Jaileen Ann McClung (far right) is the founder of Escape Massage and Yoga. Since 2015, she’s used her hands to help and heal people in Currituck County.
My business is healing. I specialize in the therapeutic deep tissue and rehab massage that people need after surgery. Being a yoga instructor also allows me to use my knowledge of active and passive stretching.
I lost my eyesight 11 years ago. I was a 22-year-old stay-at-home mom. I needed a part-time job, something to get me out of the house, so I enrolled in massage school. I graduated at the top of my class, received the Excellence Award and got job offers from some of the top spas in Raleigh.
But I quickly realized that companies wanted me to work at night, on weekends and on holidays. And I’ve got a family. I’ve got church. I’ve got community obligations. That’s when I knew I wanted to work for myself.
I also like to do charity work. I have clients that are no longer clients... they’re in nursing homes. I massage them for free, because to me, it’s all about paying it forward.
I’m an instant gratification girl. I know that’s horrible and I shouldn’t say that, but I am. I love doing something and getting results immediately. If you come in and said, “Jay, I screwed up my back, I can’t even bend,” I’ll put you on my table, fix you and you’ll get to walk out. I love it because I get to see the results immediately and you get to feel the results immediately. It makes me feel really good to be able to give you that quality of life back.
My biggest challenge is finding loyal people who want to work. That’s really hard. Everything else is gravy.
Our motto is “Where You Are Family.” My business is different because I take everything very personal and I love what I do. Yes I’m a massage therapist, but I hear a lot of stuff... people just venting about their day, what’s going on in their marriage, what’s going on with their kids... it helps form a bond.
Get involved in the community. Word of mouth in Currituck is the only way to run your business. Currituck is a fantastic community. If you have a good product. They will support you and they will send business to you.
