the highest grade they had ever seen.

College was not a big interest, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. My dad said community college didn’t count. So I enrolled at UNC to keep my college investment money. Full-time management work and 18 credits; spring, summer, and fall. Still, nothing hit me as a career. I lived in the dorms for one semester. I got a house with six girls for a year. One roommate and I chose to get an apartment after that drama experience. She is the same roommate who eventually moved back to Denver with me. My brother had quit college and his soccer scholarship after freshman year. My sister walked for graduation but was still one class short of completion. A year later, I quit school with around 200 credits to have my daughter (I was NOT going to get another abortion). I kept working full time, mom full time, and had my roommate and mom helping me fill in the cracks.

I eventually got engaged and pregnant on the same night. Less than five years later, that was definitely over! He never wanted to be a father and I was not the type of woman he desired. One day, I got up the guts to ask my ‘friend’ out on a date. He said, “Sure, let’s see where it goes.” We have been married for almost five years. We have two more little boys. He is a musician, a teacher, and a coach. And has wanted to be a father his whole life. At our wedding, he gave rings to my older two children too. We are a wonderful family of six; college, high school, preschool, and toddler.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Struggles, I’ve had a few. Single mom for 15 years… did I mention divorce, bankruptcy, foreclosure, and custody battle… Divorced a man who was emotionally and sexually abusive to me and started in on my kids. I called child services on him for our 2-year-old son. My five-year-old daughter was being ‘groomed’ by him to be his sexual partner. His whole goal now is to make my life difficult; he told me as we walked out of the divorce proceedings. 17 years later, he is still trying.

In my first private office, I had room for 6 therapists to join me. Turns out, massage therapists are not very business-minded; I am an exception. Several came and went over the 5-year lease. I eventually got a text message from the property manager saying I had two weeks to get out.

I became a tri-athlete at 28. I was a soccer player since I was four. I keep my body and mind moving and healthy through activity and sports. Over the past 6 years, I have had 3 concussions; a major concussion 2 years ago. I was out of work for a couple of months and still have some symptoms. I have had to retire from soccer. My fourth son was ‘discovered’ at the hospital after my bicycle crash. My youngest two are almost two years apart. Unfortunately for me, they were both c-section babies; which have caused several challenges in work and life, and play.

The silliest thing to me currently is attending church in sunglasses and earplugs; due to my most recent TMI.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Well, I got started in my career somewhat by accident. I guess you could say I trusted someone else to decide for me. In high school, I took MedPrep my senior year. Second semester, I had a physical therapy aide internship. Afterward, I realized it was not exactly what I wanted to do. I attended a traditional college in Northern Colorado, having several majors in three years, including summers too. I went between Kinesiology, Coaching, Journalism, Dance, Case Management, and Speech Communication, and didn’t ever have enough in one area to graduate. Mid-year 2002, I quit school to have my baby girl.

My college roommate moved back to the Denver Metro Area with me. We were both in retail together. When my daughter was 5 months old, I was giving her a bath when my roommate came upstairs and said, “I filled something out for you, in case they call.” Ten minutes later, the phone rang. I was asked, “Why do you want to be a massage therapist?” I never knew I did, so I know I made up some sort of answer. I toured the school and decided to sign up for classes. I worked 40 hours/week with classes 4 nights a week 7 pm – 11 pm for a year. Six months in, I also had a Saturday morning internship for 6 hours every week. I’m fairly certain I cried every week by the time I got to Wednesdays; I missed my daughter and I was beyond tired, but I fell in love with massage! It was the first and only thing I ever changed my mind about.

Before school, I had zero experience with massage; never received the work, and never knew anyone who had. The most I did, I used to play with my mom’s calves as a kid, rub her shoulders, and comb her hair. All I can say, my roommate saw something I didn’t. I graduated from the Utah College of Massage Therapy, Westminster Campus in 2004, just before my girl’s second birthday, quit my retail job, and started at the first Massage Envy in Colorado. I did my time, as I feel is appropriate to learn what it means to be a professional, at Massage Envy. I always knew I wanted to be self-employed.

I worked there for three years, had my first son, got married, and moved around between several chiropractic offices as I built up my private practice. My teachers all said it will take five years to build a successful private practice in massage. They were right. Life happens, so I celebrated my 30th birthday with a divorce, foreclosure, bankruptcy, and a difficult custody battle over my daughter. For better or worse, my abusive ex-husband told me I would never be able to provide for my children with my massage career. So on my one-year divorce anniversary, I saw my first client in my own private office. I am still in my own practice. I have been in two locations over the past 12 years. I celebrate 19 years of working with clients this May. I also celebrated my graduation from college in 2014, Summa Cum Laude, Bachelor of Arts, Health, and Wellness, Heath and Human Services and Sciences; while being a single mom and owning my own business.

My clients are the highlights of my day. I feel lucky to be able to help as much as I can. And I feel blessed to go to a place every day I don’t call “work”. I literally start every session saying, “We can play with that!”

I am a Licensed Massage Therapist.

I was an independent contractor at my last chiropractic office. I was the Lead Therapist, in charge of schedules and organizing the massage crew. The business manager was the first to tell me I was different from other massage therapists. He appreciated my business-mindedness and consistency.

Teaching has always been an interest, so when the opportunity came, I went back to my massage school and taught for a year. I enjoy sharing my passion and knowledge with the students. I specialized in Structural Integration, Reflexology, Professional Development, Injury Prevention and Maintenance, and Daily Sports. I left to pursue a full-time client; a stroke victim who couldn’t walk. The family asked me to come and work on her 2 hours a day, 5 days a week. I was most proud to get her to walk 15 feet again. She eventually fell out of bed and hurt her head/brain. I was the only person she remembered, so I continued to see her at her family’s request until she moved back home for hospice.

I love to learn. I have taken several continuing education classes. Various subjects. I took over 20 different modalities in massage school. I have continued to expand. My sessions have migrated over the years. My longest client has been with me since Massage Envy, he likes the changes as they come. Most of my clients have been with me for 10-15 years. My base or starting point for each session is what sets me apart the most; Russian not Swedish massage. I take a much more scientific approach to my bodywork sessions. I use orthopedic, sports, injury, ortho-anatomy, and Mana Lomi techniques most regularly.

I can manipulate nerves and soft tissue and joints to elicit change in the body. My goal. I am known for being “mean in a good way.” I stretch and move my body during my sessions, which is rare. I can feel the body, not look at it and help it to ease its pain or move more freely. The comment I hear the most is, “No one has ever touched/worked that before.” I am interested in ears and knees and shoulders. I do not fear the body. I have confidence in my work, my teachers continue to comment/warn me about it. So I guess what I’m most proud of, I feel.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I take risks. If something scares me, I do it until it doesn’t. I figure I was put here to love and expand and grow and be me, so nothing should stop me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ColoradoHealthyBody.com