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Life and Work with Leslie Meis

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Leslie Meis.

Leslie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was very fortunate to grow up with a mother who encouraged me to pursue my passions. She pushed me to find work that I loved instead of falling into a job that simply paid the bills or was easy to enter.

After attempting work in photography right out of high school and deciding that I wouldn’t love it anymore if it was my job, I was at a loss. After all, how many people know very much about themselves at 20? Still, I was faced with the question, “What career would I love?” Scrutinizing my other interests made me realize that I had loved yoga for many years and would find teaching others rewarding. However, at the time, only extremely famous instructors made their living teaching yoga while others still had to carry a day job to support themselves. This left me feeling like I’d hit a dead end. Sure, I could still teach yoga, but what would my day job be?

Eventually, the idea of massage therapy presented itself in my life. I chose to enter massage school for a lot of very logical reasons, even though I’d never had a professional massage myself! It seemed like it could complement yoga instruction very well, plus school was relatively quick and affordable compared to the education required by other careers.

The first day of classes, I wondered if I had made a mistake. Most of my classmates were there because massage had helped them or a loved one through a chronic illness or injury. The work was already meaningful in their life. Once I got started, though I fell in love immediately. My fierce passion for the human body and the beautiful beings that inhabit them has fueled me ever since leading me to a successful private practice and the top of my industry.

Has it been a smooth road?
Starting my private practice was initially quite easy. I actually started in my studio apartment! I’m not sure every client realized it wasn’t some unique office space with its little kitchenette, but occasionally someone would look around and say, “Wait, do you live here? Where do you sleep?” At this point, I would explain the folding Murphy bed hiding behind a curtain. It’s crazy to look back on that now from where I am today in my RiNo office above The Denver Central Market. Despite the unique home office setup, I already had a great following of clients from working as an independent contractor with a chiropractor. I set my prices incredibly low in the beginning, and while I don’t recommend this in hindsight it did make filling my books very easy in those early days.

The growing pains of entrepreneurship came later for me. There’s no shortcut around them no matter what anyone says. After a couple of years of working from a home office, learning many business lessons the hard way, and realizing that many things needed to change for my practice to be sustainable in the long run it was time to revamp. In the course of only one year, I moved my practice out of my home and doubled my prices. While I am incredibly grateful for the clients that did stay with me through that shift, most of them did not. I had completely changed my practice and my target market, so without realizing what I was doing, I had essentially launched a new business from scratch! It took about a year for me to build things up again and there were many times I wondered if I should give in and get a “real job” or if I would end up homeless. It was about another year after that before I could consider my practice a success again.

Giving advice for others is always tough because every person and business is unique, and what worked for me won’t work for the next person or vice versa. I will say that besides gorging on business and success self-help books, one of the best things I ever did for my business was finding a community of like-minded women to not only network with but to build real relationships. For me, it was The Denver Boss Babe Collective, which I now volunteer my time to help manage. This was and still is a place where I learn from watching other entrepreneurs along with being a space to commiserate, receive validation and encouragement, and celebrate success! Find your tribe because when you’re going it alone, you are going to need that community.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with The Bodywork Guru – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
I provide Holistic Wellness Coaching and Rehabilitative Bodywork to help clients achieve pain relief and real health transformations through results-oriented solutions. With nine years of experience as a massage therapist, education in over twenty modalities, and a degree in healing arts, I design the perfect combined protocol of bodywork, nutrition/herbal medicine, and self-care to bring clients relief, even if they have already been failed by other treatment options.

I have been a Professional Bodyworker and Massage Therapist since 2011. Since then my passion has driven me to continue my education constantly. In 2017, I also became a Wellness Coach and Yoga Instructor. In 2018, I completed my Bachelor’s Degree in Traditional Eastern Arts with an emphasis in Yoga from Naropa University. This year, I reached the 10,000-hour mark for hands-on bodywork experience making me a Master Bodyworker.

My vision is to offer a client-centered and client-focused, holistic approach to pain, injury, and chronic stress. I have created a synergistic application of many different types of bodywork so that each session is completely catered to individual wellness goals and clients experience the relief they are seeking.

I work as a team with my clients to create a massage protocol designed specifically for their problems and individual constitution. This approach achieves results where others have failed before.

None of this would have been possible without my intense passion for the body, for learning, for the work, and for the people I treat. True passion is difficult to find in most fields, and with massage, it is often stolen from the few that have it by overwork, injury, lack of appropriate compensation, and burnout. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to do this work for as long as possible and so I’ve diligently guarded myself against those common pitfalls over the years in order to keep my passion intact. Now, I have all the education and experience of a seasoned veteran in my trade and have maintained the same passion that fueled my beginnings and this really sets me apart.

Who have you been inspired by?
As cliche as it sounds, my mother was my first inspiration. She instilled values in me that allowed me to pursue my life the way that I have. She pushed me to find work that I loved and taught me that I could find a way to create whatever life I wanted if I just had the bravery to insist upon it.

I found my other inspirations later in life. Women of The Denver Boss Babe Collective have astonished me with their love, inspiration, friendship, and support. I can’t name everyone but some of the biggest influences on me from that group include the founder, Roxy Barnes, along with Kate Delaney, Bree Luton, Katie Maxwell, Jana Hope, Mirah Olejniczak, and Ansley Bird. I’ve learned so much from this group and I actually remember being intimidated at first by these successful women. One by one, I learned that they were all much more like me than I initially realized which meant that I could be just as successful. Helping to manage the group has also brought me into my own voice as a leader which has been so empowering. I hope that I can extend these same valuable things back out to other women in return.

Pricing:

  • Comprehensive Bodywork- $110/hour
  • Wellness Coaching- $66
  • Private Yoga Instruction- starting at $55

Contact Info:

Getting in touch: VoyageDenver 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.

 

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